Social Reality

• Social reality


  Affects a person's total social functioning
• Cultural patterns


  • Influence the manner and degree of self-expression and life satisfaction of people
• Individual


  In his adaptive capacity in relation to his environment, tries to achieve a state of equilibrium for maximal social functioning
• Anything that is actually happening in society
• Change in environment


  Whether social, cultural, physical, or physiological which produces stress may disturb the disequilibrium
• Issue


  Arises if there is a gap/difference between social reality and expectation
• Problem


  If an issue will not immediately be solved, it will become a problem
• Tools for social analysis


  • Social
  • Political
  • Economic
  • Cultural
  • Spiritual
  • Environment
  • Gender
• Social problem


  A condition (such as poverty) or a pattern of behavior (such as substance abuse) that harms individuals or all people in society and that a sufficient number of people believe warrants public concern and collective action to bring about change
• Characteristics of social problems


  • All are deviations from the ideal situation
  • All pose a threat and have injurious consequences to society
  • All have some common basis of origin - social and often political
  • All are social in their results - they affect all sections of society
  • All are caused by pathological social conditions
  • All are interconnected and contagious
  • Responsibility is social - they require a collective approach for their solution
  • All societies have them - they are ubiquitous and inevitable
• Elements of social problem


  • Objective Element - Realism
  • Subjective Element - Social Construction of Social Problems
• Categories of social problems


  • Norm Violations
  • Social Conditions
• Causes of social problems


  • Major Social Change - Structural Factor
  • Value Conflict - Cultural Factor
  • Individual or Group Concern
  • Moral or ethical judgment
  • Occupational commitment
  • Interest in maintaining or changing the status quo
• Reactions to social problems


  • Attitude of Concern
  • Attitude of Unconcern
  • Fatalism
  • Vested Interest
  • Absence of Expert Knowledge
• Functionalism


  • Sees society as made up of various parts (social institutions) serving interrelated and interdependent functions for the survival and stability of society
  • Assumes social stability is necessary for a strong society, and adequate socialization and social integration are necessary for social stability
• Conflict theory


  • Society is characterized by pervasive inequality based on social class, race, gender, and other factors
  • Different groups have different interests stemming from their different social positions, leading to different views on important social issues and ultimately conflict
• Symbolic interactionism


  • Focuses on the interaction of individuals and on how they interpret their interaction
  • The meaning people attach to an act in a given interaction is more important than the act itself because reactions depend on the meaning ascribed to behavior rather than the behavior itself
• Tools of analysis will illuminate the factors contributing to poverty, and guide development workers where to initiate programs and focus initially their actions
• Social processes


  The dynamic lifeblood of society where the different social aspects are continually related to each other
• Principles in social analysis


  • Social reality is integral - no single element can be explained by itself
  • Social reality is both visible and invisible - the invisible can only be known through reasoning and analysis
  • Social facts taken collectively, not independently, express a meaning - the mere collection of facts does not furnish an explanation
• Steps in analysis


  • Classify the facts to make them good indicators of social reality
  • Establish the interrelationship between the facts to discover the social dynamics
  • Interpret their meaning
• Structural analysis


  A tool where data is organized to unearth the immanent logic of observable social phenomena by analyzing the system that undergird them
• Gender analysis


  The tool that identifies women/men's performance of roles in society particularly in reproduction, production, and community management
• Cultural analysis


  Explains the dynamics and operations of culture as a meaning-giving aspect of society, identifying the dominant mediating institutions
• Relations of elements


  • State (politics, economics, population, environment, religion)
  • Mediating institutions (family, school, media, church, organizations)
  • Person (feelings, dialogue, thinking, decision-making, action)
• Culture as a meaning-giving dynamics of society can either empower or oppress/suppress a people
• Social problem


  An issue within society that makes it difficult for people to achieve their full potential, e.g. poverty, malnutrition, unemployment
• Conditions of social problems


  • Objective Element - Reality of the existence of a condition or behavior recognized as a social problem
  • Subjective Element - Level of public concern about a condition or behavior recognized as a social problem
• Process in the development of a social problem


  1. Claim

  2. Claim Maker

  3. Coverage from Media

  4. Mobilize Movement
• Social Problems


  An issue within the society that makes it difficult for people to achieve their full potential
• Social Problems


  • Poverty
  • Malnutrition
  • Unemployment
• Social Problems


  A condition or a type of behavior that many people believe is harmful
• Conditions of Social Problems


  • Objective Element - Reality of the existence of a condition or behavior recognized as a social problem
  • Subjective Element - Level of public concern about a condition or behavior recognized as a social problem
• Development of a Social Problem


  1. Claim

  2. Claim Maker

  3. Coverage from Media

  4. Mobilize Movement
• Social Structure


  Relatively stable patterns of social behavior and relationships among people
• Social Institution


  A continuing pattern of social relationships intended to fulfill people's basic needs and aspirations and carry out functions essential to the operation of society
• Social Stratification


  Inequality among people with regards to important social factors including access to education, income, property, power and prestige
• Culture


  The knowledge, ways of thinking, shared understanding of behaviors, and physical objects that characterizes a people's way of life
• Elements of Culture


  • Values
  • Norms
  • Folkways
  • Mores
  • Laws
  • Beliefs
  • Symbols
• Structural-Functional Perspective


  • Views society as a system of interdependent parts carrying out functions crucial to the well-being of the other parts and the system as a whole