Download Social Change - Mrs. Kathryn Lopez

Social Change
What is Social Change?
Definition: any change in social relations
• changes in human interactions
• changes in system of social relationships
Sociologists Distinguish:
• processes of change within a
social structure
• processes that modify the
structure (societal change)
Social Processes
Definition: methods by which social change is
brought about
3 Social Processes that lead to Social Change:
Discovery occurs when people learn or reinterpret
existing elements of the world
Example:
- Women moving from working at home to working outside
- Medical Advances aide in understanding the human body
and in turn increase life expectancy
Social Processes
Invention something new created from
something that already exists;
 combination of existing
elements into something new;
Example:
- the cell phone (phones & computer chip)
Diffusion cultural traits borrowed or
transferred from one group
and used by another;
 in order to take place contact
between two cultures must
take place;
Example:
- Roman Catholic church spread to Latin America by
conquistadors and colonizers
- Fashion styles & food from Europe spread to U.S.
Technology & Social Change
* Technology is a prime
motivator of social change
Examples:
• Appearance of new technology is a sign that
social change may take place
• Technology has demolished physical boundaries
for contact between people & cultures
• Changed the way people communicate
Demographics & Social Change
* Changing demographics
cause and create social
change
Examples:
• Urbanization (rise in crime, pollution,
overcrowding)
• Suburbanization (race relations,
destruction of environment, taxes)
• Baby Boomers
- Youth need schools & teachers
- Adult need jobs & houses
- Older retirement & healthcare
Environment & Social Change
* Man’s interaction with
the environment
transforms American life
Examples:
• Natural Resources
- Reliance & availability of oil affects gas prices
and car development and purchases
• Natural Disasters
- bring drought, depression, unemployment
• Suburbanization
- cut down trees and destroy habitats to build
residential and commercial
Revolution/War & Social Change
Expectation fundamental change will occur
Reality new society mirrors old one
 new society is a compromise between
old and new
 people revert to familiar customs and
behaviors & radical change doesn’t
occur
Functionalism & Social Change
“Functionalists see the parts of society as an
integrated whole and a change in one part of
society leads to changes in other parts”.
Two Functionalist Theories:
Equilibrium: society reacts to
change by making small
adjustments to keep itself
functioning and balanced
Dynamic Equilibrium: society
moves from stability to instability
back to stability
Conflict View & Social Change
“Many conflicting groups exist in society.
As the balance of power among these
groups shift, change occurs”.
Explanation & Example:
• social change is a result of struggles
among groups for scarce resources
(jobs, money, power, freedoms, etc.)
• social change is created as these
conflicts are resolved
• Ex: the women’s rights movement
has attepted to change the balance
of power between men and women
Symbolic Interactionism &
Social Change
“We determine behavior based on our
perception of self and others. Meaning
is created in interactions through shared
interpretations of symbols”.
Explanation & Example:
• Social change occurs when
shared meanings and social
interaction in relationships
change
• Ex: movement from an agrarian
society to an industrialized
society brought new interactions
based off new shared meanings
Collective Behavior
Definition: behavior not governed by the everyday
rules and expectations (norms) which
normally shape behavior but behavior
which is the result of an emerging
collective definition of the situation
Factors for Collective Definition of Situation:
• Cognitive Belief (the “facts” that are commonly
defined as being real or relevant)
• Emotional Factors (personal needs being upset and
dominant emotion evoked)
• Motivation (intrinsic or extrinsic inspiration)
Types of Collective Behavior:
• crowds, mobs, or riots
• rumors, urban legends, propaganda,
fads, or fashions
• social movements and activism
Why Study Collective Behavior?
• allow us to better understand how
people respond in certain situations
• predict outcomes that can help prevent
conflict from becoming worse/destructive
• for the safety of those involved in
crowds or social movements
Rumors and Urban Legends
Rumor: a widely
circulated story of
questionable truth
Urban Legend:
moral tales passed
down by people who
swear they
happened to family,
friends, or people
they have met
Why are they Spread?
• touch on people’s insecurities, uncertainties,
or anxieties
• permit people to play out hidden fears, guilt,
or insecurities by observing how others react
and their misfortunes
Fads and Fashions
Fad: an unusual behavior pattern that:
- spreads rapidly
- embraced by a sub-group
- disappears shortly after
Fashion: a behavior pattern that:
- widely accepted & approved
- changes often
- occurs in clothing, cars, houses,
politics, etc.
