Primary+Groups+by+Charles+Horton+Cooley

Charles Cooley's "Primary Groups" covers the concept of a primary group by describing the term rather than precisely defining it. Cooley provides a broad definition of primary group as a group "...characterized by intimate face-to-face association and cooperation"(37) to write about the wide variety of primary groups and their numerous applications. He calls them primary groups because they occur early in life. Cooley provides the children's play group as the most basic form of primary group. Then he asserts primary group's historical relevance by pointing out that the Feudal System relied on primary groups. Cooley believes in a unity between the play group, neighborhood, and the fiefdom as primary groups are a universal human condition. He then discusses how primary groups influence human nature often more than heredity as they provide the means for bottom up self-determination. He concludes by remarking that individuals comprise larger primary groups that function collectively; the primary groups function as independent entities.