Sociology
Culture 

Cultural Relativism vs. Universalism 

The Universalism vs. Cultural Relativism debate has existed in legal scholarship for decades, and is
increasingly entering public discourse on international law and human rights. Universalism refers to the
notion that human rights are universal and should apply to every human being. Cultural Relativists
object, and argue that human rights are culturally dependent, and that no moral principles can be made
to apply to all cultures. They argue that the principles embedded in the Universal Declaration of Human
Rights (1948) are the product of Western political history. Indeed, the origins of the Universal
Declaration are rooted in political landmarks in Western history, such as the Magna Carta of the United
Kingdom (1215), the French Revolution (1789) and the American Bill of Rights (1791). Cultural
Relativists argue that Universalism, in its attempt to extend a Western ideal to the rest of the world, is a
form of cultural imperialism. As the establishments of post-conflict ad-hoc tribunals for Rwanda and the
Former Yugoslavia in the 1990's and the International Criminal Court in 2002 illustrate, universalism is
steadily being put into force. Cultural Relativists are critical of the validity, relevance and effect of these
tribunals and of the ICC especially. Instead, Cultural Relativists are generally supportive of 'traditional' or
local approaches to justice, as they believe these will contribute more to post-conflict reconciliation.

Introduction to Sociology – 1st Canadian Edition

Authors: William Little and Little, William

https://opentextbc.ca/introductiontosociology/chapter/chapter3-culture/

Almost every human behaviour, from shopping to marriage to expressions of feelings, is learned. In
Canada, people tend to view marriage as a choice between two people, based on mutual feelings of
love. In other nations and in other times, marriages have been arranged through an intricate process of
interviews and negotiations between entire families, or in other cases, through a direct system such as a
“mail order bride.” To someone raised in Winnipeg, the marriage customs of a family from Nigeria may
seem strange, or even wrong. Conversely, someone from a traditional Kolkata family might be perplexed
with the idea of romantic love as the foundation for the lifelong commitment of marriage. In other words,
the way in which people view marriage depends largely on what they have been taught.

 
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Behaviour based on learned customs is not a bad thing​. Being familiar with unwritten rules helps people
feel secure and “normal.” Most people want to live their daily lives confident that their behaviours will not
be challenged or disrupted. But even an action as seemingly simple as commuting to work evidences a
great deal of cultural propriety.

Take the case of going to work on public transportation. Whether commuting in Dublin, Cairo, Mumbai,
or Vancouver, many behaviours will be the same in all locations, but significant differences also arise
between cultures. Typically, a passenger would find a marked bus stop or station, wait for the bus or
train, pay an agent before or after boarding, and quietly take a seat if one is available. But when
boarding a bus in Cairo, passengers might have to run, because buses there often do not come to a full
stop to take on patrons. Dublin bus riders would be expected to extend an arm to indicate that they want
the bus to stop for them. And when boarding a commuter train in Mumbai, passengers must squeeze
into overstuffed cars amid a lot of pushing and shoving on the crowded platforms. That kind of behaviour
would be considered the height of rudeness in Canada, but in Mumbai it reflects the daily challenges of
getting around on a train system that is taxed to capacity.

In this example of commuting, culture consists of thoughts (expectations about personal space, for
example) and tangible things (bus stops, trains, and seating capacity). ​Material culture​ refers to the
objects or belongings of a group of people.​ Metro passes and bus tokens are part of material culture, as
are automobiles, stores, and the physical structures where people worship. ​Nonmaterial culture​, in
contrast, consists of the ideas, attitudes, and beliefs of a society.​ Material and nonmaterial aspects of
culture are linked, and physical objects often symbolize cultural ideas. A metro pass is a material object,
but it represents a form of nonmaterial culture, namely, capitalism, and the acceptance of paying for
transportation. Clothing, hairstyles, and jewellery are part of material culture, but the appropriateness of
wearing certain clothing for specific events reflects nonmaterial culture. A school building belongs to
material culture, but the teaching methods and educational standards are part of education’s
nonmaterial culture. These material and nonmaterial aspects of culture can vary subtly from region to
region. As people travel farther afield, moving from different regions to entirely different parts of the
world, certain material and nonmaterial aspects of culture become dramatically unfamiliar. What
happens when we encounter different cultures? As we interact with cultures other than our own, we
become more aware of the differences and commonalities between others’ worlds and our own.

Cultural Universals 

Often, a comparison of one culture to another will reveal obvious differences. But all cultures share
common elements. ​Cultural universals​ are patterns or traits that are globally common to all societies​.
One example of a cultural universal is the family unit: every human society recognizes a family structure

 
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that regulates sexual reproduction and the care of children. Even so, how that family unit is defined and
how it functions vary. In many Asian cultures, for example, family members from all generations
commonly live together in one household. In these cultures, young adults will continue to live in the
extended household family structure until they marry and join their spouse’s household, or they may
remain and raise their nuclear family within the extended family’s homestead. In Canada, by contrast,
individuals are expected to leave home and live independently for a period before forming a family unit
consisting of parents and their offspring.

Murdock found that cultural universals often revolve around basic human survival, such as finding food,
clothing, and shelter, or around shared human experiences, such as birth and death, or illness and
healing. Through his research, Murdock identified other universals including language, the concept of
personal names, and, interestingly, jokes. Humor seems to be a universal way to release tensions and
create a sense of unity among people (Murdock 1949). Sociologists consider humour necessary to
human interaction because it helps individuals navigate otherwise tense situations.

Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism 

Despite how much humans have in common, cultural differences are far more prevalent than cultural
universals. For example, while all cultures have language, analysis of particular language structures and
conversational etiquette reveal tremendous differences. In some Middle Eastern cultures, it is common
to stand close to others in conversation. North Americans keep more distance, maintaining a large
“personal space.” Even something as simple as eating and drinking varies greatly from culture to culture.
If your professor comes into an early morning class holding a mug of liquid, what do you assume she is
drinking? In the United States, it’s most likely filled with coffee, not Earl Grey tea, a favourite in England,
or Yak Butter tea, a staple in Tibet.

The way cuisines vary across cultures fascinates many people. Some travellers, like celebrated food
writer Anthony Bourdain, pride themselves on their willingness to try unfamiliar foods, while others return
home expressing gratitude for their native culture’s fare. Canadians often express disgust at other
cultures’ cuisine, thinking it is gross to eat meat from a dog or guinea pig, for example, while they do not
question their own habit of eating cows or pigs. Such attitudes are an example of ethnocentrism, or
evaluating and judging another culture based on how it compares to one’s own cultural norms.
Ethnocentrism​, as sociologist William Graham Sumner (1906) described the term, involves a belief or
attitude that one’s own culture is better than all others.​ Almost everyone is a little bit ethnocentric. For
example, Canadians tend to say that people from England drive on the “wrong” side of the road, rather
than the “other” side. Someone from a country where dogs are considered dirty and unhygienic might
find it off-putting to see a dog in a French restaurant.

 
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A high level of appreciation for one’s own culture can be healthy; a shared sense of community pride, for
example, connects people in a society. But ethnocentrism can lead to disdain or dislike for other
cultures, causing misunderstanding and conflict. People with the best intentions sometimes travel to a
society to “help” its people, seeing them as uneducated or backward, essentially inferior. In reality, these
travellers are guilty of cultural imperialism—the deliberate imposition of one’s own cultural values on
another culture. Europe’s colonial expansion, begun in the 16th century, was often accompanied by a
severe cultural imperialism. European colonizers often viewed the people in the lands they colonized as
uncultured savages who were in need of European governance, dress, religion, and other cultural
practices. On the West Coast of Canada, the aboriginal “potlatch” (gift-giving) ceremony was made
illegal in 1885 because it was thought to prevent natives from acquiring the proper industriousness and
respect for material goods required by civilization. A more modern example of cultural imperialism may
include the work of international aid agencies who introduce modern technological agricultural methods
and plant species from developed countries while overlooking indigenous varieties and agricultural
approaches that are better suited to the particular region.

Ethnocentrism can be so strong that when confronted with all the differences of a new culture, one may
experience disorientation and frustration. In sociology, we call this “​culture shock​.”​ A traveller from
Chicago might find the nightly silence of rural Montana unsettling, not peaceful. An exchange student
from China might be annoyed by the constant interruptions in class as other students ask questions—a
practice that is considered rude in China. Perhaps the Chicago traveller was initially captivated with
Montana’s quiet beauty and the Chinese student was originally excited to see an American-style
classroom firsthand. But as they experience unanticipated differences from their own culture, their
excitement gives way to discomfort and doubts about how to behave appropriately in the new situation.
Eventually, as people learn more about a culture, they recover from culture shock.

