Sociology Notes
Sociology Notes
Sociology Notes
Hangi Umar
CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION
Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
Define the term sociology;
Describe the subject-matter, scope and basic concerns of sociology;
Understand how sociology emerged and developed;
Appreciate the personal and professional benefits derived from learning sociology;
Understand the methods and approaches of sociology;
Describe macro-sociology and micro-sociology;
Appreciate the various views and concepts formulated by the founding fathers of
sociology;
Describe the relationship of sociology with other fields of study; and
Appreciate the application of sociology in addressing contemporary societal problems.
Although the term “sociology” was first used by the French social philosopher august Comte, the
discipline was more firmly established by such theorists as Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx and Max
Weber (Nobbs, Hine and Flemming, 1978).
Before going any further, let us note that the concepts “society and “culture” are central in
sociology. While each concept shall be dealt with later in some detail, it appears to be
appropriate here to help students differentiate between these two important concepts. Society
generally refers to the social world with all its structures, institutions, organizations, etc around
us, and specifically to a group of people who live within some Interaction of human beings with
their external environment; The indispensability of social interactions for human development;
How the social world affects us, etc.
A more formal definition of sociology may be that it is a social science which studies the
processes and patterns of human individual and group interaction, the forms of organization of
social groups, the relationship among them, and group influences on individual behavior, and
vice versa, and the interaction between one social group and the other (Team of Experts, 2000).
Sociology is the scientific study of society, which is interested in the study of social relationship
between people in group context. Sociology is interested in how we as human beings interact
with each other (the pattern of social interaction); the laws and principles that govern social
relationship and interactions; the /influence of the social world on the individuals, and vice versa
(Ibid.). It deals with a factually observable subject matter, depends upon empirical research, and
involves attempts to formulate theories and generalizations that will make sense of facts
(Giddens, 1982).
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Sociology and other social sciences emerged from a common tradition of reflection of social
phenomena; interest in the nature of human social behavior and society has probably always
existed; however, most people in most past societies saw their culture as a fixed and god-given
entity. This view gradually was replaced by more rational explanations beginning from the 17 th
century especially in Western Europe (Rosenberg, 1987). The sociological issues, questions and
problems had been raised and discussed by the forerunners starting from the ancient Greek and
Roman philosophers' and Hebrew prophets' times.
Sociology as an academic science was thus born in 19 th century (its formal establishment year
being 1837) in Great Britain and Western Europe, especially in France and Germany, and it
greatly advanced throughout 19th and 20th centuries.
The development of sociology and its current contexts have to be grasped in the contexts of the
major changes that have created the modern world (Giddens, 1986). Further, sociology
originated in 18th century philosophy, political economy and cultural history (Swingwood, 1991)
The major conditions, societal changes, upheavals and social ferments that gave rise to the
emergence and development of sociology as an academic science include the Industrial
Revolution which began in Great Britain, the French Political Revolution of 1789, the
Enlightenment and advances in natural sciences and technology. These revolutions had brought
about significant societal changes and disorders in the way society lived in the aforementioned
countries. Since sociology was born amidst the great socio-political and economic and
technological changes of the western world, it is said to be the science of modern society.
The pioneering sociologists were very much concerned about the great changes that were taking
place and they felt that the exciting sciences could not help understand, explain, analyze and
interpret the fundamental laws that govern the social phenomena. Thus sociology was born out
of these revolutionary contexts.
The founders or the pioneering sociologists are the following (Henslin and Nelson, 1995;
Giddens, 1996; Macionis, 1997):
Comte defined sociology as the study of social dynamic and social static, the former signifying
the changing, progressing and developmental dimensions of society, while the latter refers to the
social order and those elements of society and social phenomena which tend to persist and
relatively permanent, defying change.
interpretive understanding of human social action and the meaning people attach to their own
actions and behaviors and those of others. Weber was a renowned scholar who like Marx, wrote
in several academic fields. He agreed with much Marxian theses but did not accept his idea that
economic forces are central to social change. Weber argues that we cannot understand human
behavior by just looking at statistics. Every activity and behavior of people needs to be
interpreted. He argued that a sociologist must aim at what are called subjective meanings, the
ways in which people interpret their own behavior or the meanings people attach their own
behavior (Henslin and Nelson, 1995; Rosneberg, 1987).
The Field of Social Organization and Theory of Social Order: focuses on institutions and
groups, their formation and change, manner of functioning, relation to individuals and to each
other.
Social Control: Focuses on the ways in which members of a society influence one another so as
to maintain social order.
Social Change: Focuses on the way society and institutions change over time through technical
inventions, cultural diffusion and cultural conflict, and social movements, among others.
Social Processes: Focuses on the pattern in which social change takes place, and the modes of
such processes.
Social Groups: Focuses on how social groups are formed, structured, and how they function and
change.
Social Problems: Focuses on the social conditions which cause difficulties for a large number of
persons and which the society is seeking to eliminate. Some of the problems may include:
juvenile delinquency, crime, chronic alcoholism, suicide, narcotics addiction, racial prejudice,
ethnic conflict, war, industrial conflict, slum, areas, urban poverty, prostitution, child abuse,
problem of older persons, marital conflicts, etc.
Currently, sociology has got quite several specific sub-divisions or fields of specialization in it:
some of these include the following: criminology; demography; human ecology; political
sociology; medical sociology; sociology of the family; sociology of sports; sociology of
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Those hold this view ask such questions as: what hold society together? What keeps it steady?
The Structural-functionalist theory pays considerable attention to the persistence of shared ideas
in society. The functional aspect in the structural-functionalist theory stresses the role played by
each component part in the social system, whereas the structural perspective suggests an image
of society wherein individuals are constrained by the social forces, social backgrounds and by
group memberships. Many of the great early founding sociologists such as August Comte, Emile
Durkheim and Herbert Spencer and later American sociologists like Talkot Parsons and Robert
K Merton. Structural -functionalist theorists in modern sociology are more likely to follow in the
tradition of the writings of particularly Emile Durkheim, who is regarded as the pioneering
proponent of this perspective (Hensiln and Nelson, 1995).
After dominating sociology and anthropology for a long time, this theory was challenged by its
main critics, notably those who proposed the social –conflict theory (see below). The theory was
attacked for its emphasis on stability and order while neglecting conflict and changes which so
vital in any society.
as what pulls society apart. How does society change? The theory holds that the most important
aspect of social order is the domination of some group by others, that actual or potential conflicts
are always present in society. The writings of Karl Marx are generally in the spirit of conflict
theory, and Marxism influences most of conflict theorists in modern sociology.
The theory is useful in explaining how the dominant groups use their power to exploit the less
powerful groups in society. Key concepts developed in this perspective include: conflict,
complementation, struggle, power, inequality, and exploitation.
Although this theory gained fame in recent decades, it came under sharp criticism, for its
overemphasis on inequality and division, for neglecting the fact of how shared values and
interdependence generate unity among members of society; it is also criticized for its explicit
political goals. Another critique, which equally applies also to structural functionalism, is that it
sees society in very broad terms, neglecting micro-level social realities (Macionis 1997).
Symbolic Interactionism
This theory was advanced by such American sociologists as Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929)
William I Thomas (1863-1947) and George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) in early 20th century.
This perspective views symbols as the basis of social life. Symbols are things to which we attach
meanings. The theory stresses the analysis of how our behaviors depend on how we define others
and ourselves. It concentrates on process, rather than structure, and keeps the individual actor at
the center. According to symbolic interactionism, the essence of social life and social reality is
the active human being trying to make sense of social situations. In short, this theory calls
attention to the detailed, person-oriented processes that take place within the larger units of
social life (Calhoun et al, 1994; Henslin and Nelson, 1996; Soroka, 1995).
As indicated above, there are contemporary sociological theories that have emerged in recent
decades that have heavily influenced sociological and anthropological thinking. These include
the following:
Feminism
This theory takes as its central theme the place and facts of women’s underprivileged status and
their exploitation in a patriarchally dominated society. Feminist sociology focuses on the
particular disadvantages, including oppression and exploitation faced by women in society. This
theory ranges from liberal feminism, which recognizes inequalities but believes that reform can
take place without a fundamental restructuring of the social system, to radical feminism, which
advocates the fundamental need for societal change (Marcus and Ducklin, 1998: 32)
Structuralism
This theory denies any basis for humans being active, since human consciousness is no longer
seen as the basis of meaning in language. Structuralism differs from the mainstream traditional
theories in that it rejects objective social facts and a concept of society as an objective, external
entity. It defines social reality in terms of the relations between events, not in terms of things and
social facts. Its basic principle is that the observable is meaningful only in so far as it can be
related to an underlying structure or order (Swingwood, 1984).
1982). Sociological imagination helps us look beyond individual psychology to the many and
varied facets of social and cultural forces, and "the recurring patterns in peoples' attitudes and
actions, and how these patterns vary across time, cultures and social groups." (Henslin and
Nelson, 1995)
Learning sociology helps us understand how social forces influence our goals, attitudes,
behavior, and personality. We become more sensitive towards the social issues. Furthermore,
learning sociology helps to cast aside our own biased assumptions, stereotypes and ethno-centric
thinking and practices to become more critical, broad- minded and respectful in our interpersonal
and inter- group relationships. By learning sociology, we can be more humane and people –
centered; we give high value to human dignity.
In general, sociology increases our self-knowledge. Learning sociology can provide us with self-
enlightenment. When we learn sociology, we gain more knowledge about the conditions of our
own lives, and about the way our society and social system function. As such knowledge
increases, we can be more empowered to influence the direction of forces and circumstances that
affect our lives. We can also be more responsive to the various policies set by governments; and
can suggest our own policy initiatives and alternatives (Giddens, op cit).
In addition to the aforementioned theoretical benefits, sociology has certain practical benefits.
There is what we call applied sociology, the application of sociological knowledge, principles,
methods, concepts and theories to provide the solutions to the contemporary social pathologies.
Sociology plays practical roles to tackle social pathologies. Sociological knowledge is highly
applicable in dealing with today's most crucial social problems, and in facilitating developmental
activities in socioeconomic sectors.
Before closing this section, it is important to note why health/ medical sciences students need to
take a course in introductory sociology. The following are some of the arguments for the
necessity of such a course: Health, disease and illness are as much sociocultural in their nature as
they are physical.
So far, despite certain steps being taken, the dominant trend in the medical/ health sciences
training is to highly focus on the biomedical and ecological dimensions of health and disease.
However, given the bio-psycho-social nature of human being and health, this is very partial. This
restricted approach to health disease does not provide the students with appropriate and whole
picture about the issue. Such highly narrow focus in the training of health professionals and
design of health policies and strategies is not appropriate.
In the objective realties of developing societies such as Uganda human health and well-being are
deeply linked to sociocultural factors such as the entrenched poverty, the roles of traditional
values and institutions in shaping people’s worldviews about health and disease.
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Sociology as a science employs the two very important approaches in research design and in the
overall research framework: inductive methods and deductive method. Inductive method is a
method by which the scientist first makes observation and collects data, on the basis of which he
or she formulates hypothesis and theories (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995). The researcher tries to
build theories from particular observations and instances. Induction moves from the particular to
the general; whereas deduction moves from the general to the particular. In deductive approach,
the researcher attempts to derive specific assertions and claims from a general theoretical
principle. In short, deductive approach in research goes from general theory to particular claims
(Dooley, 1995:65-66).
