Social behavior is a property that characterizes the quality of relations between individuals and the behavior of one specific subject in society.

It should be noted that this behavior can be different. For example, a company employs several hundred people. Some of them work tirelessly, some just sit down their pants and get paid. The rest just come there to communicate with others. Such actions of individuals fall under the principles that underlie social behavior.

Thus, all people are involved in this, only they behave differently. Based on the foregoing, it follows that social behavior is the way that members of society choose to express their desires, abilities, capabilities and attitudes.

In order to understand the reason why a person behaves in this way, it is necessary to analyze the factors that influence this. The structure of social behavior can be influenced by:

1. Psychological and subject of social interaction. As an example, you can use the description of the characteristic qualities of many politicians and others. It is worth asking who is the most shocking and emotionally unbalanced politician, and everyone will immediately remember Zhirinovsky. And among the scandalous, the first place is taken by Otar Kushanashvili.
2. Social behavior is also influenced by personal interest in what is happening or will happen. For example, any of us actively participates in the discussion of only those issues that arouse increased subjective interest. Otherwise, the activity is sharply reduced.
3. Behavior that boils down to the need to adapt to certain conditions of life or communication. For example, it is impossible to imagine that in a crowd of people who glorify some leader (Hitler, Mao Zedong), there will be someone who will voice out loud a diametrically opposite position.
4. Also, the social behavior of a person is also determined by the situational aspect. That is, there are a number of factors that must be taken into account by the subject when a situation arises.
5. There are also moral ones and by which each person is guided in life. History provides many examples of when people could not go against their own for which they paid with their own lives (Giordano Bruno, Copernicus).
6. Remember that a person's social behavior largely depends on how much he is aware of the situation, owns it, knows the “rules of the game” and can use them.
7. Behavior can be based on the goal of manipulating society. For this, lies, deception can be used. Modern politicians serve as an excellent example of this: conducting an election campaign, they promise total change. And when they come to power, no one seeks to fulfill what has been said.

Social behavior is often conditioned by to a greater extent, motivation and the degree of participation of the individual in a particular process or action. For example, for many, participation in the political life of a country is an accidental situation, but there are also those for whom it is their main job. As for mass social behavior, it can be dictated by the psychological and social characteristics of the crowd, when individual motivation is destroyed under the influence of the so-called mass instinct.

Social behavior has 4 levels:

1. A person's reaction to certain events.
2. Behavior that is habitual and considered part of standard behavior.
3. A chain of actions aimed at achieving social goals.
4. Implementation of strategically important goals.

The concept of "behavior" came to sociology from psychology. The meaning of the term "behavior" is different, different from the meaning of such traditional philosophical concepts as action and activity. If action is understood as a rationally grounded act with a clear goal, a strategy, carried out with the involvement of specific conscious methods and means, then behavior is just a reaction of a living being to external and internal changes. Such a reaction can be both conscious and unconscious. So, purely emotional reactions - laughter, crying - are also behavior.

Social behavior is a collection of human behavioral processes associated with the satisfaction of physical and social needs and arising as a reaction to the surrounding social environment. The subject of social behavior can be an individual or a group.

If we abstract from purely psychological factors and reason at the social level, then the behavior of the individual is determined primarily by socialization. The minimum of innate instincts that a person possesses as a biological being is the same for all people. Behavioral differences depend on the qualities acquired in the process of socialization and, to some extent, on innate and acquired psychological individual characteristics.

In addition, the social behavior of individuals is regulated by the social structure, in particular the role structure of society.

The social norm of behavior is such behavior that fully corresponds to the status expectations. Due to the existence of status expectations, society can predict the actions of an individual in advance with sufficient probability, and

an individual - to coordinate his behavior with the ideal model, or model, accepted by the society. Social behavior corresponding to status expectations is defined by the American sociologist R. Linton as a social role. This interpretation of social behavior is closest to functionalism, since it explains behavior as a phenomenon determined by social structure. R. Merton introduced the category of the “role complex” - a system of role expectations determined by a given status, as well as the concept of role conflict that occurs when the role expectations of the status occupied by the subject are incompatible and cannot be realized in some single socially acceptable behavior.