Culture shock may appear because people aren’t always expecting cultural differences. Anthropologist
Ken Barger (1971) discovered this when conducting participatory observation in an Inuit community in
the Canadian Arctic. Originally from Indiana, Barger hesitated when invited to join a local snowshoe
race. He knew he’d never hold his own against these experts. Sure enough, he finished last, to his
mortification. But the tribal members congratulated him, saying, “You really tried!” In Barger’s own
culture, he had learned to value victory. To the Inuit people, winning was enjoyable, but their culture
valued survival skills essential to their environment: how hard someone tried could mean the difference
between life and death. Over the course of his stay, Barger participated in caribou hunts, learned how to
take shelter in winter storms, and sometimes went days with little or no food to share among tribal
members. Trying hard and working together, two nonmaterial values, were indeed much more important
than winning.

 
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During his time with the Inuit, Barger learned to engage in cultural relativism. ​Cultural relativism​ is the
practice of assessing a culture by its own standards rather than viewing it through the lens of one’s own
culture.​ The anthropologist Ruth Benedict (1887–1948) argued that each culture has an internally
consistent pattern of thought and action, which alone could be the basis for judging the merits and
morality of the culture’s practices. Cultural relativism requires an open mind and a willingness to
consider, and even adapt to, new values and norms. However, indiscriminately embracing everything
about a new culture is not always possible. Even the most culturally relativist people from egalitarian
societies—ones in which women have political rights and control over their own bodies—would question
whether the widespread practice of female genital mutilation in countries such as Ethiopia and Sudan
should be accepted as a part of cultural tradition.

Sociologists attempting to engage in cultural relativism may struggle to reconcile aspects of their own
culture with aspects of a culture they are studying. Pride in one’s own culture doesn’t have to lead to
imposing its values on others. And an appreciation for another culture shouldn’t preclude individuals
from studying it with a critical eye.

Feminist sociology is particularly attuned to the way that most cultures present a male-dominated view
of the world as if it were simply the view of the world. Androcentricism is a perspective in which male
concerns, male attitudes, and male practices are presented as “normal” or define what is significant and
valued in a culture. Women’s experiences, activities, and contributions to society and history are
ignored, devalued, or marginalized.

In part this is simply a question of the bias of those who have the power to define cultural values, and in
part, it is the result of a process in which women have been actively excluded from the culture-creating
process. It is still common, for example, to use the personal pronoun “he” or the word “man” to represent
people in general or humanity. Despite the good intentions of many who use these terms, and the
grammatical awkwardness of trying to find gender neutral terms to replace “he” or “man,” the overall
effect is to establish masculine values and imagery as normal. A “policeman” brings to mind a man who
is doing a man’s job, when in fact women have been involved in policing for several decades now.
Replacing “he” with “she” in a sentence can often have a jarring effect because it undermines the
“naturalness” of the male perspective.

Elements of Culture 

Values and Beliefs 

The first, and perhaps most crucial, elements of culture we will discuss are its values and beliefs.
Values​ are a culture’s standard for discerning what is good and just in society​. Values are deeply

 
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embedded and critical for transmitting and teaching a culture’s beliefs. ​Beliefs​ are the tenets or
convictions that people hold to be true.​ Individuals in a society have specific beliefs, but they also share
collective values. To illustrate the difference, North Americans commonly believe that anyone who works
hard enough will be successful and wealthy. Underlying this belief is the value that wealth is good and
important.

Values help shape a society by suggesting what is good and bad, beautiful and ugly, sought or avoided.
Consider the value the culture North Americans place upon youth. Children represent innocence and
purity, while a youthful adult appearance signifies sexuality. Shaped by this value, individuals spend
millions of dollars each year on cosmetic products and surgeries to look young and beautiful.

Sometimes the values of Canada and the United States are contrasted. Americans are said to have an
individualistic culture, meaning people place a high value on individuality and independence. In contrast,
Canadian culture is said to be more collectivist, meaning the welfare of the group and group
relationships are a primary value. Seymour Martin Lipset used these contrasts of values to explain why
the two societies, which have common roots as British colonies, developed such different political
institutions and cultures (Lipset 1990).

Living up to a culture’s values can be difficult. It’s easy to value good health, but it’s hard to quit
smoking. Marital monogamy is valued, but many spouses engage in infidelity. Cultural diversity and
equal opportunities for all people are valued in Canada, yet the country’s highest political offices have
been dominated by white men.

Values​ often suggest how people should behave, but they do not accurately reflect how people do
behave. As we saw in Chapter 1, Harriet Martineau’s basic distinction between what people say they
believe and what they actually do are often at odds. Values portray an ideal culture, the standards
society would like to embrace and live up to. But ideal culture differs from real culture, the way society
actually is, based on what occurs and exists. In an ideal culture, there would be no traffic accidents,
murders, poverty, or racial tension. But in real culture, police officers, lawmakers, educators, and social
workers constantly strive to prevent or repair those accidents, crimes, and injustices. Teenagers are
encouraged to value celibacy. However, the number of unplanned pregnancies among teens reveals
that not only is the ideal hard to live up to, but that the value alone is not enough to spare teenagers
from the potential consequences of having sex.

One way societies strive to put values into action is through rewards, sanctions, and punishments. When
people observe the norms of society and uphold its values, they are often rewarded. A boy who helps an
elderly woman board a bus may receive a smile and a “thank you.” A business manager who raises
profit margins may receive a quarterly bonus. People sanction certain behaviours by giving their support,

 
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approval, or permission, or by instilling formal actions of disapproval and non-support. ​Sanctions​ are a
form of social control, a way to encourage conformity to cultural norms​. Sometimes people conform to
norms in anticipation or expectation of positive sanctions: good grades, for instance, may mean praise
from parents and teachers.

When people go against a society’s values, they are punished. A boy who shoves an elderly woman
aside to board the bus first may receive frowns or even a scolding from other passengers. A business
manager who drives away customers will likely be fired. Breaking norms and rejecting values can lead to
cultural sanctions such as earning a negative label—lazy, no-good bum—or to legal sanctions such as
traffic tickets, fines, or imprisonment.

Values are not static; they vary across time and between groups as people evaluate, debate, and
change collective societal beliefs. Values also vary from culture to culture. For example, cultures differ in
their values about what kinds of physical closeness are appropriate in public. It’s rare to see two male
friends or coworkers holding hands in Canada where that behaviour often symbolizes romantic feelings.
But in many nations, masculine physical intimacy is considered natural in public. A simple gesture, such
as hand-holding, carries great symbolic differences across cultures.

Norms 

So far, the examples in this chapter have often described how people are expected to behave in certain
situations—for example, when buying food or boarding a bus. These examples describe the visible and
invisible rules of conduct through which societies are structured, or what sociologists call norms. ​Norms
define how to behave in accordance with what a society has defined as good, right, and important, and
most members of the society adhere to them.

Formal norms​ are established, written rules​. They are behaviours worked out and agreed upon in order
to suit and serve the most people. Laws are formal norms, but so are employee manuals, college
entrance exam requirements, and “no running” signs at swimming pools. Formal norms are the most
specific and clearly stated of the various types of norms, and the most strictly enforced. But even formal
norms are enforced to varying degrees, reflected in cultural values

For example, money is highly valued in North America, so monetary crimes are punished. It’s against
the law to rob a bank, and banks go to great lengths to prevent such crimes. People safeguard valuable
possessions and install antitheft devices to protect homes and cars. Until recently, a less strictly
enforced social norm was driving while intoxicated. While it is against the law to drive drunk, drinking is
for the most part an acceptable social behaviour. Though there have been laws in Canada to punish

 
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drunk driving since 1921, there were few systems in place to prevent the crime until quite recently.
These examples show a range of enforcement in formal norms.

There are plenty of formal norms, but the list of ​informal norms​—casual behaviours that are generally
and widely conformed to—is longer. ​People learn informal norms by observation, imitation, and general
socialization. Some informal norms are taught directly—“Kiss your Aunt Edna” or “Use your
napkin”—while others are learned by observation, including observations of the consequences when
someone else violates a norm.​ Children learn quickly that picking your nose is subject to ridicule when
they see someone shamed for it by other children. But although informal norms define personal
interactions, they extend into other systems as well. Think back to the discussion of fast food restaurants
at the beginning of this chapter. In Canada, there are informal norms regarding behaviour at these
restaurants. Customers line up to order their food, and leave when they are done. They do not sit down
at a table with strangers, sing loudly as they prepare their condiments, or nap in a booth. Most people do
not commit even benign breaches of informal norms. Informal norms dictate appropriate behaviours
without the need of written rules.

