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?