In deductive approach, the researcher attempts to derive specific assertions and claims from a
general theoretical principle.
As a science, the primary aim of sociology is doing research; to produce, accumulate, and
disseminate scientific knowledge on society and social phenomena. However, there are some
people who question the scientific status of sociology and other social sciences. They argue that
sociology is not strictly science because its subject matter is very much complex. It is not
possible to subject human behavior into laboratory manipulations. People have their own
motives and hidden aspirations and other complex aspects.
However, it is generally accepted that sociology is a science in the sense that its primary aim is
doing scientific research to promote scientific knowledge. Sociology can and should employ the
scientific methods. The scientific method is defined as a method of observing the world
critically, empirically and rationally to collect and analyze data systematically to arrive at a
scientific knowledge.
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2. Literature Review
This step involves familiarizing or orienting yourself with the concepts, theories and the works
already done pertaining to the topic identified. Relevant available literature on the topic chosen
should be reviewed; we should also check out what works have already been done by others,
what gaps are remaining, what questions remain unanswered, etc.
Research work normally proceeds by reviewing earlier works on a specific research problem one
has identified. The researcher will need to review past works on the question he or she is raising
(Dooley, 1995). The traditionally dominant source for literature review has been libraries and
documentation centers where books and various references are found in card catalogued manner.
Nowadays, most libraries maintain a computerized filing system, whereby references are made
available via electronic online methods. Searching literature has become very easy, thus, with the
computerization of library sources; one can easily access them if Internet connection is available
(Rosnow and Rosenthal, 1996)
Literature review is necessitated by the fact that a researcher is probably not the first person to
develop an interest in a particular problem; and hence, he or she need to spend some time in the
library reviewing what theories and methods others have used to the topic in the past and what
findings are there (Macionis, 1997). According to Marshal and Rossman (1989: 35), review of
literature has the following four purposes:
First, it demonstrates the underlying assumptions behind the general research question….
Second, it demonstrates that the researcher is thoroughly knowledgeable about related
research and the intellectual traditions that surround and support the study. Third, it shows that
the researcher has identified some gaps in previous research and that the proposed study will fill
a demonstrated need.
And finally, the review refines and redefines the research questions and related tentative
hypotheses by embedding those questions in larger empirical traditions.
3. Hypothesis Formulation
Hypothesis is a statement that can be proved to be correct or incorrect. Hypothesis formulation
involves identifying basic research objectives and determining research questions. This should be
tested empirically. We put some guiding assumptions to the research in this step. We ask some
basic research questions. However, we may note that this may not be always the case. The type
of research may determine whether hypothesizing is needed or not. For example, in exploratory
studies hypothesizing may not be needed.
the sociology themselves during their own research using research tools such as experiment,
survey, questionnaire, interviews and observation (Chapman, 2000). On the other hand,
secondary data are those which are already collected by someone else found in various sources
as documents or archives. They include: official statistical documents, mass media sources (such
as electronic media – radio, television, films, etc; and print media such as newspapers,
magazines, journals, posters, brochures, leaflets, sign broads, etc.)
Surveys
One of the dominant quantitative techniques is the survey method, which involves sampling,
impersonal data collections, and sophisticated statistical analysis. Of all the social sciences
research techniques, survey research probably seems to be the most visible and pervasive form
research in the social and behavioral sciences (Jones, 1995). . In survey research, people who
provide information are termed as respondents, (unlike in anthropology, where we call them
informants); these respondents are often selected on random sample basis, wherein all members
of a population have equal chances of being included in the study population
There are three types of survey research: cross sectional survey, which aims to find out what
opinions research participants across sections of society have about a certain phenomena at a
given point of time his survey represents fixed reflections of one moment in time. Longitudinal
survey is conducted on the same type of people over long period of time, as long as sometimes
20 to 30 years. This type provides us with a moving picture of the changes over time in a given
area. The third type is called panel surveys, which are alternative versions of longitudinal
surveys. It usually lasts shorter period of time and asks questions of panel members on a frequent
basis. A panel member may be asked question every month for a couple of years, while in
longitudinal survey, people are asked often once a year (Moore, 2001).
Traditionally, the survey techniques has been considered the domain of disciplines such as
sociology, psychology, political science, and economics, which often work mainly in large,
complex and populous societies, unlike anthropologists, which have traditionally worked among
small-scale societies.
Focus Group Discussion: This is a form of qualitative data collection method in which intends
to make use of the explicit interaction dynamic among group members which may yield
important information on certain topic. This qualitative method of data collection has become so
popular particularly in the recent decades; it is highly being used by researchers from
crosscutting fields such as public health, anthropology, and other behavioral sciences disciplines.
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Case Study: This method involves investigating a certain issue as a case taking longer time and
investigating the phenomenon in depth. A case study may be about an individual person, a social
group, a family, or an organization. The case chosen is regarded as a representative of the wider
group or context from which it is derived. This method may involve elements of both
quantitative and qualitative aspects.
Observation: This qualitative method involves collecting data on social phenomena by carefully
observing the social processes, events, activities, behaviors, actions, etc., they take place. All
relevant events, actions, places, objects, etc must be observed and recorded (Marshal and
Rossman, 1989). One of the key procedures in these techniques is called participant
observation, the active involvement in community life while studying it. The researcher
participates in a research setting while observing what is happening in that setting (Henslin and
Nelson, 1995). A variant of this method is non-participant observation – collecting data
without participating in what the informants or the subjects do.
Various ways of analyzing data are used both in qualitative and quantitative methods (Henslin
and Nelson, 1995). For quantitative data researchers use sophisticated statistical techniques using
computer models. Plans for data analysis are often made as early before the data are collected
(Mann, 1976).
Analysis of qualitative data also actually begins while the researcher is in the field recording his/
her field notes, tape recording and transcribing the interviews. Tape-recording the interview
process and transcribing are the essential components of analysis (Jones 1995). In analyzing the
data, the researcher must distinguish between his own views and the views of the people being
studied (Scupin and DeCorse, 1995). There are many possible analytic schemes and some
computer models for analyzing qualitative data are also available.
After the data are entered into a computer for easy processing, tabulation, and analysis, the
researcher interprets the data and writes up the findings. The hypotheses are tested, comparisons
are made with similar kinds of studies conducted elsewhere or done before, conclusions are
drawn, and recommendations are made, depending on the type of research, such as basic or
applied.
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Steps in the Research Process (Adapted from Anthony Giddens, Sociology. 1996)
How is sociology related to other sciences? What are the similarities and differences? These are
important questions. Sociology is similar with all other sciences in that it employs the scientific
methods and its major aim is production of scientific knowledge. Sociology is related to other
social and behavioral sciences in that all of them have more or less similar subject matter; they
all in one way or another study society, human culture, social phenomena; and aim at
discovering the laws that govern the social universe.
However, sociology differs from other social sciences in terms of its focus of study, approach of
study, and the method of study. The closest discipline to sociology is social anthropology. The
two share concepts, theories and methods, and have similar historical background. However,
they are different in that sociology is primarily interested in the problems of modern society,
whereas anthropology is primarily interested in the problem of traditional, non-western society.
(It should be noted here that this conventional distinction between the two is now disappearing.)
Further, sociology focuses mainly on quantitative techniques where as anthropology on
qualitative research techniques. Perhaps, the methods of research are more important in
differentiating the two. Anthropology's heavy focus on qualitative method and sociology's on
quantification are still persistent natures of the two disciplines. Further, one point of difference
worth mentioning is that sociology is narrower in scope than anthropology, which has four sub
fields; and anthropologists tend to stay in the field for long period (several months to few years)
while sociologists prefer brief stay (weeks to few months).
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Chapter Summary
The term sociology is a combination of two words, socius and logos, which mean respectively
society and study. Thus, a simple etymological definition of sociology is that it is the science of
society. Sociology is a social or behavioral science that originated in the 19th century in Western
Europe; its main concern is discovering the basic laws and principles that govern human social
life, the social world, the working and development of society and its institutions. It grew out of
the great revolutionary contexts, with great concern to address the social changes, disorders and
problems of the modern world.
Micro-sociology studies the micro aspects of human society, that is the social processes and
phenomena taking place at small scale levels; macro-sociology studies the macro aspects, that is,
the overall structure, functioning, change, development and processes of social phenomena at
large-scale levels. The six major field of study in sociology are social organization and social
theory, social change, social problems, social processes, social groups, and social control.
Research is very important in sociology. Although some challenge its scientific status, it uses the
scientific method to produce, store and disseminate scientific knowledge on society and social
phenomena. A typical sociological research may involve seven steps, and each step is very
important and has to be carefully followed to do standard and quality research.
Sociology is not an island; it is interdependent with other sciences; and as to its subject matter it
is more or less similar with the other social or behavioral sciences such as anthropology, social
psychology, political science, economics, and human geography. However, as to its methods,
focus, unit of analysis, and approaches, it is different. The closest discipline to sociology is social
anthropology; they share similar historical development, concepts, theories, and approaches;
although the former focuses on modern societies and quantitative research and the latter focuses
on traditional societies and qualitative research techniques.
Review Questions
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Assignment One
1. (a) What is sociology?
(b) Mention at least five issues of sociological relevance in the contemporary society of
Uganda.
2. (a) Discuss the personal and professional benefits of learning sociology
(b) Identify the factors to be considered when one is considering choosing a certain issue
or issues as research topic.
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Learning Objectives
At learning this chapter, students will be able to:
Define the concept of society;
Describe the basic characteristics of a society;
Conceptualize society as having different levels;
Describe the different types of society on the basis of various parameters;
Explain how society functions as a system;
Define the concept of culture;
Describe the basic features of culture;
Identify the key elements of culture; and
Understand other main concepts related to culture
Definition
The term society as mentioned earlier is derived from a Latin word socius. The term directly
means association, togetherness, gregariousness, or simply group life. The concept of society
refers to a relatively large grouping or collectivity of people who share more or less common and
distinct culture, occupying a certain geographical locality, with the feeling of identity or
belongingness, having all the necessary social arrangements or insinuations to sustain itself.
We may add a more revealing definition of society as defined by Calhoun et al (1994): "A
society is an autonomous grouping of people who inhabit a common territory, have a common
culture (shared set of values, beliefs, customs and so forth) and are linked to one another through
routinized social interactions and interdependent statuses and roles." Society also may mean a
certain population group, a community.
The common tendency in sociology has been to conceptualize society as a system, focusing on
the bounded and integrated nature of society. Great founders of sociology had also focused on
the dynamic aspect of society. Such early sociologists as Comte, Marx and Spencer grasped the
concept of society as a dynamic system evolving historically and inevitably towards complex
industrial structures (Swingwood, 1991:313).
The common tendency in sociology has been to conceptualize society as a system, focusing on
the bounded and integrated nature of society. But in recent years such an approach has been
criticized. Contemporary sociologists now frequently use the network conception of society.
This approach views society as overlapping, dynamic and fluid network of economic, political,
cultural and other relations at various levels. Such a conception is analytically more powerful
and reflects the reality especially in the context of modern, globalizing world.
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groups that make up the society. (Henslin and Nelson, 1995; Giddens, 1996; Calhoun et al.,
1994)
Fifth, members of a society are considered to have a common origin and common historical
experience. They feel that they have also common destiny. Sixth, members of a society may also
speak a common mother tongue or a major language that may serve as a national heritage.
