SOCIOLOGY

UNIT I: Sociology

 Meaning, definition and significance of sociology

 Origin and development of sociology
 Sociological perspective and relationship with law

Meaning of Sociology
 The science of society , social institutions, and social relationships; specifically: the
systematic study of the development, structure, interaction, and collective behavior of
organized groups of human beings.
 The scientific analysis of a social institution as a functioning whole and as it relates to
the rest of society.

Definition of Sociology
 Sociology is the scientific study of society, including patterns of social relationships, social
interaction, and culture. It is a social science that uses various methods of empirical
investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about social order, acceptance, and
change.
 The traditional focuses of sociology include social stratification, social class, social
mobility, religion, secularization, law, sexuality and deviance. As all spheres of human activity are
affected by the interplay between social structure and individual agency, sociology has gradually
expanded its focus to other subjects, such
as health, medical, economy, military and penal institutions, the internet, education, social capital and
the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge.

Significance of Sociology
 Prior to the emergence of sociology the study of society was carried on in an unscientific manner
and society had never been the central concern of any science. It is through the study of sociology that
the truly scientific study of the society has been possible. Sociology because of its bearing upon many of
the problems of the present world has assumed such a great importance that it is considered to be the
best approach to all the social sciences.
 It is through sociology that scientific study of the great social institutions and the relation of the
individual to each is being made. The home and family ,the school and education, the church and
religion, the state and government ,industry and work ,the community and association, these are
institutions through which society functions. Sociology studies these institutions and their role in the
development of the individual and suggests suitable measures for restrengthening them with a view to
enable them to serve the individual better.
  Society is a complex phenomenon with a multitude of intricacies. It is impossible to understand
and solve its numerous problems without support of sociology. It is rightly said that we cannot
understand and mend society without any knowledge of its mechanism and construction. Without the
investigation carried out by sociology no real effective social planning would be possible. It helps us to
determine the most efficient means for reaching the goals agreed upon. A certain amount of knowledge
about society is necessary before any social policies can be carried out.

 The present world is suffering from many problems which can be solved through scientific study
of the society. It is the task of sociology to study the social problems through the methods of scientific
research and to find out solution to them. The scientific study of human affairs will ultimately provide
the body of knowledge and principles that will enable us to control the conditions of social life and
improve them.

 Sociology has been instrumental in changing our attitude towards human beings. In a specialized
society we are all limited as to the amount of the whole organization and culture that we can experience
directly. We can hardly know the people of other areas intimately. In order to have insight into and
appreciation of the motives by which others live and the conditions under which they exist a knowledge
of sociology is essential.

 It is through the study of sociology that our whole outlook on various aspects of crime has
change. The criminals are now treated as human beings suffering from mental deficiencies and efforts
are accordingly made to rehabilitate them as useful members of the society.

 Human culture has been made richer by the contribution of sociology. The social phenomenon is
now understood in the light of scientific knowledge and enquiry. According to Lowie most of us harbor
the comfortable delusion that our way of doing things is the only sensible if not only possible one.
Sociology has given us training to have rational approach to questions concerning oneself, one's
religion,customs,morals and institutions. It has further taught us to be objective, critical and
dispassionate. It enables man to have better understanding both of himself and of others. By comparative
study of societies and groups other than his existence ,his life becomes richer and fuller than it would
otherwise be. Sociology also impresses upon us the necessity of overcoming narrow personal prejudices,
ambitions and class hatred.

 It contributes to making good citizens and finding solutions to the community problems. It adds
to the knowledge of the society. It helps the individual find his relation to society. The study of social
phenomena and of the ways and means of promoting what Giddens calls social adequacy is one of the
most urgent needs of the modern society. Sociology has a strong appeal to all types of mind through its
direct bearing upon many of the initial problems of the present world.

UNIT II : Basic Concepts

 Society, Community, Institution, Association, Status & role, Social norms

  Kinship & Family, Religion, Education, Polity & Law

Society
A society is a group of people involved in persistent social interaction, or a large social group sharing the same
geographical or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural
expectations. Societies are characterized by patterns of relationships (social relations) between individuals who
share a distinctive culture and institutions; a given society may be described as the sum total of such
relationships among its constituent members.

Community
 A community is a small or large social unit (a group of living things) who have something in
common, such as norms, religion, values, or identity. Communities often share a sense of place that is
situated in a given geographical area (e.g. a country, village, town, or neighborhood) or in virtual space
through communication platforms. Durable relations that extend beyond immediate genealogical ties
also define a sense of community. People tend to define those social ties as important to their identity,
practice, and roles in social institutions like family, home, work, government, society, or humanity, at
large. Although communities are usually small relative to personal social ties (micro-level),
"community" may also refer to large group affiliations (or macro-level), such as national
communities, international communities, and virtual communities.

 The word "community" derives from the Old French comuneté, which comes from
the Latin communitas "community", "public spirit" (from Latin communis, "shared in common").[4]
 Human communities may share intent, belief, resources, preferences, needs, and risks in
common, affecting the identity of the participants and their degree of cohesiveness.

Institution
 Institutions are "stable, valued, recurring patterns of
behavior". As structures or mechanisms of social order, they govern the behaviour of a set
of individuals within a given community. Institutions are identified with a social purpose,
transcending individuals and intentions by mediating the rules that govern living behavior.
 The term "institution" commonly applies to both informal institutions such as customs, or
behavior patterns important to a society, and to particular formal institutions created by entities such
as the government and public services. Primary or meta-institutions are institutions such as
the family that are broad enough to encompass other institutions.
 As structures and mechanisms of social order, institutions are a principal object of study in social
sciences such as political science, anthropology, economics, and sociology (the latter described
by Émile Durkheim as the "science of institutions, their genesis and their functioning"). Institutions
are also a central concern for law, the formal mechanism for political rule-making and enforcement.
 People may deliberately create individual, formal organizations commonly identified as
"institutions"—but the development and function of institutions in society in general may be
 regarded as an instance of emergence. That is, institutions arise, develop and function in a pattern of
social self-organization beyond conscious intentions of the individuals involved.
 As mechanisms of social interaction, institutions manifest in both formal organizations, such as
the U.S. Congress, or the Roman Catholic Church, and, also, in informal social order and
organization, reflecting human psychology, culture, habits and customs, and encompassing
subjective experience of meaningful enactments. Formal institutions are explicitly set forth by a
relevant authority and informal institutions are generally unwritten societal rules, norms, and
traditions.
 Primary or meta-institutions are institutions that encompass many other institutions, both formal
and informal (e.g. the family, government, the economy, education, and religion). Most important
institutions, considered abstractly, have both objective and subjective aspects: examples
include money and marriage. The institution of money encompasses many formal organizations,
including banks and government treasury departments and stock exchanges, which may be termed,
"institutions," as well as subjective experiences, which guide people in their pursuit of personal well-
being. Powerful institutions are able to imbue a paper currency with certain value, and to induce
millions into production and trade in pursuit of economic ends abstractly denominated in that
currency's units. The subjective experience of money is so pervasive and persuasive that economists
talk of the "money illusion" and try to disabuse their students of it, in preparation for learning
economic analysis.
 Examples of institutions include:

 Family: The family is the center of the child's life, as infants are totally dependent on others. The
family teaches children cultural values and attitudes about themselves and others. Children learn
continuously from the environment that adults create. Children also become aware of class at a very
early age and assign different values to each class accordingly.

 Religion: Some believe religion is like an ethnic or cultural category, making it less likely for the
individuals to break from religious affiliations and be more socialized in this setting. Parental religious
participation is the most influential part of religious socialization—more so than religious peers or
religious beliefs.

 Peer groups: A peer group is a social group whose members have interests, social positions and
age in common. This is where children can escape supervision and learn to form relationships on their
own. The influence of the peer group typically peaks during adolescence however peer groups generally
only affect short term interests unlike the family which has long term influence.

 Economic systems: Economic systems dictate "acceptable alternatives for consumption," "social
values of consumption alternatives," the "establishment of dominant values," and "the nature of
involvement in consumption".Capitalist society may encourage the growth of centralization and
interdependence under the control of an elite. Socialism encourages democratic, bottom-up control by
the people and their communities.

 Legal systems: Children are pressured from both parents and peers to conform and obey certain
laws or norms of the group/community. Parents’ attitudes toward legal systems influence children’s
views as to what is legally acceptable. For example, children whose parents are continually in jail are
more accepting of incarceration.

 Penal systems: The penal systems acts upon prisoners and the guards. Prison is a separate
environment from that of normal society; prisoners and guards form their own communities and create
their own social norms. Guards serve as "social control agents" who discipline and provide security.
From the view of the prisoners, the communities can be oppressive and domineering, causing feelings of
defiance and contempt towards the guards. Because of the change in societies, prisoners experience
loneliness, a lack of emotional relationships, a decrease in identity and "lack of security and
autonomy".Both the inmates and the guards feel tense, fearful, and defensive, which creates an uneasy
atmosphere within the community. See sociology of punishment.

 Language: People learn to socialize differently depending on the specific language and culture
in which they live. A specific example of this is code switching. This is where immigrant children learn
to behave in accordance with the languages used in their lives: separate languages at home and in peer
groups (mainly in educational settings). Depending on the language and situation at any given time,
people will socialize differently.

 Mass media: The mass media are the means for delivering impersonal communications directed
to a vast audience. The term media comes from Latin meaning, "middle," suggesting that the media's
function is to connect people. The media can teach norms and values by way of representing symbolic
reward and punishment for different kinds of behavior. Mass media has enormous effects on our
attitudes and behavior, notably in regards to aggression.

 Learning: Learning can be social or nonsocial. Consider the example of a child learning about
bees. If is child is exploring and playing with no one else around, the child may see a bee and touch it
(out of curiosity). If the child is stung by the bee, the child learns that touching bees is associated with
pain. This is nonsocial learning, since no one else was around. In contrast, a child may benefit from
social learning about bees. If the child is with mom, dad or anyone else, the child's inquisitive approach
to a bee may lead to some kind of social intervention. Maybe Aunt Emy sees the child reaching for a bee
and simply points the child in another direction, saying "Look at that pretty butterfly." Maybe Uncle Ed
would say, "Don’t touch the bee, because it can hurt you and make you cry." Maybe Mom would have
said, "Honey, stay away from bees because they sting." There are all sorts of ways that people can
interact with a child to help the child learn to avoid ever being stung. Any and all of these social
interventions allow the child to benefit from social learning, though some of these social interventions
may be more educational and useful than others.

 Educational institutions – schools (preschool, primary/elementary, secondary, and post-

secondary/higher –see sociology of education)

 Research community – academia and universities; research institutes

 Medicine – hospitals and other health care institutions

 Military or paramilitary forces

  Industry – businesses, including corporations – see financial
institution, factory, capitalism, division of labour, social class, industrial sociology

 Civil society or NGOs – charitable organizations; advocacy groups; political parties; think
tanks; virtual communities

Association
A group of people who work together in a single organization for a particular purpose.

Status
Social status is the relative respect, competence, and deference accorded to people, groups, and organizations in
a society. At its core, status is about who is thought to be comparatively better. These beliefs about who is better
or worse are broadly shared among members of a society. As such, status hierarchies decide who gets to "call
the shots," who is worthy, and who deserves access to valuable resources. In so doing, shared cultural beliefs
uphold systems of social stratification by making inequality in society appear natural and fair. Status hierarchies
appear to be universal across human societies, affording valued benefits to those who occupy the higher rungs,
such as better health, social approval, resources, influence, and freedom.

Role
 A role (also rôle or social role) is a set of connected behaviors, rights, obligations, beliefs, and
norms as conceptualized by people in a social situation. It is an expected or free or continuously
changing behaviour and may have a given individual social status or social position. It is vital to
both functionalist and interactionist understandings of society. Social role posits the following about
social behaviour:

1. The division of labour in society takes the form of the interaction among heterogeneous
specialised positions, we call roles.