The functionalist understanding of social behavior was subjected to fierce criticism from, first of all, representatives of social behaviorism, who believed that it was necessary to build the study of behavioral processes on the basis of achievements modern psychology... How much psychological moments were really overlooked by the role interpretation of behavior follows from the fact that N. Cameron tried to substantiate the idea of ​​the role determination of mental disorders, believing that mental illness is the wrong performance of his social roles and the result of the patient’s inability to perform them as it is. society needs. Behaviorists argued that at the time of E. Durkheim, the successes of psychology were insignificant and therefore the functionalist paradigm met the requirements of the time, but in the XX century, when psychology reached a high level of development, one cannot ignore its data, considering human behavior.

13.1. Human Behavior Concepts

Human behavior is studied in many areas of psychology - in behaviorism, psychoanalysis, cognitive psychology, etc. The term "behavior" is one of the key terms in existential philosophy and is used in the study of a person's relationship to the world. The methodological possibilities of this concept are due to the fact that it makes it possible to identify unconscious stable structures of personality or human existence in the world. Among the psychological concepts of human behavior that have had a great influence on sociology and social psychology, should be called, first of all, psychoanalytic directions developed by 3. Freud, K.G. Jung, A. Adler.

Freud's ideas are based on the fact that the behavior of an individual is formed as a result of a complex interaction of levels of his personality. Freud identifies three such levels: the lower level is formed by unconscious impulses and impulses determined by innate biological needs and complexes formed under the influence of the individual history of the subject. This level Freud calls It (Id) to show its separation from the conscious I of the individual, which forms the second level of his psyche. The Conscious Self includes rational goal-setting and responsibility for one's actions. The highest level is the superego - what we would call the result of socialization. It is a set of social norms and values ​​internalized by an individual, exerting internal pressure on him in order to displace from consciousness undesirable (forbidden) impulses and drives from society and prevent them from being realized. According to Freud, the personality of any person is an incessant struggle between the Id and the Super-I, shaking the psyche and leading to neuroses. Individual behavior is entirely due to this struggle and is fully explained by it, since it is only a symbolic reflection of it. Such symbols can be images of dreams, slips of the tongue, slips of the tongue, obsessions and fears.

KG concept. Jung expands and modifies Freud's teachings, including in the sphere of the unconscious not only individual complexes and drives, but also the collective unconscious - the level of key images common to all people and peoples - archetypes. The archetypes contain archaic fears and value ideas, the interaction of which determines the behavior and attitude of the individual. Archetypal images figure in basic narratives - folk tales and legends, mythology, epic - historically specific societies. The socially regulating role of such narratives in traditional societies is very great. They contain ideal behaviors that shape role expectations. For example, a male warrior should behave like Achilles or Hector, a wife like Penelope, etc. Regular recitation (ritual replay) of archetypal narratives continually remind members of society of these ideal behaviors.

Adler's psychoanalytic concept is based on an unconscious will to power, which, in his opinion, is an innate personality structure and determines behavior. It is especially strong in those who, for one reason or another, suffer from an inferiority complex. In an effort to compensate for their inferiority, they are able to achieve great success.

Further splitting of the psychoanalytic direction led to the emergence of many schools in disciplinary terms occupying a borderline position between psychology, social philosophy, sociology. Let us dwell in detail on the work of E. Fromm.

