Module

in

SOCIOLOGY (CSP)
COURSE OUTLINE

PRELIM

Chapter 1: The Human Society

1.1. Understanding Society

1.2. The Early Societies

Chapter 2: The Communities

2.1. Meaning and Nature of Community

2.2. The Rural Community
2.3. The Urban Community

MIDTERM

Chapter 3: The Social Group and Group Interaction

3.1. Meaning, Nature and Characteristics of Group

3.2. Group Classification and Boundaries
3.3. The Process of Group Interaction

Chapter 4: Deviation, Social Problems and Control

4.1. The Meaning and Nature of Deviance
4.2. Forms of Deviant Behavior and Social Problems
4.3. Social Control

FINAL

Chapter 5: Society and Culture

5.1. Meaning, Nature, and Functions of Culture

5.2. Cultural Concepts and Variations
5.3. The Filipino Culture and Values

Chapter 6: Collective Behavior, Social Movement and Social Change

6.1. Collective Behavior

6.2. Social Movements
 i

PRELIM
 ii

Chapter 1 – THE HUMAN SOCIETY

1.1. Understanding Society

SOCIOLOGY – it is the study of society.

SOCIUS – it is the Latin word meaning companion, associate.
LOGUS – it is a Greek word meaning study.

Why study Sociology???

1. To obtain factual information about society and different aspects of our social
life.

2. Enables us to understand our society more objectively and to see our places in it.

3. Enables us to learn the application of scientific information to daily life and

problems.

4. Broadens our experience as we learn to discard our prejudices and become more
understanding of the customs of other people.

5. Enables us to see the connection between our personal experiences and the
social forces in the bigger social world which influence our life.

Areas of Sociology

 Social Organization – this includes the investigation of social groups, social

institutions, social stratification and mobility, ethnic relations, and
bureaucracy.
  Social Psychology – this field is concerned with the study of human nature
as the outcome of group life, personality formation, and collective behavior.

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 Social change – Social organization and social disorganization – this are
involves the study of change in culture and social relations and ongoing
social problems.

 Human Ecology – this is an area which is currently catching world

awareness. It studies the behavior of a given population and its relationship
to the group’s social institutions.

 Population Studies – this field is concerned with population count,

composition, change, and quality as they influence the economic, political,
and social systems, and vice versa.

 Sociological Theory and Research – this field id concerned with the

discovery, development, and replication of research tools that will test the
applicability and usefulness of the principles of group life as basis for the
regulation of the social environment.

 Applied Sociology – the findings of pure sociological research that can be

applied to such various fields like marriage and family counseling, child
development, criminology, social work, education, communication,
marketing, ethnic relations, mass media and etc.

The Relationship of Sociology to the Other Sciences

Social Science – deal with human relationships, social systems, and societies.

 Economics – is concerned with the human activities related to the

production, consumption, and distribution of goods, services, and
wealth within societies.

 Political Science – is concerned with political processes, power

struggle, and governments.
  Anthropology – study the wide range of cultures, from primitive to
modern, through the examination of artifacts and the genetic changes
of human and nonhuman aspects of life.

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 Psychology – is mainly interested in a wide range of psychological
and behavioral processes such as learning, human and personality
development, perception, emotion, cognition, motivation, creativity,
personality disorders and mental illnesses.

 History – is primarily descriptive of the chronology of significant past

events.

Meaning of Society

 Composed of a large number of people who form relatively organized self-

sufficient, enduring body.

 As the system of community life in which individuals form a continuous and

regulatory association for the mutual benefit and protection.

 Composed of interacting individuals and interacting groups sharing a

common culture.

 Is a systematic network of social relations and it is the venue where the

dynamics of cooperation and conflict occurs.

 The entire system of relationship among men.

Sociological Theories and Perspective of Society

1. Evolutionary Theory – proposes that societies, like biological organisms,

develop through phases of increasing complexity and as ecologists point out, are
interdependent with their environment.

The evolutionary theory can provide the underpinnings for judging the
outcome of varied social forces, understanding current changes, and predicting
the future.
2. Structural Functional Theory – the components parts of a social structure are
families, neighborhoods, associations, schools, churches, banks, countries, etc.
Within a structure are statuses which are ascribed by birth (sex, age, race) or
achieved (school graduate, president, priest, lawyer, doctor), interrelated sets of
which are social systems.

3
3. Conflict Theory – proposed that society can best be studied through conflict and
power struggle.

4. Exchange Theory – its basic orientation is that life is a continual occurrence of

rewards and cost exchanges.

5. Symbolic Interaction Theory – this theory believe that society is reflected in

every socialized individual and that its external forms and structures are likewise
reflected through the social interactions occuring among individuals at the
symbolic level.
 4
1.2. The Early Societies

Sociocultural Evolution: A Summary

Type of Society Technology Economy Settlements Social Org.

A. Hunting and Very simple fire Bare substance Nomalic All resting
Gathering arrow baskets 25-40 people within
Society family

B. Horticultural Digging sticks Simple crop Semi perma- Family

and Pastoral occasionally cultivation, nent, cities, centered
Society blade tools some surplus occasionally Religious
and exchange kingdoms system
begins to
develop
moderate
specialization
Increased
social
inequality

C. Agrarian Irrigation Largely agri- Permanent Family loses

Society fertilization, cultural, but urbanization significance
metallurgy much surplus, becoming as destruct-
animal drown increase important, tive religions
plow market exchange empires political,
and substan- covering and economic
tial trade continent system
emerged
increased
social
inequality

D. Industrial Advance Industrial Permanent Complex

Society of energy, few engage urban set of
mechanized in agricul- living inter-
production ture or predomina- dependent
direct ting institutions
production, Cities now
much surplus, contain most
 Fully deve- of the
loped market population
economy

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Chapter 2 – THE COMMUNITIES

2.1. Meaning and Nature of Community

Community
 A place were we lives, works, and plays

 A group of people occupying a definite territory, living together, with

families and neighborhood.

 A social group with some degree of “we feeling” living in a given

area.

 Local grouping with in which people carry a full round of life

activities.

Elements of Community

1. People
2. Territory
3. Interaction
4. Common Values

The Basic Social Institution

Social Institution – is an abstraction which is an organized system of social norms,

 beliefs, values, and material objects formed around the social
needs of people.

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Family

 Basic unit of society

 A household clan, tribe, lineage, parents and children.

 A social characterized by common residence, economics,

cooperation and reproduction.

Based on Organization and Membership

 Nuclear – the nuclear, primary or elementary family is

composed of a husband and his wife and their
children.

Two Kinds of Nuclear Family

1. Orientation – is the family into which one is born, and where

one is reared or socialized.
- it consists of a father, a mother, brothers, and
sisters.

2. Procreation – is the family established through marriage and

consists of husband, a wife, sons, and
daughters.

 Extended – composed of two or more nuclear families,

economically and socially related to each other.

Polygyny – the man keeps a number of nuclear families

and unites them under a larger family group.
 7
Based on Blood Ties (Relationship)

 Conjugal – which considers the spouses and their offspring’s as

of prime importance and which has a fringe of
comparatively unimportant relatives.

 Consanguineal – which considers the nucleus of blood relatives

as more important than the spouses.
- Blood relationships formed during childhood
is emphasized.

Based on Residence

 Patrilocal – requires that the newly married couple live with or

near the domicile of the parents of the groom.

 Matrilocal – requires that the newly married couple live with or

near the domicile of the parents of the bride.

 Bilocal – gives the couple a choice of staying with either the

groom’s parents or the bride’s parents, depending on
factors like the relative wealth of the families or their
status, the wish of the parents, or certain personal
preferences of the bride and the groom.

 Neolocal – permits the newly married couple to reside

independently of the parents of either groom or
bride.

 Avuncolocal – prescribes that the newly married couple reside

with or near the maternal uncle of the groom.
This type of residence is very rare.
 Based on Authority Patterns

 Patriarchal – is on in which the authority is vested in the oldest

male in the family, often the father.

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 Matriarchal – is one in which the authority is vested in the
mother or the mother’s kin.

 Egalitarian – is on in which the husband and the wife exercise a

more or less equal amount of authority.

 Matricentric – is a recently emerged type usually found in the

suburbs of the United States. The father absense
gives the mother a dominant position in the
family, although the father may also share with
the mother in decision making.

Based on Descent

 Patrilineal – this affiliates a person with a group of relatives

through his or her father.

 Matrilineal - this affiliates a person with a group of relatives

through his or her mother.