2. Social roles included appropriate and permitted forms of behaviour, guided by social norms,
which are commonly known and hence determine the expectations for appropriate behaviour in these
roles.

3. Roles are occupied by individuals, who are called actors.

4. When individuals approve of a social role (i.e., they consider the

role legitimate and constructive), they will incur costs to conform to role norms, and will also incur
costs to punish those who violate role norms.

5. Changed conditions can render a social role outdated or illegitimate, in which case social
pressures are likely to lead to role change.

6. The anticipation of rewards and punishments, as well as the satisfaction of behaving prosocially,
account for why agents conform to role requirements.
 The notion of the role is examined in the social sciences, more
specifically economics, sociology and organisation theory.

 Role theory is the sociological study of role development, concerned with explaining what forces
cause people to develop the expectations of their own and others' behaviours. According to sociologist
Bruce Biddle (1986), the five major models of role theory include:

1. Functional Role Theory, which examines role development as shared social norms for a given
social position,

2. Symbolic Interactionist Role Theory, which examines role development as the outcome of
individual interpretation of responses to behaviour,

3. Structural Role Theory, which emphasises the influence of society rather than the individual in
roles and utilises mathematical models,

4. Organizational Role Theory, which examines role development in organisations, and

5. Cognitive Role Theory, which is summarised by Flynn and Lemay as "the relationship between
expectations and behaviours"

Social Norms
 From a sociological perspective, social norms are informal understandings that govern the
behavior of members of a society. Social psychology recognizes smaller group units, such as a team or
an office, may also endorse norms separately or in addition to cultural or societal expectations. In other
words, norms are regarded as collective representations of acceptable group conduct as well as
individual perceptions of particular group conduct. They can be viewed as cultural products (including
values, customs, and traditions) which represent individuals' basic knowledge of what others do and
think that they should do.
 Furthermore, in the field of social psychology, the roles of norms are emphasized which can
guide behavior in a certain situation or environment as "mental representations of appropriate
behavior".For example, it has been shown that normative messages can promote pro-social behavior,
including decreasing alcohol use and increasing voter turnout and sustainability. According to the
psychological definition of social norms' behavioral component, norms have two dimensions: how much
a behaviour is exhibited, and how much the group approves of that behavior. Both of these dimensions
can be used in normative messages to alter norms and subsequently alter behaviors; for example, a
message can target the former dimension by describing high levels of voter turnout in order to encourage
more turnout. At the same time, norms also can be changed contingent on the observed behavior of
others (how much behavior is exhibited). In fact, in Sherif (1936), one confederate was able to affect the
development of a group norm related to the autokinetic effect.
 For Talcott Parsons of the functionalist school, norms dictate the interactions of people in all
social encounters. On the other hand, Karl Marx believed that norms are used to promote the creation
 of roles in society which allows for people of different levels of social class structure to be able to
function properly. Marx claims that this power dynamic creates social order.
 Heinrich Popitz is convinced that the establishment of social norms, that make the future actions
of alter foreseeable for ego, solves the problem of contingency (Niklas Luhmann). In this way, ego can
count on those actions as if they would already have been performed and does not have to wait for their
actual execution; social interaction is thus accelerated. Important factors in the standardization of
behavior are sanctions and social roles.

UNIT III: Individual & Society

 Culture, Stages of Socialization

 Process and Agencies
 Theories of Socialization

Culture
 Culture (/ˈkʌltʃər/) is the social behavior and norms found in human societies. Culture is
considered a central concept in anthropology, encompassing the range of phenomena that are transmitted
through social learning in human societies.
 When used as a count noun, a "culture" is the set of customs, traditions, and values of a society
or community, such as an ethnic group or nation. Culture is the set of knowledge acquired over time.

 The sociology of culture concerns culture as manifested in society. For sociologist Georg
Simmel (1858–1918), culture referred to "the cultivation of individuals through the agency of external
forms which have been objectified in the course of history."[29] As such, culture in the sociological field
can be defined as the ways of thinking, the ways of acting, and the material objects that together shape a
people's way of life. Culture can be any of two types, non-material culture or material culture.[1] Non-
material culture refers to the non-physical ideas that individuals have about their culture, including
values, belief systems, rules, norms, morals, language, organizations, and institutions, while material
culture is the physical evidence of a culture in the objects and architecture they make or have made. The
term tends to be relevant only in archeological and anthropological studies, but it specifically means all
material evidence which can be attributed to culture, past or present.
 Cultural sociology first emerged in Weimar Germany (1918–1933), where sociologists such
as Alfred Weber used the term Kultursoziologie (cultural sociology). Cultural sociology was then
"reinvented" in the English-speaking world as a product of the "cultural turn" of the 1960s, which
ushered in structuralist and postmodern approaches to social science. This type of cultural sociology
may be loosely regarded as an approach incorporating cultural analysis and critical theory. Cultural
sociologists tend to reject scientific methods, instead hermeneutically focusing on words, artifacts and
symbols.[30] "Culture" has since become an important concept across many branches of sociology,
including resolutely scientific fields like social stratification and social network analysis. As a result,
there has been a recent influx of quantitative sociologists to the field. Thus, there is now a growing
group of sociologists of culture who are, confusingly, not cultural sociologists. These scholars reject the
 abstracted postmodern aspects of cultural sociology, and instead look for a theoretical backing in the
more scientific vein of social psychology and cognitive science.

Socialization
In sociology, socialization is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society. Socialization
encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social and cultural continuity are
attained".[1]:5[2] Socialization is strongly connected to developmental psychology.[3] Humans need social
experiences to learn their culture and to survive.[4] Socialization essentially represents the whole process of
learning throughout the life course and is a central influence on the behavior, beliefs, and actions of adults as
well as of children.

Socialization of Stages

 Socialisation # 1. The Oral Stage:

 In the womb the foetus is warm and comfortable. At birth, the baby faces his first crisis: he must
breathe, he must exert himself to be fed, he is susceptible to cold, wet and other discomforts. He cries a
good deal in order to attract attention.
 During the first stage of socialisation, he seeks to establish what is called oral dependency. By
his cries he is able to build up fairly definite expectations about feeding time and also about his pressing
needs for care.
 At this stage, the baby is not involved in the family as a whole. He is rather involved only in the sub-
system consisting of him and his mother. If the father or anyone else in the family performs the role of the
mother in caring for the baby no role differentiation is made.
 That person will also be performing the role of ‘mother’. At this stage, the baby does not seem to
internalise any role at all. He is so passive as compared to his mother that it is doubtful as to whether he
internalizes two roles at all. By the time oral dependency has been established, his own role and that of his
mother are probably ‘merged’ together. This is the stage, according to Freud, of “primary identification.”

 Socialisation # 2. The Anal Stage:

 This stage probably begins soon after the first year and extends up to the third year. This period is called
anal stage because toilet training is the main focus of attention of the socializing agent, particularly mother.
During this stage, the child internalizes two roles his own and that of his mother .These two roles are now clearly
separated. The child not only receives care, he also receives love and gives love in return.
 During this stage, the child is taught as to how to discriminate between ‘correct’ and Incorrect’
behaviour, first by advice and/or hints given by the mother and, secondly, by being rewarded or appreciated for
correct performance and not rewarded or appreciated for incorrect behaviour.
 Socialisation # 3. The Puberty Stage:

 This stage extends from the fourth year to puberty, (i.e., age of 12 or 13). In the course of the
third stage, the child becomes a member of the family as a whole. He identifies himself with the social
role ascribed to him on the basis of his biological sex.
 Identification means either of two closely related things:
o One identifies with a social role. That is, one not only internalizes the role but adopts it as
one’s own.

o One identifies with a social group. That is, one internalizes the role system of the group
and considers oneself a member of it.

 Identification in the first sense links a boy with his father and brothers, but net with his mother. A
girl, on the other hand, identifies with her mother and sisters, but not with her father. Identification in the
second sense links a boy or a girl with the family, including both parents and all siblings.

 There are, thus, three kinds of identification:

o With the father or mother, as the case may be

o With the siblings.

o With the family as a member.

 Socialisation # 4. The Adolescence Stage:

 Adolescence, which begins roughly at puberty, is the age during which the young boy or girl has
a tendency to get away from parental control. The “crisis” of this age arises from the fact that
adolescents hanker after greater freedom while there is parental control over many activities in which he
loves to have his own way.

 The strain involved in transition during the adolescent period depends upon the cultural
definition of adult roles. In some societies vital decisions concerning adolescents are taken by the
parents or guardians. That makes transition easier. In India it is so. Thus, the choice of a marriage
partner is made by elders within conventional rules.

 In some others, particularly in Western societies, adolescents are required to take important
decisions more or less on their own. Obviously, in such cases transition is somewhat different and puts
strain on them.

Process of Socialization
 In sociology, socialization is the process of internalizing the norms and ideologies of society.
Socialization encompasses both learning and teaching and is thus "the means by which social
and cultural continuity are attained".[1]:5[2] Socialization is strongly connected to developmental
psychology.[3] Humans need social experiences to learn their culture and to survive.[4] Socialization
essentially represents the whole process of learning throughout the life course and is a central influence
on the behavior, beliefs, and actions of adults as well as of children.[5][6]
 Socialization may lead to desirable outcomes—sometimes labeled "moral"—as regards the
society where it occurs. Individual views are influenced by the society's consensus and usually tend
toward what that society finds acceptable or "normal". Socialization provides only a partial explanation
for human beliefs and behaviors, maintaining that agents are not blank slates predetermined by their
environment;[7] scientific research provides evidence that people are shaped by both social influences
and genes.[8][9][10][11] Genetic studies have shown that a person's environment interacts with his or her
genotype to influence behavioral outcomes
 Human infants are born without any culture. They must be transformed by their parents,
teachers, and others into cultural and socially adept animals. The general process of acquiring culture is
referred to as socialization. During socialization, we learn the language of the culture we are born into
as well as the roles we are to play in life. For instance, girls learn how to be daughters, sisters, friends,
wives, and mothers. In addition, they learn about the occupational roles that their society has in store for
them. We also learn and usually adopt our culture's norms through the socialization process. Norms are
the conceptions of appropriate and expected behavior that are held by most members of the society.
While socialization refers to the general process of acquiring culture, anthropologists use the
term enculturation for the process of being socialized to a particular culture. You were enculturated to
your specific culture by your parents and the other people who raised you.
 Socialization is important in the process of personality formation. While much of human
personality is the result of our genes, the socialization process can mold it in particular directions by
encouraging specific beliefs and attitudes as well as selectively providing experiences. This very likely
accounts for much of the difference between the common personality types in one society in comparison
to another.

 Successful socialization can result in uniformity within a society. If all children receive the same
socialization, it is likely that they will share the same beliefs and expectations. This fact has been a
strong motivation for national governments around the world to standardize education and make it
compulsory for all children. Deciding what things will be taught and how they are taught is a powerful
political tool for controlling people. Those who internalize the norms of society are less likely to break
the law or to want radical social changes. In all societies, however, there are individuals who do not
conform to culturally defined standards of normalcy because they were "abnormally" socialized, which
is to say that they have not internalized the norms of society. These people are usually labeled by their
society as deviant or even mentally ill.

 Large-scale societies, such as the United States, are usually composed of many ethnic groups.
As a consequence, early socialization in different families often varies in techniques, goals, and
expectations. Since these complex societies are not culturally homogenous, they do not have unanimous
agreement about what should be the shared norms. Not surprisingly, this national ambiguity usually
results in more tolerance of social deviancy--it is more acceptable to be different in appearance,
personality, and actions in such large-scale societies.