Fromm's position - the representative of neo-Freudianism in psychology and the Frankfurt School in sociology - can be more precisely defined as Freudomarxism, since, along with the influence of Freud, he was equally strongly influenced by the social philosophy of Marx. The peculiarity of neo-Freudianism in comparison with orthodox Freudianism is due to the fact that, strictly speaking, neo-Freudianism is more of a sociology, while Freud, of course, is a pure psychologist. If Freud explains the behavior of the individual by complexes and impulses hidden in the individual unconscious, in short, by internal biopsychic factors, then for Fromm and Freudomarxism as a whole, the behavior of the individual is determined by the surrounding social environment. This is his similarity with Marx, who explained the social behavior of individuals in the final analysis by their class origin. Nevertheless, Fromm seeks to find a place for the psychological in social processes. According to the Freudian tradition, referring to the unconscious, he introduces the term "social unconscious", implying a mental experience common to all members of a given society, but for most of them does not fall on the level of consciousness, because it is supplanted by a special social mechanism by its nature, belonging not to an individual, but to society. Thanks to this mechanism of displacement, society maintains a stable existence. The mechanism of social repression includes language, the logic of everyday thinking, a system of social prohibitions and taboos. The structures of language and thinking are formed under the influence of society and act as an instrument of social pressure on the psyche of the individual. For example, the coarse, anti-aesthetic, ridiculous abbreviations and abbreviations of "Newspeak" from Orwell's dystopia actively disfigure the minds of people who use them. To one degree or another, the property of all in Soviet society has become the monstrous logic of formulas such as: "The dictatorship of the proletariat is the most democratic form of power."

The main component of the mechanism of social repression is social taboos that act like Freud's censorship. Then in social experience individuals, which threatens the preservation of the existing society, if realized, is not allowed into consciousness with the help of a "social filter". Society manipulates the consciousness of its members, introducing ideological clichés that, due to their frequent use, become inaccessible to critical analysis, withholding certain information, exerting direct pressure and causing fear of social isolation. Therefore, everything that contradicts the socially approved ideological cliché is excluded from consciousness.

This kind of taboos, ideologemes, logical and linguistic experiments form, according to Fromm, the "social character" of a person. People belonging to the same society, against their will, are, as it were, marked with the seal of a "common incubator". For example, we unmistakably recognize foreigners on the street, even if we do not hear their speech, by their behavior, appearance, attitude towards each other; these are people from another society, and when they find themselves in a mass environment that is alien to them, they sharply stand out from it due to their similarity. Social character is a style of behavior brought up by society and unrecognized by the individual - from social to everyday. For example, Soviet and former Soviet man they are distinguished by collectivism and responsiveness, social passivity and undemandingness, obedience to the authorities personified in the person of the “leader”, a developed fear of being different from everyone else, and credulity.

Fromm directed his criticism against modern capitalist society, although he paid much attention to describing the social character generated by totalitarian societies. Like Freud, he developed a program to restore the undistorted social behavior of individuals through the awareness of what was repressed. “By transforming the unconscious into consciousness, we thereby transform the simple concept of the universality of man into the vital reality of such universality. This is nothing more than the practical realization of humanism. " The process of derepression - the liberation of a socially oppressed consciousness consists in the elimination of fear of the realization of the forbidden, the development of the ability for critical thinking, the humanization of social life in general.

A different interpretation is offered by behaviorism (B. Skinner, J. Homan), which considers behavior as a system of reactions to various stimuli.

Skinner's concept is essentially biologic, since it completely removes the differences between human and animal behavior. Skinner identifies three types of behavior: unconditional reflex, conditioned reflex, and operant. The first two types of reactions are caused by the action of the corresponding stimuli, and operant reactions are a form of adaptation of the organism to the environment. They are active and voluntary. The body, as it were, by trial and error, searches for the most acceptable way of adaptation, and if successful, the find is fixed in the form of a stable reaction. Thus, the main factor in the formation of behavior is reinforcement, and learning turns into "guidance to the desired response."

In Skinner's concept, a person appears as a being, whose entire inner life is reduced to reactions to external circumstances. Reinforcement changes mechanically induce behavioral changes. Thinking, the highest mental functions of a person, the whole culture, morality, art turn into a complex system of reinforcements designed to evoke certain behavioral reactions. Hence follows the conclusion about the possibility of manipulating people's behavior by means of a carefully developed "technology of behavior". With this term Skinner denotes the purposeful manipulative control of some groups of people over others, associated with the establishment of an optimal reinforcement regime for certain social goals.

The ideas of behaviorism in sociology were developed by J. and J. Baldwin, J. Homan.

