Sign Up Now
Get instant access to over 1 million+ study documents
OR
Already registered? click here to login
By creating your account, you agree to our terms of service, privacy policy and student honor code.
Social Change
There are a number of theories of social change, referring to the way that a profession, person, or idea can help alter ideas within society -- typically with a view towards the philosophical idea of making this better over time. It may refer to the idea of large cultural change, say from feudalism to capitalism, a social revolution presented in Marxism or Leninism, or even social movements like the Woman's Equal Rights movement or Civil Rights for all. As such, it may be driven by a number of factors: cultural, religious, economic, scientific, or even technological forces that result in changes in social institutions, relations or behaviors (Harper, 2010).
Social change may also occur from a micro perspective as well. In fact, many of the social sciences are able to help social change evolve simply through a one-step at a time manner; envisioning the grander historical and modern changes of the post-modern world and using it as a background for change. Modern psychologists have a responsibility to the field as well as...
This has ever been as important as it is in the current global economic model. Globalization, as well as the huge clinical and technological changes that are occurring so fast that one can almost not keep up with them -- partially due to the half-life of technology (Internet, mass media, etc.), and partially due to the access individuals now have in various parts of the world to rising social standards and hopes (Sampson, 1989).
There are a number of current issues that may be at the heart of social change for the psychology professional; if one can help individuals deal with life-threatening illness, individual differences in sexual preference, aging, workplace issues, egalitarian issues, and the like, it can only serve to help spur the moment and open the field for discussion and life's process. For instance, whether one views a cosmic or social consciousness as being a possibility…
REFERENCES
Elder, G. (1994). Time, Human Agency, and Social Change: Perspectives on the Life
Course. Social Psychology Quarterly. 57 (1):L 4-15.
Harper, C.L. (1993). Exploring Social Change. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall
Sampson, E. (1989). The challenge of social change for psychology. American Psychologist. 44 (6): 914-21.
And SEE-Change, a movement in Australia, which could be emulated in the U.S., claims it has a goal of "empowering" Australians to make good decisions on a local level since political leaders cannot be counted on to lead. The SEE-Change group was launched by Canberra biologist Stephen Boyden; his book the Biology of Civilization apparently provided the spark for this social change movement. The changes that need to be
Social change refers to the significant alteration of social structure and cultural patterns through time. Social structure is the routine interaction among persons or groups and cultural patterns refer to the shared way of thinking, knowledge, beliefs, etc. When a social change occurs, it affects both social structure and culture. The first kind is the change in personnel and it denotes the process of new people, with personal histories and experiences,
While science is going to be important, people in the twenty first century will also be less optimistic about the utility of science in dealing with problems of social nature. Developing countries are going to develop along the Japanese model: embracing technological and scientific innovations but remaining traditional in their outlook. This is going to be a complex development, as the flow of information from the developed countries is going
The world has grown more stratified, but the poor have grown more aware, through the media, of the extent of the divide between the haves and have-nots. Social change may originate in material changes, like changes in climate, technology, or population numbers, but the subsequent social changes spawn further social changes unplanned by the creators of the material change, like a shift to a more sedentary society, the result of
Social Justice Improving social justice for women has been identified as one of the building blocks of social change. Population control, education, and the eradication of domestic violence are all interlinked. "UNICEF estimates that worldwide, some 117 million school-aged children do not attend school, 62 million of them girls. Attendance rates are lowest in sub-Saharan Africa, where only 57% of girls are in school, and just 15% of these go on
Transcendentalists Transcendentalism emerged in early 19th century. It is believed that Ralph Waldo Emerson who denied that he was a transcendentalist started transcendentalism. Amongst his peers, he was seen as the pioneer of American transcendentalism. Emerson has criticized various things in his essay especially regarding the Unitarian church. Other key transcendentalists were Henry David Thoreau, Thomas Parker, Amos Bronson Alcott, Margaret Fuller, James Freeman Clark, and Mary Moody Emerson. Ralph Emerson