Social
change is a term that is used to refer to a significant alteration in
behavioral patterns and cultural norms which usually happens over time. With
the use of the phrase “significant alteration,” the exact meaning is
alterations or changes that result in deep, intense or great social
consequences. Many social change examples stem from social movements that have
inspired societal discontent which spurs them to bring about change. Social
science, on the other hand, is the scientific study of human society and social
relationships. Social change tends to come from either of two angles, random
and unique factors or systematic factors, or a combination of both factors.
Social sciences look into the causes, nature, and impacts of social change, and
the influence that science has on society can do a lot of good, including
ensuring that we have the most impact on society.
Anthropology
can be described as the scientific study of humans and their behaviors in
societies, whether in the past or present. Social anthropology has to deal with
patterns of human behavior. Social change has a twofold relationship with anthropology,
where one arm suggests that the long-time period of evolution of humans, be it
biological or evolutionary, there exists immense evidence of the existence of
social change. On the other hand, there are static views of culture and society
that are caused by the microscopic time and space perspective of the systematic
study of people and cultures. Change in this static view thus becomes abnormal
and external, not caused by society. Anthropology and its association with
social change look at the structure of society, how people in society interact
as well as what happens when new elements are introduced into society (Dwyer
& Minnegal 2010).
The
functionalism theory in anthropology looks at the society, or the culture as an
integrated whole or an interconnected ecosystem. From this viewpoint,
individual institutions and customs cannot be looked at as isolated phenomena.
Their full appreciation can only come in the context of the whole society and
culture. They meet certain needs of the people in the society. Functionalists
believe that the changes that a society goes through come from trying to meet
the needs of a majority of its members adequately. The institution of marriage
is one that has changed to meet the physical and psychological needs of the
members of society to accept people of the same gender. The theory of cultural
materialism also studies how change comes about in society, casting a spotlight
on the physical materials and economic activities that are carried out within a
given environment, assessing how ideas and ideologies are created. It can be an
invention, like a new product or social pattern that affects and changes how
members of society go about their daily lives (Dwyer & Minnegal 2010).
Social
change looked at from the lens of psychology works as a connection between the
changes in individual minds and social changes. Focus is put on how people in
society think about each other as opposed to the group processes that allow for
the spreading of concepts and attitudes. Social change looked at from the
perspective of the Semantic Pointers theory looks at the full range of human
thought through neural firings in the brain, which allows one to identify the
full range of social interactions transmitting ideas beyond regular
conversations and arguments. Non-verbal semantic pointers include singing or
participating in religious rituals that fall under the category of collective
activity. These pointers are also found in technologies like TV and Facebook.
Because these pointers are inclusive of verbal and nonverbal communication,
they provide a basis for the general communication theory of communication.
This communication theory states that social changes come from the neural
representations in people as well as exchanges between these people that
interact with that is in their heads (Unkelbach 2013).
The
general communication theory applied to social change in psychology suggests
that social change results from a combination of communicative interactions
that people have with one another, as well as their personal cognitive and
emotional processes. This approach sees social change as a result of a
multilevel dynamic that stems from social and mental mechanisms. These mental
mechanisms include neural and molecular processes that make it possible for
individuals to think. It starts as an idea, which is then validated with social
changes in society. This suggests that social change starts with personal
change, which births a commitment to having a community change in general.
Social change causes increased awareness since there is more understanding
because of the more information that society has. Because of this information,
people can then make informed decisions, improve on civic participation that is
attributable to the public having a change of attitude as a result of the social
change (Unkelbach 2013).
Social
change under sociological models tends to be characterized by changes in cultural
symbols, behavioral rules, social organizations or the societal value systems.
There have been analogies made between social change and the technological
progress of the West, where structural functionalism was postulated as an
approach to social change where certain institutions existed to determine
social behavior. These institutions tend to be interrelated which means that a
change in one institution would inevitably affect other institutions. According
to McLeish (2013), there are theoretic schools that look into the different
aspects of change, with the Marxist theory suggesting that when there are
changes in the modes of production, there will be changes in the class systems,
even causing the possibility of conflicts among the different classes. The
Marxian theory of social change suggests that change is an inevitable,
continuous process, and in this interpretation, a lot of importance is placed
on the economic factor causing social change. According to the Marxian theory,
if there is a change in the economy then there may be a change in the society,
like a change in the production system. There is the conflict theory that looks
into the very nature of a conflict to stir about change that promotes social
integration. Under sociology, social change can emanate from sources that
include contact with other societies, changes in the ecosystem, and changes in
technology as well as demographic variables like population change (McLeish
2013).
Social
sciences delve into human behavior and its impact on social and cultural
aspects. Social changes happen more often than we think. The changes may be in
small societies, like a church community, or large societies like entire
countries, but all in all, change comes from random or unique factors like
weather or some specific people who trigger this change. It also comes from
systematic factors like availability of resources, stable governments or a
diverse social organization of the society in question. Social sciences look
into these and other factors, their impacts on society and the societal changes
they trigger.
References
Dwyer,
P., & Minnegal, M. 2010. Theorizing social change. The Journal of
the Royal
Unkelbach, C. 2013.
Social Psychology – Change and Consistency. Social Psychology, 44(1),
McLeish, J. 2013. The theory of social change. Routledge.
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