The concept of J. and J. Baldwin is based on the concept of reinforcement, borrowed from psychological behaviorism. Reinforcement, in a social sense, is a reward whose value is determined by subjective needs. For example, for a hungry person, food acts as reinforcement, but if a person is full, it is not reinforcement.

The effectiveness of the reward depends on the degree of deprivation in a given individual. Deprivation is understood as the deprivation of something for which the individual has a constant need. As far as the subject is deprived in any respect, his behavior depends on this reinforcement. The so-called generalized reinforcers (for example, money), acting on all individuals without exception, do not depend on deprivation due to the fact that they concentrate in themselves access to many types of reinforcements at once.

Reinforcers are categorized as positive and negative. Positive reinforcers are anything that is perceived by the subject as a reward. For example, if certain contact with the environment has been rewarding, there is a high likelihood that the subject will seek to repeat the experience. Negative reinforcers are factors that determine behavior through giving up some experience. For example, if the subject denies himself some pleasure and saves money on this, and subsequently benefits from this savings, then this experience can serve as a negative reinforcement and the subject will always do so.

The effect of punishment is the opposite of reinforcement. Punishment is an experience that makes you want to no longer repeat it. Punishment can also be positive or negative, but here, compared to reinforcement, everything is reversed. Positive punishment is punishment with a repressive stimulus, such as a blow. Negative punishment affects behavior through deprivation of something of value. For example, depriving a child of sweets at dinner is a typical negative punishment.

The formation of operant reactions has a probabilistic character. Unambiguity is characteristic of reactions of the simplest level, for example, a child cries, demanding the attention of his parents, because the parents always approach him in such cases. The reactions of adults are much more complex. For example, a person selling newspapers in train carriages does not find a buyer in every carriage, but from experience he knows that a buyer will eventually be found, and this makes him persistently walk from carriage to carriage. In the last decade, the receipt of wages in some

enterprises, but nevertheless people continue to go to work, hoping to get one.

Homans' behaviorist exchange concept emerged in the middle of the 20th century. Arguing against representatives of many areas of sociology, Homane argued that a sociological explanation of behavior must necessarily be based on a psychological approach. At the heart of the interpretation historical facts there must also be a psychological approach. Homane motivates this by the fact that behavior is always individual, while sociology operates with categories applicable to groups and societies, so the study of behavior is the prerogative of psychology, and sociology in this matter should follow it.

According to Homans, when studying behavioral reactions, one should abstract from the nature of the factors that caused these reactions: they are caused by the influence of the surrounding physical environment or other people. Social behavior is just the exchange of socially valuable activities between people. Homane believes that social behavior can be interpreted using Skinner's behavioral paradigm, if we supplement it with the idea of ​​the mutual nature of stimulation in relationships between people. The relationship of individuals with each other is always a mutually beneficial exchange of activities, services, in short, it is the mutual use of reinforcements.

Homane's theory of exchange was summarized in several postulates:

the postulate of success - the most likely to reproduce are those actions that most often meet social approval; stimulus postulate - similar incentives associated with reward are likely to cause similar behavior;

value postulate - the likelihood of reproducing an action depends on how valuable the result of this action seems to a person;

the postulate of deprivation - the more regularly a person's act is rewarded, the less he values ​​the subsequent reward; the double postulate of aggression-approval - the absence of expected reward or unexpected punishment makes aggressive behavior likely, and unexpected reward or the absence of expected punishment leads to an increase in value.

rewarded action and contributes to its more likely reproduction.

The most important concepts exchange theories are: the cost of behavior - what the individual costs for this or that action - the negative consequences caused by past actions. In everyday terms, this is a payback for the past; benefit - arises when the quality and size of the remuneration exceed the cost of the given act.

Thus, exchange theory portrays human social behavior as a rational search for gain. This concept looks simplistic, and it is not surprising that it has drew criticism from a wide variety of sociological trends. For example, Parsons, who advocated a fundamental difference between the mechanisms of behavior of humans and animals, criticized Homans for the inability of his theory to explain social facts on the basis of psychological mechanisms.