Seventh, a society is autonomous and independent in the sense that it has all the necessary social
institutions and organizational arrangements to sustain the system. However, a society is not an
island, in the sense that societies are interdependent. There has always been inter– societal
relations. People interact socially, economically and politically.
At another level, every continent may be considered as a society. Thus, we may speak of the
European society, the African society, the Asian society, the Latin American society, etc. This
may be because, each of these continents share its own territory, historical experiences, shared
culture, and so on.
At a more practical level, each nation-state or country is regarded as a society. For example, the
people of Uganda or Kenya, Japan are considered as a society. Going far farther still, another
level of society is that within each nation-state, there may be ethno- linguistically distinct groups
of people having a territory that they consider as their own. They are thus societies in their own
right. Some Such society may extend beyond the boundaries of nation-states. Example, the
Banyarwanda inhabit in both Uganda and Rwanda and DR. Congo.
It is important to note that the above features of a society are by no means exhaustive and they
may not apply to all societies. The level of a society’s economic and technological development,
the type of economic or livelihood system a society is engaged in, etc may create some variations
among societies in terms of these basic features.
Another important criterion for classifying societies may be that which takes into account
temporal succession and the major source of economic organization (Lensiki and Lensiki, 1995).
When societies modernize they transform from one form to another. The simplest type of society
that is in existence today and that may be regarded the oldest is that whose economic
organization is based on hunting and gathering. They are called hunting and gathering
societies. This society depends on hunting and gathering for its survival. The second types are
referred to as pastoral and horticultural societies. Pastoral societies are those whose livelihood
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is based on pasturing of animals, such as cattle, camels, sheep and goats. Horticultural societies
are those whose economy is based on cultivating plants by the use of simple tools, such as
digging sticks, hoes, axes, etc.
The third types are agricultural societies. This society, which still is dominant in most parts of
the world, is based on large-scale agriculture, which largely depends on ploughs using animal
labor. The Industrial Revolution which began in Great Britain during 18th century, gave rise to
the emergence of a fourth type of society called the Industrial Society. An industrial society is
one in which goods are produced by machines powered by fuels instead of by animal and human
energy. Sociologists also have come up with a fifth emerging type of society called post-
industrial society. This is a society based on information, services and high technology, rather
than on raw materials and manufacturing. The highly industrialized which have now passed to
the post-industrial level include the USA, Canada, Japan, and Western Europe.
Definition
Before going any further, it may be important to note that common people often misuse the
concept of culture. Some misconceptions about the to term culture include:
Many people in the western world use the term culture in the sense that some people are
more "cultured" than others. This basically emanates from the idea associated with the
root word of the term culture, “kulture” in German, which refers to “civilization". Thus,
when one is said to be “cultured”, he or she is said to be civilized. For sociologists and
anthropologists, "culture includes much more than refinement, taste, sophistication,
education and appreciation of the fine arts. Not only college graduates but also all people
are ‘cultured’” Kottak (2002: 272).
A second commonly used misconception is that which equates “culture" with things
which are colorful, customs, cloths, foods, dancing, music, etc. As Kottak (op. cit p.525)
argues, “… many [people] have come to think of culture in terms of colorful customs,
music, dancing and adornments clothing, jewelry and hairstyles…. Taken to an extreme,
such images portray culture as recreational and ultimately unserious rather than
something that ordinary people live everyday of their lives not just when they have
festivals.”
A third misconception about what culture is and what it constitutes is that which may be
entertained by many common people here in Uganda. This misconception is similar to the
second one, but it differs from it in that most people here think culture is that which
pertains to unique traditional material objects or non – material things of the past.
According to this view, the cultural may not include things (material or non – material),
which are modern, more ordinary, day-to – day, life aspects. Here, the simple, ordinary
social, economic and other activities, ideas and affairs are regarded as not cultural or
somewhat “less cultural" although not clearly stated.
The concept of culture is one of the most widely used notions in sociology. It refers to the whole
ways of life of the members of a society. It includes what they dress, their marriage customs and
family life, art, and patterns of work, religious ceremonies, leisure pursuits, and so forth. It also
includes the material goods they produce: bows and arrows, plows, factories and machines,
computers, books, buildings, airplanes, etc (Calhoun, et al, 1994; Hensiln and Nelson, 1995).
The concept of culture has been defined by hundreds of times by sociologists and
anthropologists, emphasizing different dimensions. However, most often scholars have focused
on eh symbolic dimension of culture; that culture is essentially symbolic (see below).
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Culture is overt and covert: It is generally divided into material and non-material
cultures. Material culture consists of any tangible human made objects such as tools,
automobiles, buildings, etc. Non- material culture consists of any non-physical aspects
like language, belief, ideas, knowledge, attitude, values, etc.
Culture is explicit and implicit: It is explicit when we consider those actions which can be
explained and described easily by those who perform them. It is implicit when we
consider those things we do, but are unable to explain them, yet we believe them to be so.
Culture is ideal and manifest (actual): Ideal culture involves the way people ought to
behave or what they ought to do. Manifest culture involves what people actually do.
Culture is stable and yet changing: Culture is stable when we consider what people hold
valuable and are handing over to the next generation in order to maintain their norms and
values. However, when culture comes into contact with other cultures, it can change.
However, culture changes not only because of direct or indirect contact between cultures,
but also through innovation and adaptation to new circumstances.
Culture is shared and learned: Culture is the public property of a social group of people
(shared). Individuals get cultural knowledge of the group through socialization. However,
we should note that all things shared among people might not be cultural, as there are
many biological attributes which people share among themselves (Kottak, 2002).
Culture thus works in the symbolic domain emphasizing meaning, rather than the
technical/practical rational side of human behavior. All actions have symbolic content as well as
being action in and of themselves. Things, actions, behaviors, etc, always stand for something
else than merely, the thing itself.
Elements of Culture
Culture includes within itself elements that make up the essence of a society or a social group.
The major ones include: Symbols, values, norms, and language (See Henslin and Nelson, 1995;
Calhoun et al. 1994).
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Symbols
Symbols are the central components of culture. Symbols refer to anything to which people attach
meaning and which they use to communicate with others. More specifically, symbols are words,
objects, gestures, sounds or images that represent something else rather than themselves.
Symbolic thought is unique and crucial to humans and to culture. It is the human ability to give a
thing or event an arbitrary meaning and grasp and appreciate that meaning. There is no obvious
natural or necessary connection between a symbol and what it symbolizes.
Language
Language, specifically defined as a system of verbal and in many cases written symbols with
rules about how those symbols can be strung together to convey more complex meanings, is the
distinctive capacity and possession of humans; it is a key element of culture. Culture
encompasses language, and through language, culture is communicated and transmitted. Without
language it would be impossible to develop, elaborate and transmit culture to the future
generation.
Values
Values are essential elements of non-material culture. They may be defined as general, abstract
guidelines for our lives, decisions, goals, choices, and actions. They are shared ideas of a groups
or a society as to what is right or wrong, correct or incorrect, desirable or undesirable, acceptable
or unacceptable, ethical or unethical, etc., regarding something. They are general road maps for
our lives. Values are shared and are learned in group. They can be positive or negative. For
example, honesty, truth – telling, respect for others, hospitality, helping those in need, etc are
positive values. Examples of negative values include theft, indecency, disrespect, dishonesty,
falsehood, frugality, etc. The Hippocratic Oath in medical profession dictates that practitioners
should among other things, keep the secrets of patients, provide them whatever help they can, do
no harm to patients willingly, etc. This is an example of positive value.
Values are dynamic, meaning they change over time. They are also static, meaning they tend to
persist without any significant modification. Values are also diversified, meaning they vary from
place to place and culture to culture. Some values are universal because there is bio-
psychological unity among people everywhere and all times. In other words, they emanate from
the basic similarity of mankind’s origins, nature and desires. For example, dislike for killing
people, concepts and practices of disease management, cleanliness, personal hygiene, cosmetics,
incest taboo, etc.
Norms
Norms are also essential elements of culture. They are implicit principles for social life,
relationship and interaction. Norms are detailed and specific rules for specific situations. They
tell us how to do something, what to do, what not to do, when to do it, why to do it, etc. Norms
are derived from values. That means, for every specific norm, there is a general value that
determines its content.
Individuals may not act according to the defined values and norms of the group. Therefore,
violation of values and norms and deviating from the standard values and norms are often
common. Social norms may be divided into two. These are mores and folkways
Mores: Are important and stronger social norms for existence, safety, well-being and continuity
of the society or the group or society. Violation of, and deviation from these kinds of norms, may
result in serious reactions form the groups. The strongest norms are regarded as the formal laws
of a society or a group. Formal laws are written and codified social norms. The other kinds of
mores are called conventions. Conventions are established rules governing behavior; they are
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generally accepted ideals by the society. Conventions may also be regarded as written and signed
agreements between nations to govern the behaviors of individuals, groups and nations.
Folkways: Are the ways of life developed by a group of people. They are detailed and minor
instructions, traditions or rules for day-to-day life that help us function effectively and smoothly
as members of a group. Here, violating such kinds of norms may not result in a serious
punishment unlike violating mores. They are less morally binding. In other words, folkways are
appropriate ways of behaving and doing things. Examples may include table etiquette, dressing
rules, walking, talking, etc.
Conformity to folkways usually occurs automatically without any national analysis and is based
upon custom passed from generation to generation. They are not enforced by law, but by
informal social control. They are not held to be important or obligatory as mores, or moral
standards, and their violation is not as such severely sanctioned. Although folkways are less
binding, people have to behave according to accepted standards. Some exceptional behaviors are
regarded eccentric behaviors.
Folkways are distinguished from laws and mores in that they are designed, maintained and
enforced by public sentiment, or custom, whereas laws are institutionalized, designed,
maintained and enforced by the political authority of the society. Folkways in turn may be
divided into two sub types: fashion and custom.
Fashion: Is a form of behavior, type of folkways that is socially approved at a given time but
subject to periodic change. Adherents combine both deviation and conformity to norm of a
certain group.
Custom: Is a folkway or form of social behavior that, having persisted a long period of time, has
become traditional and well established in a society and has received some degree of formal
recognition. Custom is a pattern of action shared by most or all members of a society. Habit is a
personality trait, where as the custom is a group trait. Fashion and customs can be differentiated
in that while custom changes at slower rate, fashion changes at a faster rate.
Social Values
Social Norms
Folkways Mores
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conditions. For example, variations in nutritional habits are closely linked to the types of
diseases. The prevalence of tapeworm among raw-meat eating people may be a case in point.
We use the concept of subculture to denote the variability of culture within a certain society.
Sub culture is a distinctive culture that is shared by a group within a society (Stockard, 1997).
We call it sub culture, because groups (with their sub cultures) exist within and as a smaller part
of the main, dominant culture. Examples of subculture could be the distinctive culture of
university students, street children and prostitutes in Addis Ababa, the culture of medical
professionals, etc.
Why cultures vary from society to society? Sociologists, anthropologists, cultural geographers
and other social scientists have studied the causes for cultural variations among (between)
societies. Various arguments have been provided the variation, including geographical factors,
racial determination, demographic factors, span of interest and mere historic chances. Those who
argued for racial determination believe that cultural variation is genetically determined.