 Bilateral – both

 Multilineal – all relatives

Marriage

 An important institutional element of the family.

 Is an institution consisting of a cluster of mores and folkways, of

attitudes, and ideas and ideals, of social definitions and legal
restrictions.
  A special contract of permanent union between a man and a woman
entered into in accordance with law for the establishment of conjugal
and family life.

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Forms of Marriage

 Monogamy – permits a man to take only one spouse at a time.

 Polygamy – it is a plural marriage and may assume three forms:

1. Polygyny – is the marriage of one man to two or more

women at the same time.

2. Polyandry – is the marriage of a woman to two or more men

at the same time.

3. Group Marriage –

Selection of Marriage Partners

 Endogamy – refers to the norms which dictates that one should marry
with in one’s clan or ethnic group.

 Exogamy – prescribes that one should marry outside one’s clan or

ethnic group.

 Levirate – prescribes that a widow should marry the brother or nearest

kin of the deceased husband.

 Sorrorate - prescribes that a widower should marry the sister or

nearest kin of the deceased wife.

Traditional Courtship

 Controlled by parents and other Kinsmen (relatives).

 Reason:
- Premarital chastity was considered the most important virtue of
a girl.
- Family honor.

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Practice:
- The girl was never left alone in the house.
- Serenading
- Not all romance, the suitor had to serve the family of a girl.
- If the suitor is shy, he used a go-between.

Two Ways in which Courtship is Carried Out

1. By parental arrangement.
2. Arrangement of the couple themselves.

Modern Courtship

 The family of the present is allowing individual relative freedom to

plan and work out for his own life.

 The school, with its positive orientation to change, has encouraged the
young to aim high and achieved beyond what the family reached.

 The peer group has become the source of behavioral and attitudinal
standards.

Process:

 Dating – a system where a man and a woman agree to be

together at a designated place and time.

 Going Steady – when a couple decide to date each other

exclusively.
Possible Motive:

- Believes that they are in love.

- Give a sense of security.
- Proof of desirability.

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 Engagement – a public announcement that the couple intend to
get married at some future date.

Religious Institution

Religion

 Unified system of beliefs and practices related to sacred

things, uniting into a single moral community.

 Particular system of faith and worship.

 Believed to have originated from man’s needs to explain the

world and the phenomena around him.

Economic Institution

 Developed out of the need to have an established means to

allocate scarce resources.

Governmental / Political Institution

 Developed out of the need to maintain order and to exercise

control which would protect the individual members.

Educational System

 Is looked upon as the primary institution for the shaping and

 molding of its members mind and behavior.

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Important Functions:

1. The schools fulfills the socializing function and training of the child to the
accepted ways of behaving.

2. Also fulfills the integrating functions.

3. Also fulfills the equalizing function since it gives opportunities to moved

to the social ladder through education.

4. Expected to accomplish developmental goals set by the government of the

society. Thus, it becomes the implementing area of the government.

5. It frees the individual from the bondage of dependence and ignorance.

 13
2.2. The Rural Community

Specific Objectives:

After having gone through with this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Define a rural community.

2. Describe a rural community.
3. Indicate the main feature of a rural community; and
4. Determine the rural cultural pattern and social processes.

OVERVIEW:

Communities may be classified in a number of ways, but the more

traditional way is to classify them as rural and urban. The classification is not quite
satisfactory as there are some communities whose characteristics may not fit in
with those of the ideal types. For lack of a better one, however the rural urban
dichotomy continues to be used. Sometimes, one can make use of the census
definition, but this is limited to the quantitative measure. What has been suggested
was to put the rural-urban communities in a continuum where differences occur in
relative degrees in a range extending between the two polar extremes of rural and
urban.

Rural communities are not alike, but there are features, which may be found
common in them. Primary group contacts predominate. Relationships are
personalized and intimate, and a rural resident’s outlook in life is usually narrow
and localized, or provincial.

Meaning of Rural Community

 When we hear the term rural community, we usually associate it with the
barrio. The usual image that comes to mind is the idyllic scenes of rolling hills and
plateaus, majestic mountains, meandering streams of rivers, swaying bamboos or
coconut trees, verdant woods, chirping birds and insects and simple, unassuming
gentle folk.

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The barrio is the rural community where people earn their livelihood through
agriculture, fishing and household industries.

The Bureau of Census and Statistics defines rural areas as all barrios and
municipalities except those of the provincial capital.

The barrio is composed of simple folks characterized by primary group

relations and gemienschaft interactions. Although usually characterized as well
knit having a high degree of group feeling, there also exists inter-group or inter-
familial rivalry and factionalism among them. The unifying force in the barrio is
maintained by attitudes, personality traits, and habits developed within the family.
The clustering of homes in some communities strengthens group consciousness
and is translated into cooperative action. The farmers, usually neighbors and
kinfolk, generally work together in the fields and embark on collective projects
such as the construction of local school buildings or community centers.

Rural persons have closer communion and steadier contact with the soil and
other forces of nature than their urban counterpart. Their existence comes from
their closeness to nature, whose vicissitudes like typhoons, drought or plagues they
have to meet. This aspect of nature makes them more religious as they usually
perform rites before planting and harvesting to ensure a bountiful harvest and to
thank the almighty for the crops produced.

Recreational facilities and cultural activities are limited. The usual leisure
time activities of the men are drinking tuba or beer and gambling. Young men are
engaged in playing basketball and also engaged in drinking. Women and girls
usually visit their neighbors; do needle work or embroidery, read literature and
magazines or play bingo or “sungka”.

Communication media consist of newspapers, which are scanty. Tagalog

magazines and comics, and radios, which are mostly transistorized, makes up the
household use. The few wealthy residents own television sets.

Roads are usually dirt and feeder roads covered with gravel and sand. Now
and then, one fined asphalted or concrete roads. The cultural backwardness of the
barrio varies directly in proportion to the distance from the poblacion.
 In spite of their unassuming ways, most barrio folks also have goals and
aspirations centering on education, land, jobs, animals, crops, tools, and peace.
Most of them would like to see their children finish schooling, to find a job, to
have a home lot of their own, to get rich, and to have some recognition. A few do
not have aspirations however for they feel it useless, to hope or aspire for anything
since they are in such a miserable condition.

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2.3. The Urban Community

Specific Objectives:

After having gone through with this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Define an urban community.

2. Describe the way of life in an urban community; and
3. Identify the characteristics of an urban community.

OVERVIEW:

The towns and cities of the Philippines and the rest of the world have been
changing rapidly. The reasons for changes are numerous. Form of government, the
family, changing gender roles, bureaucracies, and ethnicity – the list of factors that
influence the communities we live is endless.

Urbanization is much desired and welcome when it is accompanied with

industrialization and improvement of the quality of life for urban residents.
Urbanization as a process involves the growth of cities, increased agricultural
productivity, the displacement of surplus manpower from rural to urban areas and
the centralization of work in factories.

Urban communities arose from the concentration of people within a

relatively small geographic area in a process called urbanization. Urbanization in a
way has affected the structure and functions of the various social institutions.

Meaning of Urban Community

 An urban community is one in which a number of people are not engaged in
the collection of production of food.

In the social science literature, urban is used to refer to a quality of life that
is typically found in cities.

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Urban refers to a process, which is a special quality of relations generated
though not limited to operating exclusively in cities.

In reality urban are both a process and a place, as the urban process cannot
occur without the resources, population and economic base. Urban embraces the
whole of the organization that is based upon a settlement, which may be a city or
something closely resembling a city.

Raymundo used the concept urban as a function of the relative growth of

rural and urban areas and as a population in which the rate of urban growth is
greater than that of the rural population.

The definition of an area as urban is closely bound up with historical,

political, cultural, and administrative considerations. Localities may be defined as
urban depending on their size, which varies from one society to another. Other
criteria are occupation, density, legal community status and socio-economic status.

Other Related Concept

1. Urbanization – it is the process of concentrating people within a relatively small

geographic area. It is related to social change and growth. From a demographic
perspective, it refers to an increase in the number and size of centers of population
in a society.

2. Urbanism – it is a way of life found in cities with its complex of traits including
a high degree of impersonalism, cultural heterogeneity, predominance of secular
values, and extreme division of labor.

3. City – it is a place characterized by a certain quality of life. Some urban

sociologists say that it is a place of specialists. It is a geographic area designated by
a special name, comprising a large aggregation of people engaged in non-
agricultural pursuits, and recognized by its inhabitants and its chartering authority
as a city.
4. Suburb – it is an outlying part of the city. It is a small community adjacent to the
city where people reside.

