Social Disorganization and Pathology
Social Disorganization and Conflict
Social Disorganization
It is the dissociative process that tends to disengage a social organization.
In society: Misuse of conduct of modules (no).
Conflict
A form of interaction by which two or more people try to be mutually exclusive, either annihilating one party or another, or reducing the reaction.
Patterns: Injury, physical aggression, verbal attacks, contempt, personal rivalry.
Forms of Social Disorganization: Ritualism, rebellion, innovation, withdrawal.
Social Disorganization and Culture
Humans do not live alone and cannot meet their needs by themselves. They are grouped with others and share with them a common way of life (culture).
Culture
Culture is a complex whole that includes knowledge, belief, art, lifestyles, religion, dress, customs, etc., characterizing a society in a period of time.
Culture gives us rules of coexistence and means to adapt to society.
Elements of Culture
- Institutions: These are rules that govern behavior.
- Ideas: Knowledge, values, beliefs of any kind.
- Material Products: Anything tangible, like the Pyramid of the Sun, that we can see and touch.
Role of Culture
- Serves as a criterion to distinguish one society from another.
- Contains and interprets the values of society.
- Provides a basis for social solidarity and commitment.
- Reflects the social structure and behavior of a culture.
- Inspires adhesion and attachment.
Values
Values are criteria by which society judges the importance of institutions and/or material objects.
Characteristics of Values
- Are recognized and shared by the whole community; they do not depend on the particular judgment of an individual.
- Are regarded by people as very important.
- Involve affective feelings; those who are convinced of their values struggle to defend them and make them prevail.
- Act as forms of social control.
General Aspects of Values
- They make the individual accept and be satisfied with the society they live in.
- They motivate specific acts (individual).
- Behaviors agree with the values (individual acceptance and appreciation by all members).
- Values discourage behavior disapproved by society.
- Values guide us to act confidently within society.
Disorganization and Deviation
Disorganization comes from deviation.
Deviation leads to social rejection.
Not living in agreement with the values or norms of society results in rejection.
Culture and Values
When norms and values are not accepted, social disorganization and deviation occur. This represents a discrepancy between social norms and values and individual actions.
Cultural Models
- Ideal: Represents the values that provide the maximum aspiration within a society; assumes no violation of standards and values.
- Real: Reflects the standards and values of real life.
Types of Deviation
- Positive: Inclination towards ideal models of behavior (good).
- Negative: When members of a society are inclined toward behavior that is considered bad and is rejected by society. Historically, this type of person was also rejected.
Forms of Social Disorganization
Ritualism
A form of social disorganization in which the individual, in their outward behavior, follows the rules but inwardly remains indifferent to the demands of society.
Withdrawal
The subject renounces both internal and external models identified by society and the values imposed within these. Their mode of action is not commensurate with the society in which they live. They do not engage with society (often engaging in vices), e.g., not bathing, having no place to live, being a vagabond.
Rebellion
A rejection of the goals, norms, and social institutions, accompanied by the defense or introduction of different values and new institutional and organizational forms. This attitude often originates from the feeling of frustration caused by a lack of opportunities to achieve social ends.
Innovation
The use of illegal techniques to achieve certain goals within society.
Social Pathology
Definition
Social pathology refers to abnormal behavior within a society. It studies the causes, outcome, and treatment of social abnormality. It is the part of sociology that deals with social diseases or abnormalities.
Normal vs. Abnormal Behavior
Normal behavior consists of regularized and repeated acts characteristic of a society.
Abnormal behavior (deviation) occurs when the individual does not act according to the regularized and repeated rules of behavior in a society.
Forms of Social Pathology
Forms of social pathology are classified according to the deficiencies they create:
- Mental: Mental deficiency, neurosis, psychosis.
- Physical: Blindness, deafness.
- Economic: Poverty.
- Moral: Family breakdown, drug addiction, alcoholism, prostitution, crime.