Sir Liwanag's Powerpoint Presentations

1. Social Change
What is Social Change?
Change is an enduring historical force with noticeable
variations through. Change may be hardly discernible or
easily observable; it may be constructive or destructive; but
whatever its nature it occurs everywhere and every time.
Change has been regarded in many ways- as means,
process, an end, or even a social movement, a state of
affairs involving a program, an ideology, and a problem.
The use of new objects or ideas to reach a certain goals.

2. Levels of Human Action and Change
 The first level (individual personality) has historically
been the sphere of psychologists whether they pursue
a psychoanalytic or a behaviorist framework.
 The second level (interaction among individuals)
constitutes the area of psychology specifically students
group dynamics. It consists of the “behaviorist
perspective,” including personality, interaction and
self theory.

3.  The third level (group of social systems) has generally
been of interest to sociologist. The group is the unit of
analysis, particularly the emergent properties of the
group where the social level is felt to reside.
 The fourth level (cultural system) is the concern of
anthropology. Parsons 1966:5) said that the meanings
and intentions of human acts are formed in terms of
symbol systems, along with the codes through which
they operate in patterns that focus most generally on
the universal aspect of human society, language.

4. Culture change refers to all alterations affecting new
traits or trait completes in cultural context and structure.
It may involve such elements as (Davis 1949:622-623)
1. The development of oral and written language and other
means of communications;
2. Modification in technology;
3. Shifts in economic principles;
4. The historical evolution of religious ritual and dogma,
educational philosophy, and political ideology.
5. Variations in musical styles and other art forms;
6. Transitions in scientific theories; and
7. Alterations in the forms and rules of social interaction.

5. Technological change and social change are but specific
parts of cultural change. Technological change denotes revisions
that occur in people’s application of their technical knowledge and
skills as they adapt themselves to their bio-physical environment.
The change is evident in:
1. The increasing differentiation in the forms of tools,
instruments, and implements used;
2. The constant addition to and deletions from the range of
inventions,
3. The obsolescence of and advancement in scientific
knowledge; and
4. The innovations in ability to utilize and exploit the
natural environment for human needs.

6.  Social change refers to variations or modifications in
the pattern of social organization, of sub-groups
within a society, or the entire society itself. This may
be manifested in the rise and fall of group,
communities, or institutions structures, and functions,
or changes in the statuses and roles of members in the
family, work setting, church, school, government,
health and welfare, leisure and other sub-systems of
the social organization.

7. A typology of theories of social change may be employed
to clarify some of the assumptions regarding the “social” and
“change” contained in these theories. They are not mutually
exclusive. Major differences are emphasized in underlying
assumptions and derivative approaches to social change. Four
board categories are distinguished:
 Evolutionary theories - characterize primarily by
assumption of smooth, cumulative change, often in linear
fashion, and always in the direction of increasing
complexity and adaptability;
 Equilibrium theory - characterized by the concept of
homeostasis, and focusing on conditions tending toward
stability as a consequence;

8. Conflict theory – characterized by the assumptions
that change is endemic to all social organisms, and
focusing on conditions that tend toward instability
as a consequence; and
“Rise and fall” theories - characterized by the
assumption that societies, cultures, or civilization
regress as well as grow that all societies do not
move in the same direction (Appelbaum 1971:9-10)

9. There are also the modernization or diachrome
theories of unilinear change. Modernization theories are
concerned with the correlates of industrialization.
Modernization has numerous definitions, all of which
relate in some way to the process or characteristics of
industrialization.
Levy defines modernization directly in terms of
technology in that he considers any society the more
modernized, the greater the ratio of inanimate to
animate power sources, and the greater the extent to
which human efforts are multiplied by the use of tools.
Smelser (1966:110-111) conceived of modernization as
related to economic development in at least four distinct
but interrelated processes.

10. 1. In the realm technology, a developing society is changing from
simple and traditionalized techniques toward the application of
scientific knowledge.
2. In agriculture, the developing society evolves from subsistence
farming toward the commercial production of agricultural foods,
which means specialization in cash crops, purchase of non-
agricultural products in the market, and often agricultural wage
labor.
3. In industry, the developing society undergoes a transition from the
use of human and animal power toward industrialization proper, or
men working for wages at power-driven machines which produce
commodities outside the community of production.
4. In ecological arrangements, the developing society moves from the
farm and villages toward urban concentrations

11. Multiple Factors in Social Changes
Social Change is closely intertwined with
cultural and technological changes. Multiple
factors underlie its broad and complex nature.
Like the phenomenon in the physical sciences,
social change in the social sciences displays rate,
direction, form, type, cause, order, stimulants, and
barriers in its emergence, development, and
decline (Davis 1949:623-636, Foster 1962:64-146;
Appelbium 1971:117-138). The study of the factors
necessitates the delineation of the length of time,
the geographical area, and the group to be
considered.