Agencies of Socialization
 Socialization is a lifelong process during which we learn about social expectations and how to
interact with other people. Nearly all of the behavior that we consider to be 'human nature' is actually
learned through socialization. And, it is during socialization that we learn how to walk, talk, and feed
ourselves, about behavioral norms that help us fit in to our society, and so much more.

 Socialization occurs throughout our life, but some of the most important socialization occurs in
childhood. So, let's talk about the most influential agents of socialization. These are the people or groups
responsible for our socialization during childhood - including family, school, peers, and mass media.
 There is no better way to start than to talk about the role of family in our social development,
as family is usually considered to be the most important agent of socialization. As infants, we are
completely dependent on others to survive. Our parents, or those who play the parent role, are
responsible for teaching us to function and care for ourselves. They, along with the rest of our family,
also teach us about close relationships, group life, and how to share resources. Additionally, they provide
us with our first system of values, norms, and beliefs - a system that is usually a reflection of their own
social status, religion, ethnic group, and more.

 For example, Alexander, a young boy who lives in America, was born to an immigrant family.
He grew up bilingual and was taught the importance of collectivistic values through socialization with
his family. This experience differs drastically from someone born to an older, 'traditional' American
family that would emphasize the English language and individualistic values.

 The next important agent of childhood socialization is the school. Of course, the official purpose
of school is to transfer subject knowledge and teach life skills, such as following directions and meeting
deadlines. But, students don't just learn from the academic curriculum prepared by teachers and school
administrators. In school, we also learn social skills through our interactions with teachers, staff, and
other students. For example, we learn the importance of obeying authority and that to be successful, we
must learn to be quiet, to wait, and sometimes to act interested even when we're not.

 Alexander, like other children, might even learn things from his teacher that she did not intend to
teach. For instance, he might learn that it's best to yell out an answer instead of raising his hand. When
he does so, he gets rare attention from the teacher and is hardly ever punished

 As the child grows older, his contemporaries begin to influence him. He spends most of his spare
hours outside his work and study schedule with his peers in the playground and places outside his home.
The attraction of peers is virtually irresistible to him.

 He learns from them and they also learn from him. With the passage of time, the peer group
influence surpasses at of parents significantly. It is not surprising that teen age is the age of parent-child
misunderstanding.
  In the socialisation of the child, the members of the family, particularly those who exercise
authority over him, and the members of his peer group exercise two different kinds of influence upon
him. Both authoritarian relationships (typified by the former) and equalitarian relationships (typified by
the latter) are equally significant to him.

 He acquires the virtues of respect, constraint and obedience from the first type of relationships,
and the virtues of co-operation based on trust and mutual understanding from the second.

 In literate societies another important agency of socialisation is the printed word in books and
magazines. Our cultural world—experiences and knowledge, values and beliefs, superstitions and
prejudices—is expressed in words.
 “Words rush at us in torrent and cascade; they leap into our vision as in newspaper, magazine and
textbook…… The words are always written by someone and these people too—authors and editors and
advertisers— join the teachers, the peers and the parents in the socialisation process”.
 Agency # 5. The Mass Media:
 Apart from newspapers which carry printed words, the two other mass media, viz., the radio and
television, exercise tremendous influence in the socialisation process. They “assault our ears” and
communicate directly their messages and these messages also “contain in capsule form the premises of
our culture, its attitudes and ideologies”.
 The role of television, in particular, is very significant. It communicates directly to both our ears
and eyes and thus leaves a strong impression.
 In individual cases, of course, the importance of these influences varies. Different people react to
the same suggestion differently. Responses vary in terms of their natural predilections. “Some of us
respect tradition; others fear the opinion of their peers; and still others prefer to listen to the ‘thousand
tongues’ of conscience”.
 David Riesman has characterised the first group as ‘tradition-directed’, the second as ‘other
directed’ and the third as ‘inner-directed’. While discussing the nature and impact of socialisation
process, one cannot afford to ignore these innate characteristics of human nature.

Theories of Socialization

1. Cooley

In 1902, Charles Horton Cooley created the concept of the looking-glass self, which explored how identity is
formed.

Key Points

 The looking-glass self is a social psychological concept stating that a person’s self grows out of
society’s interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others.
  There are three components of the looking-glass self: We imagine how we appear to others, we
imagine the judgment of that appearance, and we develop our self ( identity ) through the judgments
of others.
 George Herbert Mead described self as “taking the role of the other,” the premise for which the
self is actualized. Through interaction with others, we begin to develop an identity about who we are,
as well as empathy for others.
Key Terms

 George Herbert Mead: (1863–1931) An American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist,

primarily affiliated with the University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished
pragmatists.

 Looking-Glass self: The looking-glass self is a social psychological concept, created by Charles
Horton Cooley in 1902, stating that a person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions
and the perceptions of others.

 Charles Horton Cooley: Charles Horton Cooley (August 17, 1864-May 8, 1929) was an
American sociologist and the son of Thomas M. Cooley. He studied and went on to teach economics
and sociology at the University of Michigan, and he was a founding member and the eighth president
of the American Sociological Association.

The looking-glass self is a social psychological concept created by Charles Horton Cooley in 1902. It states
that a person’s self grows out of society’s interpersonal interactions and the perceptions of others. The term
refers to people shaping their identity based on the perception of others, which leads the people to reinforce
other people’s perspectives on themselves. People shape themselves based on what other people perceive
and confirm other people’s opinion of themselves.

There are three main components of the looking-glass self:

 First, we imagine how we must appear to others.

 Second, we imagine the judgment of that appearance.
 Finally, we develop our self through the judgments of others.

In hypothesizing the framework for the looking glass self, Cooley said, “the mind is mental” because “the
human mind is social. ” In other words, the mind’s mental ability is a direct result of human social interaction.
Beginning as children, humans begin to define themselves within the context of their socializations. The child
learns that the symbol of his/her crying will elicit a response from his/her parents, not only when they are in
need of necessities, such as food, but also as a symbol to receive their attention. George Herbert Mead described
the self as “taking the role of the other,” the premise for which the self is actualized. Through interaction with
others, we begin to develop an identity about who we are, as well as empathy for others.

An example of the looking-self concept is computer technology. Using computer technology, people can create
an avatar, a customized symbol that represents the computer user. For example, in the virtual world Second
Life, the computer-user can create a human-like avatar that reflects the user in regard to race, age, physical
makeup, status, and the like. By selecting certain physical characteristics or symbols, the avatar reflects how the
creator seeks to be perceived in the virtual world and how the symbols used in the creation of the avatar
influence others’ actions toward the computer user.

2. Mead

For Mead, the self arises out of the social act of communication, which is the basis for socialization.

Key Points

 George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist and one of
several distinguished pragmatists.
 The two most important roots of Mead’s work are the philosophy of pragmatism and social
behaviorism.
 Pragmatism is a wide-ranging philosophical position that states that people define the social and
physical “objects” they encounter in the world according to their use for them.
One of his most influential ideas was the emergence of mind and self from the communication
process between organisms, discussed in the book, Mind, Self and Society, also known as social
behaviorism.
Key Terms

 symbolic interactionism: Symbolic interactionism is the study of the patterns of communication,

interpretation, and adjustment between individuals.

 social behaviorism: Discussed in the book, Mind, Self and Society, social behaviorism refers to
the emergence of mind and self from the communication process between organisms.

 pragmatism: The theory that problems should be met with practical solutions rather than
ideological ones; a concentration on facts rather than emotions or ideals.

George Herbert Mead was an American philosopher, sociologist, and psychologist, primarily affiliated with the
University of Chicago, where he was one of several distinguished pragmatists. He is regarded as one of the
founders of social psychology and the American sociological tradition in general.

The two most important roots of Mead’s work, and of symbolic interactionism in general, are the philosophy of
pragmatism and social behaviorism. Pragmatism is a wide ranging philosophical position from which several
aspects of Mead’s influences can be identified. There are four main tenets of pragmatism: First, to pragmatists
true reality does not exist “out there” in the real world, it “is actively created as we act in and toward the world.
Second, people remember and base their knowledge of the world on what has been useful to them and are likely
to alter what no longer “works. ” Third, people define the social and physical “objects” they encounter in the
world according to their use for them. Lastly, if we want to understand actors, we must base that understanding
on what people actually do. In Pragmatism nothing practical or useful is held to be necessarily true, nor is
anything which helps to survive merely in the short term. For example, to believe my cheating spouse is faithful
may help me feel better now, but it is certainly not useful from a more long-term perspective because it doesn’t
align with the facts (and is therefore not true).

Mead was a very important figure in twentieth century social philosophy. One of his most influential ideas was
the emergence of mind and self from the communication process between organisms, discussed in the
book, Mind, Self and Society, also known as social behaviorism. For Mead, mind arises out of the social act of
communication. Mead’s concept of the social act is relevant, not only to his theory of mind, but also to all facets
of his social philosophy. His theory of “mind, self, and society” is, in effect, a philosophy of the act from the
standpoint of a social process involving the interaction of many individuals, just as his theory of knowledge and
value is a philosophy of the act from the standpoint of the experiencing individual in interaction with an
environment.

Mead is a major American philosopher by virtue of being, along with John Dewey, Charles Peirce, and William
James, one of the founders of pragmatism. He also made significant contributions to the philosophies of nature,
science, and history, to philosophical anthropology, and to process philosophy. Dewey and Alfred North
Whitehead considered Mead a thinker of the first rank. He is a classic example of a social theorist whose work
does not fit easily within conventional disciplinary boundaries.

3. Freud

According to Freud, human behavior, experience, and cognition are largely determined by unconscious drives
and events in early childhood.

Key Points

 Psychoanalysis is a clinical method for treating psychopathology through dialogue between a

patient and a psychoanalyst.
 The specifics of the analyst’s interventions typically include confronting and clarifying the
patient’s pathological defenses, wishes, and guilt.
 Freud named his new theory the Oedipus complex after the famous Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex
by Sophocles. The Oedipus conflict was described as a state of psychosexual development and
awareness.
 The id is the completely unconscious, impulsive, child-like portion of the psyche that operates on
the “pleasure principle” and is the source of basic impulses and drives.
 The ego acts according to the reality principle (i.e., it seeks to please the id’s drive in realistic
ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing grief).
 The super-ego aims for perfection. It comprises that organized part of the personality structure.
 The super-ego aims for perfection. It comprises that organised part of the personality structure
Key Terms

 Oedipus complex: In Freudian theory, the complex of emotions aroused in a child by an

unconscious sexual desire for the parent of the opposite sex.
  the unconscious: For Freud, the unconscious refers to the mental processes of which individuals
make themselves unaware.

Sigmund Freud was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis. Interested in
philosophy as a student, Freud later decided to become a neurological researcher in cerebral palsy, Aphasia, and
microscopic neuroanatomy. Freud went on to develop theories about the unconscious mind and the mechanism
of repression and established the field of verbal psychotherapy by creating psychoanalysis, a clinical method for
treating psychopathology through dialogue between a patient and a psychoanalyst. The most common problems
treatable with psychoanalysis include phobias, conversions, compulsions, obsessions, anxiety, attacks,
depressions, sexual dysfunctions, a wide variety of relationship problems (such as dating and marital strife), and
a wide variety of character problems (painful shyness, meanness, obnoxiousness, workaholism,
hyperseductiveness, hyperemotionality, hyperfastidiousness).

The Basic Tenets of Psychoanalysis

The basic tenets of psychoanalysis include the following:

 First, human behavior, experience, and cognition are largely determined by irrational drives.
 Those drives are largely unconscious.
 Attempts to bring those drives into awareness meet psychological resistance in the form of
defense mechanisms.
 Besides the inherited constitution of personality, one’s development is determined by events in
early childhood.
 Conflicts between conscious view of reality and unconscious (repressed) material can result in
mental disturbances, such as neurosis, neurotic traits, anxiety, depression etc.
 The liberation from the effects of the unconscious material is achieved through bringing this
material into the consciousness.

