Binalonan, Pangasinan

2 Semester | A.Y. 2020-2021

nd

Module 4
The Conceptual Framework of Social Problems

Course Title: Ethics (Moral Issues and Concerns in Contemporary Living)

Course Code: INSTI 2

Name: ___________________________________
Course and Year: __________________________
Date and Time Allotment: ____________________

Introduction
This module entitled Conceptual Framework of Social Problems will discuss the major social changes social
integration, disintegration and disorganization, the social deviation and deviant behavior, social factors and risk
conditions, and social control which have a major bearing on social problems. In the process, we will have deeper
view at these factors that usually involve conflicts, diversity, social opposition and disunity in the community.

I. Objectives:
In this module, you will be able to:
1. Understand the conceptual framework of social problems.
2. Define the terminologies used in social problems.
3. Know and distinguish social deviation and deviant behaviors in social problems.

II. Lecture and Discussions of the lesson/s

Definition of Terms

Norms – Refer to any standard or rule that states what human beings should or should not think, say or do
under given circumstances.

Prescriptive Norms – Are those which the individual is told to do spelling out the forms of behavior to which
a person must conform.

Proscriptive Norms – Are those which the individual is supposed to “not do this”, to avoid and desist from
all forms of behavior such as forbidden in the Ten Commandments.

Social Values – Are simply those things to which a society or cultural group attaches value, worth, or
significance. Social values are described by some as the goals and objectives of a given society or culture.
They are not only shared; they are regarded as matters of collective welfare to which is often attached a
high degree or emotional belief that they are important.

Social Action – Refers to a concerted effort or movement in the field of social welfare. When the forces of
government or the community are mobilized to achieve certain objectives, these efforts are regarded as
forms of social action.

Social Change – Is change in the social structure and social relationship of the society.

Social Deviation – Is any failure to conform to customary norms.

Social Disintegration – Represents the deviation or departure from social norms.

Social Disorganization – Refers to disruptions which are brought about by social change.

Social Integration – Is the degree to which there are common ends and values toward which people are
oriented and in terms of which the life of the community is organized.
Major Social Changes
All societies are constantly changing – some rapidly and some very slowly. Modern Society is dynamic,
constantly changing, and either progressing or regressing. It is passing through a period of extensive transitions that
have far reaching social and cultural consequences. Old foundations and established structures have become
unsettled. Social institutions, norms of behavior, and many other phases of the social order are undergoing change.

a) Industrialization
 Continuous innovations of machine technology, revolutionizing influence on economic and socio-political
systems everywhere.
 Networks of communication, of trade, and monetary operations leave virtually no corner of the earth still
untouched.
 Agriculture tends to become increasingly like an outdoor factory – from hands and hand tools in the fields to
powerful machinery.

b) Urbanization
 The process by which large numbers of people become permanently concentrated in relatively small areas,
forming cities.
 Related to the consequences of the large modern city or “metropolis”. The cultural innovations concerned
are further specializations of the earlier city-state traditions. Political reorganization, particularly in directions
of national identity and nationwide consolidation has made over the New Philippine Society’s priorities.
 Numerous ethical and religious systems compete, offering many alternatives in conduct and belief to
formerly homogenous societies, especially along ethnic frontiers and in urban centers.

c) Mobility
 What some future generations may call “industrial nomadism” has set in, with individuals and small family
units moving to where jobs take them.
 The Filipino population has always been on the move – from abroad to the Philippines, from one section of
the country to another, from farm and town to city.
 New modes of transportation have accelerated this mobility. The jeepney and bus have become a staple of
the Filipino family and there is less need to have friends, church, recreation, or other interest in the
neighborhood in which one lives.

d) Heterogeneity
 A significant result of the increasing concentration of population in the cities has been a corresponding
multiplication of contact among people of different ethnic, religious, regional and cultural backgrounds.
These are the changes that are taking place within the social context. The breaking of traditions become
less and less a shock.
 The advances of technology and science, creating new frontiers of knowledge, reinforce this expectancy of
change and new ideas.
 The concentration of people in urban areas and their mobility have been factors in this changing outlook.
Never before have men been so different; with different traditions, and different ideas and customs. Never
has there been such open competition among ways of life.