12. The Rate of Social Change
` Rate is also referred to as speed or pace. When the balance between
opposing forces tilts toward change-preventing ones, the stability of the society
predominates; on the other hand, when the balance tilts toward the change
promoting forces, a rate of the occurs.
The rate of social change and the cultural lag that eventually results are
perceive by:
1. Comparing the overall culture or parts of the culture of different societies at a
given period;
2. Examining the overall culture or parts of the culture of the same society at
different times, or;
3. Viewing the parts of the culture of the same society at a specific period.

13. The Form of Social Change
Social change may or may not be repeated over
definite periods of time. This characteristic of social
change is indicated by the term form. Kingsley Davis
(1949:628-629) suggests two ideal forms of social
change: (1) the cyclical, in which whole cultures or
their parts are repeated over a considerable period of
time and; (2) the linear, in which cultures or their
specific aspects change in only one direction and never
recur.

14. Direction of Social Change
Closely associated with rate and form is the direction
of social change. The three may be measured in relation to
the objectives that a person or a group wishes to achieve on
a long-range or short-range basis. The rapidity or slowness
of social change may be defined in accordance with a
tentative schedule set for the attainment of special
objectives, which in turn contribute toward the fulfillment
of a general goal.
The form of social change may be deduced on the
basis of repetition or continuity of change in the period of
ten years. The direction of social change may be evaluated
in thye light of its consistency with past or present
conditions.

15. Causes of Social Change
Social change is brought about not by one factor alone. To be
considered are interplay of various social and non-social factors like
geographical location, topography of the land, climate, soil type, plant
and animal life, and other natural resources, the people’s motor skills
and other abilities, technology, philosophical, religious, moral and
ethical values, beliefs, social organization, and other social norms. It is
not only the occurrence and combination of these factors in a given
situation at a given time that brings about social change. It is also
important to take into account their synchronization harmony,
correlation or reciprocity, coordination or unity, and strains, stresses,
dysfunctions.
The physical environment does not by itself cause social or
culture change. It provides conditions that may or may not induce
change. History gives innumerable example of the physical
environment on change. Natural disaster have periodically disrupted
life for large populations – loss of life, destruction of property,
migration patterns, reorientation to different life styles.

16. The Sources of Social Change
Culture changes not only by the simple accumulation
of elements. Changes are also brought about by the
selective acceptance/addiction or rejection/discarding of or
the changed emphasis on existing elements. Throughout
the history of humanity, gains as well as losses in culture
have been the result of a selective rather than a random
process. An element of culture is accepted, resisted, or
rejected not merely because it is fundamentally useful or
useless but because of its relationship with the rest of the
culture which may or may not assimilate it.

17. Changes in culture always involve innovations. An innovation
is “any thought, behavior, or thing that is new because it is
qualitatively different from existing forms” (Barnet 1953:7-10). It is
the development or recognition of ne elements or pattern (either
material or non-material) in a culture. It includes both discovery
and invention, as well as minor changes too small to be classified as
invention. It is always dependent upon a knowledge of the existing
culture, for it involves the reinterpretation or new combination of
old culture traits or complexes, or selection of elements from old
patterns to create new patterns.
It is stimulated by the re-examination of knowledge through
culture contact, for example. Innovation is itself a stimulus to
further innovation (Theodorson and Theodorson 1969:204205).
Thus, the most important point about an innovation is the
rearrangement of the interrelationships of its elements and not the
increase or decrease of these elements.

18. The Order of Social Change
Between or within the societies, as a whole or in
parts, there is continuous “strain for consistency”
between forces that either promote or prevent change.
Those that prevent change struggle to preserve the
status quo. Because change is inherent in every
culture, the change-promoting forces, in the long run,
win over the change-preventing forces. In the
development of social change, the order of a series of
stages is traceable in various ways. Varying levels of
acceptance of innovations by members of a certain
society at agiven time have been identified by
Lionberger (1960) as:

19. 1. Awareness of the innovation. Initial awareness of the innovation by a
few, usually the elite, is spread to the masses.
2. Interest in the innovation. When people become aware of an
innovation, they usually develop an interest to know more about it.
3. Experimentation with the innovation. The testing of the innovation
may be limited or extensive, superficial or intensive. A
demonstration of how the innovation can be applied is often, if not
always, required by the people.
4. Application of the innovation. After it is demonstrated that the
innovation is significant and the revisions can be made to fit it to the
needs of the people, its application s increased and popularized.
5. Adoption of the innovation. The innovation gradually becomes more
a part of the social norms of the people.