Geographic factors include: climate, altitude, and so forth. Included in demographic factors are
changes in population structure, population increase, etc., whereas by span of interest is meant
cultures vary as people's interest in life also varies. Cultural variation is due to mere historical
chances; a particular group of people may develop a culture as it is exposed to certain historical
circumstances and opportunities.
However, no one explanation is sufficient by itself; anthropologists now reject particular
deterministic explanation such as those based on race; rather cultural variations are accounted for
by more holistic explanations.
Ethnocentrism
We often tend to judge other cultures by comparison with our own. It is not logically possible
and proper to underestimate or overestimate or judge other cultures on the basis of one's cultural
standard. Ethnocentrism, in general, is an attitude of taking one's own culture and ways of life as
the best and the center of all and on the other hand, regarding other ethnic groups and cultures as
inferior, bad, full of errors, etc. It is the tendency to apply one's own cultural values in judging
the behavior and beliefs of people raised in other cultures. It is a cultural universal. People
everywhere think that familiar explanations, opinion, and customs as true, right, proper and
moral. They regard different behavior as strange or savage (Macionis, 1997; Hensllin and
Nelson, 1995).
Cultural Relativism
Every society has its own culture, which is more or less unique. Every culture contains its own
unique pattern of behavior which may seem alien to people from other cultural backgrounds. We
cannot understand the practices and beliefs separately from the wider culture of which they are
part. A culture has to be studied in terms of its own meanings and values. Cultural relativism
describes a situation where there is an attitude of respect for cultural differences rather than
condemning other people's culture as uncivilized or backward (Stockard, 1997).
Culture Shock
Culture shock is the psychological and social maladjustment at micro or macro level that is
experienced for the first time when people encounter new cultural elements such as new things,
new ideas, new concepts, seemingly strange beliefs and practices. No person is protected form
culture shock. However, individuals vary in their capacity to adapt and overcome the influence
of culture shock. Highly ethnocentric people are exposed widely to culture shock. On the other
hand, cultural relativists may find it easy to adapt to new situations and overcome culture shock
(Henslin and Nelson, 1995).
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Cultural Universals
Although there are as many different and unique cultures as societies, there are some cultural
practices that are universal. Amid the diversity of human cultural behavior, there are some
common features that are found in virtually all societies. Cultural universality refers to those
practices, beliefs, values, norms, material objects, etc., which are observed across all societies in
the world, or across different social groups within a society.
For example, every culture has a grammatically complex language. All societies have some
recognized form of family system in which there are values and norms associated with the care
of children. The institution of marriage, religious rituals, and property rights are all cultural
universals. All societies have some form of incest prohibition. Anthropologist have identified
variety of more cultural universals including the existence of art, dancing, bodily adornments,
games, gift giving, joking and rules of hygiene. Cultural universals condition behavioral
similarity among individuals in a given society or across societies. They do not allow differences
in actions and behaviors, lifestyle, attitude, behaviors, etc (Broom and Selzenki, 1973).
On the other hand, cultural specialties refer to the specific skills, training, knowledge, etc. which
is limited to a group or specific members of society. They are those elements of culture which
are shared by the members of certain social groups but which are not shared by the total
population. Cultural specialties cause behavioral differences among people as opposed to cultural
universals.
Chapter Summary
The concepts of society and culture are central to sociology. A society is an autonomous
grouping of people who inhabit a common territory, have a common culture (shared set of
values, beliefs, customs and so forth) and are linked to one another through routinized social
interactions and interdependent statuses and roles. Societies may be conceptualized as having
different levels: at global, continental, regional, nation-state and ethic group levels. Depending
on various criteria, societies may be classified in to various categories, such as First World,
Second World, Third World and Fourth World Societies (based on economic development and
overall socio-economic status); and hunting and gathering, pastoral, agrarian, industrial and post
industrial societies (based on temporal succession and major means of livelihood).
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The term "culture" refers to the whole ways of life of the members of a society. It includes what
they dress; their marriage customs and family life; art and patterns of work; religious
ceremonies; leisure pursuits and so forth. Culture has various dimensions such as material and
non-material, implicit and explicit, organic and supra organic, ideal and actual, dynamic and
static and overt and covert. The essential elements of culture include symbols, language, values
and norms. Other important aspects of culture such as culture variability; ethno-centrism, cultural
relativism and culture shock; cultural universals, are discussed.
Review Questions
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CHAPTER 3: SOCIALIZATION
Learning Objectives
At the end of this chapter, students will be able to:
Define the term "socialization";
Appreciate the aims of socialization;
Describe human biological bases of, and capacity for, socialization;
Understand the modes of social learning;
Identify the modes and /or patterns of socialization;
Describe the major types of socialization; and
Describe the components and agents of socialization.
Socialization is a process of making somebody social and fully human. Or more appropriately, it
is a process whereby individual persons learn and are trained in the basic norms, values, beliefs,
skills, attitudes, way of doing and acting as appropriate to a specific social group or society. It is
an on-going, never ending process- from cradle to the grave. That means an individual person
passes through various stages of socialization, from birth to death. Thus, we need socialization as
infants, preschool children, schoolboys/girls, pubescent, adolescents, adults and older persons.
From the point of view of individual persons, especially a newly born baby, socialization is a
process whereby a biological being or organism is changed into a social being. In terms of the
group, society or any professional organizations, socialization is a process whereby the
organizations', social groups' and society's structure and well-being are kept and sustained. It is
the process whereby the culture, skills, norms, traditions, customs, etc., are transmitted from
generation to generation - or from one society to another.
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Despite the inculcation of values and norms is significant in the process of social integration, we
need to also note that social values are not equally absorbed by members of a society or group.
The integrative function of socialization is also not equally beneficial to all people. There is
always the question of whose values have to be inculcated? This question particularly becomes
crucial in an increasingly globalizing society. Hence, the ideological role of socialization with
the issues of differential power, control, domination and conflict become important.
Absence of Instincts: The term "instinct" in its current social science usage refers to the
complex behavior patterns for which some animal species as biologically programmed. For
example, nest-building among birds is an indistinct. But humans have no comparable behavior
patterns which are biologically fixed, although they have innumerable built-in physiological
reflexes. Human have biological drives or impulses such as hunger, thirst, sex, etc, rather than
instincts. This absence of instincts makes humans dependent on social direction and their
behaviors are amenable to such direction. The open-endedness of humans is thus the biological
ground for social conformity.
Social Contact Needs: Humans need sustained social contacts. Studies conducted on primates
and human infants revealed that lack of body stimulation and contact in infancy appear to inhibit
and prevent the development of higher learning functions. Satisfaction of the social contact and
initiations needs in humans is a strong biological imperative.
Longer Period of Childhood Dependence: A third biological condition that makes extensive
socialization essential for humans is that the human infant need much longer period of physical
dependence and sexual immaturity than other animals. The need to acquire the techniques and
skills of social living further prolongs the dependence. Such longer period of dependence, during
which the child is cared for and controlled by others, results in an intense emotional dependence
that remains throughout life.
Capacity to Learn: A high level of intelligence is an innate human biological potential. Hence,
humans are highly educable; they can learn much more than other animals and can continue to
learn more over a longer period of time.
Language: Man's ability to learn is a function of his capacity for language. Other animals may
have some degree of intelligence but only humans have reasoning capacity because they have
language. Language expresses and arouses emotion; conveys feelings, values and knowledge.
Whether as vehicle for knowledge or for attitude, language is the key factor in the creation of
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human society. Symbolic communication, which is possessed only by humans, makes language
possible. Humans innately possess the potential and capacity to create culture and to be guided
by cultural and social norms. At the center of all these is language.
Conditioning: This involves learning based on the principle of association. Conditioning refers
to the response pattern which is built into an organism as a result of stimuli in the environment.
There is what is called classical conditioning in which the response remains constant while the
stimuli vary, as in Pavilovian experiment. In contrast, in operant or instrumental conditioning,
response is controlled. The term "operant" signifies a behavior which is guided by an anticipated
result. Thus, operant conditioning entails the "creation of built-in responses a result of systematic
reinforcement. Conditioning is important in socialization in that through classical conditioning
children learn to respond to various social and man-made stimuli; and through operant
conditioning, they learn to inhibit certain response and adopt others as habitual.
Identity Taking: Studies show that children begin to identify themselves and others by sex and
learn to behave in the normative gendered ways according to the society of which they parts.
This happens by age five. Researchers of socialization believe that sex-type behavior emerges
through operant conditioning. However, it is not the case that conditioning alone accounts for
sex-differences in behavior, although the individuals take their identity of maleness and
femaleness through approval and disapproval as well as reward and punishment. As their
linguistic and cognitive skills gradually develop, children begin to learn that they are being
called boys or girls, accept what others label, learn by observation, and report what boys and
girls do and behave accordingly.
Modeling After: Children learn to model their behavior after someone who is an admired, loved
or feared figure. This is considered as a typical stage in personality formation and in the
development of personal autonomy and social involvement. Through modeling after someone,
our behavior acquires meaning and coherence.
Problem Solving: The above three mechanisms of social learning are ways in which individuals
internalize the values and norms of society. They may be termed as modes of internalization.
However, social learning transcends beyond simply internalizing values and norms. It also
includes learning to involve in cooperative and conflict-ridden activities, to cope with new
situations and to achieve one's goals. Problem solving mode of social learning is essential
particularly in societies where complexity and fluidity dominate the social world. Problem
solving is not to be understood as a kind of mathematical puzzle solving, but it is one which is
applied to a problematic social situation in which individuals find themselves uncomfortable and
need a context -based response.
While each mode of social learning is important, it is to be noted that each has its own limitation.
No single mode of social learning thus fully accounts for socialization.
Patterns of Socialization
There are two broadly classified patterns of socialization. These are: Repressive and
participatory socialization. Repressive socialization is oriented towards gaining obedience,
while participatory socialization is oriented towards gaining the participation of the child.
Punishment of wrong behavior and rewarding and reinforcing good behavior are involved in the
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two kinds of socialization, respectively. The following is a tabular representation of the two
modes of socialization.
Rewarding good
Punishing wrong behavior behavior
Material rewards
and punishment Symbolic rewards and
punishment
Non-verbal
communication Verbal communication
Communication as Communication as
command interaction
Parent-centered Child-centered
socialization socialization
Child's discernment of
parents' Parents' discernment of
wishes child's needs
Family as generalized
Family as significant other other
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De-socialization and re-socialization often take place in what is called total institutions, which
are an all-encompassing and often isolated from the community. They demand a thorough de-
socialization of the new entrants before they assume full-fledged membership. Total institutions
include: mental hospitals, prisons, religious denominations and some other political groups, and
military units. In each case, persons joining the new setting have first to be de-socialized, before
they are re-socialized.
Re-socialization may also mean socializing individuals again into their former values and norms,
after they rejoin their former ways of life, spending a relatively longer period of time in total
institutions. This is because they might have forgotten most of the basic values and skills of the
former group or society. This kind of re-socialization may also be regarded as reintegration,
helping the ex-community members renew their memories of their former lifeways, skills,
knowledge, etc.
