Introduction:

Basically this project will showcase how adaptation is a social process.

First chapter explains what adaptation is and how a person adapts or

conforms to the prevailing cultural patterns.

The project will also talk about major theories of adaptation given by some
of the sociologists and further it will explain in brief with some examples
that how a person can adapt himself into the new surroundings by bringing
forth some changes in his own lifestyle or start following the people as they
are in the new culture, what effect it has on him/her for the rest of the life,
etc.

It will further talk about various types of means of adaptation (retreatism,

conformity, innovation, rebellion, etc.) which are talked about in the theory
of Merton (the various modes of adaptation).

The project also has a real life example of a student who goes abroad for
higher studies in which it shows what all difficulties he faces and how he
eventually adapts there.

In the final stage, the term social process is explained so as to have a clear
idea of how adaptation is a social process and what social process as a
individual term stands for.

(1) What is Adaptation?

For laymen or in general the definition of an adaptation is a change or
adjustment to improve something, or to make it suitable to a different
situation.

Like for example, a ramp is being built at the entrance of a mini van for a
handicapped person so that the person with a wheel chair can enter into
it without much difficulty.

In Sociology as a subject, adaptation in brief is defined as, a gradual

 change in behaviour to conform to the prevailing cultural patterns. 1
According to Ashley Crossman (A Sociology expert), Adaptation refers to
changes that occur in order to maintain various aspects of a social
systems culture or structure or to aid in survival.2

(2) Major Theories of Adaptation:-

(2.A) Cultural Adaptation

The theory of cultural adaptation refers to the process and time it takes a
person to assimilate to a new culture. It is not always an easy transition. 3

How would you feel if you could no longer read signs because they
were in a different language? For example, A Punjabi boy is not
expected to read road signs or hotel menu in Guajarati or any other
language say.

What would you do if the clothes you owned were considered

unacceptable to wear in public because people of your gender dress
differently there? For example, if a woman from USA joins a job in UAE
then she cannot wear the type of clothes she used to wear back in the
USA.

1 http://www.yourdictionary.com/adaptation#lmLLLf4aMjZP7Jay.99

2 http://sociology.about.com/od/A_Index/g/Adaptation.htm

3 http://study.com/academy/lesson/cultural-adaptation-definition-theory-stages-examples.html
 What if you were always expected to eat with chopsticks because
Western utensils were unavailable? For example in Japan you dont
find fork nor a spoon in a restaurant when you are served the food
there but the only option is that of chopsticks.

Given the right amount of time, would you be able to adjust to these
differences?

Living in a new culture can be jarring and very difficult to process, especially
if it is drastically different from your own. A person that is being introduced
into a new culture can feel a variety of different sensations.

For example, one may feel frustrated because she or he cannot

communicate or become angry because certain cultural norms do not
make sense. In some cultures, spitting in public is considered bad
manners. How would you feel if you ended up in a culture where
spitting in public was okay and done by everyone? It may make you
feel uncomfortable when the people of that culture think nothing of it.

Two real life examples of adaptation to a cultural environment are:

1. Language acquisition
2. Lifestyle changes

An example which contains both language as well as lifestyle

adaptation can be, let's say a Punjabi family moves to the Kerala.
Punjabi and Malayali cultures are very different. One way the family
can adapt to their new environment is by learning English/Malayalam
(which is prominently used), which would allow them to communicate
with other Keralites as well as seek employment and succeed in
school. Another way the family can adapt is by making lifestyle
 changes. This can be as simple as holiday traditions, like celebrating
Onam and Pongal (neither of which are celebrated in Punjab).

(2.B) Mertons Modes of Adaptation:-

Conformity involves pursuing cultural goals through approved means

of the society or it is the tendency to change our behavior or opinions
so that it matches with that of those around us. Conformists have
accepted the goals of society and the societally-approved ways of
attaining them. For example The 'American Dream,' for example, is
financial security through talent, schooling, and above all, hard work.
The problem, as Merton saw it, is that not everyone who wants
conventional success has the opportunity to obtain it. 4
According to Merton, the strain between our culture's emphasis on
wealth and the lack of opportunities for success may encourage some
people, especially the poor, to engage in stealing, selling drugs, and
other forms of street crime. Merton called this type of deviance,
innovation, using unconventional means (dealing in drugs),
(kidnapping) etc. to achieve a culturally approved goal i.e. (financial
security), for example one person who wants to do a business but is
short of money adheres to dacoity, smuggling of drugs, etc. to earn
money (but these things being illegal) to open a textile business which
is legal or socially approved by the society.
Another mode of adaptation is ritualism. It is also prompted by an
inability to reach cultural goals. In this mode, individuals reject social
goals and instead work towards less lofty goals by institutionally
approved means. For example, one may treat a job as a form of
security instead of using the job as a means to achieve success. A