Norms may be further classified as either ​mores or folkways​. Mores (mor-ays) are norms that embody
the moral views and principles of a group. Violating them can have serious consequences. The
strongest mores are legally protected with laws or other formal norms. In the United States, for instance,
murder is considered immoral, and it is punishable by law (a formal norm). But more often, mores are
judged and guarded by public sentiment (an informal norm). People who violate mores are seen as
shameful. They can even be shunned or banned from some groups. The mores of the Canadian school
system require that a student’s writing be in the student’s own words or use special forms (such as
quotation marks and a whole system of citation) for crediting other writers. Writing another person’s
words as if they are one’s own has a name—plagiarism. The consequences for violating this norm are
severe, and can usually result in expulsion.

Unlike mores, ​folkways​ are norms without any moral underpinnings. Folkways direct appropriate
behaviour in the day-to-day practices and expressions of a culture. Folkways indicate whether to shake
hands or kiss on the cheek when greeting another person. They specify whether to wear a tie and blazer
or a T-shirt and sandals to an event. In Canada, women can smile and say hello to men on the street. In
Egypt, it’s not acceptable. In Northern Europe, it is fine for people to go into a sauna or hot tub naked.
Typically in North America, it is not. An opinion poll that asked Canadian women what they felt would
end a relationship after a first date showed that women in British Columbia were “pickier” than women in
the rest of the country (Times Colonist 2014). First date “deal breakers” included poor hygiene (82
percent), being distracted by a mobile device (74 percent), talking about sexual history and being rude to
waiters (72 percent), and eating with their mouths open (60 percent). All of these examples illustrate

 
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breaking informal rules, which are not serious enough to be called mores, but are serious enough to
terminate a relationship before it has begun.

Many folkways are actions we take for granted. People need to act without thinking to get seamlessly
through daily routines; they can’t stop and analyze every action (Sumner 1906). People who experience
culture shock may find that it subsides as they learn the new culture’s folkways and are able to move
through their daily routines more smoothly Folkways might be small manners, learned by observation
and imitated, but they are by no means trivial. Like mores and laws, these norms help people negotiate
their daily life within a given culture.

Assimilation Policy 

Assimilation model is based on social integration. Distinctive cultures are tried to incorporate fully with
the national culture through the policy of assimilation. For this purpose, states used to introduce
common language, religion, cultural norms, values, symbols, and festivals. The assimilation could be
achieved through the process of socialization and change when an ethnic group and individual
relinquishes their social attributes and take up of the dominant group (Inglis, p.23). Moin Shakir (1982) in
one of his article about national integration quoted a classical expression of John. S. Mill about
assimilations. He cited,

Experience proved that it is possible for one nationality to merge and be observed in another; and when
it was originally an inferior and more backward portion of the human race, the absorption is greatly to its
advantage. No body can suppose that it is not beneficial to a Breton or a Bosque of French Navarre, to
be brought into the current of the ideas and feelings of a highly civilized and cultivated people to be a
member of the French nationality, admitted on equal terms to all the privileges of French Citizenship,
sharing the advantages of French protection and the dignity of French Power than to sulk on his own
rock (pp.36-45).

According to the argument of Mill, the policy of assimilation is helpful to eradicate estrangement and
unifying the society. Currently, France is the obvious example of an assimilation model. After French
Revolution the successive governments made aggressive assimilation of minorities for the purpose of
nation building. The centralized and uniformed policies about education and cultures helped to convert
people from diverse backgrounds in to French people. The urban Kurdish minority in Turkey has
accepted the assimilation policy of the government and integrated themselves into mainstream political,
economic and social affairs. While in some areas it is resisted violently and Kurdish national movement
demanded official recognition of the marked Kurdish language and culture. The Iraqi and Syrian
governments policy of Arabization and Iranian efforts for Persianization are also against the Kurdish
identity.

 
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Notwithstanding that the acculturation is substantial for national integration, yet it is widely debated on
different forums. Walker Connor (1994) is one of the scholars who insisted that advancement in
communication and other sources have increased cultural awareness among minorities. They have
become more sentient about their cultural distinctions from other groups (pp.24-26). In another seminal
study, Lijphart (1977) elucidates the importance of interpersonal relationship among different ethnic
groups. Though this type of interaction enhances the understanding and contributes towards
homogenization, on the one hand, but in plural societies, it is likely to originate strain and antagonism on
the other

Assimilation policies seem alluring as far as the dominant elite are concerned. Although some ethnies
willingly accept and assimilate into dominant culture but when states impose it by force, it compels the
ethnic groups to rebel against the authorities. ​A glaring example is the dismemberment of Pakistan in
1971, when one national language was introduced by the state authorities in 1948 and it was challenged
by the other group, widely protested and became a major reason for dismemberment.

Acculturation of Sikh community in Pakistan

Over the last decade, dozens of Sikh families have migrated from Khyber Pakhtun Khawa and Central
Punjab’s Nankana Sahib District to Lahore while looking for greener pastures. Now one can find a
number of Sikh shopkeepers in the wholesale markets of Akbari mandi, Azam Cloth market and Shah
Alam Market in Lahore and Moti bazaar of Rawalpindi. Clinics of Sikh physicians practicing herbal
medicine in all the major cities of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtun Khawa are mushrooming. It is also
believed that Sikhs with better entrepreneurial skills are fast dominating the business in Lahore.

Besides business, Sikhs are now joining the ranks of Pakistan Army, Rangers and Police in addition to
other sectors of life. Amarjit Singh, a Sikh Jawan sporting colourful turban, becomes a source of
attraction while performing lowering ceremony of Pakistani flag as a part of Pakistan rangers contingent
at India-Pakistan Joint Check Post Wagha in the evening. In the recent past, Ghulab Singh, a warden
used to regulate unruly traffic in Lahore.

In 2013 General Elections, Sardar Ramesh Singh Arora, a Sikh from Nankana Sahib was elected
minority member of the Punjab Assembly. He is the first Sikh Parliamentarian to be elected for provincial
legislative assembly in Pakistan’s 69 year history

Just before three decades, local Sikhs were seldom seen on the roads of Lahore and other parts of the
Punjab province. Majority of the Sikh population living in the areas now are part of Pakistan who
migrated from Indian Punjab and even beyond in 1947. Sikhs living in the Khyber Pakhtun Khawa and
some areas of Punjab started becoming active individuals of Pakistani society in 1980s after a long

 
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hibernation. During 1990s, a number of non-functional Sikh Gurdwaras (temples) including Sucha Saudi
Gurdwara in Sheikhupura district were restored to facilitate the local and foreign Sikhs.

According to estimates, the total population of Sikhs in Pakistan is not more than 20,000. Of this, more
than half live in Khyber Pakhtun Khawa, FATA, Sindh and Balochistan while 6,000 live in Nankana
Sahib District while the rest live in Lahore and other districts of Punjab. Due to peculiar security
conditions in tribal areas and certain Khyber Pakhtun Khawa districts, hundreds of Sikhs have now
settled in Rawalpindi and Lahore. These Sikhs are now running businesses mainly merchandise. To
facilitate the children of Sikh families, Punjabi language is also taught in Gurmukhi script in Nankana
Sahib. Federal government and provincial governments have recently taken a lot of steps to improve the
roads linking Nankana Sahib, the home to Sikhdom’s holiest places like Gurdwara Janam Asthan to
Lahore. Guru Nanak University is also being set up in this central Punjab town. Pakistan Gurdwara
Parbandhak Committee (Pakistan Gurdwara Management Committee) is being restructured to ensure
the participation of each and every segment of Sikh community living in Pakistan. Members of Sikh
community believe that they will soon co-exist with their Muslim compatriots the way they used to live in
the past.

SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS: MEANING, CHARACTERISTICS, 

PROCESS OF EMERGENCE AND THEORETICAL 
PERSPECTIVES ON THEIR ROLE IN SOCIETY 

Nwankwo, Ignatius Uche

Department of Sociology/Anthropology

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

Background

The need to holistically understand social groups or society is of primary concern to sociology. ​In this
task, the discipline engages herself in a systematic process of analysis which cut across various aspects
of society. ​It looks at the nature and dynamics of diverse socio-cultural attributes of different societies.
These include patterns of social interaction, belief systems, norms, values and social roles required in
specified social positions etc​. Also of crucial importance to the discipline is the ​examination of types,
character and functions of the major parts of the social structure without which social organization and
social functioning of the society will be defective. ​Among those critical organs that enable society
experience cohesion and stability are her social institutions. Such institutions form the bedrock for a

 
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meaningful social existence and ​provide guiding templates for social processes in society​. Indeed, the
social system is essentially made up of social institutions which represent the engine house or heart
beat of society.

Meaning of the Concept of Social Institutions

The concept of institution has been regularly used among scholars to describe cherished socio-cultural
landmarks of groups, time–honoured traditions or ancestral structures and sites. However, sociologists
view social institutions as complex social relationships among people directed toward satisfying basic
needs, including the rules governing those relationships.

Igbo (2003) notes that a society has basic needs of procreation, training of member, transmission of
culture, provision of food, shelter and clothing as well as allocation of power and maintenance of order.
According to him, society creates the institutions of the family, education, polity, economy and religion to
cater to such needs.

It could be concluded therefore, that social institution constitute an enduring system of norms, values,
statuses, roles, internal clusters of people (groups), regulative principles and culture which organize
behaviour toward fulfilling some basic and recurring human needs. Social institutions are part and parcel
of the culture of the people. Although, groups or associations constitute part of social institutions, the
concept of social institutions represents both groups and processes or patterns of beliefs and practices
peculiar to the group.

Social institution can play an important role in making any country stronger. If the country has weak
institutions than it will be very hard for the nation to survive with out any problems and difficulties.
Instead of strong institutions, we have strong Persons. The only way Pakistan can progress is by making
its institutions strong by converting it truly into welfare state.

Characteristics of Social Institutions 

From the definitions and explanations discussed above, we can summarize the characteristics
of social institutions as follows:

a. They consist of norms, values, rules regulating conduct, roles, sanctions, rewards, organized
patterns of belief, clusters of people etc.

b. They are centered on basic social needs and survival of society. This means that they
specifically address functional prerequisites of distinct parts of society.

c. They are well organized and do not haphazardly emerge and or applied.

d. They function in an established, stable and predictable manner.

 
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e. They represent standardized pattern of behaviour and procedure which differentiate distinct
segments of human social life from others (Otite and Ogionwo 1979; Perl, 1977).

f. Social institutions are relatively enduring in nature rather than being short lived or temporal.

g. Aggregate of social institutions constitute the social system.

h. Social institutions are like other parts of human body. Each has its particular set of functions
but all are related to the whole. They constitute in the process, a social corpus (social body)
of formalized and integrated roles.

i. Social institutions are nexus of roles.

​Process of Emergence of Social Institutions in Society 

Social institutions constitute integral part of the culture of the people. Like other aspects of culture, they
emerge and develop as members of society seek solutions to every day problems arising from their
physical and social environments (Igbo 2003).In other words, as people search for practical ways of
meeting their needs, they often settle for some workable patterns which through repetitions become
standardized customs with guiding rules and procedures that may be codified in written forms and
recognized by all.

Social institutions do not emerge spontaneously nor consist of experimental behaviour. They are
deliberate, time –tested, well established and consistent patterns of behaviour and response typical of
the social structure of a particular group or society. Institutionalization gives rise to patterned, regular,
standardized and predictable social behaviour in prescribed situations with appropriate sanctions for
deviants.

Theoretical Perspectives on Roles of Social Institutions in Society 

The relevance or role of social institutions could be examined in the context of three sociological
theories. These are functionalism, interactionism and conflict viewpoints.

Functionalist theorists in sociology emphasize how social institutions fulfill essential functions for the
survival of society. They see the institutions as necessary and desirable to all. They identified five major
tasks or functional prerequisites, that a society or relatively permanent group must accomplish through
her social institution if the society is to survive. Egbue and Edokobi (2002) summarized such tasks or
functional prerequisites and their associated social institutions as shown in the Table 1 below:

Table 1:​ ​Functional Prerequisites of Society and Their Associated Social Institutions.

 
13 
 

 
 

Functional Prerequisites Social Institutions

Replacing Personnel Family, Government (Immigration)

Teaching New Recruits Family (Basic Skills)

Economy (Occupations)
Education (Schools)
Religion (Sacred Teachings)

Producing and Processing Family (Food Processing)

Economy
Government (Regulations) regarding Health care
commerce

Preserving Order Family (Child Rearing Regulations)

Government
Religion (Morals)

Providing and Maintaining sense of Government (Patriotism)

Purpose. Religion

​Source: Egbue N.G. & Edokobi, A.C. (Eds.) (2002) Sociology: An Introduction. Enugu; Oktek
Publishers.

It is noteworthy that to functionalists, social institutions are not mere responses to social needs but
indispensable tools through which society discharge her functional prerequisites and guarantee her
survival over time.

Conflict theorists in sociology accept that social institutions are organized to meet basic social needs but
reject the functionalist position that the outcome of institutionalization is necessarily efficient and
desirable (Schaefer and Lamm, 1997). To conflict theorists, social institutions accommodate inherent
biases and inequity that help to maintain the priviledges of the upper class and the subservient position
of others. They frown that social institutions like religion, education and polity have inherent conservative
postures which shield imbalances in opportunity across social segments of society. They also frowned at
the dysfunctional view of social change by functionalists and preferred that social institutions or other
aspects of the social structure which operate in unfair and discriminatory manner should not be
preserved in society.

Interactionist theorists emphasize that social behaviour is conditioned by the roles and statuses which
individuals accept, groups to which they belong and the institutions within which they function. They
submit that social institutions affect daily lives of individuals to the extent that their everyday behaviour is
governed by such institutions.

 
14 
 

 
 

In summary, the different theoretical platforms do not contest the relevance of social institutions
in meeting the needs of society. They however differ in their interpretations of how such institutions
affect behaviour and opportunities of individuals and groups within the social structure. While
functionalists see institutions as necessary and desirable to all, conflict theorists argue that they serve
particularly the interest of the priviledged class. They perpetuate the control and subjugation of other
groups in society. Interactionists on the other hand explain behaviour as being conditioned by social
institutions and other social attributes within which people function.

References

Dushkin Publishing Group (1991). ​Encyclopedic Dictionary ofSociology (4​th ed. Guitford comm.:
Dushkin.

Durkheim, .E. (1947). ​The ElementaryForms of Religious Life.​ Glencoe III: Free Press (originally
published 1912)

Egbue, N.G. & Edokobi, A.C. (Eds.) (2002). ​Sociology: An Introduction,​ Enugu: Oktek publishers.

​ nugu: CIDJAP press.

Igbo, E.M. (2003).​ Basic Sociology, E

Marx, .K. and Engels .F. (1972). ​Selected Works in Two Volumes. Mosco: Foreign language Publishing
House (original publication 1847).

Nnatu, S.O. (2007). ​Introduction to Sociology​, Enugu; Jock Consortium.

Nonyelu, A.N. (2009). ​SociologicalIinsights​. Ibadan: Spectrum Books

Otite, O.& Ogionwo .W. (1979). ​An Introduction to Sociological Studies,​ Ibadan: Heinem ann
Educational Books Nigeria Ltd.

Peil, M. (1977). ​Consensus and Conflict in African Societies: An Introduction to Sociology,​ London:
Longman Group Ltd.

Rose, P.I, Glazer .M. & Glazer P.M. (1976.. ​Sociology: Inquiring into Society. New York: Harper and
Row Publishers.

Rosenberg, D.H. (1991). ​Capitalism in Dushkin Publishing Group Encyclopedia Dictionary of Sociology
(4​th​ ed.) Guilford conn: Dushkin.

Schaefer, R.T.. & Lamm, R.P. (1997). Sociology: A Brief Introduction, New York: Mcgraw Hill
Companies Inc..

 
15 
 

 
 

Weber, .M. (1956). ​The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism translated by Talcot Parson. New
York: Scribner (originally published in 1904)

Weber, .M. (1947). The Theory of Social and Economic Organization, New York: Free press (originally
published during the period 1913 – 1922.