Psychoanalysis as Treatment

Freudian psychoanalysis refers to a specific type of treatment in which the “analysand” (the analytic patient)
verbalizes thoughts, including free associations, fantasies, and dreams, from which the analyst induces the
unconscious conflicts. This causes the patient’s symptoms and character problems, and interprets them for the
patient to create insight for resolution of the problems. The specifics of the analyst’s interventions typically
include confronting and clarifying the patient’s pathological defenses, wishes, and guilt. Through the analysis of
conflicts, including those contributing to resistance and those involving transference onto the analyst of
distorted reactions, psychoanalytic treatment can hypothesize how patients unconsciously are their own worst
enemies: how unconscious, symbolic reactions that have been stimulated by experience are causing symptoms.

The Id, The Ego, Super-Ego

Freud hoped to prove that his model was universally valid and thus turned to ancient mythology and
contemporary ethnography for comparative material. Freud named his new theory the Oedipus complex after
the famous Greek tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles. The Oedipus conflict was described as a state of
psychosexual development and awareness. In his later work, Freud proposed that the human psyche could be
divided into three parts: Id, ego, and super-ego. The id is the completely unconscious, impulsive, child-like
portion of the psyche that operates on the “pleasure principle” and is the source of basic impulses and drives; it
seeks immediate pleasure and gratification. The ego acts according to the reality principle (i.e., it seeks to please
the id’s drive in realistic ways that will benefit in the long term rather than bringing grief). Finally, the super-ego
aims for perfection. It comprises that organized part of the personality structure, mainly but not entirely
unconscious, that includes the individual’s ego, ideals, spiritual goals, and the psychic agency that criticizes and
prohibits his or her drives, fantasies, feelings, and actions.

4. Piaget

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of
human intelligence.

Key Points

 Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known
for his epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and
epistemological view are together called “genetic epistemology,” the study of the origins of
knowledge.
 Piaget argued that all people undergo a series of stages and transformations. Transformations
refer to all manners of changes that a thing or person can experience, while states refer to the
conditions or the appearances in which things or persons can be found between transformations.
 Piaget identified four stages of cognitive development: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete
operational, and formal operational. Through these stages, children progress in their thinking and
logical processes.
 Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and
development of human intelligence that explains how individuals perceive and adapt to new
information through the processes of assimilation and accommodation.
 Assimilation is the process of taking one’s environment and new information and fitting it into
pre-existing cognitive schemas. Accommodation is the process of taking one’s environment and new
information, and altering one’s pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information.
 Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be
seen, heard, or touched.
 Object permanence is the understanding that objects continue to exist even when they cannot be
seen, heard, or touched.
 The concrete operational stage is the third of four stages of cognitive development in Piaget’s
theory.
 The final stage is known as formal operational stage (adolescence and into adulthood):
Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts.
Key Terms
  genetic epistemology: Genetic epistemology is a study of the origins of knowledge. The
discipline was established by Jean Piaget.

 object permanence: The understanding (typically developed during early infancy) that an object
still exists even when it disappears from sight, or other senses.

 accommodation: Accommodation, unlike assimilation, is the process of taking one’s environment

and new information, and altering one’s pre-existing schemas in order to fit in the new information.

Jean Piaget was a French-speaking Swiss developmental psychologist and philosopher known for his
epistemological studies with children. His theory of cognitive development and epistemological view are
together called “genetic epistemology. ” He believed answers for the epistemological questions at his time could
be better addressed by looking at their genetic components. This led to his experiments with children and
adolescents in which he explored the thinking and logic processes used by children of different ages.

Piaget’s theory of cognitive development is a comprehensive theory about the nature and development of
human intelligence. Piaget believed that reality is a dynamic system of continuous change and as such, it is
defined in reference to the two conditions that define dynamic systems. Specifically, he argued that reality
involves transformations and states. Transformations refer to all manners of changes that a thing or person can
undergo. States refer to the conditions or the appearances in which things or persons can be found between
transformations.

Piaget explains the growth of characteristics and types of thinking as the result of four stages of development.
The stages are as follows:

 The sensorimotor stage is the first of the four stages in cognitive development that “extends from
birth to the acquisition of language. ” In this stage, infants construct an understanding of the world by
coordinating experiences with physical actions–in other words, infants gain knowledge of the word
from the physical actions they perform. The development of object permanence is one of the most
important accomplishments of this stage.
 The pre-operational stage is the second stage of cognitive development. It begins around the end
of the second year. During this stage, the child learns to use and to represent objects by images,
words, and drawings. The child is able to form stable concepts, as well as mental reasoning and
magical beliefs.
 The third stage is called the “concrete operational stage” and occurs approximately between the
ages of 7 and 11 years. In this stage, children develop the appropriate use of logic and are able to
think abstractly, make rational judgments about concrete phenomena, and systematically manipulate
symbols related to concrete objects.
 The final stage is known as the “formal operational stage” (adolescence and into adulthood).
Intelligence is demonstrated through the logical use of symbols related to abstract concepts. At this
point, the person is capable of hypothetical and deductive reasoning.

When studying the field of education Piaget identified two processes: accommodation and assimilation.
Assimilation describes how humans perceive and adapt to new information. It is the process of taking one’s
environment and new information and fitting it into pre-existing cognitive schemas. Accommodation, unlike
assimilation, is the process of taking one’s environment and new information and altering one’s pre-existing
schemas in order to fit in the new information.

5. Levinson

Daniel J. Levinson was one of the founders of the field of positive adult development.

Key Points

 As a theory, positive adult development asserts that development continues after adolescence,
long into adulthood.
 In positive adult development research, scientists question not only whether development ceases
after adolescence, but also a notion, popularized by many gerontologists, that a decline occurs after
late adolescence.
 Positive adult developmental processes are divided into at least six areas of study: hierarchical
complexity, knowledge, experience, expertise, wisdom, and spirituality.
Key Terms

 stasis: inactivity; a freezing, or state of motionlessness

 positive adult development: Positive adult development is one of the four major forms of adult
developmental study that can be identified.

 decline: downward movement, fall.

Levinson’s two most important books were Seasons of a Man’s Life and Seasons of a Woman’s Life, which
continue to be highly influential works. His multidisciplinary approach is reflected in his work on the life
structure theory of adult development.

Positive Adult Development

Positive adult development is one of the four major forms of adult developmental study. The other three are
directionless change, stasis, and decline. Positive adult developmental processes are divided into the following
six areas of study:

 hierarchical complexity
 knowledge
 experience
 expertise
 wisdom
 spirituality
Research in this field questions not only whether development ceases after adolescence, but also the notion,
popularized by many gerontologists, that a decline occurs after late adolescence. Research shows that positive
development does still occur during adulthood. Recent studies indicate that such development is useful in
predicting things such as an individual’s health, life satisfaction, and ability to contribute to society.

Now that there is scientific proof that individuals continue to develop as adults, researchers have begun
investigating how to foster such development. Rather than just describing, as phenomenon, the fact that adults
continue to develop, researchers are interested in aiding and guiding that development. For educators of adults
in formal settings, this has been a priority in many ways already. More recently, researchers have begun to
experiment with hypotheses about fostering positive adult development. These methods are used in
organizational and educational setting. Some use developmentally-designed, structured public discourse to
address complex public issues.

UNIT IV: Social Stratification & Social Change

 Meaning
 Theories of Social Stratification
 Theories and factors of Social change
 Law, Social change and social control

Meaning of Social Stratification

 Social stratification is a kind of social differentiation whereby a society groups people
into socioeconomic strata, based upon their occupation and income, wealth and social status, or
derived power (social and political). As such, stratification is the relative social position of persons
within a social group, category, geographic region, or social unit. In modern Western societies, social
stratification typically is distinguished as three social classes: (i) the upper class, (ii) the middle class,
and (iii) the lower class; in turn, each class can be subdivided into strata, e.g. the upper-stratum, the
middle-stratum, and the lower stratum.[1] Moreover, a social stratum can be formed upon the bases
of kinship, clan, tribe or caste, or all four.
 The categorization of people by social strata occurs in all societies, ranging from the
complex, state-based or polycentric societies to tribal and feudal societies, which are based upon socio-
economic relations among classes of nobility and classes of peasants. Historically, whether or
not hunter-gatherer societies can be defined as socially stratified or if social stratification began
with agricultureand common acts of social exchange, remains a debated matter in the social sciences.
[2]
Determining the structures of social stratification arises from inequalities of status among persons,
therefore, the degree of social inequality determines a person's social stratum. Generally, the greater
the social complexity of a society, the more social strata exist, by way of social differentiation.

Theories of Social Stratification

1. Karl Marx
  In Marxist theory, the modern mode of production consists of two main economic parts: the base
and the superstructure. The base encompasses the relations of production: employer–employee work
conditions, the technical division of labour, and property relations. Social class, according to Marx, is
determined by one's relationship to the means of production. There exist at least two classes in any class-
based society: the owners of the means of production and those who sell their labor to the owners of the
means of production. At times, Marx almost hints that the ruling classes seem to own the working class
itself as they only have their own labor power ('wage labor') to offer the more powerful in order to
survive. These relations fundamentally determine the ideas and philosophies of a society and additional
classes may form as part of the superstructure. Through the ideology of the ruling class—throughout
much of history, the land-owning aristocracy—false consciousness is promoted both through political
and non-political institutions but also through the arts and other elements of culture. When the
aristocracy falls, the bourgeoisie become the owners of the means of production in the capitalist system.
Marx predicted the capitalist mode would eventually give way, through its own internal conflict, to
revolutionary consciousness and the development of more egalitarian, more communist societies.
 Marx also described two other classes, the petite bourgeoisie and the lumpenproletariat. The
petite bourgeoisie is like a small business class that never really accumulates enough profit to become
part of the bourgeoisie, or even challenge their status. The lumpenproletariat is the underclass, those
with little to no social status. This includes prostitutes, beggars, the homeless or other untouchables in a
given society. Neither of these subclasses has much influence in Marx's two major classes, but it is
helpful to know that Marx did recognize differences within the classes.[5]
 According to Marvin Harris[6] and Tim Ingold,[7] Lewis Henry Morgan's accounts of egalitarian
hunter-gatherers formed part of Karl Marx' and Friedrich Engels' inspiration for communism. Morgan
spoke of a situation in which people living in the same community pooled their efforts and shared the
rewards of those efforts fairly equally. He called this "communism in living." But when Marx expanded
on these ideas, he still emphasized an economically oriented culture, with property defining the
fundamental relationships between people.[8] Yet, issues of ownership and property are arguably less
emphasized in hunter-gatherer societies.[9]This, combined with the very different social and economic
situations of hunter-gatherers may account for many of the difficulties encountered when implementing
communism in industrialized states. As Ingold points out: "The notion of communism, removed from
the context of domesticity and harnessed to support a project of social engineering for large-scale,
industrialized states with populations of millions, eventually came to mean something quite different
from what Morgan had intended: namely, a principle of redistribution that would override all ties of a
personal or familial nature, and cancel out their effects."[7]
 The counter-argument to Marxist's conflict theory is the theory of structural functionalism,
argued by Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore, which states that social inequality places a vital role in
the smooth operation of a society. The Davis–Moore hypothesis argues that a position does not bring
power and prestige because it draws a high income; rather, it draws a high income because it is
functionally important and the available personnel is for one reason or another scarce. Most high-income
jobs are difficult and require a high level of education to perform, and their compensation is a motivator
in society for people to strive to achieve more.[10]
2. Max Weber

Max Weber was strongly influenced by Marx's ideas but rejected the possibility of effective communism,
arguing that it would require an even greater level of detrimental social control and bureaucratization than
capitalist society. Moreover, Weber criticized the dialectical presumption of a proletariat revolt, maintaining it to
be unlikely.[11] Instead, he develops a three-component theory of stratification and the concept of life chances.
Weber held there are more class divisions than Marx suggested, taking different concepts from
both functionalist and Marxist theories to create his own system. He emphasizes the difference between class,
status and power, and treats these as separate but related sources of power, each with different effects on social
action. Working half a century later than Marx, Weber claims there to be four main social classes: the upper
class, the white collar workers, the petite bourgeoisie, and the manual working class. Weber's theory more-
closely resembles contemporary Western class structures, although economic status does not currently seem to
depend strictly on earnings in the way Weber envisioned.
Weber derives many of his key concepts on social stratification by examining the social structure of Germany.
He notes that, contrary to Marx's theories, stratification is based on more than simple ownership of capital.
Weber examines how many members of the aristocracy lacked economic wealth yet had strong political power.
Many wealthy families lacked prestige and power, for example, because they were Jewish. Weber introduced
three independent factors that form his theory of stratification hierarchy, which are; class, status, and power:

 Class: A person's economic position in a society, based on birth and individual achievement.[12] Weber
differs from Marx in that he does not see this as the supreme factor in stratification. Weber notes how
corporate executives control firms they typically do not own; Marx would have placed these people in
the proletariat despite their high incomes by virtue of the fact they sell their labor instead of owning capital.

