Get complete information on the Association

Whereas communities encompass a wide variety of social activities, associations usually seek particular goods or perform specified activities.

An association is a social organisation purposefully created to attain specific goals. These goals may be very broad and abstract, such as healing the sick, eliminating poverty, making a profit etc. They may also be quite precise and limited, such as manufacturing bicycle bearings, teaching people the basics of computers, or counseling unwed mothers, etc.

The goals sought by associations, and hence their organisational characteristics, vary almost infinitely. Some common forms of associations include government departments and bureaus, business and factories, schools and colleges, labour unions and professional associations, hospitals and medical clinics, civic and welfare agencies, police and fire department, etc.

One way of classifying this diverse array of associations into meaningful categories is to focus on who benefits from the attainment of their dominant goals. Mutual-benefit associations such as labour unions and special interest associations seek to promote the particular concerns of their own members. Business associations, such as industries and stores, operate to provide financial and other benefit to their owners.

The goals of associations can also be altered through goal displacement. This occurs when an association is deflected from its original goals through a series of day-to-day activities that redefine the nature of the association.

Many associations have multiple goals, some of which are incompatible with others. A person, for instance, is supposed to confine criminals so as to protect society. It is also supposed to rehabilitate its inmates. These two objectives often require incompatible arrangements and procedures. The authoritarian control and rigid rules designed to maintain security often generate so much hostility and resentment among the prisoners that rehabilitation becomes difficult.

Characteristics of Association

1. Membership to association is formal. One has to apply for membership, and members often have to pay membership fee.

2. Association has officials who are elected for a definite time period.

3. Fixed and written rules are there to be followed by members of the association.

4. Associations are formed deliberately to achieve definite goals and protect the interest of their members.

5. Apart from political and economic association, today’s society has associations dedicated to serve humanity in the field of education, health and social welfare.

Associations and formal organisations are nearly similar. All associations have a formal organisational aspect but all formal organisations such as bureaucracy and the army cannot be called associations.