TYPES AND FUNCTIONS OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN SOCIETY 

By

Nwankwo, Ignatius Uche

Department of Sociology/Anthropology

Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka

E-mail: iunwankwo@yahoo.com

Types of Social Institutions 

There are five basic social institutions which could be identified in all human societies whether primitive
or modern (Igbo 2003, Nnatu 2007, Nonyelu 2009). These are the family, educational, economic,
political and religious institutions. Rose, Glazer and Glazer (1976) however observed that in tribal and
preindustrial societies, members lack functional specialization and their activities or roles are not
restricted to any of the five basic social institutions. According to them, in such societies, functional
pre-requisites of social institutions are not only fluid across institutions, but are also discharged by same
group of individuals mostly at the family level.

On the other hand, industrial societies require high degree of specialization of their members.
Consequently, the family group in such societies is located in the home; the educational functions are
carried out in schools; religious functions in places of worship; economic functions in factories, offices,
shops and markets; and political or government functions in city halls, police stations, court houses,
legislative houses etc. The lack of functional limitation or boundary which differentiated social institutions
of pre-industrial societies from those of industrialized groups is not their only points of departure.

Schaefer and Lamm (1997) identified the mass media and health care system as other social
institutions that operate alongside the five basic ones in the United States. This suggests that more
social institutions emerge as society experiences advancements and institutionalizes (structures)

 
16 
 

 
 

activities of desired sectors into patterned, regular and predictable forms. In this sense, advanced
industrialized societies are likely to have elaborate list of social institutions than poorly organized or less
industrialized groups.

Functions of Social Institutions in Society 

The Family Institution 

Although sociologists may approach the definition of family from diverse perspectives, they all
agree that the family is a very important social institution. It is found in all societies although its form may
vary from one culture to another, and across different epochs within one culture. A family is a bio-social
group united by ties of marriage, blood or adoption and primarily responsible for procreation,
socialization of the new born and for other human needs. It constitutes a microcosm, a corner stone and
foundation of society.

The family unit is vital to the daily lives of most individuals in society. It contributes significantly to the
maintenance of society and transmission of any society’s culture to its new generation.

There are several view points on the origin of the family. For Kathleen Gough, the family emerged more
than two million years ago. She traced family life of man to social and physical lives of man’s closest
relatives like apes and monkeys. The bible account locates the origin of the family to God’s creation of
Adam and Eve as first parents of man. They lived in companionship and raised children in line with
realities of the definition of a family. On their part, evolutionary theorists argue that family and marriage
evolved through a lineal process that ran through promiscuity, group marriage, polyandry up to the
present stage of monogamy. However, Marxist perspective championed by Marx and Engels (1972),
original publication 1884) had a contrary view. They contended that the family arose in response to the
development of private property and inheritance. In their opinion, private property and the desire of men
to pass on their belongings to their own children not only define the origin and persistence of the family
in society, but also fuels her critical role in the reproduction of the capitalist system.

There are two major types of the family. The ​nuclear family​, also called conjugal family consists of an
adult couple and their unmarried children living together. The other type is the ​extended family ​in which
relatives in addition to parents and their children live together or close to one another. An extended
family consists of several nuclear families united by social ties of brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts,
children, wives, husbands, parents and grand parents etc. The structure of the extended family enables
it to fulfill basic functions of the family better than her nuclear counterparts. For instance, the presence of
more adults facilitates effective child care and socialization (Egbue 2002). Also, crises situations like
death, divorce and illness involve less strain for family members since there are more people who can

 
17 
 

 
 

provide assistance and emotional support (Scheafer and Lamm, 1997). Presence of large number of
family members in the extended family arrangement might as in traditional agricultural societies boost
prosperity. This is because as it means more hands to work the farms and more sources of economic
support to members in difficult situation. Nonetheless, frequent intra-family conflicts are often
experienced in extended than nuclear families and this could also be counter productive.

Despite differences in family type, sociologists acknowledge the universality of the family unit in one
form or the other in all human society. They also recognize the declining prominence of the family in
modern times with gross erosion of its cherished functions and stability.

Functions of the Family

The family fulfills the following functions in society:

a. ​Procreation – The family contributes to human survival through its function of

reproduction.

b. ​Socialization – Parents and older members of the family consciously and

unconsciously act as role models, transmitting in the process, behaviours, values,
attitudes, norms, languages and totality of roles appropriate to one’s social position.

c. ​Social Control – The family is a foremost agent of social control. It equips

individuals with responsible participation and appropriate ways of realizing goals
without recourse to deviance or threat to public peace and security.

d. ​Status Placement – One’s initial social identity and class position in society is
related to the family he or she was born into. Such ascribed status may however not
persist throughout life.

e. ​Protection/Security – The family undertake the ultimate responsibility of

protection of children and other members. It guarantees them security needed to
realize their potentials even in difficult situations.

f. ​Love and Companionship – The family provides members with attention,

warmth and intimate relationships. These enable them to feel satisfied, have a
sense of belonging and emotional stability to surmount the challenges of life
individually and collectively.

g. ​Economic Support/Sustenance – The family was originally the basic

economic unit. Today, economic survival of the society still derives energy from the

 
18 
 

 
 

labour contributed by members of the family. There is enormous complimentary

relationship between the family and the economic institution.

h. ​Regulation of Sexual Behaviour – Standard of sexual behaviour are most

clearly defined and maintained within the family group. Individuals are trained to
satisfy their sexual urge within limits set by society.

i. ​Physical Maintenance of the Young and the Aged – The family provide
care, nurture and protection of the young. It also bears substantial responsibility of
caring for aged members until their death.

The Economic Institution 

The economic institution, often simply referred to as “the economy” is responsible for the production,
exchange, distribution and consumption of goods and services in society. It could also be called
economic system​, a term which refers to the social institution through which goods and services are
produced, distributed and consumed in society. The ultimate aim is the satisfaction of economic and
bio-social needs of society through rational use of limited resources available. Basic among the
economic needs of society are food, clothing and shelter.

The economic institution has strong link with other institutions of society. Its character impact on social
behaviour and influences the nature of other social institutions. Goods, services and fund from the
economic sector are indeed essential for survival of society and its institutions. In recognition of the
immense importance of economic institution, Marx described it as the foundation or ‘infrastructure’ upon
which other social institutions which he collectively defined as ‘superstructures’ revolve. It is noteworthy
however, that the economic institution is in turn influenced by other social institutions.

There are a variety of forms which the economic institution or system have taken in history across
societies. Such diverse modes of economic organization practiced over the years by different societies
were influenced by several factors including the level of technology at their disposal for tasks of
production and distribution.

Among preindustrial societies, Egbue (2002) identified and discussed the following economic systems
which sequentially emerged among the people.

 
19 
 

 
 

a. ​Hunting and Gathering Societies: These are the earliest form of economic
system. It was composed of small groups of people related to one another who
constantly migrate in search of food. They had minimal technology and lacked
division of labour. Also, there was little inequality in terms of material goods. The
basis for social differentiation was ascribed characteristics as gender, age and
family background.

b. ​Horticultural Societies: They were less nomadic and planted seeds and crops
with the aid of digging sticks and hoes. Technology remained limited. This
economic system which emerged more than 900 years ago achieved some social
surplus in food production to meet the needs of those not engaged in agriculture.
This development gave room for specialization in other tasks within horticultural
societies.

c. ​Agrarian societies: It is the last stage of pre-industrial development. Members

primarily engaged in production of food enhanced by technological innovations and
bounteous harvest. Division of labour and specialization was more extensive.

On the other hand, industrial societies according to Dushkin (1991) are societies that rely chiefly on
mechanization for production of their goods and services. This is in contrast to post-industrial societies
which are technologically advanced nations whose economic system have shifted from manufacturing to
service industries with processing and control of information at centre stage. Industries may however be
categorized as primary, secondary or tertiary. At onset of industrialization in a society, production is
usually at primary industrial stage.

According to Scheafer and Lamm (1997), contemporary industrial societies are characterized by two
competing economic systems of capitalism and socialism.

a. ​Capitalism. This is an economic system in which the means of production are

largely in private hands and the main incentive for economic activity is accumulation
of profits (Rosenberg, 1991). There are two major variants of capitalism related to
the degree to which private ownership, profit making and economic activity are
regulated by government. These are the laissez faire model where there is minimal
government intervention and the contemporary model where extensive government

 
20 
 

 
 

regulation of economic relations is the rule. Capitalist systems may also differ in
terms of the extent to which monopoly and free enterprise system are allowed.

b. ​Socialism. In socialist economic system, the means of production and

distribution in society are collectively, rather than privately owned. It is intended to
eliminate economic exploitation, meet people’s needs and does not emphasize
profits. Government occupies a central position in planning economic activities. She
exercises maximum control on what and how to produce. There is also a deep
commitment to social service programmes in socialist economies. It is noteworthy
that communism as a final stage of socialism anticipated by Karl Marx is yet to
materialize in any nation.

c. ​Mixed Economy. This is an economic system that is partly capitalist and partly
socialist. In this model, free enterprise systems are punctuated by deliberate
government controls of aspects of the economy. Such economies allow big
corporations, petty businesses, and social security and welfare measures with
considerable government regulation.