Types of Crowds
Casual Crowd:
• share some point of interest
• little emotion displayed/involved
• small in size
• temporary & quickly fades
• least organized
An audience watching a
movie at the theater
People observing the
aftermath of an accident
Conventional Crowd:
• specific purpose for being
together
• follows societal norms for
how to behave
• little interaction among people
Types of Crowds
Expressive Crowd:
• people are collectively caught up
in a common mood or emotion
• express emotion/feelings via
yelling, crying, laughing, jumping
• Interaction amongst members
People protesting against
animal cruelty
People crowd surfing at a
rock concert
Acting Crowd:
• people take action towards a
target or goal
• concentrates on the goal and
engages aggressively to
achieve it
Theory of Crowd Behavior
Contagion Theory:
• As emotional intensity in the crowd increases,
people loose their “individual will” (norms,
thoughts, values) to the “will of the crowd”
(norms, thoughts, values)
Additional Information:
• individuals respond to
those around them
• mob mentality
Individuals who are normally peaceful ruleabiding citizens, get caught up in anger against
the Ukrainian president and flip over a car
Theory of Crowd Behavior
Emergent Norm Theory:
• people are unaware of norms of the crowd till
they are in the situation; people observe
(verbal/nonverbal) to pick up cues for social
behavior
Additional Information:
• individuals respond to
those around them
• discovered norms
guide crowd behavior
Individuals observe others to decide how to
behave while at a five-course wine dinner
Theory of Crowd Behavior
Convergence Theory:
• crowds are formed by people who know one
another
• focuses on the shared emotions, goals, and
beliefs people bring to crowd behavior
Additional Information:
• individuals are NOT
influenced by others
around them
Members of a church congregation share
values, beliefs, and norms which guide
their behavior and interaction
Theory of Crowd Behavior
Assembling Theory:
• proposed by Sociologist Clark McPhail (1991)
• theory refocuses attention from collective
behavior to collective action
• theory focused primarily on the processes
associated with crowd behavior
Type of crowd
Convergence clusters
Convergent orientation
Collective vocalization
Collective verbalization
Collective gesticulation
Collective manipulation
Collective locomotion
Description
Family and friends who travel
together
Group all facing the same
direction
Sounds or noises made
collectively
Collective and simultaneous
participation in a speech or
song
Body parts forming symbols
Objects collectively moved
around
The direction and rate of
movement to the event
Example
Carpooling parents take several
children to the movies
A semi-circle around a stage
Screams on a roller coaster
Singing “O Canada” at a hockey
game
The YMCA dance
Holding signs at a protest rally
Children running to an ice
cream truck
What’s a Social Movement?
A Social Movement is…
• challenge to:
– authorities, power-holders
– cultural beliefs and practices
(“actions to promote or resist social change”)
• that is:
–
–
–
–
collective (multiple people)
organized (coordinated to some degree)
sustained (lasts a while, not just one outburst)
non-institutional (outside the “normal” structures or
routines of society)
• that occurs at:
- local, regional, national, or global level
Types of Social Movements
Cultural Anthropologist David F. Aberle
described four types of social movements
Categorized based on two key questions:
(1) who is the movement attempting to change?
(2) how much change is being advocated?
Types of Social Movements
Revolutionary: attempts to
radically/totally change a society
Example
- overthrow of a government
- prohibition
- civil rights movement
Reformative: aims to make
limited or minor changes in
society versus radical change
Example
- political party sharing powers
(coalition govt.)
- creation of new laws
(texting and driving)
Types of Social Movements
Redemptive: radical in scope
focusing on changing people
completely (inner change)
Example
- Alcoholics Anonymous
- Christian Fundamentalist Groups
Alternative: focuses on selfimprovement with limited
changes in beliefs and behavior
in individuals
Example
- Jogging Barefoot
- Planned Parenthood
Social Movement Theory
Value Added Theory:
• proposed by Neal Smelser (professor of
Sociology at University of California Berkeley)
Movements develop based on the following conditions:
1. Structural Strain (issue must be present)
2. Structural Conduciveness (movement friendly envir3.
4.
5.
6.
onment, people must be aware & have opportunity to act)
Generalized Belief (clearly defined problem that
participants believe something needs to change)
Precipitating Factor (an event or spark must happen to
motivate people into action)
Mobilization of Participants (a network or
organization present to get people going)
Ineffective Social Control (how safety officials, media,
and/or courts act could help or prevent movement)
Social Movement Theory
Resource Mobilization Theory:
• Proposed by John D. McCarthy (Sociology
professor at Penn State)
• Proposed by Mayer Zald (Sociology professor at
University of Michigan)
Success of Social Movements are based on:
• Materials Goods (members ability to acquire resources
like money, property, equipment)
• Human Skills (members ability to mobilize people with
leadership, organization & labor towards
accomplishing the movements goals)