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Basic Characteristics of Urban Community

1. Population densities are high. This is due to the migration of people from
rural areas in search of employment in the city. The congestion in the city
brought with it many social and economic problems.

2. It is characterized by a secondary type of relationship, which is impersonal,

formal and objective.

3. There is a widely divergent group of people. Specialization is an important

feature of the city. One finds an individual specializing in a specific skill.
Because of this, dependence over another individual is another feature.
There is what we call segmentation of roles.

4. There is a widely divergent group of people. Specialization.

5. There is anonymity on the part of the urban dwellers. Because of the nature
of work and the type of relationship that exists, individuals cannot find time
to know their neighbors personally. Establishing relation with other people
is primarily motivated by material interest.

Urban Ecological Processes

Discernible in the growth of the cities are certain ecological processes.

Urban sociologists have observed the physical changes in the city and the way an
individual adapts to the changing urban environment which influence the
functioning of the ecological processes. Among these ecological processes are:

1. Concentration – this refers to the movement of people towards an area where

conditions enable the people to live the way they want to be. The availability
of work and accessibility to factories attract people to gather in that
particular place.
 2. Centralization – centralization refers to the centering of basic functions
around the city. Through centralization, the city becomes the center of work,
the cultural center, and the business center. People move in the city to avail
themselves of these functionaries.

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3. Decentralization – this refers to the movement of people away from the
cities. The movement may be due to the increasing tension in living within
the center. The problems of congestion and overcrowding in the cities push
the people to move out and search for better living conditions.

4. Specialization – this involves the sorting out of uses, functions and other
types of activities in the urban areas. This also refers to the mastery and
development of specialized skills in the performance of a particular type of
occupation.

5. Segregation – it refers to the concentration of certain types of people of

activities within a particular area. It may be voluntary or involuntary. The
slum areas for example may be considered segregated areas.

6. Invasion – it is the entrance of new population or facilities into an already

occupied area. The entrance of a new group like the Chinese or Indians into
a district occupied by Filipinos represents invasion. Likewise, the shift in
land use is considered an invasion when business enters into a residential
area.

Theories of Urban Growth

Many theories have been formulated to explain urban growth, but only three
can be considered the most popular among the urban sociologists. These are:

1. The Concentric Circle Theory – This theory assume that cities follow a
process of expansion in which population flows from the center in a circular
pattern. It is divided into different zones as follows:

Zone I – the downtown or central business zone, is usually the most

crowded area because of the presence of business financing,
transportation and communication facilities.
 Zone II – the zone in transition located next to the central business
district is characterized by moral and physical deterioration.
Residents of this area are generally poor.

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Zone III – the zone of the workingmen’s homes is the residence of the
skilled and semi-skilled workers and low salaried
employees who lived near their work place.

Zone IV – the residential zone, where the upper and the upper middle
class live in single dwelling units owned by the occupants.

Zone V – the commuters’ zone is not part of the city proper. Often
called the suburban or satellite areas, house the upper class
society. Houses are generally large; with district
architectural styles. Rapid and efficient means of
transportation have made the commuter’s zone possible.

2. The Sector Nuclei Theory – this was proposed by Homer Hoyt in 1939 as a
modification of the commercial circle theory which asserts that geographic
factors and man-made factors like transportation routes produce sectors in
wedge shapes extending outward from the center of the city.

3. Multiple Nuclei Theory – Harris and Ulman, who formulated this theory,
asserts that land use within the city is organized around a district nuclei or
center, each having its own function. As the city increases in size, the
number of nuclei correspondingly increases in number each specializing in
specific activities.

The city is viewed as a collection of cluster of activities or institutions

developing separately around definite services needed for urban life.
Separate areas devoted to commerce, industry, transportation, residence and
governmental agencies are found all over the city. Each area shows a
conglomeration of different services to provide for the needs of the people in
the area.

The Multiple model theory best explains the growth of Metropolitan

Manila. Manila started at the old Intramuros during the Spanish occupation.
Manila has developed as a result of the growth of nuclei apart from the city
 proper which ultimately merged with the rest of the city. The district of
Tondo, Binondo, Ermita, Malate and Sta. Cruz were outlying communities
or nuclei simultaneously developing with Manila. Each has its own business
residential, commercial and governmental centers. In due time and as a
result of urban growth all these outlying areas of the city merged to be
known as Metro Manila. The process of independent development takes
place in all the different nuclei, and they are fast being extended to the
suburbs.
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Activity 1

Compare and contrast the basic social processes that operate in rural and
urban communities.
 21
Activity 2

Trace the development of Manila as a city. Identify the different ecological

processes that are evident among the inhabitants.
 22

MIDTERM
 23

Chapter 3 – THE SOCIAL GROUP AND GROUP

INTERACTION

3.1. Meaning, Nature, and Characteristics of Group

Group
 Two or more people who identify with one another and have a
distinctive pattern of interaction.

 People connected in a network of social relationships guided

by set of norms.

 Two or more people who have something in common,

interacting with each other, and are guided by set of norms.

Characteristics:

1. A group has a identity and it is identifiable to both its members.

2. Has a social structure in the sense that each part or member has a position
related to other positions.

3. Each member has roles to play.

4. There is mutual reciprocity among members.

5. Has norms of behavior that influences the way in which the roles are
enacted.
6. Has a goal or a purpose which are commonly based on the interests and
values of each member.

7. Group activity is directed towards the attainment of goals.

8. Has relative permanence, a measurable duration over a period of time.

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Group as Distinguished to Other Collection Of People

1. Aggregates – these are people who are temporarily clustered together on

the same location.

2. Category – a collection of people who share a common characteristics but

do not interact.

3. Collectivity – a collection of people interacting with each other but the

interactions are short-lived.

Importance of Groups

1. A major source of solidarity and cohesion.

2. Reinforces and strengthens our integration into society
3. Shares basic survival and problem solving techniques to satisfy personal
and emotional needs.
4. Gives meaning and support to an individual.

The Formation of Groups

1. The desire to achieve an objective.

2. To meet the needs of the individual member.
3. People are treated alike by others.
 25
3.2. Group Classification and Boundaries

Classification of Groups

 Primary Group

 Is an extremely important unit of social organization, a

necessary part of social life.

 The basic primary group is he family. Other primary groups are

the play group, one’s friendship or peer group, gangs, the
immediate school group, and the cliques formed in large
impersonal organization.

 These are considered the building blocks of the larger society.

 It also called the “nursery of human nature” as these groups

shape our personality and develop a self-concept.

Characteristics:

- Personal and intimate relationship

- Face to face communication
- Permanence
- A strong sense of loyalty of “we” feelings
- Small in size
- Informality
 Secondary Group

 In which interactions among the members are impersonal,

business-like, contractual, and casual.

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Characteristics:

- Large
- Relationship is a personal aloof
- Communication is indirect
- Duration is temporary
- Structure is formal

 Gemeinschaft

 Close communal relationships or community.

 Is a community of intimate, private and exclusive living and

familism.

 The members has “natural will” where they relate to one

another as total personalities.

 Gesellschaft

 Organized, impersonal relationships of society.

 It is a “public life” or the world itself.

 Members are guided by the “rational will” characterized by fore

thought and deliberation.
 27
Group Boundaries

1. In-Group

 Groups to which a person belong.

 Consist of people in whose presence the persons feels

comfortable and with whom he or the others common
experiences.

 Characterized by “we” feeling.

 Within the wall.

2. Out-Group

 A scored social group which one feels competition or

opposition.

 Groups in which a person does not belong.

 Characterized by “they” feeling.

 Outside the wall.

Types of Group Boundaries

1. Formal Boundary

 Group boundaries are determined by predetermined criteria.

  Is one aspect of social organization.

 Groups are deliberately formed and their purpose and

objectives are explicitly defined.

 Their goals are clearly stated and the division of labor is based
on members ability or merit.

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2. Informal Boundary

 Group members are determined by non-specific criteria.

 Arises spontaneously out of the interactions of two or more

persons.

 It is unplanned, has no explicit rules for membership and does

not have specific objectives to be attained.

 It has characteristics of the primary groups and members are

bound by emotions and sentiments.
 29
3.3. The Process of Group Interaction

Social Interaction

 It is a basic social process – a universal principle without which

no social life is possible.

