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The nature of Social Disorganization

The philosophically organic approach postulates the interdependence of culture and human nature. It must be included in the formulation of the nature of the social and personal disorganization. Human nature reflects culture in the responses of the individual mechanism. Culture includes those responses which are common to the group and which are passed from generation to generation.

Social disorganization in a simple society

The social change, social disorganization and personal disorganization have their genesis in the variant behavior of the individuals. In simple societies, however deviations in behavior are minimum. Therefore there is a little awareness of their existence by the group. New coordination is made both for the society and for the individual with a minimum of stress and strain.

Social disorganization in a complex society

The functioning of three important factors is commonly held responsible for spontaneous variations in behaviour.They are - the specialized functioning inherent in complex society. The family as a culture defining agency and cultural participation outside the particular social order. The result is the emergence of a wide variety of various response patterns out of which develops disorganization both in society and individual. Some innovations find ready acceptance because they are related to those aspect of culture which are found outside institutional pattern.

Innovations in mores, ideas and beliefs often meet with social disapproval because they vary from the accepted pattern. In simple society people revamp the discordant elements to the degree that their variance is no longer apparent. Innovations which meet with organized resistance tend to result in marked social disorganization. All positive response to social disapproval does not result in attempts to explain the variant behavior in terms of the welfare of the group.

Social disorganization is the inevitable result until such time as the new behavior pattern loses group support or becomes incorporated into the social order. When however social disapproval of variations is met negatively by retreat into a world of fantasy there is no corresponding social disorganization except to the extent to which the individual becomes a threat to the safety of society and its members. This point of view does not deny the causative role of social organization in the production of personal disorganization.

All social change involves some social disorganization. It is important to think of social disorganization related to those aspects of social change which result in the disturbance and revamping of social institutions and of the patterns of interrelationship between them. In the same way the social responses of the individual are always in flux. But only when changes take place in the individual's pattern of adjustment to social situations which arouse social disapproval that one may speak of personal disorganization.

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