Functions of the Economic Institution

Irrespective of the economic system in place in a society, the expected functions could be summarized
as follows.

a. To promote physical wellbeing of members through economic arrangements

that ensure shelter, clothing and prompt satisfaction of other economic and
bio-social needs.

b. To manage the scarce resources of society in the most prudent manner

possible.

c. To distribute goods and services across socio-cultural and geographical

divides with minimal disadvantages to social groups.

d. To strive and maintain smooth, synergistic link with other social institutions for
effective functioning of society.

The Political Institution 

Man is a political animal; hence sociologists see politics, government or political system as a cardinal
feature of every society. Irrespective of their size, all social groups have members with powers to control

 
21 
 

 
 

others and to entrench order in their domain. There were forms of political organization even among
stateless societies that cut-across kin-group meetings, age-set command, gerontocracy, royal court,
women groups etc. All these constitute aspects of political systems.

A political system refer to a set of rules and some apparatus for keeping social order, distributing power
and allowing decisions to be made in a society. The ultimate aim of the system is the achievement of set
goals of the group.

The issues of ‘power’ and ‘authority’ are central to all political systems. While power is the ability to
manipulate others with or without their consent, authority is the formally recognized right to exercise
power (Rose, Glazer and Glazer, 1976).

Weber (1947) distinguished between traditional authority conferred by custom and accepted practice;
legal-rational authority made legitimate by law, and charismatic authority which is power legitimized by
the charisma of the individual.

Among traditional societies of Africa, two major types of political systems – centralized and
uncentralized models were distinguished. While centralized political system had identifiable centralized
authority, including administrative and judicial structures, the uncentralized arrangements of hunting and
gathering societies or some segmentary lineage groups lacked them.

Contemporary modern societies operate political systems like democracy, totalitarianism, monarchy,
parliamentary system etc.In democracy, participation of the masses, equality, justice, accountability, free
and fair election are emphasized. This is unlike in monarchy where a family rules for generations.
Totalitarianism on its part is a restrictive political form that estranges the people from governance.

Functions of Political Institution

a. It is responsible for day to day administration and maintenance of law and

order in society.

b. It makes, interprets and enforces rules and regulations/laws in her area of

authority.

c. It protects lives and properties of members of the society from internal and
external threats.

d. It maintains relations on behalf of members of a society, with other social

groups for mutual benefit of the two groups.

 
22 
 

 
 

e. It is a veritable tool for harvest of public opinion and decision making in society.

The Religious Institution 

Religion refers to the way people behave in seeking answers to the ultimate questions posed in life.
Durkheim (1947) sees it as a unified system of beliefs and practices relative to sacred things. Religion is
found throughout the world. It is characterized in each case by unique set of elements, beliefs, practices,
emotions, rituals and organization.

All forms of religion whether Jewish, Christian, Moslem and traditional African type provide explanations
to why we exist, why we succeed or fail and why we die etc. They also attend to sacred and profane
(ordinary) issues, situations and events.

Functions of Religion in Society

a. Religion serves integrative roles in society by offering people the meaning and
purpose for their lives. It promotes solidarity and social cohesion.

b. It is instrumental for achievement of social control of members of the society.

This is because religious injunctions bear much relationship to secular laws which
prohibit theft, rape, stealing, murder etc.

c. Religion defines the spiritual world and gives meaning to why man exists and
his ultimate fate thereafter.

d. Religion performs the latent function of serving as meeting points for

unattached members and expanding social contacts /associations of attached
members.

e. Religion is a veritable source of social support, control of stress and for

psychological stability. Births, deaths, marriages, calamities or disasters are
normally responded to with religious rituals. Such rituals enable individuals
understand, accept and cope with realities of such events.

f. Religion could also promote social change. This depends on which values,
norms and aspirations that are being propagated by religious groups. The
protestant ethics was identified by Weber (1956) to have propelled the spirit
capitalism.

 
23 
 

 
 

The Educational Institution 

Education is a formal process in which some people consciously teach while others adopt the social role
of learner (Scheafer and Lamm 1997). It can also be described as the channel of transmitting new ideas,
values, moral, skills, knowledge and norms cherished by society. In this context, education has strong
links with socialization.

Education is also viewed as a social institution because it comprises that segment of the basic social
structure which meets the educational needs of society (Igbo, 2003). This suggests that educational
institution contains within it a set of values, norms, sanctions, procedures and beliefs which guide the
functioning of the educational sector in society.

Functions of Education in Society

a. Education fulfills socialization and cultural transmission functions. It serves as

a bridge that link younger and older generations.

b. Formal education is a very useful instrument for social and indeed, national
integration. In plural societies like Nigeria, teaching of history, geography and
shared cultural beliefs could foster sense of oneness among her heterogeneous
peoples.

c. Education serves as a tool for manpower development and for screening and
selection of individuals for positions in society.

d. The educational system is a custodian of children. It protects them during work

hours thus enabling parents to commit their energies to other profitable ventures.

e. Education serves society as a forum for citizenship training of future leaders.

f. Educational institutions are the engine houses for innovation in society. They
develop new knowledge and skills that benefit society.

References

Dushkin Publishing Group (1991). ​Encyclopedia Dictionary of Sociology (4​th ed. Guitford comm.:
Dushkin.

Durkheim .E. (1947). ​The Elementary Forms of Religious Life. Glencoe III: Free Press (originally
published 1912)

Egbue, N.G. & Edokobi, A.C. (Eds.) (2002). ​Sociology: An Introduction​, Enugu: Oktek publishers.

Igbo, E.M. (2003). ​Basic Sociology​, Enugu: CIDJAP press.

 
24 
 

 
 

Marx, .K. and Engels .F.(1972). ​Selected Works in Two Volumes​. Mosco: Foreign language Pub. House
(original publication 1847).

Nnatu, S.O. (2007) ​Introduction to Sociology,​ Enugu; Jock Consortium.

Nonyelu, A.N. (2009). ​SociologicalIinsights. Ibadan:Spectrum Books.

Otite, O.& Ogionwo .W. (1979). ​An Introduction to Sociological Studies,​ Ibadan: Heinem ann
Educational Books Nigeria Ltd.

Peil, M. (1977). ​Consensus and Conflict in African Societies: An Introduction to Sociology, London:
Longman Group Ltd.

Rose, P.I. Glazer .M. & Glazer P.M. (1976). ​Sociology: Inquiring into Society​. New York: Harper and
Row publishers.

Rosenberg, D.H. (1991). ​Capitalism in Dushkin Publishing Group Encyclopedia Dictionary of Sociology
(4​th​ ed.) Guilford conn: Dushkin.

Schaefer, R.T.. & Lamm, R.P. (1997). Sociology: A Brief Introduction,​ New York: Mcgraw Hill
Companies Inc.

Weber, .M. (1956). ​The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism t​ ranslated by Talcot Parson. New
York: Scribner (originally published in 1904)

Weber, .M. (1947) ​The Theory of Social and Economic Organization​, New York: Free press (originally
published during the period 1913 – 1922.

URBANIZATION 

Urbanization 

Economic theory suggests that ​Structural transformation usually takes place when resources are
reallocated from low productivity agriculture to high productivity industry and services sectors. Cities and
urban areas are the magnets for location of these sectors which benefit from migration of the surplus
and underemployed labour. ​Rapid economic growth is therefore associated with urbanization.

http://forpakistan.org/future-pakistans-urban-landscape/

In Pakistan, the urbanisation trend is not different from other countries of the world, as Pakistan is also
facing a rapid increase in urbanisation. The estimated population in urban areas has been witnessing an

 
25 
 

 
 

increase from 37.9 percent in 2013 to 40.54 percent in 2017 and expected to touch 50 percent mark by
2030. In comparison, the population in rural areas has decreased from 62.1 percent in 2013 to 59.46
percent in 2017. Population of the country is expected to reach 242 million by 2030.