 Members of a society are in a continuous exchange of gestures,

actions, or words, as may be observed in persons engaged in a
conversation, in striving for reward, or in a fight.

 It is the way in which individuals or groups act or communicate

with each other within social contexts.

 It involves reciprocal contact carried out through spoken or

written language.

 Cooperation

 It ranges from the unity existing among members of a family or

friends, to the bond found among nations.

 Defined as “a more specific aspect of human intercourse, one

having to do with mutual aid or an alliance of persons or groups
seeking some common goal or reward – in short, as some kind
of conjoint rather than opposing action”.

 Competition
  It is a form of opposition or struggle to secure a reward or a
goal such as prize, material object, position, leadership,
prestige, or power.

 It occurs between two individuals or groups when

the satisfaction of the needs or desires of one is opposed to that
of the other.

30
 It is carried on by peaceful means and is guided by
a common set of regulations and values.

 It may also be personal or impersonal.

 Conflict

 When the rules of competition are broken and the opponents

become openly antagonistic, conflict may develop.

 It defines as “a struggle over values or claims to status, power,

and scarce resources in which the claims of the conflicting
parties are not only to gain the desired values but also to
neutralize, injure or eliminate their rivals.

 Differentiation

 It is the one way to

reduce or eliminate competition, which is the creation of
interests resulting in individuals or groups needing or wanting
different things or services rather than the same thing.
 31
Chapter 4 – DEVIATION, SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND
CONTROL

4.1. The Meaning and Nature of Deviance

Deviant Behavior

 A condition which is considered as different or deviating from

conventional behavior.

 It also varies in one culture to another.

 Non-conformity of the social norms.

 Violation of social norms.

Consequences:

= Positive =

1. It teaches people of what is acceptable behavior.

2. It strengthens group norms and values.
3. It is a sign and source of social change.
 = Negative =

1. It harms group stability.

2. It induces distrust and ill-will.
3. It drains human and economic resources.
4. It weakens people’s faith in and conformity to social norms.

32
Four Types of Deviant Behavior

1. Conformists – are those who accept both the culturally approved goals,
like enjoying a high standard of living, but disregard the
institutionalized means to achieve them.

2. Ritualists – are those who give up the cultural goals but follow the
prescribed norms, even if they get only a pittance in return.

3. Retreatists – are those who abandon both the cultural goals and the
prescribed means to achieve them and try to set up new
norms.

4. Innovators – people who wants to make a change.

5. Rebels – opposing or taking arms against a government or ruler.

 33
4.2. Forms of Deviant Behavior and Social Problems

Forms of Deviant Behavior

 Social problems

 A situation affecting a significant number of people that is

believed by them or by a significant number of others in the
society to be a source of difficulty or unhappiness.

Forms of Social Problems

A. Drugs
 Is any substance that brings about physical, emotional, or
behavioral changes in person taking it.

Drug Addiction – is a state of physical or psychological need of a drug

which stems from its continuous use.

Classification of Drugs

1. Sedatives – which exerts calming effects on the nervous system;

they may reduce anxiety and excitement.

Ex. Barbiturate, Tranquilizer, Alcohol

2. Stimulants – sometimes called pep pills, which increase alertness

and physical disposition.
 Ex. Amphetamine, Cocaine, Caffeine

3. Hallucinogens – also called psychedelics, which affect sensation,

thinking, self-awareness, and emotion.

Ex. LSD, Mescaline, Marijuana

34
4. Narcotics – which relieve pain, make one drowsy and relaxed, and
induce sleep.

Causes:

1. Socio-cultural deprivations
2. Faulty model and learning
3. Lawlessness and alienation
4. Pathogenic family patterns
5. Peer group association

Common Signs:

1. Changes in behavioral patterns

2. Changes in appearance
3. Change in mood

Alternative Solutions:

1. Strengthen family relationship

2. Nationwide campaigns on the ill effects of misused drugs
3. Strengthen the guidance program of the school
4. Introduction into the curriculum
5. Establishment of student centers
6. Initiates a year mind sport program within and without the
school.
 35
B. Crime
 It is the violation of norms, that we call laws.

Classification:

1. Crime against person

2. Crime against property
3. Crime against chastity
4. Crime against moral and orders
Causes:

1. Lack of personal guidance

2. Lack of cooperation between the community and price authorities
3. Laxity on the part of law enforcers to implement the laws
4. Breakdown of values
5. Association and undesirable elements of society
6. Proliferation of undesirable elements of society
7. Violence in movies and television

C. Prostitution
 It is said to be the oldest profession.

Causes:

1. Separation of husband and wife

2. Financial problems
 3. Rape victims
4. Pre-marital sex
5. Employment of descentful tactics by illegal recruiters
6. Sexual harassment
7. Unwanted pregnancy
8. Broken home

36
D. Aids
 Acquired Immuno Deficiency Syndrome.

Prevention:

1. Stick to only one problem

2. Test donated blood

4.3. Social Control

Social Control

 A phenomenon which society pressures the individual

to obey and follow the set of values and established
norms.

 Ways in making its members conform and behave

according to its norms and standards.
 37

FINAL
 38
Chapter 5 – SOCIETY AND CULTURE

5.1. Meaning, Nature, and Functions of Culture

Specific Objectives:

After having gone through with this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Define culture.
2. Identify the major characteristics of culture.
3. Identify and define the components of culture.
4. Determine the functions of culture; and
5. Analyze the differences among folkways, mores, and laws.

OVERVIEW:

The study of Sociology is fundamentally concerned with the ultimate

questions of how and why people act the way they do. To answer these questions, a
sociologist has to examine man’s inheritance from the past, his ideas, beliefs,
knowledge, customs, and traditions. Hence, his behavior can best be explained by
examining his culture.

To understand culture, this lesson will highlight the meaning, nature, and
functions of culture. Also given attention are the components of culture that will
give the readers a clearer view of man’s culture.
Meaning of Culture

Culture has been defined in various ways over the years. In its broadest term,
the concept of culture has something to do with human capacity to use language
and with related capacities for learning and for the transmission of ideas and ways
of behaving.

39
Culture is derived from the Latin word “cultura” or “cultus” which means
care or cultivation. The fact that human infant has a prolonged dependency, he has
to be taken care of by the people around him. He has to learn from them so he can
better adjust as he grows up in his immediate cultural environment.

Culture as cultivation implies that every human being is a potential member

of his own social group. He is endowed with certain innate qualities to make use.
However, he cannot develop these inborn talents without the other people. He
needs other people who can provide him with the needed opportunities so he can
translate these potentialities into realities called achievements. These
accomplishments not only help him achieve self-actualization but also make him a
contributing member of his society.

Edward B. Tylor, an Englishman, developed one of the classic definitions of

culture. Tylor said, “culture is that complex whole which includes knowledge,
belief, law, and moral, custom, and other capabilities and habits acquired by man
as a member of society. In other words, culture refers to something that man has
created and learned in a society.

Leslie White defines culture as an organization of phenomena that is

dependent upon symbols, phenomena, which include acts (pattern of behavior);
objects (tools and things made by tools); ideas (beliefs and knowledge); and
sentiments (attitudes, values, etc.).

Hunt, et. al. further defines culture as the entire way of life followed by a
people and everything learned and shared by people in society.

Other anthropologists have developed another definition of culture based on

the premise that all learned behaviors are, in the final analysis, a product of how
people think about things – their cognition.

The poet T. S. Eliot described culture as simply the way of life of a

particular people living in one place.
 Culture is the total way of life shared by members of a society, which
includes language, values and symbolic meanings and also technology and material
objects.

Culture is a person’s heritage or the customary ways in which groups

organize their ways of behaving, thinking, and feeling, which are transmitted from
one generation to another through language.

40
Landis says that culture is a complex set of learned and shared beliefs,
customs, skills, habits, traditions, and knowledge common to members of a
society.

Broom and Selznick shared the same view stating that culture is “shared
ways of thinking, believing, perceiving, and evaluating. It is the realm of ideals and
ideas, values, and symbols.

Based on the definitions given by known sociologists and anthropologists, it

can be said that culture is the sum total of man’s creation which are handed down
from generation to generation.

Elements of Culture

As perceived by sociologists and anthropologists, culture is rather a complex

concept. To understand culture, one must examine its major elements.

1. Material Culture – It is the physical objects a society produces, things people

create and use. These are tools, furniture, clothing, automobiles, and computer
systems, to name a few. Thus, the awareness of the kind of objects created and
how people use them brings about greater understanding of the culture of a
society.

