Post on 10-Dec-2020
The Sociological Questions
The Sociological Questions: How Does Social Change Come About?
The major question for sociologists has always been: ■ How does social change come about? they watch behaviours shift in groups
and/or societies believe change is inevitable
Early ApproachesDebate as whether social change
was caused by a single factor or the interplay of many factors. The theories of those who believe
that a single factor was at work are called reductionist. ■ AKA - determinist, - a specific factor
will determine the nature of social change that takes place.
Karl Marx ! sociological determinist.
Patterns of Behaviour
all human behaviour is generally patterned (due to societal norms) and therefore potentially predictable. Therefore ! sociologists
try to identify the patterns and their meaning
4 Aspects of Social Change1. Direction of change.
■ Is it positive or negative change? Who says so? example?
2. Rate of change. ■ Is the degree of change slow, moderate,
or fast? Is it radical change over a short period, or slow change over decades? What are the factors that affect this rate? EXAMPLE?
Analyzing Patterns of Behaviour3. Sources.
■ Influences of change: ⬥ Exogenous influences are those that come from
another society into this one. ⬥ Endogenous influences are those that come from
within the society itself.
4. Controllability ⬥ To what degree can social change be controlled or
engineered? ⬥ For example, Hutterite communities tightly control
personal behaviour. No Exogenous influence.
Sociological Theories About Social Change
Sociological Theories of Social Change
• Originally dominated by structural-functionalists school of thought.
• Tried to identify which social institutions were influential and why these had influence
Seeking Equilibrium
• Structural functionalism ! tension and adaptation.
• This means that when one part of the social system changes, tension arises between that part and the rest.
• tension cannot be constant, so members try to reduce tension by adapting other aspects of society.
• Hence equilibrium is restored to society. – Example: Depression of the 1930’s. – 1980s El Salvador
Theoretical Model #1
• Accumulation model. – The growth of human
knowledge from generation to generation allows society to develop new ways of doing things.
– As economic or technical changes take place in this manner, social change inevitably follows.
Example: the Television
Theoretical Model #2
• Diffusion of innovations. – A new development – an innovation –
emerges in society; This could be a technical invention, or a piece of scientific knowledge (belief, fashion etc)
– The innovation is diffused depending on: • Who adopts it. • Who speaks in its favour.
– Think of an innovation – what has made it popular at the time? Why do some disappear and others endure?