Anticipatory Socialization
Anticipatory socialization refers to the process of adjustment and adaptation in which individuals
try to learn and internalize the roles, values, attitudes and skills of a social status or occupation
for which they are likely recruits in the future. They do this in anticipating the actual
forthcoming socialization. It involves a kind of rehearsal and preparations in advance to have a
feel of what the new role would look like. However, anticipatory socialization may not be
adequate when the nature and scope of life transition is complex. It may be difficult to fully
anticipate what will happen.
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Reverse Socialization
Reverse socialization refers to the process of socialization whereby the dominant socializing
persons, such as parents, happen to be in need of being socialized themselves by those whom
they socialize, such as children. This idea seems to be associated with the fact that socialization
is a two-way process. It involves the influences and pressures from the socializes that directly or
indirectly induce change the attitudes and behaviors of the socializers themselves. In reverse
socialization, children, for example, may happen to socialize their parents in some roles, skills,
and attitudes which the latter lack.
The institution of family is generally regarded as the most important agent of socialization. In the
process of socialization, the most important contacts are between a child and his/her parents and
siblings. The contacts could also be between the child and surrogate parents when actual parents
are not available. Besides the child's parents, there are other agents of socialization (in modern
societies) such as day-care-centers, nurseries and kindergarten, as well as primary and secondary
schools and universities. It seems that these various agents of socialization have partially taken
over the function of the parents, particularly in modern societies, where women are increasingly
leaving their traditional home-based responsibilities by engaging in employment outside home.
The school represents a formal and conscious effort by a society to socialize its young.
Other than parents and schools, peer groups play very significant roles in the socialization
process. Sometimes, the influence of the peer group, be it negative or positive, can be as
powerful as that of parents. The peer group may transmit prevailing societal values or develop
new and distinct cultures of its own with peculiar values.
The mass media such as television, radio, movies, videos, tapes, books, magazines and
newspapers are also important agents of socialization. The most crucial effect on children comes
from television, as studies show. The effects are both negative and positive. Negative impact
seem to be greater that parents and other concerned bodies worry about the way television is
socializing children. For example, studies show that watching violence on television can
encourage aggressive behavior in children
underlying and contradictory processes of socialization behind this phenomenon. The conflicting
influences arise when on the one hand, families, schools, and medical institutions warn
youngsters not to consume these products; and on the other hand, the global companies
producing these products are powerfully waging the war of getting the products to the youth,
through the lure of television advertisement.
This example shows us that often conflicting, competing messages pass from the various sources
of socialization. The various agents of socialization are also not accorded balanced share of
power, control and domination. The international companies, who forcefully promote the culture
of consumerism thorough the aid of the powerful global media, tend to play dominating roles in
influencing the attitudes and lifestyles of youngsters.
Chapter Summary
Socialization is a lifelong, never ending process whereby individuals are trained and fitted into
the normal functioning of their societies and groups. Only human beings are biologically capable
for socialization. Thus, biological bases that make socialization in humans possible include:
absence of instincts, social contact needs, capacity to learn, prolonged childhood dependence and
language. Researchers of socialization have identified the mechanisms by which socialization
takes place; these are called modes of social learning. They include: classical and operant
conditioning; identity taking; modeling-after and problem solving. The patterns of socialization
vary from society to society; there are two broad patterns of socialization; these are: repressive
socialization which focuses on punishment and reward mechanism, emphasizing obedience of
children; and participatory socialization, which focuses on participating children, by stressing
child-centered socialization.
The goals of socialization include: inculcating basic disciplines, instilling aspirations as well as
disciplines, providing individuals with identities, teaching social roles and their supporting
attitudes, and teaching skills. The major types of socialization are: primary, childhood
socialization; secondary, adult socialization; de-socialization and re-socialization. Other minor
types include: anticipatory socialization and reverse socialization. Socialization can be carried
out at informal and formal levels; of these, informal socialization through the agency of parents,
siblings, peer groups and interpersonal relationships plays a very powerful role in shaping our
attitudes, goals, lifestyles, knowledge and overall personality development. Other formal agents
of socialization also play very important roles; these are: schools at different levels and mass
media, of which television stands out the most powerful agent of socialization relating to
children, often with negative effects.
Review Questions
1. Define the term "socialization".
2. Why are humans biologically capable of socialization?
3. Mention and discuss the goals of socialization.
4. Discuss the mechanism by which social learning in humans takes place.
5. Compare and contrast the two modes of socialization.
6. Mention and discuss the major and minor types of socialization.
7. “A greater proportion of an individual’s personality is a reflection of the
type of socialization process he or she has gone through during primary
socialization.” Explain.
8. “Without socialization a person is a mere biological being.” Discuss.
9. Identify the aspects of your personality which you regard as the results of
parent socialization, peer influxes and the mass media,
10. Discuss the negative and positive effects of television as agent of
socialization in your life.
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Learning Objectives
After learning this chapter, students will be able to:
Describe the meaning of social organization;
Understand that humans are by nature social animals and apart from sustained social
relationship; humans would not enjoy life in isolation;
Appreciate the influence of group life on individual behavior, and vice versa; and the role
of primary social groups in shaping the personality, attitude, lifestyle and mentality of
individuals;
Describe the meaning social interaction and social relationship;
Identify the basic symbolic interactionist perspective of social interaction in everyday
life;
Define the concepts of social status and social roles; and understand the fact that
individuals interact within the framework of status and role relationships;
Define the concept of social institution; and
Describe the meaning and types of social control.
By social organization, we refer to the pattern of individual and group relations. The term
"organization" signifies technical arrangement of parts in a whole, and the term "social",
indicates the fact that individual and group relations are the outcomes of social processes (Broom
and Slezinky, 1973). Thus, one of sociology's main concerns is to study and analyze the behavior
of human society as it appears in its structured and organized ways and relationships.
Specifically, sociologists are here interested in discovering and analyzing:
The personal and group relations that influence individual behavior and social
institutions;
How persons and groups relate to each other;
How people organize themselves in various social situations, whether consciously or
unconsciously;
What kind of social relationships occur in their organized behaviors; and
How these social relationships are maintained; how they decline or disintegrate.
Social Groups
In our day-to-day life and social activities, we interact with each other, belonging to a group of
some kind. The study of group is central to any sociological investigation.
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a social group have common basis for interaction and shared characteristics, a feeling of identity
or belongingness, shared psychology or consciousness and a definite set of norms to govern the
behaviors of the individual participant in the group
Social interaction among the members is relatively permanent; it is not causal. Common interests
should characterize as a basis for interaction. There are shared values, beliefs and lifestyles. The
emotional, shared consciousness is also important. The feeling of belongingness is very
important. Social norms and values govern behavior of group members.
All of the following are examples of social groups, from the smallest possible level to the largest
possible. A dyad (made up of two persons like fiancés, husband and wife), a family, a group of
students in a dormitory, peer group, a friendship, an ethnic group, a community, a nation, a
continent, a university, an organization, etc.
Classification of Groups
Sociologists have classified groups into two basic classifications, namely, primary and
secondary groups. The classification of groups into primary and secondary is mainly based on:
(a) the quality of relationship between or among the members of the group, and (b) the degree of
group identity. People, for example, generally feel more loyal to their family and close friends
than to the companies for which they work (Henslin and Nelson, 1995).
Primary groups, for a child, are a school for learning the ways of human interaction and the give
and take of working and playing together.
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In other words, the classification of social groups into primary and secondary should not be taken
as a sort of dichotomy. It should rather be considered as a continuum, i.e. at the two extreme
ends, there may be crystallized primary and secondary groups, and in between the two extremes,
there are mixtures of the two types.
Quasi-Social Groups
Quasi-groups are those kinds of social groupings which lack the essential features of social
groups. In this kind of grouping, there may be no functional integration among members. There
are little or no structured and patterned social relationships. This kind of social interactions is
common in modern, industrial and complex societies. It is more common in urban heterogeneous
settings. They characterize individualistic societies. Such groups lack meaningful social
structures and social interaction. There are two types of quasi groups: aggregates and categories.
Aggregates
A social aggregate is quasi-social grouping in which two or more people are physically together
at a certain time and at a certain place. There is physical proximity without enduring social
interaction. There is no shared psychological-identity. However, out of this kind of grouping a
real social group can emerge. Examples of an aggregate include: two or more people in a- taxi,
bus, air plane, an elevator, a busy city street, in a cafeteria, a stadium, in a market, in a hospital
ward, etc.
Anonymity in the midst of crowd behavior usually characterizes aggregates. Such condition may
lead to the problem of sense of alienation, dehumanization, sense of being lost, depression, social
stress and other psychosocial problems. Suicide is very common in urban than rural areas and
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Categories
This is a quasi-group which consists of a plurality or collectively of people who are physically
dispersed, but who share common traits and interests. It refers to a social class; or a group of
people who are more or less of similar lifestyles, and physical and psychosocial characteristics.
There may be little or no social interaction, social structure, social norms, etc; but there is the
feeling of belongingness, even though the people may never know each other. However,
gradually, a meaningful social grouping can grow out of a category. Examples of a social
category include: all female students in higher learning institutions in Uganda; all female
engineers in Uganda; all students from rural background, HIV positive persons, etc
Individuals are the main components of society; they make up the building blocks; as, in a very
important sense, society is the product of the actions of individuals. We may further state that
society is a representation of the collective behavior of individual actors. It is the product of
decisions people make concerning when, how, and with whom they are going to interact.
However, individuals are social actors who act in a social environment; their social interactions
are influenced by the social environment and existing social pattern. In other words, the actions
of individuals are not haphazard ones; they take place in patterned relationships.
Social relationship refers to any routinized, enduring patterns of social interactions between
individuals in society under the limits and influences of the social structure. The term "social
relationship" elicits two important questions: between whom does social relationship take place?
About what are social relationships? Answers to these questions lead us to the concepts of social
status and role (Henslin and Nelson, 1995).
Achieved social status may be regarded as the characteristics of modern, industrial societies. In a
traditional society, most social statuses are naturally acquired. E.g. a potter family may produce
potter son or daughter. But in modern society, this is not usually the case. Every person has at
least two social statuses. A person, for example, may be at the same time a student, a daughter, a
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mother, an employee, etc. Of these various statuses, one or two may be more dominant than
others.
The most dominant of all is called a salient status. It is that which defines a person’s position in
most cases at most occasions Calhoun et al., 1994; Rosenberg, 1987; Stockard, 1997).
Multiple statuses are associated with multiple roles. The different roles associated with a single
status are called role set. Sometimes, there are role conflicts, meaning the clashing of one role
with the other. These role conflicts may be inter-role, i.e. conflict between two or more roles.
There are also intra-role conflicts, i.e. conflicts that occur when a person feels strains and
inadequacies in accomplishing a certain role, or when there is a gap between what a person does
and what a group expects of him or her. Intra-role conflict may also be called role strain. In other
words, there is a clash between ideal role, that which a person is expected to perform
theoretically, and actual role, that a person accomplishes according to his or her level of
understanding, capacity and personality.
Stereotypes in Everyday Life: Stereotypes are the assumptions we have about people;
they determine and shape our reactions and behaviors towards people. Our first
impressions about people are shaped by the assumptions we make about such
characteristics as the person's sex, age, skin color, physical appearance, social status, etc.
The assumptions not only influence our ideas about the person, but the way we interact
with that person.