The main drivers of Pakistan’s urban growth are high birth rates, migration from rural areas and
refugees' migration. Migrants are attracted to cities for better jobs and improved access to basic
services. But, due to this, there is an expansion of under-resourced urban settlements, which caused
unprecedented levels of economic, spatial, social, and infrastructural challenges and climate change
impacts.

Sustainable cities and communities have been identified as one of the 17 Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs). Goal 11 – sustainable, green and resilient cities – forms the defining constructs of an
emerging urban planning paradigm that is fast gaining global traction.

https://fp.brecorder.com/2017/06/20170605185280/

Urbanization has inflated Pakistan’s biggest cities so rapidly that they struggle to deliver public services
and create productive jobs. Urban poverty is on the rise, with one in eight urban dwellers living below the
poverty line.

As a result, Pakistan’s cities contribute much less to the economy compared to other developing
countries. Pakistani cities – inhabited by 38 percent of the population – make up around 55 percent of
total GDP. India’s urban population is 30 percent, with 58 percent of its GDP coming from cities. In
Indonesia, urban population and urban share of GDP are 44 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

According to the World Bank, Pakistan’s urbanization is also ‘messy and hidden’: Messy from
low-density sprawl and hidden as cities grow beyond administrative boundaries to include ‘ruralopilises’,
which are densely populated rural areas and outskirts not officially designated as cities. Ruralopilises
today are estimated to make up to 60 percent of urban Pakistan.

Without better urban planning to accommodate rapid growth, cities have the potential to become
hotbeds of discontent rather than engines of growth and innovation.

Following are the biggest challenges facing urban policymakers.

1. Poor housing quality and affordability

The State Bank of Pakistan has estimated that across all major cities, urban housing was approximately
4.4 million units short of demand in 2015. Even if urban population remains stagnant, the growing trend

 
26 
 

 
 

of nuclear families who seek housing separate from larger families will increase pressure on housing
supply.

When provided, housing is often low quality. Pakistan ranks eighth among the ten countries that
collectively hold 60 percent of substandard housing across the world. Karachi, one of the world’s fastest
growing megacities with an estimated 17 million people, ranks second lowest in South Asia and sixth
lowest in the world on the Economist Intelligence Unit’s 2015 livability index.

2. Water and Sanitation

In most Pakistani cities, water is supplied only four to 16 hours per day and to only 50 percent of the
population. According to the Asian Development Bank (ADB), 90 percent of water supply schemes are
unsafe for drinking. Shared latrines among households are common in cities and access to solid waste
management services remains low. In the most population-dense areas of Karachi, one toilet is shared
between twenty people. The World Bank estimates that poor sanitation costs Pakistan around 3.9
percent of GDP; diarrhea-related death and disease among children under five being the largest
contributors.

3. Transportation

Karachi is the only megacity in the world without a mass public transport system. Increased private
transport on urban roads has caused severe congestion. The government has responded by upgrading
many urban roads. However, infrastructure for the most common modes of travel in Pakistan – such as
pavements for walking or special lanes for bicycles – either does not exist or has been encroached
upon. This is despite the fact that 40 percent of all trips in Lahore are made on foot.

Mobility in urban Pakistan is also harder for women. An ADB study found that almost 85 percent of
working-women surveyed in Karachi were harassed in 2015.

4. Health

While overall health and nutrition are better for urban than for rural populations, child mortality and
malnutrition indicators show that Pakistan’s urban poor have health outcomes only marginally better
than the rural poor. Better health outcomes in urban areas are explained by improved access to private
health care in cities.

Poor health outcomes are also a direct impact of the pollution caused by rapid urbanization. According
to the World Health Organization, Karachi is the most polluted city in Pakistan with air twice as polluted
as that of Beijing. The level of pollution in Punjab’s major cities is also three to four times higher than
that determined safe by the UN.

 
27 
 

 
 

A lack of clean drinking water remains a major contributor to the high mortality rate of children under five
years old. According to Save the Children’s 2015 Annual Report, poor urban children in Pakistan are
more likely to die young than rural children.

The challenge of global warming has also intensified in cities. A rise in concrete structures across the
urban landscape is increasing temperatures within cities. In 2015, an unanticipated heat wave in Karachi
led to almost 1,500 deaths.

5. Education

Although urban areas have higher student enrollment and better learning outcomes, close to 10 percent
of all children in Lahore, Karachi and Peshawar remain out of school.

Like healthcare, better education in cities is explained by the private sector. From 2001 to 2014, the
share of primary enrollment in urban private schools rose from 25 percent to 40 percent.

Moreover, there seems to be an inverse relationship between public schooling and city size. In small
cities, approximately 35 percent of all children aged five to nine are enrolled in government schools. In
capital cities, that figure drops to 22 percent.

Continued preference for private schools reflects the low quality of government schools in urban centers.
While all private schools have basic facilities (drinkable water and toilets), they are missing in around 12
percent of government schools in Lahore.

6. Land Management

Outdated land use regulation and building codes, the absence of a unified land record system and
patchy data on land use result in poor urban land management. One consequence is extreme inequality
in land use. In Karachi, 36 percent of the population lives in formally planned settlements that consume
77 percent of the city’s residential land, where urban density can be as low as 84 people per hectare. On
the other hand, Karachi’s many informal settlements have densities of more than 4,500 per hectare.
These hugely varying densities have resulted in unequal access to vital urban services.

Housing schemes built beyond city limits have used up an estimated 60,000 acres of prime agricultural
land. Both Karachi and Lahore have seen the development of large real estate schemes particularly
along the highways. These ventures are redefining urban limits, further straining service delivery.

[1] Background paper for World Bank (2014) Pakistan Urban Sector Assessment: Leveraging
the Growth Dividend.

 
28 
 

 
 

[2] Qadeer, Mohammad A. 2000. “Ruralopolis: The Spatial Organization and Residential Land
Economy of High-Density Rural Regions in South Asia” Urban Studies 37(9): 1583–1603 and
Pakistan’s Runaway Urbanization: What Can Be Done? (2014) Edited by Michael Kugelman.

[3] The National Socio-Economic Registry (NSER), based on the Benazir Income Support
Programme’s (BISP) Poverty Score Survey (PSS) conducted in 2010, reveals that around 80
percent of the 27 million households surveyed belong to nuclear families.

[4]​ Source: United Nations MDG Indicators; McKinsey Global Institute Analysis.

Rural-Urban Integration 

Between 1980 and 1998, 86 percent of the growth in value added in developing countries came from the
manufacturing and services sector.

Evidence indicates that the shift from farming to industry is helped, not hurt, by healthy agriculture which
helps towns and cities prosper. People move to make their lives better. But when agriculture is doing
well, migration makes not only the migrants better off, but also the villages they leave and the cities in
which they settle. Urbanization facilitates agglomeration as moving goods, people and ideas become
cost effective. Agglomeration economies concentrate manufacturing production facilitating growth of
services sector. Productive jobs are created that attract migrants from rural areas whose average
incomes improve considerably. These workers send a portion of their income as remittances to their
families living in the rural areas which help in upgrading their living standards. This brings the leading
and lagging regions closer in economic and social terms.

Absorption of rural migrants in industrial and services sector also generates higher incomes in the towns
and cities. The aggregate demand effect on the economic production is therefore overall upward
sloping.

One problem is that the unit cost to invest in rural areas for building infrastructure is relatively higher
because of the dispersal of population over long radiuses. As cities, are more densely populated these
costs are only a fraction of those in the rural areas. Efficiency criterion in the allocation of resources
therefore favors investment in urban infrastructure.

In the medium and long term the higher per capita incomes in urban areas create demand for income
elastic products such as milk, dairy products, meat, poultry, fruits and fish. The returns to the farmers on
these products are higher than on cereals such as wheat or rice. As the production of these

 
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commodities expands, rural incomes rise. Along with remittances from the cities, their demand for
consumer goods that are manufactured in the urban areas also rises. Therefore, public policy should
favor investment in the rural areas in the first instance by allocating a larger share of provincial
revenues. They should empower the City Governments to mobilize their own resources. For example,
Property tax, if properly assessed and collected can finance most of the needs of Karachi. This
allocation of resources to improve, rural connectivity, market integration and delivery of basic services
such as Education would have a payoff over time.

This cycle of interdependency will be further reinforced when large supermarkets, hyper markets and
departmental stores cut the middle men and procure their supplies directly from farmers. In this process,
the farmers’ incomes received for their traditional products would also increase. It has been found that
the families who are better off economically send their children to schools rather than keep them on the
farms. This is the way the lagging regions will be able to catch up with the leading regions and
convergence will take place. Rural-urban income disparities will be minimised and the fruits of economic
growth widely shared.

