Study Guide on Social Change Theories and Deviance

Conceptualizing Social Change and its Components

Social change is defined by Vago (1996) as the process of planned or unplanned qualitative or quantitative alterations in social phenomena. This process is analyzed through five interrelated components:

• Identity: This refers to the specific social phenomenon that is undergoing transformation. This can include definite practices, behaviors, attitudes, or patterns of interaction.

• Level: This delineates the location within a social system where the change is occurring. Examples include groups, organizations, institutions, or the entire society.

• Duration: This refers to the length of time a particular form of change endures once it has been accepted by the system.

• Magnitude: This is evaluated using a three-part scheme:

  • Incremental or marginal changes.

  • Comprehensive changes.

  • Revolutionary changes.

• Rate: This is measured on arbitrary scales such as fast or slow, continuous or spasmodic, and orderly or erratic.

The Role of Social Work in Social Change

The international definition of social work (IASSW & IFWS, 2001) posits that social work promotes social change, problem-solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being.

Key features of social work intervention include:

• Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems.

• Intervening at the points where people interact with their environment.

• Founding practices on the principles of human rights and social justice.

Social workers must maintain a critical stance and consider several basic factors:

• Assumptions regarding the nature of people, societal processes, and structures.

• The scope of their ability to explain the phenomenon of change.

• The implications of their theories for transformative actions.

Evolutionary Perspectives on Social Change

Evolutionary theories generally identify a succession of stages through which human societies progress, moving from the simple patterns of remote ancestors to the complexity and diversity seen today (Noble, 2000).

August Comte

Comte conceptualized three stages of social evolution related to the development of human thought and the resulting social order:

• Theological Stage: Dominant mode is supernatural/religious; dominant groups are priests and warriors.

• Metaphysical Stage: Dominant mode is philosophical/theoretical; dominant groups are lawyers and theologians.

• Positive Stage: Dominant mode is scientific; dominant groups are scientists and engineers.

Ferdinand Toennies

Toennies described the evolution from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft:

• Gemeinschaft: Small, primitive, traditional, homogeneous, and closely-knit communities.

• Gesellschaft: Large, urbanized, industrial societies where relations are impersonal, formal, contractual, utilitarian, realistic, and specialized.

Walt W. Rostow: Stages of Economic Growth

Rostow outlined five specific stages of economic development (Vago, 1996; Noble, 2000; Payne & Philips, 2010):

1. Traditional Society: Predominantly agricultural; little capital accumulation; savings are nonexistent; culture is traditional and pre-scientific.

2. Preconditions for Takeoff: Population increases; emergence of entrepreneurs and "reactive nationalism"; an increase in agricultural production; education shifts to support a new economic outlook; banks and centralized state institutions form.

3. The Takeoff: Economic growth becomes the normal condition; the ratio of savings and investment to national income increases; substantial manufacturing sectors develop; political and institutional frameworks emerge to exploit expansion.

4. The Drive to Maturity: Modern technology is applied across all economic sectors; between $10\%$ and $20\%$ of national income is steadily reinvested; output regularly outstrips production increases.

5. The Age of High Mass Consumption: The economy shifts toward consumer goods and services; increased funds for social welfare; a striving for power in the international arena.

Structural Functionalism and Talcott Parsons

Talcott Parsons argued that social systems are determined by five pattern variables:

1. Particularism vs. Universalism

2. Ascription vs. Achievement

3. Affectivity vs. Affective Neutrality

4. Collective Orientation vs. Self-orientation

5. Diffuseness vs. Specificity

Parsons also identified four functional imperatives (AGIL) necessary for any system's survival (Ritzer, 2007):

• Adaptation (A): The need to adjust to the environment and adjust the environment to the system's needs.

• Goal Attainment (G): The need to define and achieve primary goals.

• Integration (I): The need to regulate the interrelationship of component parts.

• Latency or Pattern Maintenance (L): The need to furnish, maintain, and renew cultural patterns that sustain individual motivation.