Personal space: Individuals have, and maintain, an important sense of personal space in
social interaction; every person has thus personal space. Our personal spaces are open to
only those whom we are intimate with such as children, parents, close friends and
spouses. Otherwise, we keep others out of this personal space making sure that we do not
touch, and are touched by, others. Anthropological research findings show that the use of
personal space varies form culture to culture; four different distance zones are identified,
for example, as used in North America (Ibid). These are:
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Touching: Each society has rules about touching in social interaction. Frequency of
touching and the meaning people attach to it vary between and within cultures. However,
in impersonal social interactions, higher status individuals are more likely to touch those
of lower status; e.g. teacher his/ her students; a boss his secretary, etc.
2. Dramaturgy: Symbolic integrationists use the term “dramaturgy” to refer to the way
individuals present themselves in everyday life. The term was coined by sociologist
Erving Goffman (1922 – 1982) to refer to dramaturgical analysis of how people act and
behave in social situations. Thus, social life is likened to a drama or stage. Individuals are
born into the stage of everyday life. Our everyday social life consists of playing our
assigned roles. Every person learns how to perform in the stage. Our everyday life is
filled with stages where we perform; each person is expected to play his/ her drama
taking many roles; e.g. a student, a wife, a mother, a daughter, a worker, etc. The actions
and roles played on the stage are called role performances.
Social Institutions
Social institutions may be defined as practices based on similar principles that display some
degree of regularity. More specifically, a social institution is an interrelated system of social
roles and social norms, organized around the satisfaction of an important social need or social
function (Team of Experts, 2000).
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Social institutions are universal. They vary from time to time and across cultures, in terms of
complexity, specialization, scope, formality and organization. But their basic nature and purpose
are similar everywhere. These features are particularly true regarding the five major social
institutions discussed below. Social institutions are resistant to change; they tend to persist.
However, once a change occurs in particular social institution, it tends to affect the other
institutions as well.
Each institution performs two types of social function. These are: (a) primary functions, which
are also called manifest, explicit, or direct functions; and (b) secondary functions, which are
also called indirect, hidden, or latent functions. Through these functions, social institutions fulfill
important needs in the society. The primary functions of the five major social institutions are as
follows.
1. The Family
The family is the most important social unit in any society. It is the building block of any society.
The family fulfills two basic functions. These are reproduction and socialization. Society
reproduces or recreates itself through the family. Children are born in the family to join the
society. Parents play the roles of nurturing, caring for, teaching and training children; children
are expected to play the roles of good and teachable trainees. The way parents nurture, train and
care for their children vary according to forms of family organization. Nuclear family is a
dominant form of family organization in modern, industrialized and urban societies. It usually
consists of husband wife and dependent children. In traditional, agrarian and rural societies,
Extruded family form dominates. It consists of husband, wife/ wives, their children, and other
relatives (Henslin and Nelson, 1995; Calhoun et al. 1994)
2. Economic Institution
Every society needs to make effective use of the scarce resources. Goods and services have to be
produced to meet the basic needs such as food, clothing, shelter, etc. Economic institutions are
responsible for organizing the production, exchange, distribution and consumption of goods and
services.
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3. Religious Institution
This asocial institution is responsible for meeting (providing) spiritual needs of the members of
the society. There are puzzling questions about the meaning of the human life, human destiny,
the universe, and other questions.
Religion and related institutions like magic provide explanations for these puzzling paradoxes of
life and provides meaning and purpose for life. It helps people to cope with purposelessness,
meaninglessness and sense of alienation and frustration. These institutions also help members of
society conform to social values and norms, and play their expected social roles appropriately.
They also provide a sense of social solidarity among members of society.
5. Educational Institution
This social institution is responsible for providing training for the members of society. It serves
as center of knowledge production, exchange, and distribution. Generally, educational
institutions are responsible for the vertical and horizontal transmission of material and non-
material cultures. Vertical transmission means over time from one generation to another
generation; whereas horizontal transmission means over geographical space or from one society
to another. Educational institutions also play the role of preparing members of society for the
statuses and roles that re associate with being good citizens and workers, holding various
occupations.
Before ending this section it is important to note that although the foregoing way of presenting
the nature and function of social institutions is often common in some of standard text books in
introductory sociology, we also need to view them in a critical and conflict theory approach.
From such perspectives, social institutions may be functional for some and dysfunctional
(meaning positively harmful and damaging) for other individuals and groups in a society. This is
partly because they often exist and operate in the context of class division and social
stratification, unequal access to power and resources. From this point of view, social institutions
may not be functional to all members of society equally. They may exist to promote the interests
and privileges of some sections of society
Social control is thus simply defined as all the mechanisms and processes employed by a society
to ensure conformity. In other words, social control is any cultural or social means by which
restraints are imposed upon individual behavior and by which people are initiated to follow the
traditions and patterns of behavior accepted by society. It is, simply, a means by which
conformists are rewarded and non-conformists are punished.
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Negative Social Control: This involves punishment or regulating behavior of deviants. A deviant
is a person whose views and actions are different in moral or social standards from what is
considered normal or acceptable in the context of a certain social group. This social control may
be at micro/ informal level and macro/ formal levels. Micro/ informal level social control occurs
at the level of small groups such as peer groups, family, and interpersonal relationships.
Examples of negative social control at micro levels include: simple gossip or backbiting, a
simple frowning, reprimanding, pinching, beating, ridiculing, scolding, ostracizing, etc. The
punishments can be in the psychological, social or physical/ material forms. Punishments at
macro or formal level include: fining, firing, demotion, imprisonment, banishment or
excommunication, capital punishment and so on.
Positive Social Control: These mechanisms involve rewarding and encouraging those who abide
by the norms. It involves rewarding the model behavior. The informal psychosocial reward
mechanisms include simple smiles, saying encouraging word, shaking hands, thanking, showing
appreciation, etc. Formal positive social control mechanism may include giving awards,
promoting to a higher level of status, etc
Chapter Summary
Social organization refers to the way people are socially grouped in an enduring network of
social interaction and relationship. The appropriate living and working environment of a person
is group life. As a ship does not function outside water, a human being as a social animal does
not live for any meaningful sustained period of time in isolation from social group context.
Whatever we do, say, behave, or act gets its right meaning in the context of a social group.
The social organizational life of people may be explained in terms of social groups, aggregates,
categories, etc. The organic life of society is cemented or glued together by forces of social
interaction and relationship. The nature and dynamic of social interaction in our everyday lives
are discussed. Key symbolic interactionist concepts and perspectives such dramaturgy,
stereotypes in everyday interaction, ethno methodology and the social construction of reality are
also discussed.
Social status locates individuals and groups in the social structure, of which some locations are
defined by birth and others are obtained by choice, efforts and competitions. Statuses are
associated with roles, which may be ideal or actual. There are usually tensions and clashes
between ideal and actual roles. When such tensions take place within one role it is intra-role
conflict or role strain, and when it occurs between the different roles of a person, it is inter-role
conflict.
Social institutions may be defined as practices based on similar principles that display some
degree of regularity. More specifically, a social institution is an interrelated system of social
roles and social norms, organized around the satisfaction of an important social need or social
function.
Social control is thus simply defined as all the mechanisms and processes employed by a society
to ensure conformity. In other words, social control is any cultural or social means by which
restraints are imposed upon individual behavior and by which people are initiated to follow the
traditions and patterns of behavior accepted by society. It is, simply, a means by which
conformists are rewarded and non-conformists are punished.
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Review Questions
1. Explain the term social organization using you own words
2. What is social relationship?
3. Explain the following statement: “No one enjoys aloneness.”
4. Discuss the difference between social groups and quasi-social groups.
5. Identify the elements of social group influence that you think have
become part of your personality, life style, life choices and goals. Which
of your life philosophies, likes and dislikes are not the products of social
influence, i.e., that are just your own idiosyncrasies?
6. Mention and discuss the four key concepts developed by symbolic
interactionists to analyze the nature of social interaction in everyday life
7. Differentiate between intra-social and inter-social role conflicts. Explain
cases of, if any, inter-social role and intra-social role conflicts you have
encountered. Have these conflicts had any negative impact on your
health? How?
8. Why do you think social control is necessary?
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Learning Objectives
Having completed this chapter, the students will be able to:
Understand the meaning of social processes and their analogy with biological processes;
Describe the modes of social processes, such as competition, conflict, cooperation,
assimilation and accommodation;
Understand the concept of social stratification, its roots, forms and consequences.
Define the concept of social mobility, and differentiate between the various forms of
mobility;
Describe the concept of social change, its causes, characteristics, and the social changes
that are taking place in the contemporary Ugandan society.
Social processes are certain repetitive, continuous forms of patterns in the social systems that
occur as individuals, groups, societies, or countries interact with each other. They are interaction
patterns or modes, among members (individual) within a society or a group involving particular
repetitive features, occurring both at micro and macro levels. They help us interpret and
understand our social behavior.
Competition
Competition as a social process seems to be more pronounced than others. It is real in our day-to-
day interpersonal encounters, as well as in the global situations. Competition is the process
whereby individuals, groups, societies, and countries make active efforts to win towards getting
their share of the limited resources. It is an impersonal attempt to gain scarce and valued
resources of wealth, land, health care services, etc. As a result of competition, stratification,
physical separation and so on may happen in a given society. Competition involves struggle,
efforts, decisions, actions, etc., to survive. Competition is balanced by cooperation.
Cooperation
Cooperation is a social process whereby people join hands towards achieving common goals.
Competition is more likely to occur in advanced, modern, industrialized societies than in
traditional, homogenous societies where cooperation appears to be more important. .
Conflict
In the process of competition for power (which could be economic, social, and political) and
resources, conflict is bound to take place. Conflict involves disagreement and disharmony, which
results due to differences in ideology, living standard, and other social factors. It is a universal
phenomenon, an ever- present reality, taking place both at micro and macro levels. Conflict
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involves clash of interest between individuals in a social group like in a family or between
groups or societies. It results due to power imbalance, due to unfair distribution of resources.
Here, it produces social class and stratification. Conflict may be between males and females,
youngster and older generation; between different religious, ethnic and, political groups.
Accommodation
People may decide to consciously avoid the source of conflict thereby arriving at an agreement
to live accepting one another, co-exist at relative peace, avoiding overt conflict. Accommodation
is a social process whereby people try to accept one another, avoiding the sources of conflict to
live in peaceful coexistence. It is a conscious adjustment and compromise among conflicting
groups so that they can live with one another without overt conflict.
Assimilation
Assimilation is a social process whereby a group of individuals learns and accepts the values,
norms, etc., of another group and becomes sometimes virtually identical with the dominant
groups. Assimilation involves the acceptance or the internalizing of the larger or dominant
group's culture, values and life styles by the smaller or minority group. Assimilation could
imposed or voluntary. In this age of globalization there are westernization processes, whereby
peoples of the Third World are taking up the values, notions and practices of the Industrialized
West.
Social Stratification
Definition
Social stratification is one of the outcomes of the continuous occurring of social processes. Every
society is segmented in to different hierarchies. In virtually all societies, some people are
regarded as more important than others (more worthy of respect than others), either within the
society as a whole or in a certain situations.
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According to the proponents of the functionalist theory, segments or hierarchies and social
inequalities exist in all societies. Moreover, their main argument is that social stratification is
functional and purposeful and also essential in any society. They contend that no society is
classless or unstratified, and social stratification is universally necessary. Social stratification in
short is universal, functional, inevitable, and beneficial and something which can't be avoided.
