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Social Change
Chapter 16
Social Change
 The transformations of societies and social institutions
over time.
 Some changes are short-lived other changes are longterm and have lasting effects
Collective Behavior
The spontaneous and unstructured behavior of a large number of
people.
Encompasses a wide range of actions, including riots, fads, fashion,
panic, rumors, and responses to disasters.
 Explanation of occurrence:
 Contagion—individuals act emotionally and irrationally due to a
crowd’s almost hypnotic influence
 Convergence—crowds consists of like-minded people who
deliberately assemble in a place to pursue a common goal
 Emergent—social norms shape crowds behavior.
 Structural Strain– very conditionally and structured. Predictable
Types of Collective Behavior
 Rumors—unfounded information that people spread quickly
 Panic and Mass Hysteria—an intense, fearful, and anxious reaction to an event
 Fashions—a popular way of dressing during a particular time or among a particular group of
people
 Fads—a fashion that spreads rapidly and enthusiastically but lasts only a short time
 Disasters—an unexpected event that causes widespread damage, destruction, distress,
and loss
 Publics, Public Opinion and Propaganda—widespread attitudes on a
particular issue/ spreading information (or misinformation) to influence people’s attitudes or
behaviors
 Crowds—a temporary gathering of people who share a common interest or participate in a
particular event
 Mobs—a highly emotional and disorderly crowd that uses force, the threat of force, or
violence against a specific target
 Riots—a violent crowd that directs its hostility at a wide and shifting range of targets
Social Movement
A large and organized group of people who want to promote or resist a particular
change.
Types of Movements
Technology and Social Change
Technology—the application of scientific knowledge for practical
purposes
 Computer technology
 Artificial intelligence - Develops theories and systems to perform
tasks that require human intelligence
 Set up the development of robots and cobots
 Biotechnology - Applies to practical uses of living organisms
 Genetic engineering - Techniques that can change the makeup of
cells and move genes across species to produce new organisms
 Nanotechnology - Ability to build objects one atom or molecule at
a time