Unit 2: Social Change

1. Unit 2: Social Change

2. What is Social Change? • Changes in the way society is organized • Changes in the beliefs/practices of the people • Expect enormous political, economic, and social changes to take place in society during your lifetime

3. Sample Questions about Social Changes • Will the influence of organized religions grow or diminish? • Will acceptance of alternative lifestyles such as common-law marriages increase or decline? • Will we have the same civil rights in the near future? More? Less?

4. The Study of Social Change • Most social changes occur naturally, as a result of the multitude of factors operating within society

5. The Anthropological Approach Focus: • Change in Cultures • Occurs gradually; cultures normally do not change suddenly unless destroyed by another culture. • Focus on enculturation: process by which members of a culture learn shared ideas, values and beliefs.

6. Anthropological Questions • What explanations can we use to describe what causes cultures to change? • Are the findings for one period valid for another?

7. Anthropologists –Factors Causing Cultural Change • Change in the society’s leadership • Shift in the social values and norms • Technological changes • Environmental changes

8. Anthropology – Sources of Cultural Change Invention: New products, ideas and social patterns that affect the way people live. i.e. portable stereo in the 1980s Discovery: Finding something previously unknown to a culture i.e. Discovering life on another planet may change the way we think about ourselves Diffusion: Spreading of ideas, methods and tools from one culture to another i.e. acupuncture from Asia to Canada

9. The Psychological Approach Focus: • Why & How individuals change theirattitudes (what they think) & behaviours(what they do) • Question of persuasion: i.e. being convinced/influenced by a friend vs. a stranger

10. Psychological Questions • What factors make behaviour modification programs successful? • Do most people need help changing behaviour, or can they be self-changers?

11. The Sociological Approach Focus: • Massive shifts in the behaviours and attitudes of groups and whole societies. • See change as an inevitable process Major issue: Whether social change is patterned and predictable, or arbitrary and irregular.

12. Sociological Questions • How does social change come about? • Reductionist/Determinist: Believe that a singlefactor will determine the nature of the social change that takes place • i.e.Karl Marx – the struggle for economic power between competing social groups • i.e.Feminist sociologists – patriarchy – men with power; women trying to capture it. - How can society be structured to serve the needs of women as well?

13. Sociology – Analyzing Patterns of Human Behaviour • Human behaviour is generally patterned & therefore, predictable. • People tend to behave according to social norms (customs, acceptable behaviours, etc.)

14. Sociologists look at the following aspects of social change: • Direction of change: Positive? Negative? • Rate of Change: Slow? Moderate? Fast? Radical? Gradual? • Sources: Factors/variables causing change? - Exogenous influences (coming from another society) - Endogenous (coming from within the society itself) • Controllability: Degree to which social change can be controlled

15. Group Activity In groups of 4, choose a social phenomenon • How would a sociologist, psychologist and anthropologist approach the social change? • What questions would each ask? • What factor(s)/source(s) would each predict to be the cause(s) of the change? • What conclusions would each draw about the social change?