The proponents of the conflict theory of social stratification also accept the fact that social
inequality exists in every society. But they do not believe that social stratification is functional.
According to conflict theorists, it is the way of oppressing one group of people by another
(Calhoun et al., 1994).
Caste
Another well-known form of social stratification is the caste system. The system is based on
religious and other strongly rooted traditional belief that cannot be changed or are very difficult
to change. This is the form of social stratification whereby classification of people into different
strata is made on the basis of usually religious and other very strong conventions/ traditions that
are difficult to change. Some of the features of caste system include:
It is a very rigid and closed system.
People belonging to the same stratum practice endogamy.
Intermarriage between strata is not permitted.
There are occupational differences between strata; i.e., each stratum is usually assigned a
particular type of occupation.
Food sharing, social drinking, friendships, etc., are permitted only within a stratum, not
between strata.
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This form of social stratification characterizes most traditional, agricultural societies. However,
the best example of caste is the Hindu caste system of India. This has existed for some 3000
years and was only officially nullified in 1947. Hindu caste system divides the society into five
major strata. These are Brahmans, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas, Sudras and Haryans (Indrani, 1998)
In ancient Roman and Hebrew societies and other ancient and medieval civilizations, slaves,
woman and children were often given lower and stigmatized positions in society. They were not,
for example, considered when the population census was conducted.
In rural Ugandan society, this form of stratification has existed for centuries and it still persists.
Individuals in such traditional occupations as pottery, blacksmith, tannery, weaving, carpentry,
and others such as so called slaves have been given lower places and are often denied free
membership and social participation in various social affairs. In ancient Roman and Hebrew
societies and other ancient and medieval civilizations, slaves, woman and children were often
given lower and stigmatized positions in society. They were not, for example, considered when
the population census was conducted. It is believed that such conditions have contributed to the
slow socio-economic development of the country.
The key concepts in the relation between health and social stratification are the concepts of
vulnerability, risk and hazard. Vulnerability is a sociological concept which refers to the
“characteristics of individuals and social groups [along the lines of gender, age, ethnicity,
occupation etc;] that determine [their capacity] to protect themselves, withstand and recover
from disasters, including health hazards based on their access to material and non-material
resources”
Social Mobility
Social mobility describes the volume and quality of movement among strata. That is the kind of
movement that people make between the different social classes. Our unit of analysis in social
mobility may be an individual, or a social group or a nation.
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If a child, for example, whose father was an upper class person as a result of his wealth, becomes
only a laborer in his own time, then he has experienced a downward intergenerational social
mobility.
Intra-generational mobility
This concerns individual changes in positions during one's lifetime. It may also refer to the
change that occurs in social groups or a country’s socioeconomic position over a specified period
of time. In other words, through achievement or other means one can move up from being a poor
primary school teacher to a high court judge. Unlike the Inter-generational social mobility, intra-
generational social mobility is within one generation. But like inter-generational social mobility,
it may be an upward or downward social mobility. Unlike the inter-generational social mobility,
our focus here is on a specific individual or group. Here, we observe change in the social
position of an individual or a group over the life cycle of the individual himself or the group
either upward or in some cases downward. For example, a person in his/her lifetime may rise up
from a lower position such as shoe shining, and climb up the social ladder until he or she
becomes a member of privileged social and economic position. Or, others may happen to lose
their once prestigious socio-economic position and as a result move down until they end up in
destitution.
The opportunities for upward social mobility are great in modern societies which have open
systems. In such societies, there is freedom of vertical social mobility, and any member of a
society may move up or down the social hierarchy. There are no legal and/or traditional
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restrictions that are put on social mobility on either direction. What count a lot are personal
merits, competitions and efforts for achievement. On the other hand, in societies with closed
system vertical, especially upward, is very difficult. In such societies, individuals born to a
certain social position remain within that category for their lifetime. The most important
determinants here are not individual's achievements, merits or personal effort, but what counts
most are one's ancestry, racial background, family background, religion, sex, ethnicity, etc.
(Henslin and Nelson, 1995)
Social Change
Some of the basic characteristics of social change are the following (Indrani, 1998; Team of
Experts, 2000):
Social change occurs all the time. Its process may be imperceptible and can be
cumulative, i.e., one may not easily perceive the processes of social change, although it is
always taking place.
There is no society that is static and unchanging. All societies are susceptible to social
change. In other words, social change is a universal phenomenon (it is everywhere and
anywhere). It is spread both over time and space.
Change occurs both at micro-level and macro-level. The point here is that while social
change often refers to noticeable changes in social phenomena, we must not lose sight of
the fact that small changes in minor relationships can also be significant
The influence of change in one area can have an impact on other related areas. That is,
social change is contagious, like infectious diseases.
Social change has a rate; it can be rapid or slow.
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Conflict Theory
This theory states that social change takes place due to the ever-present class conflicts in the
social system for the better or worse. According to this theory, thus, social change is the result of
social conflicts and is essential and beneficial. Every social system contains within itself the
seeds of change as far as it is a system wherein exploitation of one group by another exists.
Social change continues to become inevitable until a classless society emerges, one in which
conflicts cease to exist.
Cyclic Theory
This theory states that society undergoes change in circular manner. Social change takes a cyclic
form, from worse to better, back again from better to worse. Social change is not always for the
better. Societies may grow, advance, and reach peak stage of development, and then they may
stagnate and finally collapse, with the potential for rising again.
Linear Theory
This theory states that change takes place in a linear manner. The direction of social change is
from worse to better, simple to complex and backward to modern. In other words, according to
linear theory, social change is evolutionary; it is always towards the better way until perfection is
achieved.
Modernization Theory
This theory of social change may be regarded as an extension of linear, evolutionary theory. It
states that the change that is being experienced by most Third World societies is by imitating or
copying the values, experiences, and models of already modernized societies. It is by adopting;
assimilating and internalizing those aspects of the industrialized societies which if copied would
bring about an improved social, economic and political development to the society.
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Demographic factors-migration, urbanization, population growth, etc., are also important ones in
bringing about socio-cultural change. Political factors such as planned change by government,
change of state ideology, etc., are also important. Other factors such as war, scientific invention
and discoveries, diffusion of non-material and material elements of culture through education
and trade relations, etc., also promote social change.
Last but not the least psychosocial factors like beliefs, vested interests, sacred values, attitudes,
resistance to change or to accept and entertain new things and intending to maintain the status
quo are also very important forces.
Social stratification, social mobility and social change are the three important aspects of social
processes. Social stratification refers to the classification of society into different social strata
that involve inequalities or differences in lifestyle and living standards of people. They refer to
power imbalance and unequal distribution of resources among people. The word stratification is
originally used in geology to differentiate one rock type from the other. By the same token, that
is, society in general is segmented. There are two forms of social stratification. These are social
class and caste system. The former refers to a category of people belonging to the same stratum-
having more or less similar socio-economic standards. The latter is a closed and rigid kind of
social stratification. The position or ranks of individuals in the stratum or groups is determined
by age-old, traditional, religious values, norms and principles, which are strong and difficult to
change.
Social mobility refers to the movement of individuals and groups in the social space. Physical
mobility is not social mobility but may contribute to social mobility. Social mobility may be
vertical or horizontal and intra-generational or intergenerational.
The other aspect of social processes is social change. The study of social change has been a
major concern in the discipline of sociology. Sociologists are particularly interested in this
dynamic aspect of social system. Social change refers to large-scale (significant) alterations in
the organization and institution of a population (a society). A change which is limited to
individuals or certain groups, families, etc, is not a social change although it is important.
However, we cannot dissociate social and cultural changes for they are interdependent; social
change may bring with it cultural change, and vice versa.
There are many theoretical explanations of social change. Of this, structural-functionalist theory
focuses on social order, consensus and stability. It states that social change occurs due to growth,
complexity in social structure-due to growth in social differentiation. Modernization theory
focuses on the idea of modernization/Modernization is increasing ability to master environment.
According to this theory, change occurs in Third World societies when they make effort to
imitate advanced western societies in various respects. The conflict school of thought stands
against the school of structural functionalism. According to the latter, conflict is the main factor
behind social change and is useful and necessary for change.
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Review Questions
1. What are social processes?
2. Discuss the necessity of competition and conflict as social processes.
3. Discuss the micro- and macro aspects of assimilation as a social process.
4. What is social stratification? How does the concept of social stratification
compare with stratification in the world of rocks and minerals?
5. How is social stratification created? What is the necessity of social
stratification in society?
6. Discuss the different forms of social stratification.
7. What is the effect of caste as a social stratification on the living standards
of individuals and social groups? Do you think that there are diseases
individuals suffer from that are the results of social stratification? If yes
mention and discuss some of them.
8. What is social mobility? Discuss why social mobility takes place, the
effects of it on the well being of individuals in a given society.
9. Discuss the type of social immobility you or your family has experienced
or is experiencing.
10. What is social change? Why does social change take place? Discuss the
social and cultural change that is taking place in the present Uganda
society.
Assignment Two
1. What is social change? Why does social change take place? Discuss the social and
cultural change that is taking place in the present Uganda society.
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Learning Objectives
After completing this chapter, students will be able to:
Describe the concepts of social work;
Understand why social work and social work are necessitated;
Identify the different types of methods of social work;
Define the concepts of change agents and client groups and appreciate the role of social
work professionals as change agents;
Identify the different roles of social work professionals as change agents;
Understand the principles of professional behaviors of change agents; and
Describe and internalize the fundamental guiding principles of social work.
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The justification for social work is that the complexity of modern life makes it difficult for the
individual to develop his optimum potential, and social workers in their role as mediators, are
increasingly called on to help people to contend with society's manifold social problems (Suppes
and Wells, 1996; Morales and Sheafor,).
Basic Principles
The fundamental philosophy, which makes up the professional ethics of the field of social work
involve the following principles:
A belief in the value and dignity of humans;
Respect to people;
Self-direction;
Accepting and appreciating the idea and belief system of people;
To work in collaboration with people, not to work for them;
Dedication to human dignity; and
Respect for and understanding of uniqueness of every human being and the values of
client system. The main value here is that, social work agencies do not work for, but
work with their client system (Morales and Sheafor, op cit).
Group Work
Working with groups is called group work. It is the method (technique) of sponsoring and
working with voluntary social groups such as families, clubs and gangs in order to develop
socially desirable goals (qualities). The emphasis is treatment of the individual. Unlike casework,
group work focuses on the relation of the individual to the group and social growth of the group
itself.
The aim is to give the individual satisfying experience through group relation and eventually
enable him/her to make his/her own contributions to the life of the society. Here, consideration is
not only on the economic needs of the individuals, but other aspects such as affection, security,
acceptance and other emotional and psychosocial needs of the individual. Some of the principles
of group-work include:
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A group worker has to be able to make the client system solve their problem;
Use of scientific methods like observation, analysis and fact-finding are essential;
Creating purposeful relationship between the group work agent and the group;
Conscious use of self: including self-knowledge, self discipline, etc, in relation to client
system; and
Acceptance of people without necessarily accepting their behavior (Suppes and Wells, op
cit).
The most relevant method of social work is community organization in respect to the problem of
developing countries. On the other hand, case group works are more applicable to the problems
in developed societies. This is because most of the social pathologies in industrialized societies
are at individual and group levels (Morales and Sheafor, op cit).