The Marxist Perspective and Historical Materialism

Marx utilized historical materialism, stating that society rests on an economic economic foundation called the Mode of Production, which consists of two elements (Vago, 1996; Noble, 2000):

• Forces of Production: Physical or technological arrangements of economic activity.

• Social Relations of Production: Patterns of organization and exploitation where those who own the means of production control those who work.

Historical stages of economic production include:

1. Tribal ownership (primitive communism).

2. Ancient or slave mode of production.

3. Feudal mode of production.

4. Capitalism.

5. Communism.

Marx argued that the mode of production is the substructure upon which the superstructure (government, education, religion) is built. In his 1859 work, he stated: "It is not the consciousness of men that determines their existence, but their social existence that determines their consciousness."

Dependency Theory and World Systems Analysis

Andre Gunder Frank

Frank (1966) argued that underdevelopment is a historical product of economic relations between "satellite" (underdeveloped) and "metropolitan" (developed) countries. Key points include:

• Economic neo-colonialism perpetuates underdevelopment to serve capitalist powers.

• The capitalist system is divided into a metropolitan core and a peripheral satellite.

• This pattern repeats within nations and regions: local metropoles exploit local satellites.

• Capital concentration at the core siphons resources (economic surplus) from the periphery.

Immanuel Wallerstein

Wallerstein's World System Analysis (1987) introduced a third stratum:

• Semi-periphery: Positioned between the metropole and satellite.

• Mobility: Countries move from periphery to semi-periphery via aggressive state action, exploiting weakened core economies during cycles, or through multinational company relocation. Semi-peripheral countries may become core members by expanding boundaries, conquering markets, or increasing exports.

Neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus

Neoliberalism aims to facilitate international trade by allowing freer movement of goods and capital to maximize profit (Shah, 2007). Main points include:

• Rule of the Market: Self-regulating markets and "trickle-down" wealth distribution.

• Reduced Public Expenditure: Cutting government spending on health and education.

• Deregulation: Allowing market forces to act autonomously.

• Privatization: Selling public enterprises to private owners.

• Individualism: Shifting from "community good" to individual responsibility.

Washington Consensus Policy Instruments (Peet & Hartwick, 2009):

1. Fiscal discipline (deficits not to exceed $2\%$ of $GDP$).

2. Reducing public expenditures.

3. Tax reform (broadening base, moderate marginal rates).

4. Market-determined interest rates.

5. Competitive exchange rates.

6. Trade liberalization.

7. Encouraging foreign direct investment.

8. Privatization.

9. Deregulation.

10. Securing property rights.

Postmodernism and the Critique of Grand Narratives

Fook (2002) describes postmodernism as a critique of totalizing theories and hierarchies:

• Acknowledges diverse and multiple frameworks of discourse.

• Reality is constructed through the language of our multiple discourses; there is no single universal truth.

• "Grand narratives" (e.g., Science, reason) are deconstructed as conflicting ways of making sense of different experiences.

Feminist Perspectives on Social Theory

Lengermann and Niebrugge (2007) categorize feminist theories based on their focus:

• Gender Difference: Focused on socially constructed patterning of masculinity/femininity. Cultural feminism extols positive aspects of the female character. Explanations for difference are located in biology, socialization, and institutional roles.

• Gender Inequality: Liberal feminism argues that women have an equal capacity for reasoned moral agency. Inequality results from a sexist division of labor; equality is achieved by re-patterning institutions like law, work, and family.

• Gender Oppression: Women's situation is viewed as a direct power relationship where men subjugate women for their own interests. Radical feminism asserts the absolute positive value of women and opposes the system of patriarchy.

• Structural Oppression: Recognizes that experiences vary by social location within capitalism, patriarchy, and racism. Socialist feminism combines Marxian and radical feminist thought to address how groups benefit from controlling others.

Foundations of Deviance: Objectivist vs. Subjectivist

Deviance lacks a universal definition, leading to two primary conceptions:

• Objectivist Conception: Defines deviance as norm-violating behavior discovered via objective standards (Ward et al., 1994).

