Social Change Theory
Social change is defined as "a social process whereby the values, attitudes, or institutions of society ... become modified" (Reference 1). Many individual theories exist that contribute to the broader notion of social change, either naturally or as a result of community action. Social change theory is studied and applied by people in marketing, communications, social work, business and more.
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Features
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In order for social change to occur, some theorists believe that a group of people must have certain characteristics. These include a belief that they are at risk for a problem with serious consequences, a belief that a suggested behavior will lessen or eliminate the problem and the skills and intention to perform the suggested behavior (Reference 2). The aforementioned qualities are key components of some of the most common theories on social change.
Process
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Theorist Donna Garske advocates a step-by-step theory of social change known as KABBs, which stands for Knowledge, Attitude, Beliefs and Behaviors. According to KABBS, the community proceeds through a series of steps to achieve social change. The steps are knowledge of an issue, changing attitudes about the issue, beliefs forming about the issue and developing behaviors to deal with the issue (Reference 2). The steps show that increased knowledge about a problem ultimately leads to social change.
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Types
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Doug Reeler outlines three frequently used descriptions of social change in his article, "A Theory of Social Change" (Reference 3). The first is emergent change, which works with the concept that human beings learn from experience, allowing what was learned from past incidents to shape future behaviors. The second is transformative change, which results from a crisis being proactively resolved through the dissolution of existing ideas that are not working. The third is projectable change, or problem solving. Projectable change occurs when people identify a problem and consciously work towards a solution.
Significance
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Social change represents the shifting of societal norms, indicating that an entire society has adopted and applied a new behavior or way of thinking. The theories of social change work to define living society as a product of constant evolution and development. The study of sociology began in Germany, France and England, and social change theories make up the foundation of sociology (Resource 1). The theories act as a model for society's actions in the past, such as during war, as well as a blueprint for how to resolve current problems like assisting developing nations.
Considerations
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The concept of cultural lag grew out of existing social change theories (Resource 1). Sociologists discovered that cultural values change more slowly than the rest of society, and called this idea cultural lag. The presence of a cultural lag did not mean that a society would not achieve social change. Rather, it meant that overall social change would be more complex and accounted for why some countries do not develop at the same rate as others (Resource 1).
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References
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