There is often the possibility of creating dependency syndrome on the part of the targets.
The very term “client” may here imply some kind of dependence by affected people on
service providers. Despite the main aim of social work is to help people help themselves,
there may often be the risk of creating dependency syndrome.
There is what may be called “charity mentality”, on the part of those who provide social
services. Thus it may be often the case that the more underlying problems that might have
caused the problems are left unaddressed, while attention is given to the superficial
issues, the “symptoms” of the problems. More structural issues such as the highly
unbalanced distribution of power and resources are overlooked. Despite social work
professionals often realize that the underlying socio-political structures are responsible
for poverty and social problems, the attitude of blaming the victims often remained in the
public mentality (Day, 1996).
Bureaucratization and elitism: This refers to the problem of the risk of original ideals of
social work being undermined, while more attention is given to procedures,
professionalism, standards, etc. Processionals my turn out elites, looking down upon the
needy people.
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Client systems are also called target groups. These are people who are in need of the guidance
and professional assistance of change agents. More specifically, by client system/ target group,
we mean an individual, group or community or any larger or smaller system that are helped by
the professionals.
Change agents are persons who are trained to give guidance and assistance to the community, in
need of desired planned social change. They are different forms of agents who work with (in) the
community, helping the community and introducing new useful ideas and innovation for
diffusion.
The role of enabler: change agents work with clients. They enable the people; supply the means
and direction for the client to do something. They temporarily stay among the people to show
them the means of doing things.
The role of a catalyst: As catalysts, social workers stimulate the people. They act as enzymes, so
to speak. When the people face lots of problems and fail to know which problem are the most
serious ones, change agents may show them to select one or two problems which are easily
handled by deploying community resources.
As regards professional behavior, change agents should not be guided by their own personal
prejudices and beliefs, but by the professional ethics and standards. And health professionals are
no exception to this. If they intend to bring effective, desired and positive change in the lives of
the client system, they should be guided by professional behavior. The health worker as change
agents should take into account the following points (Morales and Sheafor, op cit):
Learn the way the people think; in other words, understanding the thoughts of the people
in the community before asking a community to assume new health habits;
Learn to break from ethnocentric ideas, assumptions, and views;
Learn to work patiently with the target groups; and
Know about the community's culture, health views and beliefs, social structure and
institutional arrangements, groupings and organization
Chapter Summary
Social action and social work are related concepts. They refer to any action or work that aims at
bringing about positive, desirable change in the lives of people. Individuals, social groups or
communities may find themselves in any kind of strainful, psychosocially difficult
circumstances, and affected by forces beyond their capacity. They are called client systems.
Those who make any kind of systematized and conscientious efforts to help the clients help
themselves are called change agents.
Change agents should be guided by the fundamental guiding principles of the methods of social
action or social work. Whether the change agents work with an individual person, i.e., casework,
a social group, i.e., group work, or community, i.e., community organization, they have to take
into account the basic working principles and approaches. In any case change agents should play
their roles as catalysts, leaders, organizers, researchers, guides, counselors and brokers; and they
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should carry out their duties in ethically and professionally appropriate ways. They should also
be equipped with appropriate knowledge of relevant theories, and be sensitive to the client
systems culture, social or community situations, institutional arrangements, ecology, and other
dimensions.
Review Questions
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Learning Objectives
After learning this chapter, students are expected to:
Define the concept of social pathology/ problem;
Appreciate the social and non-biological determinants of the various forms of problems
that individuals suffer from in society;
Understand why social pathologies occur in a given society;
Describe the various forms of social pathologies of the contemporary society; and
Be aware of the range, extent and major types of social problems/ pathologies in
contemporary Uganda; and explain the socio-political and historical factors and bases of
these problems.
The term pathology is a Greek word, which is composed of pathos and logos. It literally means
the study of diseases and disease processes. The term social pathology generally refers to the
pathos of society, i.e., the "social diseases" that affect society. However, a more explanatory term
is social problems. Social problems are those diseased conditions of society that affect its normal
functioning. A problem that is limited only to the level of an individual person or to only few
groups may not be regarded as a social problem. A social pathology affects society, or its
institutions and organizations at large. However, the very term social problem may mean any
problem that has social origins, affecting at least two persons, that goes beyond mere
psychological and physiological levels (Kornblum and Julian, 1995)
Sociologists argue that social problems are best understood in the social institutional context.
Although the causes for social problems are multiple, sociologists contend that they are usually
the manifestations of the failure in the social institutions themselves. When an institution fails to
address the basic needs of people, social problems occur. It is usually easy for an ordinary person
to blame the cause of a certain social problem on the failure of individuals themselves. For
example, if we take the problem of begging or drug addiction, the individual victims are blamed
for the actions. However, we need to look into the broader sociological and cultural contexts
(Indrani, 1998).
However, some of the social problems seem to emanate from the local conditions; they are the
manifestations of the specific cultural and ecological settings of a society, as well as the
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reflections of the socio-historical and political dimensions of the society. They also reflect the
level of technological advancement a society has arrived at. For example, the major social
problems that abound in the industrially complex society of the West include environmental
pollution, marital breakdown and familial conflicts, juvenile delinquencies, suicide, drug
addiction, and the collapse of morality, among others. These seem to be more rampant in the
Western societies. On the other hand, the Third World societies suffer from such kinds of social
problems as urban slums, housing shortage, urban and rural poverty, sanitation problems,
famine, ethnic conflicts, lack of good governance and corruption, streetism and homelessness,
among others.
In general biologists and psychologists look into the individual, while sociologists look outside
of the Urbanization and economic growth, among others (Fasil, 1993individual for explanations
of why people commit deviance and crime,
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The rural population is more vulnerable to famine. The quality of life of the rural people has as a
result deteriorated very much. The most important sections of society that are more affected by
the famine and drought are often children, women and the aged. Of the death toll due to famine,
these categories constitute of the largest proportion. Vulnerability to famine as a social problem,
thus, results in a number of adverse consequences on health. “Famine and food insecurity
aggravate the spread of diseases; it is now well known that the mass death and famine induced
mortality are caused not only by starvation but also by the spread of diseases among the already
vulnerable population”. Thus, many of the cases of and mortality are associated with famine and
lack of adequate nutrition particularly in rural Uganda. Diseases like kwashiorkor, marasmus,
and poor physical conditions like stunted growth, emaciation, etc, are cases in point. Such
conditions are at the other extreme to some health problems like obesity in affluent societies.
Prostitution
Prostitution as a social problem seems to be associated with the growth of urbanization and
urbanism as a way of life. Although it has existed throughout history, it has become rampant in
this age of modernization. Some cities in south East Asian countries like Malaysia, Singapore
and Thailand are notorious for the sex industry. The term prostitution now appears to be outdated
and a more humane term is now commercial sex work. This term is introduced to indicate that
like any other work, prostitution is also an industry, where individuals are, mainly due to factors
beyond their individuals' capacity, forced to sell their bodies to earn money for a living.
As some studies indicate, the history of prostitution in Uganda goes back to the rise of
urbanization and the introduction of British colonization. Commercial sex work has now
become a major social pathology in the country. Urban centers like Busia, Mutukula, Katuna,
Kampala suburbs of Nasana, Rubaga, Katwe, among others are major centers of commercial sex
work. A recent media dispatch disclosed that in Busia Town, there are about 3500 commercial
sex workers. Multiple sexual partnership and commercial sex work are thus the most visible
pathways for the spread of STIs and HIV/AIDS. Addressing this social problem at its root causes
might, therefore, would help very much in the fight against the spread of HIV/AIDS.
The root causes of commercial sex work are usually poverty, harmful traditional practices such
as early marriage, forced marriage and marriage by abduction, among others. Dysfunctional
marriages, entrenched poverty and economic dependency often drive females to prostitution; and
this may in turn contribute to the spread of STIs including HIV/AIDS among women and the
general population. Young girls from rural areas often flee to urban centers from harsh social and
cultural conditions in the rural areas. They end up engaging in commercial sex work to earn a
living.
Unemployment
Governments in developed and undeveloped countries alike these days face the mounting social
problem of unemployment. In Uganda, too, unemployment has become one of the major social
problems. The unemployed are those who currently in search of a gainful job and are dependent
on somebody else for their living. There are other categories like the underemployed; these are
those who are engaged in a job that does not match their level of expertise or training (Team of
Experts, 2000).
The youth seem to suffer the most from this social problem. Of those who complete the primary
and secondary levels in Uganda, limited number join colleges and universities. Even of those
who graduate with diplomas and degrees, many stay long in search of job. The problem of
unemployment has many adverse ramifications on the unemployed and the society at large.
Desperation and disappointments may lead many to self-destructive and anti-social behaviors
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and actions, such as drug addictions, alcoholism, organized crimes (like robbery), suicide, and
violence against women, theft and begging.
Many people are thus forced to spend their entire lives in the streets. Available data show that
number of people taking to the streets is increasing rapidly, particularly in major urban centers.
Here, we can talk about a category of people known as the street children. These are those who
are born to homeless people or those who come from various parts of the country to urban
centers and live in the streets. The number of older persons living in the streets is also growing.
The health and living conditions of these categories of people is very appalling. The street
children and adolescents are often among the risk groups to contracting STIs including
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HIV/AIDS. They lack access to basic social and health services. The main means of making a
living for these categories of people is usually begging and sometimes engage in commercial
sex. Begging itself has become a major social pathology in some large urban centers. The
problem of begging is especially visible during the religious ceremonial days in some big urban
centers like Kampala.
Chapter Summary
The terms social pathology and social problem are often interchangeably used. They refer to the
diseased conditions of society. As the physical body suffers from various ailments, the society as
a system also suffers from various pathologies that threaten its proper functioning and very
existence. Sociologists prefer to use “social problems’ to “social pathologies”.
Problems that are limited to an individual’s psychological dimension or micro level social groups
may not constitute social problems per se although they are the manifestation of the diseased
conditions of society. Some social problems have universal or global nature and others are tied to
a society’s level of economic and technological development, history, ecology, socio-political
and cultural set-up. Some social problems are thus more rampant in industrialized societies and
others prevail in less industrialized societies.
The major social problems in our contemporary Uganda include famine, prostitution,
unemployment, drug addiction, homelessness, begging, urban poverty, and population explosion
and ecological deterioration, among others. These problems have escalated since recent decades.
They are the reflections of the country’s socio-political history, harmful traditional beliefs and
practices, poverty, and natural factors, among others.
Review Questions
1. What do you understand by the terms social pathologies and social
problems?
2. Why do social pathologies occur in a given society?
3. What are some of the main social pathologies that appear to be
universally occurring in all societies?
4. Which of the social pathologies are more common in developed
societies? Why?
5. Mention and discuss some of the social pathologies that are seriously
facing our contemporary Ugandan society.
6. Why do some of the social problems appear to be more rampant and
challenging in today’s society than in the past?
7. Discuss the HIV/AIDS pandemic as social pathology in Uganda and the
Sub-Saharan Africa today.
Assignment Three
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Lecturer; Mr. Hangi Umar
1. (a) What do you understand by the terms social pathologies and social problems?
(b) Mention and discuss some of the social pathologies that are seriously facing our
contemporary Ugandan society.
2. Discuss the HIV/AIDS pandemic as social pathology in Uganda and the Sub-Saharan
Africa today.
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