2. Non-material Culture – It is consists of elements termed norms, values, beliefs,

and language shared by the members of a society. Non-material culture is
considered as the carriers of culture.

2.1. Language – Perhaps, the most defining characteristics of human being is

the ability to develop and use highly complex systems of
symbols like language. Symbols, as sociologists say, are the
 very foundation of culture. The essence of culture is the
sharing of meanings among members of a society. Unless
one shares the language of a culture, one cannot
participate in it.

41
Language influences our ways of perceiving, behaving, and feeling,
and thus, tends to define and shape the world around us. It is through
language that idea; values, beliefs, and knowledge are transmitted,
expressed, and shared. Without language, there will be no culture.

2.2. Beliefs – These are ideas that people hold about the universe or any part
of the total reality surrounding them. These are things how
people perceive reality. The subject of human beliefs may be
infinite and may include ideas concerning the individual, other
people and any all aspects of the biological, physical, social,
and supernatural world be it primitive or scientific.

2.3. Values – They are shared ideas about desirable goals. They are the
person’s ideas about worth and desirability or an abstract of
what is important and worthwhile. Values make up our
judgments of moral and immoral, good and bad, right or
wrong, beautiful and ugly, etc.

2.4. Norms – These are shared rules of conduct that specify how people
ought to think and act. A norm is an idea in the minds of the
members of a group put into a statement specifying what
members of the group should do, ought to do or are expected to
do under certain circumstances.

Norms are usually in the form of rules, standards, or prescriptions and

socially shared expectations. Norms has three forms.

2.4.1. Mores – These are norms associated with strong ideas of right
 or wrong. Mores are standards of conduct that are highly respected
and valued by the group and their fulfillment is felt to be necessary
and vital to group welfare. They are considered essential to the
group’s existence and accordingly, the group demands that they be
followed without question. They represent obligatory behavior
because their infraction results to punishment, formal or informal.

42
2.4.2. Folkways – These are norms that are simply the customary,
normal, habitual ways a group does things. These customary ways are
accumulated and become repetitive patterns of expected behavior,
which tends to become permanent traditions. One of the essential
features of folkways is that there is no strong feeling of right or wrong
attached to them. If one violates folkways, there is no punishment
attached to it.

2.4.3. Laws – These are often referred to as the formal norms. They
are rules that are enforced and sanctioned by the authority of the
environment.

Characteristics of Culture

Culture has so many characteristics. Some of the most important features of

culture are:

1. Culture is learned – Culture is basically a creation of man. That culture is

created and developed by man implies that it is learned. Culture is learned through
the process of interaction.

2. Culture is shared – No one person knows the entire culture. Meaning to say that
it could be impossible for a person to acquire total experience and knowledge of
the entire group or society. There are those things that an individual may know that
other person may not know, or vice-versa. Hence, the sharing of ideas.

3. Culture is cumulative – Culture is said to be cumulative because it has a

tendency to grow and expand. Stored knowledge is transmitted from one
generation to another. Newly acquired knowledge is then added to the stocks of
knowledge as it passes through the process of transmission.
4. Culture is dynamic – Change in culture is continuous and no culture is totally fix
or static. Cultures change from within and without. One of the principal sources of
change is diffusion, which involves borrowing or transfer from one culture to
another.

5. Culture is diverse – This means that culture varies and different from one
another.

43
The Functions of Culture

The importance of culture cannot be over-emphasized. Based on the

observations made by sociologists, human beings do not possess instinct.
Therefore, man has to rely on his culture in order to survive. Some of the functions
of culture are:

1. Culture helps people to adapt to the demands of the surrounding physical

environment.
2. Culture compensates for many human physical limitations.
3. Culture provides ways and means to regulate human collective existence.
4. Culture provides behavioral patterns.
 44
Activity 1

During the course of your lifetimes, you have occupied many statuses and
played many roles. Select two or three statuses you have occupied (student,
worker, girlfriend, boyfriend, etc.). For each status:

1. Examine the roles you play.

2. Describe some examples of role conflict and role strain.
3. Explain how some of these conflicts and strains can be resolved.
 45
Activity 2

Identify the major components of culture. Give examples of each.

 46
Activity 3

Describe the changes in the folkways, which have taken place in your
hometown during the last ten years. Include the dress, relationships between
parents and children, the family customs and traditions. (Collect pictures)
 47

5.2. Cultural Concepts and Variations

Specific Objectives:

After having gone through with this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Explain the different conditions that produce variations in culture.

2. Identify and explain the different cultural concepts; and
3. Discuss how culture is acquired.

OVERVIEW:

Many kinds of life are possible because human beings have evolved into a
uniquely flexible social animal that can learn the language, norms and values of the
society in which he lives. All humans have the physical and mental capacities to
adapt to any of the great diversity of cultures, but most of us live out our lives
within the boundaries of a single one.

Cultures with similar problems evolve different solutions to those problems

as a result of selection. Basic characteristics of a group life such as leadership,
interpersonal exchange, and group identity become expressed in different ways as
the particular society evolves and responds to its opportunities and challenges.

In this lesson, the reader will be apprised of the different conditions that give
rise to cultural variations and changes and how culture is acquired. Other cultural
concepts are also highlighted.

Other Cultural Concepts

 Hereunder are some cultural concepts, which are considered useful in
studying society:

1. Ethnocentrism – It is a feeling that their particular way of life is superior and

right and that all other cultures are inferior and often wrong. This kind of feeling
is inclined to judge other cultures in terms of the values and norms of one’s own
culture. In this sense, ethnocentrism involves erroneous concept of customary
conventional ways of one’s own culture for what is superior and right.

48
2. Cultural Relativism – It is the opposite to that of ethnocentrism. The concept
refers to the notion that each culture should be evaluated from the standpoint of
its own standard rather than from the standpoint of a different culture. In other
words, norms, values, and beliefs should be judged only from the viewpoint of
that culture.

3. Xenocentrism – It is the belief that what is foreign is best in terms of one’s

lifestyle, products or ideas.

4. Temporocentrism – It is the belief that one’s own time is more important than
that of the past or future.

5. Subculture – A group or category within a society who shares in the general

culture but who maintain distinctive ways of thinking, acting, and feeling. This
kind of group is usually found in a big and complex society.

6. Counterculture – A subculture that has values and norms that sharply contradict
the dominant values and norms of the larger society.

7. Culture Universal – This refers to common cultural elements that are found
within all known societies. They are norms, laws, language, beliefs, and values.

8. Culture Lag – It is the inability of a given society to adapt immediately to

another culture as a result of the disparity in the rate of change between the
material and non-material elements of culture.

9. Culture Shock – It is the experience of disorientation and frustration that occurs

when individuals find them among those who do not share their fundamental
premises.

Cultural Diversity
 Cultural diversity means the variation of culture in some ways with another
culture in which they guide human behavior. From language to appearance, from
great ideas to good manners, from laws to values, the cultures of the world offer
what seems an infinite number of alternatives. You may find many foreign customs
reasonable or even attractive. For example: wearing a sari or having more than one
spouse at a time. Not allowing women to appear in public places without the
protection of a male relative is unduly restrictive by American standards, but in
Saudi Arabia, it is correct normative behavior.

49
Conditions That Affect Cultural Variations

People have so many ways of solving problems whether they are common or
not. The approaches vary from culture to culture. These variations are dependent
on the following:

1. Environment – Man’s surrounding plays a major role in shaping his culture. In

each part of the world, the physical and natural environment differs from one
another. In some parts, the climate is cool and in other parts, it is torrid and hot,
in other places, there are four seasons while others have only two seasons. In
terms of geographical location, other places are sandy while others are made up
of soil; other countries are covered with trees and forests, while others are
dessert. These environmental conditions greatly affect people and must therefore
adapt to those conditions in order to survive.

2. Isolation – With this condition, a culture continues on its own course, unaltered
and uncontaminated by other culture. A secluded society usually brings no
change in its mode of living and the cultural patterns that have been established
brought about by its adaptation to its physical environment remain the same. The
absence of contact with other societies tends to perpetuate the patterns that have
been adopted.

3. Technology – Cultural variation also results from the technological position of a

society. The technology used by a society determines its social structure that
leads to changes in culture.

4. Cultural Themes – Cultural patterns generally contain cultural themes that

contribute to variations among culture. Base on cultural themes, culture tends to
select and reinterpret the new ideas that are meaningful to them. If they find no
point of correspondence between the new ideas and their usual one’s, the new
ideas are abandoned.