In his theory of exchange, P. Blau attempted a kind of synthesis of social behaviorism and sociologism. Realizing the limitations of a purely behaviourist interpretation of social behavior, he set the goal of moving from the level of psychology to explaining on this basis the existence of social structures as a special reality that cannot be reduced to psychology. Blau's concept is an enriched theory of exchange, in which four successive stages of the transition from individual exchange to social structures are distinguished: 1) the stage of interpersonal exchange; 2) the stage of power-status differentiation; 3) the level of legitimation and organization; 4) the stage of opposition and change.

Blau shows that, starting from the level of interpersonal exchange, the exchange may not always be equal. In those cases when individuals cannot offer each other sufficient reward, the social bonds formed between them tend to disintegrate. In such situations, attempts arise to strengthen the disintegrating ties in other ways - through coercion, through the search for another source of reward, through submission of oneself to the exchange partner in the manner of generalized credit. The latter path means a transition to the stage of status differentiation, when a group of persons capable of giving the required reward becomes more privileged in terms of status than other groups. In the future, the legitimization and consolidation of the situation and the allocation of

opposition groups. In analyzing complex social structures, Blau goes far beyond the paradigm of behaviorism. He argues that the complex structures of society are organized around social values ​​and norms, which serve as a mediating link between individuals in the process of social exchange. Thanks to this link, it is possible to exchange rewards not only between individuals, but also between an individual and a group. For example, considering the phenomenon of organized charity, Blau defines what distinguishes charity as a social institution from simply helping a rich individual to a poorer one. The difference is that organized charity is a socially oriented behavior, which is based on the desire of a rich individual to comply with the norms of the wealthy class and share social values; through norms and values, the relationship of exchange between the donating individual and the social group to which he belongs is established.

Blau identifies four categories of social values ​​on the basis of which exchange is possible:

particularistic values ​​that unite individuals on the basis of interpersonal relationships;

universalist values ​​that act as a yardstick for assessing individual merits;

opposition values ​​- ideas about the need for social changes, allowing the opposition to exist at the level of social facts, and not only at the level of interpersonal relations of individual oppositionists.

We can say that Blau's theory of exchange is a compromise variant, combining elements of the theory of Homans and sociologism in the interpretation of the exchange of rewards.

The role concept of J. Mead is an approach of symbolic interactionism to the study of social behavior. Its name recalls the functionalist approach: it is also called role-playing. Mead considers role behavior as the activity of individuals interacting with each other in freely accepted and played roles. According to Mead, the role interaction of individuals requires them to be able to put themselves in the place of another, to evaluate themselves from the position of the other.

P. Zingelman also tried to synthesize the exchange theory with symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism has a number of intersections with social behaviorism and exchange theories. Both of these concepts emphasize the active interaction of individuals and view their subject from a microsociological perspective. According to Singelman, interpersonal exchange relationships require the ability to place oneself in the position of another in order to better understand his needs and desires. Therefore, he believes that there is reason for the merger of both directions into one. However, social behaviorists were critical of the emergence of the new theory.

QUESTIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

1. What is the difference between the content of the concepts " social action"And" social behavior "?

2. Do you think the representatives of social behaviorism are right or wrong in the idea that human behavior in society can be controlled? Should society govern the behavior of its members? Does it have the right to do so? Justify your answer.

3. What is a taboo? Is it a taboo, say, a prohibition for outsiders to enter the territory of a military unit? Justify your answer.

4. How do you feel about social prohibitions? Should there be any prohibitions in an ideal society, or is it better to abolish them altogether?

5. Give your assessment of the fact that in some Western countries legalized same-sex marriage unions. Is this a progressive step? Give reasons for your answer.

6. What, in your opinion, causes aggressive social behavior, for example, extremism of different directions?

ABSTRACT TOPICS

1. Psychoanalytic trends in the study of social behavior.

2. 3. Freud and his doctrine of human behavior.

3. Collective unconscious and social behavior in the teachings of K. Jung.

4. Behavioral concepts in sociology.

5. Social behavior within the framework of exchange theory.

6. Study of social behavior in the framework of the theory of symbolic interaction ism.

Behavior- a set of human actions committed by him in a relatively long period in constant or changing conditions.