4 http://study.com/academy/lesson/mertons-strain-theory-definition-examples-quiz.html
 person who goes through the motion of college, but has no real desire
to use his or her education to realize his dreams, would be another
example. Ritualists go through the motions of everyday life and find
salvation in scaled-down ambitions.
Retreatism is the adaptations of those who give up/reject not only
the goals but also the means. They often retreat into the world of
alcoholism and drug addiction. They dont care about goals and how
you go about achieving it. They escape into a non-productive, non-
striving lifestyle and quietly accept defeatism. For example, I go on
a diet to lose my weight but eventually failed to maintain the diet
prescribed to me, but pretend to others that I have been following
my schedule strictly or I am on diet.
The final mode of adaptation about which Robert Merton talks about
in his theory of adaptation is Rebellion. It occurs when the cultural
goals and the legitimate means of achieving something are rejected.
Individuals seek to organize rather than retreat, they start finding
new goals and new means to obtain them, they consider them or
they are the leaders of the social movement. 5 They tend to blame
the government if anything goes wrong and causes stress by
recruiting others. They create their own goals and their own means,
by protest or revolutionary activity.
For example, In U.A.E womens are not allowed to drive cars but to
show rebellion some women do drive their car and upload there videos
on YouTube and other social media platform to show/register their
disapproval of the governments policy.

5 http://www.everydaysociologyblog.com/2008/10/mertons-strain.html
(3) Real Life Example of Adaptation.
A real life example which I would quote is that of an Indian student who
goes to a foreign country for pursuing higher education; lets say a Punjabi
boy goes to Canada (for they are very penchant of Canada). At first when
the boy arrives there in a new culture everything seems exciting and new to
him. His focus is on the sense of success in being in the new culture;
curiosity of the new surroundings and an appreciation and anticipate of the
opportunities to be found in the new culture. The student feels energetic and
enthusiastic during this first stage of adaptation.

During the second stage the main focus is shifted to the differences between
ones home culture and the new culture and the conflicts that arise due to
the differences, some of them can be:

Difficulty to use a foreign language.

Not having a clear idea how to make friends with people from different
cultures.
Finding that, food and eating customs are different.
Difference in the education system.
Finding that some people are prejudiced against the people who are
from different culture or different country (say being racist).

During this period of cultural shock one might feel anxious, homesick,
helpless, lonely, etc. There is that uncertain feeling whether to stay there in
Canada or go back to Punjab (the country of origin).

In the third stage, I would call it the recovery stage because after having
spend some time in the new culture, the boy starts resolving some of the
conflicts that he may have experienced earlier due to the cultural
differences, he starts developing a realistic understanding of the similarities
and differences between their home cultures and the new culture, so that
they have clearer ideas about what they like and dislike in each, they
somewhat become bicultural i.e. being able to value and appreciate the
aspects of both the cultures, they somehow become flexible and increase
their tolerance.

(4) What is Social Process?

Social process is the way in which individuals and groups interact, adjust and
readjust with each other and establish relationships and pattern of behaviour
which are again modified through social interactions. 6

The concept of social process refers to some of the general and recurrent
forms that social interaction may take. Interaction between individuals and
groups occurs in the form of social process. Social processes refer to forms
of social interaction that occur again and again.

MacIver defines social process as, Social process is the manner in which
the relations of the members of a group, once bought together, acquire a
distinctive character.7

A real life example of social process can be, when the husband and
wife are led to help each other out of sympathy or love and this mutual
help assumes the form of cooperation it becomes a social process.

It is essential to understand social interaction in order to have an

understanding of social process because both of them are so interrelated
that to understand one you have to understand the other:-

6 http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/sociology/social-processes-the-meaning-types-characteristics-of-
social-processes/8545/

7 http://www.sociologydiscussion.com/society/essential-elements-of-social-process/2214
Meaning of Social Interaction:

Man is a social animal. It is difficult for him to live in isolation. They always
live in groups. As members of these groups they act in a certain manner.
Their behavior is mutually affected. This interaction or mutual activity is the
essence of social life. Social life is not possible without interactions.

Social interactions are reciprocal relationships which not only influence the
interacting individuals but also the quality of relationships. According to
Gillin and Gillin, By social interaction we refer to social relations of all
sorts in functions dynamic social relations of all kinds whether such
relations exist between individual and individual, between group and group
and group and individual, as the case may be8. In the words of Gist, Social
interaction is the reciprocal influence human beings exert on each other
through inter-stimulation and response.9

Example for Social interaction can be, any conversation, be it a lengthy

conversation between intimate friends or casual chatter around the
office water cooler, is a social interaction. Social interactions can also
be nonverbal, like eye contact made between two people.

And now by studying both the Social process and Social interaction
individually we can combine them together and say that, Social
process/processes refer to forms of social interaction that occur
repeatedly. By social processes we mean those ways in which individuals and
groups interact and establish social relationships.

8 http://www.chegg.com/homework-help/definitions/social-interaction-49

9 http://www.sociologydiscussion.com/sociology/social-interaction-useful-notes-on-social-
interactions/2212
 Conclusion:

At the end of the project we can conclude it by saying that in whole of the
project we have managed to learn how adaptation is a social process.

We have explained what cultural, language adaptation is and how it is a

social process and by citing an example of how a family migrates to a totally
different kind of place where the culture/language are totally different and
what all it needs to do to adapt itself to that new place.

Also in Mertons mode of adaptation it is clear that by using means such that
of rebellionism how people want to adapt the other side even when they are
not willing to or they are opposing them.

And by the example of the student who migrated abroad for further studies,
how he adapted there was made clear by showing various stages of
adaptation, with the passage of time he spend there.