20. On an individual basis, the acceptance of innovations
may take the following order:
1. The Innovators – the first to adopt a new practice in a locality they
are willing and able to take the risk.
2. The Early Adopters – those who watch the innovators and accept
practices that in their judgement, work out successfully.
3. The Early Majority Adopters – those who follow the lead of the early
adopters; they must be quite sure the practice will work out well in
their venture.
4. The Late Majority Adopters – those who follow the practices and
advise of the early majority adopters; they are willing to take risks.
5. Laggards and Non-adopters – those who, because of isolation or
negative motivation, are slow to adopt the practices, and those who
never adopt them because of age or other circumstances (Polson
1965:73-74)

21. On an institutional basis, the order of social change is as follows:
1. Changes in technology. People can grasp the significance of a new object
more easily than they can grasp a new idea. A new object is tangible and
aimed primarily at the satisfaction of a certain immediate, utilitarian, and
practical need. A new idea, on the other hand, is abstract, and is often
viewed as being in conflict with the current values of society, especially if the
idea it aims to replace is deeply ingrained in the value of system of society.
2. Application in Changes in Technology by economic institutions. Since
economic institutions exist primarily to produce and distribute goods and
service, they usually are the first to feel the effects of changes in technology.
3. The impact of changes in other social institutions. Changes in economic
institutions are usually followed by disruptions in the social structures of the
family, church, school, government, and other institutions.
4. The penetration of the social values. Social values which are deeply rooted at
the base of social institutions and in one and more individual personality
structures are the last to be influenced and the hardest to change. People
regard attempts to change social values as subversive and destructive of the
existing social system and social order. Their attitudes may range from
suspicion to active hostility.

22. Barriers and Stimulants to Social Changes
These barriers and stimulants may be cultural, social, or psychological.
Among the values and attitudes that impede social change are
traditionalism, cultural ethnocentrism, pride and dignity, and norms of
society. Traditionalism predisposes the society to believe that anything
that happens is the will of some supernatural force and cannot be
modified by human effort.
The social barriers to change involve (1) patterns of cooperation,
(2) patterns of competition or conflict, (3) authority patterns, and (4)
characteristics of the social structure.
The psychological barriers to change may be (1) differences in
perception (2) problems of communication and learning.

23. The Type of Social Change
Social change may be directed (guided, planned, structured) or non-
directed (unplanned or unstructured). It takes place through the mass media,
trade, war, intermarriage, educational exchange programs, science congresses,
conferences, seminars, art exhibits, travel missionary work, beauty contests,
athletic meets, and many other means.
Social change may be directed (guided, planned, structured) or non-
directed (unplanned or unstructured). It takes place through the mass media,
trade, war, intermarriage, educational exchange programs, science congresses,
conferences, seminars, art exhibits, travel missionary work, beauty contests,
athletic meets, and many other means.
While efforts along nondirected change are undoubtedly being exerted
to facilitate these, there have been more information gathered on the efforts
exerted through directed change. For instance, in the Philippines, community
agencies in both the public and private sectors have been set up. Each defines
its own philosophy, sets its goals and objectives, adopts its own approaches and
techniques, initiates its projects and activities, draws up its schedules, and
selects its targets of change within a geographical area.

24. Social Change in Philippine Society
Philippine society is in a flux change. A major
consequence of change in the Philippines which is also
taking place in the other parts of the contemporary world is
modernization. This implies a change from the traditional
way of life to a more complex, technologically advanced,
rapidly changing style of life. The various elements of
socio-cultural change are industrialization, urbanization,
technology, population, education, bureaucracy, medicine
and public health, and recreation.

25. Randolph S. David (1982:21) cities a significant set of studies for
development in the Philippines, as follows:
1. Clarify what kind of society we have become as a function of our colonial experience;
2. Define the salient features of the global and regional environment within which our society
is moving, and bring out the basic constraints of these supra-national system:
3. Reveal the precise mechanisms by which the existing system is able to reproduce and
perpetuate itself, and bring out ways and techniques of these powers as well as identify its
most vulnerable points;
4. Identify and understand how people are able to effectively organize themselves in order to
gain control over their lives, or simply o effectively insulate themselves from the instabilities
of daily life;
5. Constantly assess the possibilities of real structural change in our society, specifically by
defining the basic characteristics of the environment within which people’s movement for
change must operate and formulate the conditions under which spontaneous people’s
organizations can become part of a larger process of societal revivals; and
6. Conceptualize a version of alternative structures in conformity with our people’s desire for a
free, just, dignified and prosperous life for all.