• Subjectivist Conception: Defines deviance as acts labeled as such by a social audience; societal reactions define what is deviant.

Strain Theories of Deviance

Strain theories suggest individuals conform by choice but are pushed to deviate by social pressures (Ward et al., 1994; Liska, 1987).

Emile Durkheim

Deregulation (weak control over the individual) stems from two sources:

• Egotism: The individual is non-integrated and independent from society.

• Anomie: A sudden breakdown in norms regulating behavior.

Robert Merton

Merton focuses on the discrepancy between individual ends and institutional means. He identified five Modes of Adaptation:

• Conformity: Accepts goals ($+$), accepts means ($+$).

• Innovation: Accepts goals ($+$), rejects means ($-$).

• Ritualism: Rejects goals ($-$), accepts means ($+$).

• Retreatism: Rejects goals ($-$), rejects means ($-$).

• Rebellion: Replaces goals ($+ / -$), replaces means ($+ / -$).

Neo-Marxist and Conflict Theories of Deviance

These theories argue that norms are imposed by the state to protect the interests of the capitalist class.

Steven Spitzer

Capitalism produces "problem populations":

• Social Junk: Passive, withdrawn sectors.

• Social Dynamite: Active groups attacking capitalist relations of production.

Richard Quinney

Crime results from contradictions in capitalism, specifically the produce of a relative surplus population. The state acts as a "coordinating agency" for capital accumulation and legitimation.

• Crimes of Domination: Committed by the capitalist class/state (e.g., corporate crimes, government kickbacks).

• Working-Class Crimes: Divided into crimes of accommodation and crimes of resistance.

Social Control and Neutralization Theories

Social Bonding Theory

Deviance occurs when social bonds (controls) are weakened. Elements of the bond include:

• Commitment: The individual's stake in conformity.

• Attachment: Emotional ties to conforming others.

• Involvement: Time spent on conventional activities.

• Belief: Adherence to the moral validity of laws.

Neutralization Theory

Individuals justify or excuse deviance before committing it to neutralize their bond to society. Techniques include:

1. Denial of responsibility.

2. Denial of injury.

3. Denial of the victim.

4. Condemnation of the condemners.

5. Appeal to higher authority.

Deterrence Theory

Deviance is prevented by the fear of punishment. Sanction effectiveness depends on:

• Certainty

• Severity

• Celerity (swiftness)

Social Learning and Differential Association

Deviance is learned within intimate groups. It occurs when definitions favoring law violation outweigh those unfavorable to it.

Conditions of Deviant Association:

• Frequency: How often associations occur.

• Intensity: Degree of identification with deviant others.

• Priority: How early in life the influence occurs.

• Duration: Length of time spent with deviant role models.

Definitional and Labelling Theories

Definitional Perspective

• Retrospective Interpretation: Reinterpreting past behavior based on present labels.

• Respectability: Branding depends more on social identity ("who you are") than on the actual act.

Labelling Theory

Focuses on how audience reactions increase deviant behavior (Ward et al., 1994; Liska, 1984):

• Primary Deviance: Initial act that does not affect psychological structure or social roles.

• Secondary Deviance: Deviance used as a defense or adjustment to the problems created by the societal label.

• Career Deviance: The deviant label becomes a Master Status. Labelled individuals are excluded from conventional groups and join organized deviant subcultures.

Feminist and Critical Perspectives on Deviance

• Feminist Perspective: Women's experiences are filtered through gender and male domination. Crimes involving violence against women are viewed as products of a patriarchal society designed to repress women.

• Critical Perspective: Examines how power, justice, economy, race, class, and gender interact within social institutions and discourses to construct a social system.

Categories of Deviance

Commonly identified categories include:

• Crimes against persons.

• Crimes against property.

• Prostitution.

• Substance abuse.

• Children in Conflict with the Law (CICL).

• Domestic violence.