5. Diffusion – This involves borrowing or transfer of one culture to another when

one culture comes into contact with another culture.
 50
Modes of Acquiring Culture

There are different ways of acquiring culture. Some of them are:

1. Imitation – It is a human action by which one tends to duplicate more or less

exactly the behavior of others.

2. Indoctrination – This takes place in the form of formal teaching or training

which may take place anywhere. This formal teaching takes into account the
cultural components of society where the learning individual lives.

3. Conditioning – Through the social norms prevailing in one’s social and cultural
milieu, and through the process of conditioning, the individual acquires certain
patterns of beliefs, values, behaviors, and actions. This process is further
reinforced by a system of reward and punishment found in the cultural system.

4. Acculturation – A process by which societies of different culture are modified

through fairly close and long continued contact.

5. Amalgamation – Intermarriage of persons coming from different cultural groups

resulting in some kind of biological fusion.
 51
Activity 1

If man created culture, how can man be a creature of culture?

 52
Activity 2

Describe the differences between subculture and counterculture. Cite

examples of the two concepts.
 53
Activity 3

Why do culture varies from one society to another? Explain.

 54
5.3. The Filipino Culture and Values

Specific Objectives:

After having gone through with this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Understand clearly the different theories surrounding the emergence of

Filipino culture.
2. Discuss the different factors that contribute to the development of Filipino
culture.
3. Point out the different Filipino customs and beliefs; and
4. Enumerate and explain the Filipino values.

OVERVIEW:

The complexity of Filipino culture is compounded as this has been exposed

to continuous and various streams of culture from without. These influences were
not passively absorbed into the Filipino culture but assimilated in a selective way,
and this process of acculturation varied from region to region. It is in relation to
this uneven articulation that a noted Filipino indicated a discrepancy in the way
both the urban and the rural countryside cope up with the successive shifts of
cultural conditioning.

Contributory Factors to Filipino Culture

The Filipino culture is a summation of indigenous forces and foreign

influences that had come to bear upon the people in varying degrees during those
last centuries. These foreign influences that contributed in the shaping of a Filipino
culture are as follows:

1. Malays – The basic component of Filipino culture is the Malay temperament

which could best be described by “niceness and pleasantness” to others rather
than by virtue of law-abiding features. In its fluidness of culture, the Malay
family clan or unit is the world’s best security system.

55
2. Chinese – Filial piety between parents and children, the flexibility to go along
with other people and the “sageliness within and the kingliness without” of the
Filipino is believed to be due to Chinese influence.

3. The Indian Influence – Indian influence is found in the languages, mode of

dressing, architectural art, folk beliefs, brass, and copperware.

4. The Hindu Influence – The Hindu influence is the most pervasive in the Filipino
belief system. For instance is the predilection of Filipino newspaper readers for
horoscope and fortune-telling sections.

5. The Spanish Heritage – It is reflective of more developed societies at their point

of contact, broadened the outlook of the Filipino. Spain introduced a
community-oriented rather than a family-oriented religion in the form of
Christianity. It contributed to an elite class. A social and political organization,
according to western institutions, was brought into the Philippines.

6. The Americans – The United States further broadened this heritage by

introducing a democracy that called for individual liberty and equality as well as
a national political community to which everybody was supposed to participate
through national suffrage.

The Filipino has thereby a foothold in many cultural spheres: the Malay. The
Anglo-Saxon, the Hispanic, the Hindu-Islamic and even the Chinese.

The Filipino Cultural Perspective

The Filipino culture’s existence and development is viewed and interpreted

in many ways. Some of them are:
1. The Traditional Concept – The traditionalists holds that Filipino culture was
developed due to the conglomeration of the physical, intellectual, moral, and
spiritual aspects. It assumes that underneath the independent and widely
divergent culture as shown in their way of life, there is an underlying basic root
of unity that holds the cultural tree together and infuses one clear, distinct
substance through its veins. This includes their art of living, philosophy in life,
attitudes toward God, nature, and fellowmen.

56
2. The National View – This concept regards culture as the summation of the needs
of the people, the description of their past and present condition, an expression
of their values, thoughts and emotions, and the depiction of their historic
struggles to liberate themselves. True national culture is inextricably linked to
the people’s needs, ideas, emotions, and practices.

3. Cultural Dualism – This theory maintains that the Philippines is a transitional

society dominated on one side by the traditional culture and on the other side by
the modern culture. The norms and values of these two forces inevitably oppose
each other leading to conflicts in the life of the individual. Because of the conflict
brought about by the various foreign influences into the Philippines, the Filipinos,
have to engage into a selective integration and modification of foreign influences
into a distinct Filipino culture.

The Filipino Culture

A. Belief System

Filipinos are believers of religion. They believe so much in

supernatural powers and view themselves as only a speck in this wide
universe. This Filipino belief in the supernatural powers taught him to trust
prayers rather than hard work in the realization of his dreams. Success is
considered a blessing from above, a result of good luck and faith. It also
taught him to value traits like perseverance, patience, and endurance.

Good is considered relative. What is considered good to one may not

be good to another. Happiness and success differ from one person to
another. Elders, parents, and superiors are respected and obeyed. Hospitality
is one practice Filipinos believe in because it is their way of implementing
 their golden rules “Do unto others what you want others do unto you.”

B. Value System

Cultural values are shared assumptions of what is right, good or

important. Values actually guide man’s behavior and action as he relates
himself in most situations in life.

57
The Filipino values can best be seen from the aspects of personal and
social relationships. Personally, the Filipinos value more their honor and
status than anything else. Majority of them takes care of their honor
(karangalan) rather than wealth.

In decision-making, the Filipinos usually consult and take into

consideration the consensus of the family members as the feelings of those
who are to be affected.
Socially, the Filipinos give more emphasis on social relationships.
This can be seen through the hospitality they give to their visitors and
friends. They love to mingle with people particularly with friends and
relatives. They engaged themselves in mutual cooperation, which is best
pictured through the “bayanihan.”

In terms of emotion, the Filipinos are friendly. They smile at people,

even with strangers when they are approached. They are warm and simple.
Women in the Philippines are highly regarded and respected and can be
relied when it comes to family affairs.

The Filipino Values

Most of the values that the Filipinos hold were influenced by foreign
cultures. Some of the predominant values are:

1. Utang-na-loob – It is a technique of reciprocity of debt of gratitude to others

within the family circle or primary group, sometimes unlimited in nature,
emotional rather than financial or rational. It is a sign of marginal economy
where no place is available for bargaining, formal agreements, written contracts,
specific rights, and responsibilities.

2. Pakikisama – This is closely related to utang-na-loob. It is the value of

 belongingness and loyalty to the small group with sensitivity to the feelings of
others on the principle of “give and take.” Pakikisama is a folk concept of good
public relations and avoidance of conflict with the leader or majority of the
groups.

3. Hiya – This controls to a large extent the behavior of the individual and most
likely, is generally dependent on what others will think, say, and do. Because of
hiya, a Filipino cannot say “NO” even if it is against his will to do what is being
requested.

58
4. Bahala na - A common expression among Filipinos and this rest on the fatalistic
outlook and strong dependence on the “spirits” who will take care of everything
if they are really meant for a person.

5. Authoritarianism – It is the dependence of Filipinos in a paternalistic rather than

in a stern away upon the elders of the family upon their boss, if employed, and
upon people in authority as their father figure.

Authoritarianism is commonly practiced in the Filipino family which

basically patriarchal in nature. The father is seen as the head that makes major
decisions affecting the family.

6. Individualism – It is a pattern of behavior which characterizes the Filipino as

self-centered. The desire to make a name for him becomes the primary
motivation for success.

7. Amor-propio – It is the individual’s highly emotional reaction to protect his

honor and dignity when they are threatened or questioned and to retaliate.
Common forms of amor-propio are “hele hele bago quiere,” or “pakipot” which
shows at the outset a person initially refusing an offer even if he really wants
very much to accept it.
 59
Chapter 6 – COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR, SOCIAL
MOVEMENT AND SOCIAL CHANGE

6.1. Collective Behavior

Specific Objectives:

After having gone through with this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Define collective behavior.

2. Identify the determinants of collective behavior.
3. Discuss the different types of crowds; and
4. Give explanations for crowd behavior.

OVERVIEW:

Much human behavior is guided by the cultural patterns of a society.