Two people may be engaged in the same activities, but their behavior may be different. If activity consists of actions, then behavior - of actions.

To denote human behavior in society, the concept of "social behavior" is used.

Social behavior- human behavior in society, designed to exert a certain influence on the people around them and society as a whole.

There are many types of so-called social behavior, the most important of which are: mass; group; prosocial; antisocial; helping; competitive; deviant (deviant); illegal.

Examples:

antisocial:
1) A student of 11th grade sits on the last desk all the time, not communicating with any of the students.
2) Fight of pupils of 11th grade.
competitive:among the pupils of grade 11 a competition was held, the behavior of the pupils is competitive.
helping:a student of the 11th grade, not understanding the topic of physics, asked her friend, also a student of the 11th grade, to explain the material to her. this friend's behavior is helpful.
deviant: pupil of grade 11, Vasya Pupkin, without looking up from the computer all day, plays CS, this addiction is calledGambling (gambling addiction) is a form of deviant behavior.

Bulk behavior – activity of the masses, which does not have a specific goal and organization e.g. fashion, panic, social and political movements, etc.

Group behavior- joint actions of people in a certain social group, which is the result of the processes taking place in it.

Prosocial behavior- human behavior, which is based on prosocial motives, that is, the motives for providing people with kindness, help and support.

Example:

Creation of charitable foundations.

The man sitting on the couch saw the ad. It said that you need to send an SMS, and the money received from the SMS will go to help children.

V last years the following types of behavior have acquired special significance for the state of society, the position of a person and his fate:

- associated with the manifestation of good and evil, friendship and enmity between people;

- associated with the desire to achieve success and power;

- associated with confidence or self-doubt.

The types of social behavior are based on the patterns adopted in society, which include manners and customs.

Mores and customs, being unwritten rules, nevertheless determine the conditions of social behavior.

Sample assignment

A1. Choose the correct answer. Are the following judgments about social behavior correct?

A. Social behavior is manifested in purposeful activity in relation to other people.

B. Social behavior is based on socially accepted patterns, which include mores and customs.

1) only A is true

2) only B is true

3) both statements are true

4) both judgments are wrong

Answer: 3.

Deviant behavior

Deviant behavior- This is behavior that deviates from generally accepted, socially approved, the most widespread and well-established norms in certain communities at a certain period of their development.

Deviant- an individual who differs in his personal characteristics and behavioral manifestations from generally accepted norms: social, psychological, ethnic, pedagogical, age, professional and others.

Classification of deviant behavior

The definition of "Deviant behavior" according to different sciences:

Social sciences: social phenomena that pose a real threat to the physical and social survival of a person in a given social environment, immediate environment, a collective of social and moral norms and cultural values, a violation of the process of assimilation and reproduction of norms and values, as well as self-development and self-realization in that society, to which the person belongs.

Medical approach: deviation from the norms of interpersonal interaction accepted in this society: actions, deeds, statements performed both within the framework of mental health and in various forms of neuropsychic pathology, especially at the borderline level.

Psychological approach: Deviation from socio-psychological and moral norms, presented either as an erroneous antisocial model for resolving a conflict, manifested in a violation of socially accepted norms, or in damage to public well-being, others and oneself.

V.N. Ivanov distinguishes two levels of deviant behavior:

1. Precriminogenic: minor offenses, violation of moral norms, rules of conduct in in public places, evasion from socially useful activities, the use of alcoholic, narcotic, toxic substances that destroy the psyche, and other forms of behavior that are not dangerous.

2. Criminogenic: actions and deeds expressed in criminal criminally punishable acts.

The "core" of deviant behavior in the classification of F. Pataki are:

- "pre-deviant syndrome" - a complex of certain symptoms that lead a person to persistent forms of deviant behavior. Namely:

• affective type of behavior;
• family conflicts;
• aggressive type of behavior;
• early antisocial behaviors;
• negative attitude towards learning;
• low intelligence.