Social Integration, Disintegration and Disorganization

An integrated social order implies a relatively stable system organization that is capable of making
adjustments to changing conditions and that enables the group members to carry on the generally accepted tasks
without undue disruptions.
Whenever people live together, they must establish firm relationships so that they will know what is
expected from others. There exists a certain amount of consensus and unity of purpose. There is an agreement on
basic issues and there are shared values or they are slavishly devoted to a common cause.
In one case, the existence of the social problem is measured by the extent of personal dissatisfaction
involved. In the other case, the existence of the social problem is measured by the breakdown of the rules and
machinery of society.

a) Social stability and integration

 A successful society is one which constitutes a relatively stable system of coordinated activities among the
members and which achieves a satisfactory to the physical environment.
 People tend to absorb the values, the aspirations, and the rules of social behavior they belong to. The ability
of these groups and institutions to transmit their values and traditions depends directly on the ability to
command respect and allegiance.

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  In a society that is relatively stable, the folkways, mores, laws, institutions and other means of social control
tend to prevent deviations from established ways of doing things. An integrated society tends to produce a
unified effect.

b) Processes of disorganization and disintegration

 Social disorganization implies a disruption of a previously existing condition of organization which generally
cannot be established; that it implies something “bad” meaning the application of a value judgment on the
part of the observer; the implication that it involves a threat to the central values of society is not necessarily
true; and what may seem like disorganization may actually be a highly organized system of competing
norms.
 Society’s inability to order relationships among people is often explained as the result of social
disorganization. The word “society” connotes “organization”.
 The order of society depends on rules of relationship among people not on police power.
 Two major ways in which acceptance of prevailing rules of relationship is undermined:
1. Breakdown of traditional groups.
o Social disorganization refers primarily to the weakening of the groups and institutions in
society such as the family, the school, the church, the community and the law which
traditionally transmit its official values.
o If these institutions lose some of their functional importance for their members – their ability to
bind their members together – disintegration results.
2. Conflict of rules and aspirations.
o When the traditional groups in society begin to lose their function and the allegiance of group
members, their ability to transmit their values is impaired.
o Society is also faced with the necessity of changing some of its rules of relationship to fit new
aspirations.
o For example: The growing desire of older people to have independent financial support in their
retirement years from the government as a “right” is not only a result of the growing inability of
the family to support its older members. An adjustment between traditional rules of
responsibility for older citizens becomes necessary.
o The absence of such an adjustment on a substantial scale constitutes a social problem.

c) Personal and social aspects of disintegration

 The individual and society are not separable phenomena. The individual’s basic emotional development
normally takes place within the framework of an early give-and-take between him and society.
 Disorganized society, tend to be heterogeneous and individuated, and often disintegrated. It is difficult for
individuals composing a group to remain stable and integrated, and to live harmoniously, when the social
structures and functions of the groups are disintegrated.
 The degree of stability and instability of the group tends to be reflected in the degree of integration or
disintegration of the individuals composing the group. While there is a reciprocal relation between the
individual and social aspects of disintegration, many of the causative factors of both seem to be deeply
embedded in the social changes and processes of society.

Social Deviation and Deviant Behavior

Social Deviations
 Grow out of rules or norms of society.
 Vary in the intensity of the reaction to the deviation, as well as in the direction of approval or disapproval.
Some deviations from norms in society are not only approved but encourage. Likewise, disapproved
deviations may encounter various degrees of sanction.
 Examples: Deviations from norms of politeness, dress, table manners, and cleanliness may encounter mild
disapproval in the form of ridicule or scorn.

*Lying and malicious gossip may be more strongly disapproved, while certain behavior such as murder, burglary
and robbery, may be punished by the political state through fine, imprisonment or even death.

Deviant Behavior
 Is essentially violation of certain types of group norms; a deviant act is a behavior which is proscribed in a
certain way.
 Deviant acts are not necessarily known to society. Wide variations exist in the “social visibility” of negatively
regarded acts of deviation, that is the extent to which behavior comes to the attention of people within a
society and the extent to which the acts are defined as “deviant”.