Traditions, customs, and cultural norms guide individuals and groups of people in
their interactions with others. Every day, we encounter highly organized situations
in which we play well-defined social roles and meet the expectations of others. Our
society’s structure and norms guide our social behavior, much of which is
institutionalized.

However, not all social behaviors are highly predictable, structured, and
guided by cultural norms. People, willingly or unwillingly, at times find
themselves in situations in which they are unaware of what constitutes proper
behavior and in which they are unsure of what is expected of them.
 Early American sociologists paid great attention to collective behavior until
mid-century, when more established social patterns took center stage. In other
words, because collective behavior focused on actions generally classified as
unusual or deviant, this area of inquiry received less attention than social
stratification and family life. In the tumultuous 1960s, numerous social movements
renewed sociological interest in the various type of collective behavior.

60
Meaning of Collective Behavior

Collective behavior refers to social behavior that is relatively spontaneous,

transitory, emotional, and unpredictable. It refers to crowd behavior, riots and
panics, social movements, and publics. Collective behavior refers to types of group
actions in which the level of institutionalization is low.

Collective behavior is a relatively spontaneous activity involving a large

number of people that does not conform to established norms.

Much collective behavior is not stable and predictable, but changeable and
episodic. Because rules of behavior are absent, people tend to act spontaneously
and in unstructured ways. Behavior tends to change in direction and form more
quickly when people become emotional and uninhibited.

Collective behavior is also defined as temporary, relatively undifferentiated

patterns of behavior that are not guided by shared norms. It is considered collective
for it involves action of a group of people.

Collective behaviors refer to those that deviate from the normal and the
expected and are short lived in nature.

Collective behavior is non-routine by an emotionally aroused gathering of

people who face an ambiguous situation. It includes situations such as the small-
scale fraternity rumbles. These are unplanned, relatively spontaneous actions,
where concerned individuals and groups improvise some joint response to an
unusual and problematic situation.

Determinants of Collective Behavior

There are many determinants of collective behavior. Among them are:

1. When the existing pattern of social organization is inadequate and irrelevant for
coping with the challenge of everyday life. When the situation is changed or
modified, the prescribed patterns of behavior become inadequate too. The
pattern of stimulus-response will also be altered. When people strive to look for
alternative pattern, collective behavior is formed.

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2. When there is an increasing indication that the social control is becoming
weaker to check on the deviation committed by members.

3. When people are faced with a new and different situation, which they have
never encountered before. This new situation is brought about by the
introduction of new ideas from other cultures or a result of the modification of
some of the social institutions within.

Characteristics of Group Involves in Collective Behavior

Some of the characteristics of group involved in collective behavior are:

1. It is composed of relatively large number of people.

2. Relative anonymity prevails.
3. They are usually temporary in nature; and
4. They lack formal organization in terms of an established system of
differentiated positions.

Types of Collective Behavior

A. Crowds

Crowd is temporary collection of people who are reacting to the same

stimulus for a particular period of duration. An example of crowd is a collection of
people watching a car accident. This is just a collection of people with minimal
interaction. In watching the incident, the individuals do not identify their status
since action is primarily dependent on a group response to the stimulus. This is
also temporary for when the stimulus is gone, the crowd disappears and people
return to their normal routine activities.

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Types of Crowd

As identified by Blumer, the following are the different types of crowd:

1. Casual crowd - These are cluster of people who are gathered together because
of an event or happening. It is a loose collection of people who interact a little.
Examples of this type of crowd are: people waiting for a ride; people gathered
on the beach or observing a car accident.
2. Conventional crowd – People are gathered because of a pre-arranged activity. It
is a result of deliberate planning of an event. In this type of crowd there are
simple rules that guide the behavior of the crowd. Examples are: people gathered
in a lecture or a funeral or people at the park watching a concert.

3. Expressive crowd – This kind of crowd is formed around an event that has
emotional appeal. People join expressive crowds to share in the excitement
caused by the event. Is it characterized by rhythmic activity, intense emotional
contagion and emotional release. Examples of this crowd are the El Shaddai
gathering, New Year’s Eve Celebration.

4. Acting crowd – members are actually involved in the event. They actively
participate in the pursuit of their goal. Acting crowds are often united by
emotions even more powerful than those of the expressive crowd, sometimes
reaching feverish intensity that provokes participants to violence. There are three
forms of acting crowd. These are:

4.1. Riots – This refer to the restless, unorganized behavior of crowds whose
actions are directed against one another or targets. The clash
between the students and policemen during a demonstration is
an example of riots. Riots are also occur when two or more
warring gangs meet for an encounter.

4.2. Mobs – An acting crowd that becomes violent is termed mob, a highly
emotional crowd in common pursuit of some violent or
 destructive goal. The participants cooperate with the crowd
against another stimulus. Example is when a movie star arrives,
the crowd tries to be near the actor or actress. Autograph
signing, hand shaking and touching the favorite star, even hurting
him or her are actions of the mob.

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4.3. Orgy – This is a ravel crowd which transgresses the normal mores.
Through orgy, the individuals find means to release the
suppressed emotions and tensions.

Explanation for Crowd Behavior

Crowd behavior has been explained in various ways. Here under are some of
the theories that explain crowd behavior.

1. Contagion Theory – Gustav Le Bon, an early French Thinker, believed that

when people are in crowds, a collective consciousness emerges. These collective
consciousnesses supplant individual consciousness. Le Bon perceived this
process as the “law of mental unity of crowds.” When immersed in a crowd, a
personal identity is lost and surrenders personal will and responsibility to a
collective mind. People in the crowd are reduced to the lowest common
denominator as crowd contagion eliminates its members’ educational and
cultural differences. By joining an organized crowd, a man descends several
rungs in the ladder of civilization. Isolated, he may be a cultivated individual; in
a crowd, he is a barbarian – that is, creature; living by instinct. As a crowd
assumes a life of its own, individual members slip their social restraints and
become irrational automations driven by contagious emotion.

2. Convergence Theory – This theory stress the idea that participants in crowds are
basically revealing their true selves. The crowd functions as a pretext to translate
latent impulses into overt action. Convergence theorists stress the convergence
of people who share the same disposition and identify a category of people as
“crowd prone” or focus attention upon latent impulses of hate, frustration, and
aggression that purportedly exist among crowd participants.
3. Emergent Norm Theory – Raph Turner and Lewis Killian have developed an
emergent-norm theory of crowd dynamics. They pointed out that crowd
behavior, like other collective and group processes, should be incorporated
within a common theoretical framework of structure and processes. They believe
that in crowds, situations are defined, norms for sanctioning behavior develop,
and action patterns are agreed upon and justified.

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B. Hysteria and Panics

Panic and hysteria are related forms of collective behavior characterized by

heightened emotions among people dispersed over a wide area.

A panic is a form of localized collective behavior by which people react to

some stimulus with emotional, irrational, and often self-destructive behavior.
Usually, the stimulus that provokes a panic is a threat and people respond by taking
radical steps. For example, a fire in a crowded theater may cause members of the
audience to flee in hysteria, trampling one another and blocking the exits so that
few actually escape.

A mass hysteria is a form of dispersed collective behavior by which people

respond to a real or imagined event with irrational, frantic behavior. Mass hysteria
is commonly a response to apperceived threat, although a positive event such as a
rockstar’s appearance on campus might provoke such reaction. When people
believe that there is a threat and that it cannot be stopped, they resort to hysteria.
The threat that sparks mass hysteria may or may not be real. The key is that a large
number of people think they are in danger. Parent’s fear that their children may
become infected from a schoolmate who has AIDS may cause as much hysteria in
a community as can the real danger of an approaching strong typhoon.

C. Crazes, Fads and Fashions

Of all the forms of collective behavior, these are the least destructive since
they do not really disrupt nor modify the system a s a whole. Fads, fashions and
crazes are but variations in lifestyles, behavior and in the use of certain objects or
habits. These forms of behavior are longer in duration than the crowd and
considered to be more of responses to opportunities rather than threats.

1. Fads – A fad is an unconventional social pattern that is enthusiastically

 embraced by a large number of people for a short time. Once new objects, new
hobbies, variations in speech and new traits or practices are made known to
people and become popular, people become interested in having the object or
engage immediately in that hobby. Fads are passing fancies, enthusiasms that
capture the mass imagination and quickly burn out. Among the teenagers and
adolescents, the use of spatial language indicates that you are “in.”

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2. Fashions – A fashion is a social pattern favored for a time by a large number of
people. Fashions may be in the form of changes in the styles of clothing,
hairstyles, houses or cars. Fashion is transitory, sometimes lasting only months.
The changes are cyclical, meaning it has a tendency to come in another time in
the future.

