Social Change New societal behaviors with long term consequences

Social Change Demographics and Population Demography – the scientific study of population Fertility and Birthrate Mortality and Life Expectancy Migration Rates Exponential Growth –Food Supply –Population Control

Social Change – Urbanization Urbanization – process by which an increasingly larger portion of the world’s population lives in cities

Social Change – Urbanization Urbanization Traffic Industry Environment

How does a society change? Social Processes – a series of steps leading to change on a societal level Discovery – something is learned or reinterpreted. (The world is flat.) Invention – creation of something new from previously existing items of processes. (airplane.) Diffusion – one culture of society borrows from another culture or society. (Japan accepts capitalism, but resists the American form of government.)

Forces of Social Change Population Natural Environment Revolution and War Technology

Theoretical Perspectives Functionalist Equilibrium – a state of functioning and balance, maintained by a society’s tendency to make small adjustments to change Continuity in the nature of the presidency despite scandals Conflict Theory Social change is the result of struggles among groups for scarce resources. Interest Groups (Civil Rights fought for racial equality) Symbolic Interactionist Urbanism The smaller proportion of social interaction in the city compared to a small town is based on the decrease in the number of shared meanings and interest.

Collective Behavior Collective Behavior – spontaneous behavior of a group of people responding to similar stimuli and present conditions (mosh pit at a concert or a sporting event) Fads – behavior that spreads rapidly and disappears quickly Fashions – widely accepted pattern that changes Mass Hysteria – acceptance of one or more false beliefs Urban Legend – tales that focus on current concerns Rumor – unverified information Panic – reaction to a real threat

Collective Behavior Crowds – Temporary collection of people who are an immediate common interest. Casual – least organized, least emotionally connected, and most temporary. (gather after an incident or accident) Conventional – specific purpose and follows accepted norms of appropriate behavior. (watching a movie) Expressive – Caught up in the mood of the moment. (concert, sporting event, or New Year’s Eve in New York.) Acting – concentrates on objectives and engages in aggressive behavior to achieve it. (protestors) Mob – emotional crowd ready to use violence Riot – random destruction or violence carried out by a crowd

Collective Behavior Contagion Theory – Members of crowds stimulate each other to higher and higher levels of emotion and irrational behavior. Emergent Norm Theory – Norms develop to guide crowd behavior (rational responses). Convergence Theory – Crowds are formed by people who deliberately congregate with like- minded others.