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Societal Factors and Risk Conditions of Social Problems
1. Society at Large. Social problems are linked with conditions in the community and in the larger society. The
disintegrating conditions that have their roots in the community and in the larger social world may be classified in
various ways:
a) Official Society – Contacts with community and societal forces and pressures exert a considerable influence
in shaping attitudes and behavior. Laws, the actions or statements of public officials and the behavior of
public institutions help teach values.
b) Common Customs – Accepted and visible practices in community life, even when not enforce by law or
official action, are just as effective in transmitting values. For example, any widespread practice of illegal
gambling or tax cheating, over charging by businessmen or misuse of funds by government officials, almost
inevitably become an effective part of the culture.
c) Mass Media – The mass media are carriers of cultural patterns and behavior norms. The radio, television,
motion pictures, magazines and newspapers are all part of the broad cultural environment. They can
transmit values explicitly in their news reports and editorials. They can also transmit values in more subtle
ways. It is through the mass media that the most comprehensive picture of community life is projected,
whether accurately or not.
2. The Neighborhood. The neighborhood has no formal laws and no effective mass media, but it can bring potent
subcultural influences. It is often place wherein certain kinds of families tend to concentrate, where gangs
flourish, where a criminal subculture is established. It is therefore a convenient examining ground for probing
certain social problems.
3. The Peer Group. A peer group – persons of similar generations or ages – tends to take up the individual where
the family’s influence ends, even though the family status and influence condition the choices of peer group
relations. This group often constitute the dominant social media for satisfying fundamental wishes and needs of
young people. Juveniles turn to their peer groups for the satisfaction of their felt needs. Since these peer groups
satisfy the basic needs, their development often follows the character of these needs. The peer groups are
important means of controlling the behavior of the members.
4. Other Organizations. Formal groups like churches, fraternities, clubs, etc. The ability of these groups to transmit
or support social values depends in each case on the relation of the individual to the group. Organizations help
shape attitudes toward current social problems.
5. The Family. The family is the basic unit of society and always deserves special examination. It is the place
where the child initially learns or can learn his most basic values, aspirations and attitudes. Because of its major
role as transmission belt, there is concern not only for what the family does but also for what it fails to do.

Social Problems and Social Control

All societies and groups develop ways or methods of dealing with behaviors. These methods are ordinarily
called “negative sanctions” and “positive sanctions”.

Negative sanctions - Imposing penalties on those whose behavior has transcended the range of tolerance of the
norms.
Positive sanctions – Consist of special rewards, such as praise, recognition, or prestige which are bestowed on
persons whose behavior has conformed, or has exceeded conformance to prescribed norms.

Two Classifications of Social Control

1. Informal Control
 No effort is required on the part of the group to secure compliance with most of our group norms, for they
are spontaneous and unconscious ways of acting which characterize the bulk of the customs of any culture.
 Generally, mechanisms of control, such as customs, mores, traditions, beliefs, attitudes and ideals, are
taught through prolonged interaction between persons.
 Informal control of behavior may be observed in specific behaviors, such as gossip, ridicule, reprimands,
praise, criticism, gestural cues, glances of approval or disapproval, emotional expressions, denial or
bestowal of affection, ostracism, verbal rationalizations, verbal expressions of opinion, and many other
methods.
2. Formal Control
 Involves organize systems of specialized agencies and standard techniques.
 Is exercised by the State through its political and legal institutions.
 Two main types:
a. those instituted by agencies other than the state, and
b. those imposed by the political state.

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III. Other References
1. Pasco M. O., Suàrez V. F., Rodriguez A. G., “Ethics” C&E Publishing, Inc., 2018
2. Hinman, L. M,, “Contemporary Moral Issues: Diversity and Consensus”, 2016 by Routledge
3. Bulaong O., Calano M., Lagliva A., Mariano M., Principe J., “Ethics: Foundation of Moral Valuation”, 1 st
edition, REX Book Store, 2018
4. Palma-Angeles, Antonette, “Cultural Drivers of Corruption in Business and Governance.” In Business
Ethics in Asia: Issues and Cases, edited by Oscar G. Bulaong, Jr., Ike Danita Dewey, and J. Sedfrey
Santiago, 20-36. Quezon City: Ateneo de Manila University Press, 2014.