 Status: A person's prestige, social honor, or popularity in a society. Weber notes that political power is
not rooted in capital value solely, but also in one's individual status. Poets or saints, for example, can have
extensive influence on society despite few material resources.

 Power: A person's ability to get their way despite the resistance of others, particularly in their ability to
engage social change. For example, individuals in government jobs, such as an employee of the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, or a member of the United States Congress, may hold little property or status but
still wield considerable social power.

3. C. Wright Mills

C. Wright Mills, drawing from the theories of Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca, contends that the imbalance
of power in society derives from the complete absence of countervailing powers against corporate leaders of
the Power elite.[14][15] Mills both incorporated and revised Marxist ideas. While he shared Marx's recognition of a
dominant wealthy and powerful class, Mills believed that the source for that power lay not only in the economic
realm but also in the political and military arenas.[14] During the 1950s, Mills stated that hardly anyone knew
about the power elite's existence, some individuals (including the elite themselves) denied the idea of such a
group, and other people vaguely believed that a small formation of a powerful elite existed.[14] "Some prominent
individuals knew that Congress had permitted a handful of political leaders to make critical decisions about
peace and war; and that two atomic bombs had been dropped on Japan in the name of the United States, but
neither they nor anyone they knew had been consulted."[14]
Mills explains that the power elite embody a privileged class whose members are able to recognize their high
position within society.[14] In order to maintain their highly exalted position within society, members of the
power elite tend to marry one another, understand and accept one another, and also work together.[14][15][pp. 4–5] The
most crucial aspect of the power elite's existence lays within the core of education.[14] "Youthful upper-class
members attend prominent preparatory schools, which not only open doors to such elite universities
as Harvard, Yale, and Princeton but also to the universities' highly exclusive clubs. These memberships in turn
pave the way to the prominent social clubs located in all major cities and serving as sites for important business
contacts."[14][15][p. 63–67] Examples of elite members who attended prestigious universities and were members of
highly exclusive clubs can be seen in George W. Bush and John Kerry. Both Bush and Kerry were members of
the Skull and Bones club while attending Yale University.[16] This club includes members of some of the most
powerful men of the twentieth century, all of which are forbidden to tell others about the secrets of their
exclusive club. Throughout the years, the Skull and Bones club has included presidents, cabinet officers,
Supreme Court justices, spies, captains of industry, and often their sons and daughters join the exclusive club,
creating a social and political network like none ever seen before.[16]
The upper class individuals who receive elite educations typically have the essential background and contacts to
enter into the three branches of the power elite: The political leadership, the military circle, and the corporate
elite.[14]

 The Political Leadership: Mills held that, prior to the end of World War II, leaders of corporations
became more prominent within the political sphere along with a decline in central decision-making among
professional politicians.[14]

 The Military Circle: During the 1950s-1960s, increasing concerns about warfare resulted in top
military leaders and issues involving defense funding and military personnel training becoming a top
priority within the United States. Most of the prominent politicians and corporate leaders have been strong
proponents of military spending.

 The Corporate Elite: Mills explains that during the 1950s, when the military emphasis was recognized,
corporate leaders worked with prominent military officers who dominated the development of policies.
Corporate leaders and high-ranking military officers were mutually supportive of each other.[14][15][pp. 274–276]
Mills shows that the power elite has an "inner-core" made up of individuals who are able to move from one
position of institutional power to another; for example, a prominent military officer who becomes a political
adviser or a powerful politician who becomes a corporate executive.[14] "These people have more knowledge
and a greater breadth of interests than their colleagues. Prominent bankers and financiers, who Mills considered
'almost professional go-betweens of economic, political, and military affairs,' are also members of the elite's
inner core.[14][15][pp. 288–289]
4. Anthropological theories

Anthropologists dispute the "universal" nature of social stratification, holding that it is not the standard among all
societies. John Gowdy (2006) writes, "Assumptions about human behaviour that members of market societies
believe to be universal, that humans are naturally competitive and acquisitive, and that social stratification is natural,
do not apply to many hunter-gatherer peoples. Non-stratified egalitarian or acephalous ("headless") societies exist
which have little or no concept of social hierarchy, political or economic status, class, or even permanent leadership.

Kinship-orientation

Anthropologists identify egalitarian cultures as "kinship-oriented," because they appear to value social
harmony more than wealth or status. These cultures are contrasted with economically oriented cultures
 (including states) in which status and material wealth are prized, and stratification, competition, and conflict
are common. Kinship-oriented cultures actively work to prevent social hierarchies from developing because
they believe that such stratification could lead to conflict and instability. Reciprocal altruism is one process
by which this is accomplished.

 A good example is given by Richard Borshay Lee in his account of the Khoisan, who
practice "insulting the meat." Whenever a hunter makes a kill, he is ceaselessly teased and ridiculed (in a
friendly, joking fashion) to prevent him from becoming too proud or egotistical. The meat itself is then
distributed evenly among the entire social group, rather than kept by the hunter. The level of teasing is
proportional to the size of the kill. Lee found this out when he purchased an entire cow as a gift for the group
he was living with, and was teased for weeks afterward about it (since obtaining that much meat could be
interpreted as showing off).

 Another example is the Indigenous Australians of Groote Eylandt and Bickerton Island, off the coast
of Arnhem Land, who have arranged their entire society—spiritually and economically—around a kind of gift
economy called renunciation. According to David H. Turner, in this arrangement, every person is expected to
give everything of any resource they have to any other person who needs or lacks it at the time. This has the
benefit of largely eliminating social problems like theft and relative poverty. However, misunderstandings
obviously arise when attempting to reconcile Aboriginal renunciative economics with the
competition/scarcity-oriented economics introduced to Australia by Anglo-European colonists.

Meaning of Social Change

Social change is an alteration in the social order of a society. Social change may include changes
in nature, social institutions, social behaviours, or social relations.
 Social change may refer to the notion of social progress or sociocultural evolution, the
philosophical idea that society moves forward by dialectical or evolutionary means.
 It may refer to a paradigmatic change in the socio-economic structure, for instance a shift
away from feudalism and towards capitalism.
 Accordingly, it may also refer to social revolution, such as the Socialist revolution presented
in Marxism, or to other social movements, such as Women's suffrage or the Civil rights movement.
Social change may be driven by cultural, religious, economic, scientific or technological forces.
Developmental psychology can play a role in social change. Social change comes about with
tangible/intangible resource inputs as social investment.

Factors of Social Change

1. Physical Environment

Certain geographic changes sometimes produce great social change. Climate, storms, social erosion,

earthquakes, floods, droughts etc., definitely affect social life and induce social change. Human life is closely

bound up with the geographical conditions of the earth.

Human history is full of examples that flourishing civilisations fell prey to natural calamities. The distribution

of population over various regions, the variations in the population densities, the agricultural production, flora

and fauna, the joys and hardships—all indicate a change when a change in the physical environment occurs.

 What to talk of rise and fall of civilisations, even our day-to-day life—our clothes, eating
material and habits, shelter design etc., all are influenced by the geographical conditions. Generally,
changes in physical environment force migration of people in large numbers and this brings major
changes in social life and cultural values also. Migration itself encourages change, for it brings a group
into a new environment, subject to its new social contacts, and confronts it with new problems.
 Though physical environment is an important factor which deeply affects social life, still it
cannot be regarded as the only factor responsible for the growth of human society. This extreme
approach was laid down by some geographical determinists (Buckle, Huntington, Miss Sample, J.
Huxley etc.), who held that geographical setting ultimately governs the form of society (family,
marriage, economy, religion, government) and explains social change. But this is not true today.
 Now man is in the position to affect change in his physical environment. Men adapt themselves
to their environment but they have the capacity to transform their physical environment according to
their needs and requirements. Bennett and Tumin (1949) aptly remarked: “It is perhaps as reasonable, if
not more so to insist that man modifies his physical environment rather than the environment modifies
man.”

2. Demographic (biological) Factor

 Broadly speaking, demography is concerned with the size and structure of human population.
The social structure of a society is closely related with the changes in the size, composition and distri-
bution of population. The size of the population is based mainly upon three factors—birth rate, death
rate and migration (immigration and emigration).
 The composition of population depends upon variables like age, sex, marital status, literacy etc.
Changes in demographic structure, which may be caused by changes in mortality rates, will produce
changes in the ratio of breadwinners to dependents.
 Such a change can have consequences for the structure of family, kinship, political and other
institutions. The size of population affects each of us quite personally. Whether we are born into a
growing or a shrinking population has a bearing on our education, the age at which we marry, our ability
to get a job, the taxes we pay and many other factors.
 Population analysis shows that there is a relationship between population changes and economic,
social and cultural variables like poverty, illiteracy, ill-health, family structure, forms of marriage, work
etc. Population growth is the most important factor in poverty.
 Poverty is related with health and the size of the family also. Nations with large population (e.g.,
China and India) are more poverty- stricken than the countries which have not much population. Sex
imbalance affects the forms of marriage (monogamy or polygyny). It is seen that communities, which
have more males than females, resorted to polyandry system. Polygyny was generally found in such
communities where females were in more numbers than males.
 The population of every society is always changing both in numbers as well as in composition.
Population changes have occurred all through human history because of migration, war, pestilence,
 changing mores etc. In modern times, adoption of two artificial ways to population growth, viz., birth
control and abortion are also affecting the number and composition of population structure.
 The decline of both the birth rate and the death rate bring social transformation. With changes in
size go changes in composition. While the birth rate is falling, the proportion of younger people in the
proportion of youth’s declines and that elders advances significant social changes occurs.