This integration between lagging and leading regions can best be done by unleashing the market forces
of agglomeration, migration and specialization not by fighting or opposing them.

Urban poverty rate is almost one half of that the rural poverty rate.

More than half of the rural households in Pakistan are landless and therefore the head of theses
households form a natural group for migration in search of better jobs, higher wages and acquiring
ability to remit a portion of this income to their families back home. Rural –urban migration and
urban-overseas migration would therefore remain an essential part of their coping strategy. It would be
romantic idealism to imagine that in view of such powerful push and pull factors migration to urban areas
will recede. On the contrary, the electronic media now available widely in even the remotest villages of
the urban citizens further reinforces this trend. It would be advisable to think of linking and integrating
the rural-urban economies rather than wishing the impulses for migration will go away with rural
developing only. Agricultural productivity gains through efficient water use, land leveling, high yielding
seeds, increase use of mechanization and diversification into value added products would further reduce
the demand for labor. Rural-urban migration is an essential ingredient for the structural economic
transformation.

Agricultural sector is itself undergoing a major intra sectoral change. Major and minor crops form a
smaller proportion of agriculture sector value added today compared to ten years ago and the share of
livestock, dairy, fisheries and horticulture has been gradually rising. The growing dairy industry is an
illustrative example of the synergetic linkages between cities and villages. Most of the milk is produced

 
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in the rural areas but is consumed in the cities. Milk collection, transportation, processing and
pasteurization, packaging and retail distribution form an entire value chain which is shared among the
agriculture, industry and services sectors benefitting both the rural and urban segments of the
population. Meat and poultry consumption is also on a secular rise and the location of abattoirs and
poultry farms near the cities would further contribute to this inter-linkages. More than half the value
addition in these subsector takes place after these products leave the farm.

Investments in agriculture R&D, soil and water management, veterinary and animal husbandry services,
storage and cool chains, refrigerated transportation etc. are important to realize the supply potential of
agriculture. Investments in roads, logistics, processing, packaging and organized retailing will strengthen
the seamless flow of investments will also augment the incomes of the farmers which, in turn, will push
the demand for consumer goods produced in the cities. Mobile phones and satellite, cable TV channels
are beginning to blue the distinctions between the urban and rural life styles.

Land Markets do not function well because land titles are not clear, documentation and records remain
incomplete and are subject to manipulation, and the control of the petty bureaucrats is overwhelming.
Eighty percent of the litigation in the courts of Pakistan pertains to land disputes. If land markets work
well, land will be mobile between users and allocated productively.

Smart City Vision in Pakistan 

At present, the concept of smart cities remains a novel idea in Pakistan while a comprehensive
understanding of what smart cities mean also seems to be lacking. Furthermore, the eco-system, the
leadership, the institutional arrangement and public opinion do not seem to be fully mobilized.

In Pakistan, increasing urbanization and rising income trends indicate that by 2030, the percentage of
urban population will increase from the current 45 percent to nearly 60 percent. At present, nine cities of
the country have populations over 1 million and 75 cities with population between 100, 000 to 1 million.
So, the need to develop systems and technologies that help city governments manage urban centers
better and serve the citizens are becoming crucial with the passage of time.

Smart City Initiatives in Different Provinces

In 2015, the Government of Sindh signed a memoranda of understanding with three investors from the
United States, China and the United Arab Emirates to turn Karachi into a ‘smart city’ by equipping it with
solar streetlights, closed-circuit cameras and free Wi-Fi connectivity.

The Government of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has also started moving towards the safe/smart cities
project. The project will be rolled out to entire Peshawar valley and entire central belt comprising five

 
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districts including Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi and then extend to militancy-hit
areas of the province. Other ICT-based projects in KP include ‘Citizens Portal’, CM Complaint Cell,
Online FIR Registration, Online Admissions for Public Sector Universities, and Online Application for
Driving License. In health specifically, the KP health department has established the Independent
Monitoring Unit (IMU) to regularly evaluate the performance of the public sector healthcare facilities and
take measures to improve the quality of services at government hospitals in the province.

There is also a discussion about smart cities in the Balochistan province and it is said smart cities
project would be part of the province’s uplift projects under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor
(CPEC).

Punjab Leads the Way

Nevertheless, Punjab province is perhaps the most advanced in various ICT based initiatives, with
strong institutional base in the shape of PITB with support from various federal agencies. In Punjab,
holistic city-wide smart city smart city projects have not been initiated but sector wise work on various
aspects of city services have been improved and made smart using the ICT platform. Punjab Safe City
Authority is a big step in this direction as it offers a robust platform for development and integration of
various ICT initiatives at the city level. GIS-based mapping and automation of the Urban Immovable
Property Tax (UIPT) system in Punjab is again a milestone in developing IT based services. Being a
very comprehensive and authentic database, it has the potential to be used as a basis for numerous
citizen-centric services. Specifically, it can be seen that Dengue Activity Tracking System introduction by
the PITB has led to the diminishing incidence of disease spread as witnessed in recent years. Similarly,
Citizen Portal in KP province has ensured access to government services is significantly improved and
has been appreciated by various stakeholders.

In Punjab, PITB is enabling the city of Lahore with Wi-Fi-hotspots in major areas. These include 12
parks, 17 markets, metro bus stations and 20 colleges and universities, the city railway station and the
airport. The modern e-ticketing for Metro Bus system is another initiative to make the public tech savvy.
There is a large project being initiated in Lahore and other main cities of the province called “Punjab
Police Integrated Command Control and Communication Center – PPIC3” which aims at providing
security and safety to its citizens with modern tools and technologies.

Lahore is also being equipped with modern infrastructural facilities like Metro Bus Service and Orange
Train etc. Punjab IT Board is also establishing modern, state-of-the-art Citizen Facilitation Centers
named e-Khidmat Markaz in all divisional headquarters of Punjab. All of the police systems in Punjab
have also been automated by PITB. Police is using PITB made modern tools and technologies for
identification, investigation and interrogation.

 
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Smart City Challenges

Citywide smart technology deployments come with high price tags. The existing infrastructure such as in
transport, health and education has improved but the integration of city systems is pending, and also
there is a lack of an overarching institution to create a governance structure for smart city projects. The
other impediments on the road to successful smart city development that he highlights include: general
lack of awareness of operational understanding of smart city projects, lack of consensus on the right
model for smart cities in Pakistan’s socio-political context, social acceptability, and livability and
sustainability concerns given a resource-constrained environment, lack of integration with other urban
sector programs (especially at the provincial and local level), lack of a cohesive roadmap, process and
scale of the Smart Cities Program, funding strategy, program design, operationalization and institutional
arrangements and the lack of institutional capacity to deliver technology-centric reforms that are part and
parcel of smart city transformation.

http://www.technologyreview.pk/building-smart-cities-pakistan/

What Is Deviance? 

For sociologists, the term deviance does not mean perversion or depravity. Deviance is behavior that
violates the standard of conduct or expectations of a group or society. In the United States, alcoholics,
compulsive gamblers, and the mentally ill would all be classified as deviants. Being late for class is
categorized as a deviant act; the same is true of wearing jeans to a formal wedding. On the basis of the

 
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sociological definition, we are all deviant from time to time. Each of us violates common social norms in
certain situations (Best 2004).

Deviance involves the violation of group norms, which may or may not be formalized into law. It is a
comprehensive concept that includes not only criminal behavior but also many actions that are not
subject to prosecution. The public official who takes a bribe has defied social norms, but so has the high
school student who refuses to sit in an assigned seat or cuts class. Of course, deviation from norms is
not always negative, let alone criminal. A member of an exclusive social club who speaks out against a
traditional policy of not admitting women, Blacks, and Jews is deviating from the club’s norms. So is a
police officer who blows the whistle on corruption or brutality within the department.

It is subject to social definition within a particular society and at a particular time. For that reason, what is
considered deviant can shift from one social era to another. In most instances, those individuals and
groups with the greatest status and power define what is acceptable and what is deviant. For example,
despite serious medical warnings against the dangers of tobacco, made since 1964, cigarette smoking
continued to be accepted for decades—in good part because of the power of tobacco farmers and
cigarette manufacturers. Only after a long campaign led by public health and anticancer activists did
cigarette smoking become more of a deviant activity. Today, many state and local laws limit where
people can smoke.

 
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