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Segmental Relationships
Segmental relationship is a concept that explains the partial involvement of individuals in the interactions in the society, rather than total involvement. According to Ritzer (2011), people in a large social group tend to have segmental involvement with other members of the society, instead of being fully interactive. Segmental relationship is the explanation of the phenomenon that there are only segments of the society that are involved in interactions among them, despite being part of a larger society. The segmental relationship further explains why there is greater involvement and interaction among members of a small social group than it is in the large group.
Simmel thinks that modern societies are composed of many segmental relationships because of the growing size of the society and the growing distance between the members of the society. Therefore, the larger the social group, the more segmental the relationships among the people there is. The modern society tends to involve many segmental relationships among the people who form it, rather than have all people get involved. In such societies, social actors promote their involvement with the members of the society that form the groups they are involved in. To cope, social actors immerse themselves in the small groups in the society, such as the family (Ritzer, 2011).
The situation of segmental relationships is true of our society today. This is because the modern society is characterized by disengagement between people and creation of distance between the members of the society. The reliance on technology keeps people partially engaged, and rarely interacting fully. This promotes the formation of segmental relationships, with the most common forms being the family and workplace groups. This makes the society full of segmental relationships, rather than closely interactive social groups.
Reference
Ritzer, G. (2011). Classical Sociological Theory, (6th Ed). Boston: McGraw Hill