Paper-2 Man and Society
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MSW PAPER II MAN AND SOCIETY BY DR DILLIP MISHRA. Ph. D 1 MAN AND SOCIETY SYLLABUS UNIT-I SOCIETY AND CULTURE Concept of society & community- Association & Institutions-social groups & Man as Social Animal. Social process, -Types of Social Process. Culture, Society & Culture, Culture & Civilization, Characteristics of Indian Culture, cultural processes, Acculturation, Cultural conflict, Cultural lag, Culture & Personality. UNIT-II SOCIAL STRUCTURE AND INSTITUTIONS Social Organizations & Social Group Meaning, forms-nature & types of groups, primary- secondary, reference, in-groups, out-groups, group of dynamics, social stratification-basis of stratification status & rank, class, caste & state changing features of caste and theories of social stratification. UNIT-III Major Religions in India & their basic tenets, India as a Secular state. UNIT-IV SOCIAL CHANGE AND SOCIAL CONTROL Social Change and Social Control .Meaning – Agencies of Social Control- Custom, tradition & law, Factors of Social Change, Concept, Factors of social- change-Social change process in India-Sankritisation, Westernization, Secularization, and Modernization-Problems of Modernization. Socialization- the nature of Socialization, stages and agents of socialization. 2 “Society is a web of social relationships” -R.M.Maclver Unit-1 Objectives 1.0 Objectives 1.1 Concept of Society 1.2 Man is a Social Animal 1.3 Society & Culture 1.4 Characteristics of Indian Culture 1.5 Cultural Process 1.6 Culture & Personality Let us sum up Key Words Questions References 3 Objectives: To provide the knowledge of Society as the base of Social Work.”Community “a beginning and specialised concept related to Social Work Applications. Impotance of other related terms like, Association, Institution, Groups as differently used in social work .To provide basic knowledge of culture and its importance in Social Work . The concept Man is a social animal due to cultural influences .Primarily, Man learns cultural disciplines from the family, community which is very important for a social work learners. Idea of Group and Group importance also discussed from the concept of Social Work Applications. 1.1.Concept of Society.: For Social Work students,” Community “is the basic element where a student primarily stands and started his social work .The primary work a student does that to deal with the people living in the community & society .Many students are getting confused the difference between “Society” and “Community”. When for a social work student, Society is the laboratory and a student experiments his ideas his innovations in it .So, society is the primary and only thing where from beginning to the end of social work he has to deal with. So, let’s have a simple and common definition of sociology. That is, ‘Sociology is the scientific study of society’. Hence, the first and foremost aim of the students of sociology is to understand the concept of ‘society’. But students remembers that in Society the other related human organisations also specifically used for example “Community” ,”Associations”, “Groups” are the specific groups where the social work students commonly works .But these are the basic selective form of the “Society “ The term society has been derived from the Latin word “Socius” which means a companion, association or fellowship. It is because man always lives in the company of his fellow beings. This led George Simmel to remark that sociability is the essence of society. The term society is understood in different sense. In our day-to-day discussion society is used to refer to the members of specific in group; for example- Adivasi Society, Harijan Society etc. Some other time it refers to some institutions like Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj. At some other time, society refers to an association like customer’s society, co-operative society or cultural society. Society is also used in the sense of a group such as rural society or urban society. As a member of society every individual so also the students of sociology were familiar with the term society. But as a student of sociology one needs to acquaint oneself with the technical meaning or the trust sociological meaning of the term society from the outset. Because, this sociological meaning bears a special importance for the students of sociology. It is due to the fact that as a concept society means one thing to an ordinary individual and another to a sociologist. Hence, an attempt is made to explain the sociological meaning of the term. 4 The concept of Society does not refer simply to a group of people associated for a social life .But; society refers not to a group of people only but to the complex pattern of the norms, interaction and relationships that arise among them. A person exists only as an agent of social relationships. Mere congregation of individuals does not constitute society. Rather society refers to the complex network of social relationships by which every individual is interrelated with his fellowmen. Hence, society is abstract, not concrete, in nature. We can’t touch it but feel it. Society resides in the minds of individual. Society is a process of living not a thing, a motion rather than structure. A system of social relationships is the most important aspect of society. Not all relationships are social. A social relationship implies reciprocal awareness among individuals. This reciprocal awareness direct and indirect are the characteristics of every social relationships. Some Popular Definitons by famous Sociologists 1) According to Ginsberg, “A society is a collection of individuals united by certain relations or modes of behaviour which mark them off from others, who do not enter into those relations or who differ from them in behaviour.” 2) According to F.H. Giddings, “Society is the union itself, the organization, the sum of formal relations in which associating individuals are bound together”. 3) According to G.D.H. Cole, “Society is the complex of organized associations and institutions within the community”. 4) According to J.F. Cuber, “A society may be defined as a group of people who have lived long enough to become organized and to consider themselves and be considered as a unit more or less distinct from other human units.” 5) Functional views of society: According to the functional views society is a process of social relationships. It considers society as a complex of groups in reciprocal relationship, interacting among themselves and carrying on an interdependent life and helping each other in fulfilling their wishes. Supporters of this view are MacIver and Page, Parsons, Cooley, Leacock and others. a. According to Maclver and Page, “Society is a system of usages and procedures, authority and mutual aid, of many groupings and divisions, of controls of human behavious and of liberties”. b. According to T.Parsons, “Society may be defined as the total complex of human relationship in so far as they grow out of action in terms of means and relationship, intrinsic or symbolic.” c. According to C.H. Cooley, “Society is a complex of forms and processes each of which is living and growing by interaction with the others, the whole being so unified that what takes place in one part affects all the rest.” 5 d. According to Leacock, “Society includes not only the political relations by which men are bound together but the whole range of human relations and collective activities.” This idea of reciprocal awareness is implied in F.H. Giddings definition of society i.e. “a number of like- minded individuals, who know and enjoy their like-mindedness and are, therefore, able to work together for common ends”. Thus, elements of society exist in the ‘Consciousness of Kind’ (Giddings), with the psychology of, ‘we feeling’ (Cooley) or ‘a common propensity (W.I. Thomas). 6 Origin of Society (Sociologists View) Man is a social animal. Before we explain the relationship between man and society, it may be worthwhile to explain the origin of society. Origin of the Society is only the theoretically expectations of the eminent sociologists .In their writings they speak their expectations of the society .Originally these are the basic remarks of them .These theories have different scientific explanations of their own social scientists. Different Theories and their values A number of theories have been put forward to explain the origin of society. Thus the Divine Origin theory makes society the creation of God. Just as God created all the animals and inanimate objects of this world, so he created the society as well. This theory in course of time, particularly in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries took the form of Divine Right Theory. The Force Theory makes society the result of superior physical force. According to this theory, the society originated in the subjugation of the weaker by the stronger. In the primitive times the man of exceptional physical strength was able to overawe his fellowmen and to exercise some kind of authority over them. Thus through physical coercion or compulsion men were brought together and made to live in society. The Patriarchal and Matriarchal theories make society the expansion of family system. Sir Henry Maine defines patriarchal theory as the theory of the origin of society in separate families, held together by the authority and protection of the eldest make descendant. He believed that society is the family writ large. The matriarchal theory suggests that polyandry and transient marriage relations were more common in primitive times than monogamy or polygamy. Under such circumstances, descendence is traced through the mother as Maine points out motherhood in such cases is a fact, while paternity is only an opinion. a. Scientific nature of Social Contract Theory: In addition to these theories the social contract theory vies society as a contrivance deliberately set up by men for certain ends. According to this theory, all men were born free and equal.