3. Cultural Factor:

 It is an established fact that there is an intimate connection between our beliefs and social
institutions, our values and social relationships. Values, beliefs, ideas, institutions are the basic elements
of a culture. Certainly, all cultural changes involve social change.
 Social and the cultural aspects are closely interwoven. Thus, any change in the culture (ideas,
values, beliefs etc.) brings a corresponding change in the whole social order. Social institutions cannot
live on life shells within which life is extinct.
 Social systems are directly or indirectly the creations of cultural values. The history of culture
offers many evidences which confirm the role of culture. A religious doctrine, which persisted with
variations throughout many centuries, has affected the course of society. For instance, a certain attitude
toward sex formulated by the Church Fathers in the early Middle Ages still hold good in the Catholic
sect.
 Culture gives speed and direction to social change and determines the limit beyond which social
change cannot occur”. (Dawson and Gettys, 1948). If we choose to travel by a ship, the direction in
which we travel is not predestinated by the design of the ship but it is the culture that decides the
direction and the destination both. The port we sail to remains a cultural choice. Cultural factor is not
only responsive to technological change but also acts back on it so as to influence its direction and its
character.
 Cultural change in society has two major aspects:
(a) Cultural change by discovery and invention, and
(b) Cultural change by diffusion and borrowing.
 The first comes from within a society and culture, and the second from another culture outside of
the society. A discovery or an invention adds to the fund of our verified knowledge which later on
becomes a factor of social change. Knowledge of bacterial infection brought about many changes in the
behaviour of people in the form of prevention and cure of disease.
 Socio-cultural changes are also brought about by people from other cultures all over the world.
Diffusion is the spread of cultural traits or patterns from group to group. Borrowing refers to the
adoption of a cultural trait by people whose culture did not have that cultural trait. We have borrowed
many cultural traits (such as use of knife and fork in eating) from Western culture.
 Culture operates not only directly as a source of change but also indirectly, by its impact on the
utilitarian order. This idea was best exemplified by a German sociologist Max Weber in his study of
sociology of religion.
 In his study ‘The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism’ (1930), he saw that there is a
direct relationship between the practical ethics of a religion and the character of its economic system,
but he refused to accept the position that the letter determines the former as argued by Karl Marx. (Marx
believed that the nature of a society is determined by the manner in which economy is owned and
organised.) Though Weber too appreciated the importance of economic factors, but he did not ascribe to
them the importance that they have in Marxian theory. For Marx economic influences were paramount
and determined ell the rest, including religion, whereas for Weber economic phenomena themselves rest
upon a broad ideological base and particularly upon religion.
 In his above mentioned study, Weber asserted that the development of modern capitalism could
be attributed to Protestant reformation, particularly Calvinism. Protestantism emphasised the autonomy
and independence of the individual rather than dependence on the church, priesthood and ritual. Weber
argued that Calvinist Protestantism motivated men to seek worldly success. It laid emphasis on rational
calculation, the willingness to accumulate for long-term profit and success and the emphasis on
entrepreneurial success as a virtue.
 Weber maintained that the ideas, ideals and attitudes towards work (work is virtue, time lost,
money lost etc.,), savings and life played an important role in the economic development of Western
Europe and USA Protestanism provided much of the cultural content of early capitalism—individualism,
achievement motivation, hostility to inherited wealth and luxury, legitimation of entrepreneurial
vocations, opposition to tradition and superstition, a commitment to organisation and calculation in
personal and public life.
 In brief, Protestanism provided an element in the rationalisation (an important requirement of
capitalism) of Western society. Weber did not simply explained capitalist development in terms of
religious belief, but argued that the religious factor, if combined with others, of a political, economic and
social nature, can produce a certain type of social change.
(a) Ideational Factor:
 Among the cultural factors affecting social change in modern times, the development of science
and secularisation of thought have contributed a lot to the development of the critical and innovative
character of the modern outlook. We no longer follow many customs or habits merely because they have
the age-old authority of tradition. On the contrary, our ways of life have increasingly become on the
basis of rationality.
 Some writers have interpreted social change at ideational level and asserted that all social change
is ideational. They argued that ideas could influence the course of social change. For them, ideational
changes are important contributory factors to many or most types of social change. Ideas and ideologies
together are powerful motivating forces in social change.
 For instance, after independence, the directive principles—equality, fraternity, liberty and justice
laid down in our constitution—have not only revolutionised the Indian society but it has even affected
greatly the relations between the members of the family. Social philosophers, who believed in the force
of ideas, argued that no material or social factors can produce change unless there is also a change in
ideas within society or ideas about society and nature.
 In modern times, not only the way we think, but the contents of ideas have also changed. Ideals
of self-betterment, freedom, equality and democratic participation are largely creations of the past two/
three centuries. Such ideals have served to mobilise processes of social and political change, including
reformation movements and revolutions.
(a) Economic Factor:
 Of economic influences, the most far-reaching is the impact of industrialisation. It has
revolutionised the whole way of life, institutions, organisations and community life. In traditional
production systems, levels of production were fairly static since they were geared to habitual, customary
needs. Modern industrial capitalism promotes the constant revision of the technology of production, a
process into which science is increasingly drawn.
 The impact of industrialisation (science and technology) we can easily see on Indian family
system (joint family) and caste system. (For detailed analysis of the influence of economic factor, see
Marx’s views discussed in Economic Theory of Social Change).
(a) Political Factor:
 State is the most powerful organisation which regulates the social relationships. It has the power
to legislate new laws, repeal old ones to bring social change in the society. Laws regarding child
 marriage, widow remarriage, divorce, inheritance and succession, untouchability are some of the
examples which have brought many changes in the social structure of Indian society.
 The type of political leadership and individuals in power also influences the rate and direction of
social change. In many societies the political leadership controls the economy also. Scientific-
technological and non-technological change are also dependent on political development which
indirectly affects social change.
 There is a direct relationship between the type of political organisation and social change. In
hunting and gathering societies, there were no political organisation capable of mobilising the
community, as such; there were minimum changes in the societies. In all other types of society, however,
the existence of distinct political agencies, such as chiefs, lords, kings and governments strongly affects
the course of development of society takes. A ruler may choose to channel resources into building up his
castle, for example, even when this impoverishes most of the population.
 Political development in the last two or three centuries (in India especially after independence)
has certainly influenced economic change as much as economic change has influenced politics. Govern-
ments now play a major role in stimulating (and sometimes retarding) rates of economic growth. In all
industrial societies there is high level of state intervention in production.

Theories of Social Change

1. Theory of Deterioration
 Some thinkers identify social change with deterioration. According to them man originally lived
in a perfect state of happiness i.e. golden bliss. Subsequently, however, deterioration began to take place
with the result that man reached an age of comparative degeneration. This was the notion in the ancient
times. It was expressed in the epic poems of India, Persia and Sumeria. According to Indian mythology
man has passed through four ages. Satyug, Treta, Dwapar and Kaliyug.
 The Satyug was the best age in which man was honest, truthful and perfectly happy. Thereafter
degeneration began to take place. The modern age is the age of Kaliyug wherein man is deceitful,
treacherous, false, dishonest, selfish and consequently unhappy.
 This view of social change as deterioration dates ancient times. It stands rejected in
contemporary times However, even today some thinkers project such a thinking when they lament and
say that in our times there has taken place a deterioration in almost every walk of life.

2. Linear Evolutionary Theory or Stage Theory of Social Change:

 Evolutionary theory is based on the assumption that societies change gradually from simple to
complex forms. Early anthropologists and sociologist like L.H. Morgan gave three stages of social
evolution-savagery, barbarism and civilization through which all societies pass. August Comte believed
that human societies evolved in a unilinear fashion i.e. in one line of development.
 He protected a relation between the development of human thought and social evolution. He
identified three stages of social evolution/change-the age of theology, the age of metaphysics and the age
of positivism (reason and facts).
 Man has passed through the first two stages, even though in some aspects of life and thought
these still prevail. Man on gradually reached the positivist and multilinear 1st stage, which still
 continues. In the first stage man believed that supernatural forces controlled and designed the World. He
advanced gradually from a belief in fetishes and deities to monotheism.
 This stage gave way to the Metaphysical stage, during which man tried to explain all phenomena
by resorting to abstractions. In the Positivists stage, man considers the search for ultimate cause hopeless
and seeks the explanatory facts that can be empirically observed. This implies progress, which according
to Comte gets assured when man adopts a positive attitude in the understanding of natural and social
phenomena.
 Spencer believed that all societies followed the uniform natural law of evolution passing from
simple to complex/compound societies.
 Herbert Spencer, who described society as an organism, maintained that human society has been
gradually progressing towards a better stage. In its primitive stage, the state of militarism, society was
characterised by warring groups involved in a merciless struggle for existence.
 From this stage of militarism, society moved towards a state of greater differentiation and
integration of its parts. The establishment of an integrated social system made it possible for the
different groups – social, economic and racial – to live in peace.
 Darwin’s ‘Organic Evolution Theory’ also gave the concept of social change from simple and
primitive societies to complex and advanced societies. Durkheim identified the cause of societal
evolution as a society’s increasing ‘moral density’. He held the view that societies are changing in the
direction of greater differentiation, interdependence and formal control under impact of the presence of
increasing moral density.
 Some Russian sociologists also subscribe to the stage theory of social change. Nikolai K.
Mikhailovsky opines that human society passes through three stages: (1) the objective anthropocentric
stage, (2) the eccentric stage, and (3) the subjective anthropocentric stage.
 In the first stage, man considers himself as the center of the universe and remains preoccupied
with mystic beliefs in the supernatural. In the second stage, man gets subjected to abstractions; the
abstract is more “real” to him than the actual.
 In the third stage, man comes to rely upon empirical knowledge by means of which he exercises
more and more control over nature for his own benefit. Soloviev conceived of three stages of social
evolution as the tribal stage, the national governmental stage, and the stage of universal brotherhood.
 The multilinear evolutionary theory holds that change can occur in several ways and that it does
not inevitably lead in the same direction. Multilinear theorists recognise that human culture has evolved
along a number of lines. For example, the theory of demographic transition graphically demonstrates
that population change has occurred differently in more developed versus developing nations.
 Medical and public health technology was introduced gradually in the developed nations which
gave them time to adjust to falling death rates and resulting rise in populations. However developing
nations got this technology in a short span of time and it led to o dramatic population growth and a
severe pressure on social services and natural resources including food production.

3. Telic Theory of Social Change

  A number of sociologists have held that social change can be brought about by means of
conscious and systematic efforts. Lester F. Ward has asserted that progress can be achieved by means of
purposive effort or conscious planning. Through education and knowledge intellect can assert itself over
emotions and this can lead to the possibility of effective planning.
 According to Ward, natural evolution is a very slow process, whereas intelligent planning can
and in fact always accelerates the process of natural evolution. German sociologist, Ludwig Stein and
English sociologist L.T. Hobhouse also expounded theories closely resembling Ward’s telic theory of
social change.
 They expressed the view that progress can be achieved through the use and control of reason
and, therefore, rational element in our nature must be developed so that it may be used as a factor in the
evolutionary process.