3. Crazes – This develop when a particular object is given an unusually high value,
and as a result serve as one of the obsessions of individuals. The popularity of
craze and its acceptance depend on the shared beliefs of members. Wearing
ADIDAS is an example of craze among male teenagers. Having a pair of this
valuable shoes also increases the individual’s prestige.

D. Rumor and Gossip

Collective behavior is not limited to people in physical proximity.

Sociologists use the term mass behavior to refer to collective behavior among
people dispersed over a wide geographical area. A common example of mass
behavior is rumor.

Rumor is unsubstantiated information spread informally, often by word of

mouth. Rumors have always been an element of social life, but the means of
transmitting them have changed dramatically in the last century. Historically,
rumor was spread through face-to-face communication. Although this is still
frequently the case, in industrial societies, telephones, computers and the mass
media have allowed rumors to be transmitted more rapidly to a greater number of
people.

Rumor has three essential Characteristics:

1. Rumor thrives in a climate of ambiguity. Rumor grows when people are

deprived of definite information about some topic of interest. For example, if
people are suspicious of official authorities, rumors are likely to challenge
official information. Rumor, then, is an effort to define reality in a particular
 way in the absence of substantiated facts.

2. Rumor is changeable. As a rumor circulates, it is altered so that a variation of the

account adds to the confusion. Which details change depends largely on the
interests of these involved. For example, if a rumor is circulating concerning a
confrontation between striking union members and police, people sympathetic to
the union will probably place more responsibility for an violence on the police
and less on the strikers.

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3. Rumor is typically difficult to stop. The number of people who have heard the
rumor increases its geometric progression as each person spread the information
to several others.

Closely related to rumor is gossip, rumor about the personal affairs of others.
As Charles Horton Cooley points out, while rumors involves issues or events of
interest to a large segment of the public, gossip interest only those possessing
some persona; knowledge of a people being talked about. Gossip then is
localized, while rumors may spread throughout a society.

E. Public Opinion

One form of highly dispersed collective behavior is public opinion, which is

defined as widespread attitudes toward one or more controversial issues. Horton
and Hunt define public opinion as a number of people who are concerned over,
divided upon and in discussion about an issue. The most important instrument in
the formation of public opinion is the media. People are exposed to an issue
through newspapers, televisions or radio. Thus, people may be apart but may be
united in terms of similarities in their reaction to an issue. When a particular issue
is raised, people react to it either favorably or opposing. The collective and similar
opinion of a group against another group about an issue leads to formation of
public opinion. Public opinion then refers to the commonly held opinion by most
of the people in the society. So in public, people may agree, disagree, compromise
and compete for the recognition of a stand in an issue.
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6.2. Social Movements

Specific Objectives:

After having gone through with this lesson, the students will be able to:

1. Understand the meaning of social movement.

2. Identify and discuss the different classification of social movement; and
3. Identify the different stages of social movement.

OVERVIEW:

In pre-industrial societies, strong tradition unifies the population, and

therefore social movements are rare. In industrial societies, however, subcultures
and counter-cultures thrive, and so social movements easily develop around a wide
range of public issues.

The social movement is an additional form of collective behavior. Many

social movements have originated as crowd phenomena. Social movements also
have given rise to crowd activity, both as planned tactics and as spontaneous
outbursts. Social movement arises when the members realize that the existing
norms are no longer applicable in a changing society and therefore necessitates
change in the system as a whole. Social movements that are organized to resist
change within society do not require as much attention as those movements
organized to bring about some significant degree of change in the basic
institutional structures of society.

Meaning of Social Movement

 A social movement is “a collectivity acting with some continuity to promote
or resist a change in the society or group of which it is a part.”

Social movements may also refer to those activities in which people unite in
an organized, long-term effort to change their society or in which they resist and
express their dissatisfaction with the existing order through outright and prolonged
action.

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A social movement is an interrelated and co-acting unity of persons with
some degree of organizational continuity aimed to promote or to resist change in
the society of which it is a part. It is directed toward the change of the
establishment norms, values or social structures. Thus, it challenges the existing
order.

Social movement involves organized activity that promotes or resists some

kind of social change. Three characteristics distinguish social movements from
other types of collective behavior:

1. High degree of internal organization

2. Typically longer duration; and
3. Deliberate intent to reorganize society itself.

Social movements are organized unions institutionalized efforts by a large

number of people to change or preserve major aspects of society.

A social movement emphasizes social change. It comes about as a result of

stressful condition in one’s environment, which causes unrest and dissatisfaction
with existing conditions. People may join social movements as a result of the lack
of basic social services, social power, or human rights. Involved in a social
movement is an issue or a problem. It directs its activities against something which
it tries to combat and eliminate and toward something it favors.

Classification of Social Movement

1. Expressive Movement – This occurs when people come to terms with their
external reality not by modifying it, but by modifying their reactions to that
reality. It is the result of feelings of powerlessness and an inability to flee from
an undesirable situation. This time of movement can best be exemplified by the
Colorum Movement in Quezon Province which was led them by a certain
 Ruperto de Dios in 1902. De Dios claimed to be a general in the insurgent army
and then elevated himself to the rank of Pope and then God. There was also the
Lapiang Malaya led by Valentin delos Santos in the 1960s. There are also the
cultist movements, Gospel-sharing and the Bible Study movement.

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2. Reform Movement – Reform movements attempt to modify a part of society. It
is directed at changing certain aspects of the social class structure or segment of
the power distribution of a social system. The most common goal of reform
movements is to make the existing social structure work more effectively by
extending certain rights or privileges to given groups. Their interest in change is
directed at specific issues and the modification of power distribution. Current
movements include such varied goals as environmentalism, tax reform, birth
control, and equal rights for women. Some of the best examples of reform
movement are the students’ movement, labor movement and a host of others.

3. Revolutionary Movement – This kind of movement aims to overthrow the

existing social system and replace it with a newer and better social system. The
reformer wishes to correct some of society’s imperfections. They believe that
the social system is not worth saving. Revolutionary movements involve more
sweeping radical changes in society. Examples of these revolutionary
movements are: the Philippine Revolution of 1896; the insurgency movement;
the Huk rebellion and the CPP-NPA movement. Most recent movements are the
RAM and the MILF in Mindanao.

4. Resistance Movement – Resistance movements are developed because of the

dissatisfaction people felt with the fast pace of social change. This may be due to
the undesirability of a proposed or impending social change or a change that has
already occurred. It reacts to whatever change which will destroy the
preservation of some social values.

Stages in the Development of Social Movement

While each social movement is unique, most move through four defined
stages. These are:

Stage 1: Emergence – Social movements are driven by the perception that all is not
well. Some movements are born of wide spread dissatisfaction. Others
 emerge only as a small group that increases public awareness of some
issue.

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Stage 2: Coalescence – After emerging, a social movement must define itself
clearly and develop a strategy for becoming public. Leaders must
determine policies and tactics, build morale, and recruit new
members. At this stage, collective action in the form of rallies
demonstration may promote public awareness, especially if the mass
media carry the movement’s message to the entire society.
Additionally, the movement may form alliances with other
organization to gain necessary resources.

Stage 3: Bureaucratization – To become established, a social movement must

assume bureaucratic traits. As it becomes routinized, a social
movement depend less on the charisma and talents of a few leaders
and more on a capable staff. Some social movements are not
established in this way, however. Many activists’ organizations,
particularly on college campuses during the late 1960s developed
around charismatic leaders and did not endure for long.

Sometimes, bureaucratization can hinder a social movement. This may be so

if the leaders become so engrossed in building an organization that they neglect to
foster sentiments of insurgency among movement members. In such instances, the
radical edge of protest can be lost.

Stage 4: Decline – Social movements are inherently dynamic, so decline is not

necessarily demise. Eventually, however, most social movements
reach a point of decline. This may be attributed to the following:

1. Accomplishments of many of its goals

2. Poor leadership and lost of interest in its goals

3. Exhaustion of resources
 4. Selling out and bribery

5. Repression of members by the authorities; and

6. It becomes established and accepted as part of the system.

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Activity 1

Philippine society today is in ferment and many demonstrations and social

movements are going on. Identify and analyze some of them.
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Activity 2

Make a study of the different social movements going on around you by

indicating the goals and objectives, their leadership and techniques used.
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Activity 3

Characterize social movements. Describe the various types of social

movements.
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