4. Cyclical Theories of Social Change:

 Cyclical theories of social change hold that civilizations rise and fall in an endless series of
cycles. Oswald Spengler wrote a book ‘The Decline of the West’ in 1918, in which he wrote that the fate
of civilisation was a matter of ‘destiny’. He saw society moving in continual cycles of growth and decay.
 He said that each civilisation is like biological organism, taking birth and then going to maturity,
old age and ultimately to death. He studied eight major civilisations, including the western civilisation
and said that western society is in its old stage and is entering the period of decay. This type of cyclical
theory of social change has become obsolete. Spengler’s idea of destiny stands rejected as inadequate
and unacceptable.
 Another Cyclical theory holds that human society goes through certain cyclic changes of days
and nights and of eliminate. Some sociologists believe that society has a predetermined life cycle and
has birth, growth, maturity and decline.
 Modern society is in its last stage. It is in its old age. But since history repeats itself, society after
passing through all its stages, returns to the original stage, whence the cycle begins all over again.
 This concept it’s found in Hindu mythology, according to which Satyug will again start after
Kaliyug is over. J.B. Bury, in his ‘The Idea of Progress’, points out that this concept is also found in the
technings of stoic philosophers of Greece as well as in the teachings of some of the Roman philosophers,
particularly Marcus Trelius.
 Cyclical Theory of Recent Thinkers:
 The assumption that change takes place in a cyclical way has been a quite long held one. This
ancient concept of cyclic social change is still held even by some modern thinkers who however give
different versions of it.
 The French anthropologist and biologist Vacher de Lapouge holds that race is the most important
determinant of culture. Lapouge maintains that civilization develops and progresses when a society is
composed of individuals belonging to superior races and declines when racially inferior people are
absorbed into it.
 According to him, Western civilization is doomed to extinction because of the constant
infiltration of foreign elements and their increasing control over it. The German anthropologist, Otto
Ammon, the Englishman Mouston Stewart Chamberlain and Americans Madison Grant and Lothrop
Stoddard also agree with the view of Lapouge which may be called the theory of biological cycle.
 Spengler developed another version of cyclical theory of social change. He analyzed the history
of various civilizations including the Egyptian, Greek and Roman and concluded that all civilizations
pass through a similar cycle of birth, maturity and death. The western civilization is now on its decline
which is unavoidable.
 Relying upon data drawn from the history of various civilizations, Sorokin concluded that
civilizations fall into three major types, namely, the ideational, the idealistic and the sensate. In the
ideational type of civilization, reality and value are conceived of in terms of a “supersensory and super
rational God”, while the sensory world appear as illusionary.
 In simple words, ideational civilisation is God-ridden. In the idealistic type of civilization
(culture) reality and values are regarded sensory as well a supersensory. This is a synthesis of ideational
and the sensate type. The thought and behaviour of man are partly anchored in the materialistic and
partly concerned with the other world.
 In the sensate type of civilisation (culture) the whole way of life is characterized by a positivists-
materialistic outlook. Reality and value are merely what the senses perceive and beyond sense
perception there is no reality. The western civilization, according to Sorokin, is now in an “overripe”
sensate phase.
 In recent times Arnold J. Toynbee, the noted English historian, has also propounded a cyclical
theory of the history of world civilization. He maintains that civilizations pass through three stages,
corresponding to youth, maturity and decline. The first is marked by a “response to challenge”, the
second is a “time of troubles” and the third is characterized by gradual degeneration.
 He is also of the view that our civilization, although in the stage of final downfall, can still be
saved by means of proper guidance by the “Creative minority”, by which he means a select group of
leaders who withdraw from the corrupting influences, commune with God, become spiritually
regenerated and then return to inspire the masses.
 Arnold Toynbee also proposed a cyclical theory of human history. He wrote the book ‘A study of
History’ in 1946 which was a multi volume work and which drew material drawn from the studies of
twenty four civilizations. The key concept in Toynbee’s theory has been ‘Challenge and Response’.
Every society has to face challenges from outside environment and also from internal and external
enemies.
 The achievements of a civilisation consist of its successful responses to such challenges and in
case it cannot mount any effective response to the challenges, it dies out. However Toynbee does not
explain as to why some societies are in a position to make effective response to challenges while some
others do not.
 While critically examining Toynbee’s work, Barness writes, “It is not objective or even
interpretative history. It is theology, employing selected facts of history to illustrate the will of God as
the medieval bestiaries utilized biological fantasies to achieve the same results Toynbee’s vast material
throw far more light upon the processes of Toynbee’s mind than upon the actual processes of history. He
writes as the thinks it should be to further the cause of salvation, rather than as it has really been”.
  The above theories of the cyclical nature of social change are , as a matter of fact, the result of
philosophical rather than scientific studies. The authors of these theories begin with presumptions which
they try to substantiate by marshalling a mass of data from history, as really has been”.
 Cyclical Theory is neither really helpful in anticipating the changes which may not occur nor is it
useful in distinguishing positive changes from negative changes, except in retrospect.

5. Structural-Functional Theory of Social Change

 The Structural-Functional theory of social change has been a very popular theory of our times. It
is strongly advocated by several sociologists, particularly by Tallcott Parsons and Morton. According to
its advocates, every social system has two aspects, one structural and the other functional. A structure is
an arrangement/unit for the performance of functions. Function is the consequent of the activities of
structures.
 All the structures are closely related to each other and all the functions are interrelated and
interdependent. Change in one leads to changes in others. Each structure serves its own function and at
same time helps others to function.
 In this way the whole social system functions and undergoes social change. A change in the
marriage system from an arranged marriage system towards a love marriage system leads to changes in
caste system, family system, joint family system, rate of divorce and even religion.
 Functional theorists are concerned with the role of cultural elements in preserving the social
order as a whole. Functionalists see society as a system in equilibrium. If some external force disrupts
the equilibrium of the society, there takes place a counter force for maintaining the social equilibrium.
 For example, when terrorism disrupts the normal life, the authorities counter with laws like
POTA (Prevention of Terrorism Act), TADA (Terrorist and Disruptive activities Act) and the people
launch anti-terror movements for educating the masses against terrorism and the forces of terrorism.
 Parson’s equilibrium model says that any change occurring in any part of the society is countered
by adjustments in other parts. If this does not take place, the society’s equilibrium gets threatened and
several strains develop. Like evolutionary theorists, he believes that societies evolve from simple to
compound societies.
 Parsons maintains that three key concepts characterize the process of evolutionary change.
o Structural differentiation
o Functional specialisation
o Social integration.
 The structured differentiation refers to the increasing complexity of social organisation. A change
from ‘medicine man’ to ‘physician, nurse and a pharmacist is an illustration of differentiation in the field
of health system. As communities grow larger and larger, societal units get divided and subdivided.
 The functions of the old structures are taken over by several differentiated structures. Structural
differentiation leads to functional specialisation. Just as different structures and agencies specialise in
different functions, individuals also tend to specialize in specific occupations.
  Functionalists assume that social institutions cannot not persist unless they contribute to overall
social integration. As social units multiply and specialised occupations tend to grow, it becomes
necessary to coordinate all aspects of society.

6. Deterministic Theory of Social Change

 The Deterministic theory has been a widely popular theory of social change among several
contemporary sociologists. According to this theory there are certain forces, social or natural or both
which bring about social change and the circumstances which determines the course of social change.
 Sumner and Keller insist that social change is automatically determined by economic factors.
Keller maintains that conscious effort and rational planning have very little chance to affect change
unless and until the folkways and mores are ready for it.
 It was Karl Marx, who got deeply impressed by the German philosopher Hegel’s metaphysical
idealism and held that material conditions of life are the determining factors of social change.
 He advocated his theory of Historical Materialism which offered a ‘materialistic interpretation of
history’ and held economic factors were the factors of social change and evolution of all societies. Karl
Marx held a total faith in the theory of Economic Determinism of history and social change.
 Marx held that human society passes through various stages, each with its own well defined
organisational system. Each successive stage comes into existence as a result of conflict with the one
preceding it. Change from one stage to another is due to changes in the economic factors namely the
methods of production and distribution of material means of life.
 A change in the material conditions of life brings changes in all social institutions, properly
system, state, religion and family. To put it in the words of Karl Marx: “Legal relations as well as forms
of State could neither be understood by themselves, nor explained by the so-called general progress of
the human mind, but they are rooted in the material conditions of life.
 The mode of production in material life determines the general character of the social, political
and spiritual process of life. It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but on the
contrary, their social existence determines their consciousness.”
 Thus the economic factor is primary factor of all social relations and social change. All aspects
and phases of social life are dependent upon the economic factors and are almost entirely determined by
it.
 According to Marx, the social order has passed through five phases called the oriental, the
ancient, the feudal, the capitalistic and the communist. The prevailing capitalist system has been moving
towards its doom because the conditions it produced and the forces it unloosed make its disintegration
inevitable.
 “The weapons with which the bourgeoisie felled feudalism to the ground are now turned against
the bourgeoisie itself. Not only has the bourgeoisie forged the weapons that bring death to itself, but also
it has called into existence the men who are to wield those weapons—the modern working class, the
proletarian.” The growth of capitalism also is its march towards its grave and this happens due the
economic factors of the capitalist society.
 Capitalism is destined to meet its end which will come through a proletarian revolution which
will lead the society to the next stage – a new social order. The resulting social order will not reach its
full development at once but will go through two stages. In the first, there will be dictatorship of the
proletariat during which the proletariat will rule and crush out all the remnants of capitalism.
 In the second stage, there will be real communism, in which there will be no state, no class, no
conflict and no exploitation. Marx visualized a society in which the social order will have reached a
stage of perfection. In that society the prevailing principle will be “from each according to his capacities,
to each according to his needs.
 Marx’s theory of Economic Determinism contains a large element of truth but it cannot be said to
contain the whole truth. No one can deny that economic factors always influence social conditions of
life and the process of social change.
 But no can also hold that economic factors are the only activating forces of human history. There
is no scientific proof that human society is going through the stage visualized and explained by Marx.
His claim that man is destined to attain an ideal stage of existence is little more than Utopia.
 A number of social thinkers opposed to the theory of economic determinism do not consider
material elements of culture as the basic factors of social change. Some of them reject the deterministic
theory of social change while other simply reject the theory of Economic determinism but prefer to hold
ideas as the moving force of history. They regard ideas as the prime movers in social life. Gustavo Le
Bon, George Sorel, James G. Frazer and some others held hold that religion is the chief initiator of social
change.
 The theory of religious determinism has been criticised by Sorokin. He posed the question, “If all
social institutions change under the influence of the changes in religion, how, when and why does
religion change itself?” According to Sorokin change is caused by the interaction of the various parts of
a culture, none of which may be considered primary.
 It means that change is pluralistic rather than monistic in origin. He advocates the view t change
is initiated in the material culture and then it spreads to other spheres. Change is caused not only by
economic factors but several factors acting together. Social Change comes under the impact of several
factors and not by any single deterministic factor. Hence the Deterministic Theory of Social Change is
not fully valid.

Social Control
 Social control is a concept within the disciplines of the social sciences.
 Sociologists identify two basic forms of social control:

 Informal means of control – Internalization of norms and values by a process known

as socialization, which is defined as "the process by which an individual, born with behavioral
potentialities of enormously wide range, is led to develop actual behavior which is confined to the
narrower range of what is acceptable for him by the group standards".[2]
 Formal means of social control – External sanctions enforced by government to prevent the
establishment of chaos or anomie in society. Some theorists, such as Émile Durkheim, refer to this form
of control as regulation.
 As briefly defined above, the means to enforce social control can be either informal or formal.
[3]
Sociologist Edward A. Ross argues that belief systems exert a greater control on human behavior than
laws imposed by government, no matter what form the beliefs take.[4]
 Social control is considered to be one of the foundations of order within society.

 Social control is necessary for maintaining order in the society. It is necessary for every soci-ety
or group to maintain its social order and this is possible only when its members behave in accordance
with that social order. An important objective of social control is to maintain the old order. Although
enforcement of the old order in a changing society may hinder so-cial progress, yet it is necessary to
maintain continuity and uniformity in society.
 Without social control social unity would be a mere dream. Social control regulates behavior in
accordance with established norms which brings uniformity of behavior and leads to unity among the
individuals. The family maintains its unity because its members behave in a simi-lar manner in
accordance with family norms.

 No two men are alike in their attitudes, ideas, interests and habits. Even the children of same
parents do not have the same attitudes, habits or interests. Men believe in different religions, dress, eat
differently and have different ideologies. There are so many differences in the ways of living of the
people that at every moment there is the possibility of clash be-tween them. In modern times this
possibility has all the more increased because man has become too self-centred.Social control is
necessary to protect social interests and satisfy common needs. If social control is removed and every
individual is left to behave freely so-ciety would be reduced to a state of lawlessness.

Law & Social Control

 Law is the most important formal means of social control. Early societies depended upon
informal means of social control but when societies grew in size and complexity they were compelled to
formulate rules and regulations which define the required types of behavior and specify the penalties to
be imposed upon those who violate them. Law is a body of rules enacted by legally authorized bodies
and enforced by authorized agencies. It defines clearly rights, duties as well as the punishments for their
violation. The modern societies are large in size. Their structure is complex consisting of a number of
groups, organizations, institu-tions and vested interests. Informal means of social control are no longer
sufficient to main-tain social order and harmony.

 In modern society relationships are of secondary nature. Security of life and property as well as
the systematic ordering of relationships make formalization of rules necessary. Law pre-scribes uniform
norms and penalties throughout a social system.What were in mores and customs earlier has now been
formalized into a body of law. Law prohibits certain actions for example anti-touchability act prohibits
untouchability in any form and a person practis-ing untouchability is liable to punishment. Prohibition
 act forbids drinking at public places. In this way law exercises a powerful influence upon the behavior of
people in modern socie-ties.

Law & Social Change

 The abstract idea of '' social change'' evinces dimension of some of the characteristics of a group
of people. If any action which affects a group of people who shared values or characteristics can also be
said as ''social change.''

Generally, the change in existing pattern of social life is known as '' Social Change''. Society and social
conditions never remain static. Generally, social change is to be understood as change in social structure.
According to Gainsberg, social change is change in social structure e.g the size of a society, the
composition or balance or its part or the type of its organisation. According to Jones, ''social change
devotes variation in, or modification of , any aspect of social process,social patterns, social interaction or
social organisation.'' Davis observed that social change is large number of persons are engaging in
activities that differ from those which their immefiate fore-fathers engaged in some time before.
According to Anderson and Parker, social chnage involved alteration and structure or functioning of
forms or processes themselves.

Social change means there is must change in social structure. Social structure which can be understood
as nature, social behaviour, social relations, social organizations, community of people. Social change is
change in the social order. According to Charles L. Harper, ''"significant alteration of social structure and
cultural patterns through time."

Reciprocity between law and social change

At the beginning of industrialization and urbanization in Europe, Bentham expected legal reforms to respond
quickly to new social needs and to restructure society. He freely gave advice to the leaders of the French
revolution, because he believed that countries at a similar stage of economic development needed similar
remedies for their common problems. However, Savigny believed that only fully developed popular customs
could form the basis of legal change. As customs grow out of the habits and beliefs of specific people, rather
than expressing those of an abstract humanity, legal changes are codifications of customs, and they can only be
national and never universal.

There are two contrasting views on this relationship:

 Law is determined by the sense of justice and the moral sentiments of the population, and
legislation can only achieve results by staying relatively close to the prevailing social norms.

 Law and especially legislation, is a vehicle through which a programmed social evolution can be
brought about. In general, a highly urbanized and industrialized society like the US law does play a large
part in social change, and vice versa, at least much more than is the case in traditional societies or in
 traditional sociological thinking. [eg. In the domain of intrafamily relations, urbanization, with its small
apartments and crowded conditions, has lessened the desirability of three-generation families in a single
household. This social change helped to establish social security laws that in turn helped generate
changes in the labor force and in social institutions for the aged.

Social changes as causes of legal changes

In a broad theoretical framework, social change has been slow enough to make custom the principal source of
law. Law could respond to social change over decades or even centuries. Today the tempo of social change
accelerated to a point where today’s assumptions may not be valid even in a few years from now. The
emergence of new risks to the individual as a result of the decrease of the various family functions, including
the protective function, has led to the creation of legal innovations to protect the individuals in modern society.
Eg provisions of workers compensation, unemployment insurance, old-age pensions. Many sociologists and
legal scholars assert on the basis of a large amount of accumulated data that technology is one of the great
moving forces for change in law in three ways: (read page 335 paragraph 3). The computer and easy access to
cyberspace, especially internet, also have inspired legislation on both the federal and the state levels to
safeguard privacy, protects against abuse of credit information and computer crime. Change in law may be
induced by a voluntary and gradual shift in community values and attitudes. [eg. People may think that poverty
is bad, and laws should be created to reduce it in some way.] Alternations in social conditions, technology
knowledge values, and attitudes then may induce legal change. in such cases law is reactive and follows social
change. However, changes in law are only one of many responses to social change. Additionally, laws can be
considered both as reactive and proactive in social change.

Law as an instrument of social change

The conversion of Rome from republic to empire could not have been accomplished except by means of
explicit legal decree buttressed by the doctrine of imperial sovereignty. Law, far from being a reflection
of social reality, is a powerful means of accomplishing reality – that is, of fashioning it or making it.

 The Soviet Union succeeded in making enormous changes in society by the use of law.

 In Spain law was used to reform agrarian labor and employment relations.

 China also managed to moderate through law its population growth and as a result devote more
of its resources to economic development and modernization.

 The law, through legislative and administrative responses to new social conditions and ideas, as
well as through judicial re-interpretations of constitutions, statutes or precedents, increasingly not only
articulates but sets the course for major social change. Attempted social change, through law, is a basic
trait of the modern world. Many authors consider law as a desirable necessary and highly efficient
means of inducing change, preferable to other instruments of change. In present-day societies, the role of
 law in social change is of more than theoretical interest. In many areas of life such as education, race
relations, housing, transportation, energy utilization, protection of the environment, and crime
prevention, the law and litigation are important instruments of change. Law plays an importantindirect
role in social change by shaping various social institutions, which in turn have a direct impact on
society. [eg. Mandatory school attendance upgraded the quality of the labor force, which in turn played a
direct role in social change by contributing to an increased rate of industrialization. The law interacts in
many cases directly with basic social institutions, constituting a direct relationship between law and
social change]. Social change through litigation has always been an important feature in the US.
Whether the change produced by such action is considered ‘constructive’ or ‘destructive,’ the fact
remains that law can be a highly effective device for producing social change.

The efficacy of Law as an Instrument of Social Change

As an instrument of social change, law entails two interrelated processes: the institutionalization and
the internalization of patterns of behavior.

 Institutionalization of a pattern of behavior refers to the establishment of a norm with provisions

for its enforcement (such asdesegregation of public schools).

 Internalization of a pattern of behavior means the incorporation of the value or values implicit in
a law (eg. Integrated public schools are ‘good’).

 The extent to which law can provide an effective impetus for social change varies according to
the conditions present in a particular situation. Evan suggests that a law is likely to be successful to
induce change if it meets the following seven conditions:

 Law must emanate from an authoritative and prestigious source

 Law must introduce its rationale in terms that are understandable and compatible with existing
values

 Advocates of the change should make reference to other communities or countries with which
the population identifies and where the law is already in effect

 Enforcement of the law must be aimed at making the change in a relatively short time

 Those enforcing the law must themselves be very much committed to the change intended by the
law

 The instrumentation of the law should include positive as well as negative sanctions

 The enforcement of the law should be reasonable, not only in the sanctions used but also in the
protection of the rights of those who stand to lose by violation
  (Suggestion: read pg 341-342)

Advantages of law in creating social change

In many instances, the state of the art of social change endeavors is not methodologically sophisticated
enough to distinguish clearly among casual, necessary, sufficient, and contributory conditions to produce
desired effects in society. The advantages of law as an instrument of social change are attributed to the
fact that law in society is seen as legitimate, more or less rational, authoritative, institutionalized,
generally not disruptive, and backed by mechanisms of enforcement.

 Legitimate Authority

A principal advantage of law as an instrument of social change is the general feeling in society that legal
commands or prohibitions ought to be observed even by those critical of the law in question. To a great extent,
this feeling of obligation depends on respect for legitimate authority and the perception of power. Webber says
that there are three types of legitimate authority:

 Traditional authority bases its claims to legitimacy on an established belief in the sanctity of
traditions and the legitimacy of the status of those exercising authority. The obligation of obedience is
not a matter of acceptance of the legality of an impersonal order, but rather a matter of personal loyalty
[Rule-of-elders].

 Charismatic authority cases its claim to legitimacy on devotion to the specific and usual sanctity,
heroism, or exemplary character of an individual and the normative patterns that are revealed or
ordained. The charismatic leader is obeyed by virtue of personal trust in his or her revelation or
exemplary qualities [Moses, Christ, Mohammed, Gandhi].

 Rational-legal authority bases its claims to legitimacy on a belief in the legality of normative
rules and in the right of those elevated to authority ti issue commands under such rules. In such
authority, obedience is owed to a legally established impersonal order. “Rational” people “voluntarily”
make a “contract” that generates the impersonal legal order.

 The binding force of law

Law is binding because most people in society consider it to be. Some consider the content of the law to
command obedience, which, in turn, is seen as a compelling obligation. The law achieves its claim to
obedience, and at least part of its morally obligatory force, from a recognition that it receives from those,
or from most of those, to whom it is supposed to apply. Even when laws are against accepted morality,
they are often obeyed. The extermination of more than six million Jews in Nazi Germany, clearly the
most extreme instance of abhorrent immoral acts, was carried out by thousands of people in the name of
 obedience to the law. Milgram contends that the essence of obedience is that individuals come to see
themselves as instruments for carrying out someone else’s wishes, and they therefore no longer view
themselves are responsible for their actions. Under certain conditions many people will violate their own
moral norms and inflict pain on other human beings, and that succinctly underlines the notion that most
people willingly submit to authority and, by extension, the law.

 Sanctions

Sanctions for disobedience to the law are surely among the primary reasons that laws have binding force.
“The law has teeth; teeth that can bite if need be, although they need not necessarily be bared.” Sanctions
are related to legal efficacy and are provided to guarantee the observance and execution of legal mandated to
enforce behavior.

Limitations of Law in Creating Social Change

To most people law is imposed externally in an almost coercive way. Today people are characterized by
a “crisis of confidence” and alienation from social institutions because of uncontrollable economic
conditions. Therefore, law is hardly an expression of their will. Few people participate in the
formulation of laws and legislation. One of limitations of law as an instrument of social change is the
possibility of prevailing conflict of interest. Other limitations related to the efficacy of law in social
change include divergent views on law and the prevailing morality and values.

The scarcity of resources causes conflicting interests. Decades ago, Karl Marx and Max Weber said that
many laws are created to protect special economic interests. This is because economic interests are
strong factors influencing the creation of laws. Weber recognized that besides economic interests law
protects other interests too such as personal security, personal honor, and it guarantees
political, ecclesiastical, and other positions of authority and social preeminence.

Weber emphasizes two points:

 Conflict of interests provide the base for the formation of laws that bring change; so the
stratification of society and the preferences of those who promulgate the changes determine the role of
laws in social change.

 Law as an instrument of social change can be seen as the organization of power and processes
that protect special interests in society and result in social change.

For powerful and influential people “the law in effect structures the power relationships in a society,
maintains the //status quo//and protects various //strata//against each other”. Many legislative
enactments, administrative rulings, and judicial decisions reflect the power configurations in society.
Even members of legal professions serve to unify the power elite by serving as “professional go-
betweens” for principal political, corporate and other interest groups.

Interestingly, a lot of people who are coerced or oppressed by the laws imposed by a ruling minority are
unaware of their oppression. They may even strongly support the existing legal system because the
ruling party has used its power to confuse them as if they are protecting their true interests. However, a
distinction should be made between what people claim as their interests and what their “true” interests
are. There are many examples when people are organized to protect what they conceive as their interests.
Blacks have been instrumental in the passage of many civil rights laws. Farmers have affected laws
dealing with migrant workers, farm subsidies, importation of food items, etc. so it is the division of
society into the “powerful” and “powerless” that simple? The mechanisms of change through law
include large segments of the population. Even in democratic countries, the large-scale participation of
citizens in social change is not feasible; however, the lack of participation doesn’t mean lack of
representation.

[ You are Brave + Capable + Significant, remember that.]