V.V.Kovalev's classification is based on three different bases:

1) socio-psychological:

Anti-disciplinary behavior;

Asocial;

Wrongful;

Auto-aggressive.

2) clinical and psychopathological:

Pathological;

Non-pathological deviations.

3) personality-dynamic.

V. G. Krysko. Psychology. Lecture course

3. Specificity of attitudes and behavior of people in society

Interaction, communication and relationships between people are realized in their behavior in society. Society itself exercises control over the management and influence of some individuals (and their groups) on others, natural for their mutual existence. On the other hand, it is obliged to regulate conflicts and behavior of people in certain circumstances. For this reason, every person is obliged to understand these kinds of problems. AND psychological science understands and interprets them in his own way.

The role and importance of control and management in the life and activities of people

Social control- This is the influence of society on attitudes, perceptions, values, ideals and behavior of people living in it.

It boils down to functioning and manifestation:

• social expectations, representing the direct or indirect requirements of others in relation to these people (many expectations of others are determined by the functions that a person must perform based on his social status, position in society and social role);
• social norms, those. some patterns that prescribe what people should say, think, feel, do in specific situations (most often, norms are established models, standards of proper behavior from the point of view of both society as a whole and specific social groups);
• social sanctions, consisting in the use of measures of influence as the most important means of social control, when

• the help of which the behavior of the individual (people) is brought to the norm of the social group (society).

If a person, his actions and deeds do not meet the expectations of society, if he clearly violates the social norms of the latter, does not fulfill the sanctions imposed on him, then the group or society strives to force him (in a softer or harsher form) to comply with them. In every society, there are certain methods or procedures by which members of a group or society seek to bring a person's behavior back to normal. Depending on what kind of norms are violated, punishment is imposed. On the other hand, if a person meets the norms of this group, then his behavior will be encouraged in all possible ways.

There are certain forms of social control, representing diverse ways of regulating human life in society, which are due to various processes in large and small social groups. These include morality, law, conscience, taboos, traditions and customs.

Law- a set of legal acts that have legal force and regulate the formal relations of people across the state. Laws are directly related to specific power in society and are determined by it.

Morality- the foundations of the life and activities of people, which have moral significance and are associated with the understanding of good and evil in a given social group or society. Morality regulates informal relations in society and is often opposed to law as a regulator of formal relations. Morality determines what people traditionally allow or forbid themselves in connection with their ideas about good and bad.

Conscience- This is a moral consciousness, moral intuition or feeling in a person that determines the inner awareness of people of good and evil.

Taboo- a system of prohibitions on the commission of any actions or thoughts of a person.

Traditions and customs- the usual ways of behavior for most people, common in a given society.

Along with social control, psychological science examines managerial problems that arise in society. Management processes take place where the general activities of people are carried out to achieve certain

results. Effective management social processes, their correct regulation presupposes a comprehensive scientific study their causal relationships, mechanisms of functioning and the subsequent impact on their subjects and the objective conditions in which they develop.

Modern management is called upon to productively influence, for humanistic purposes, the material and spiritual spheres of public life on the scale of the state, region, and social group. It is impossible to achieve this by relying only on knowledge of the technological, economic and organizational laws of social life. It is also necessary to use laws related to the functioning of the social structure at all levels of social life, ideological processes taking place on them, formations of a legal and moral order. At the same time, a special place belongs to the cognition and use of socio-psychological laws in management.

Control;- a set of necessary measures of influence on a group, society or its individual links (people) in order to streamline them, preserve quality specificity, improve and develop.

Management is carried out according to general laws in all complex dynamic control systems(social, psychological, biological, technical, economic, administrative, etc.) and is based on the receipt, processing and transmission of information.

Scientific organization management requires application by the researcher and supervisor system analysis situations, constructing (in the form of mental representations or materialized schemes, plans) a model of a controlled object and its possible changes, modeling the processes of professional activity (building professiograms) and personality behavior (psychograms of people).

Management carried out in social structures has its own specific peculiarities, expressed in the use of the flexibility of the human mind, various knowledge of people, the originality of their memory and volitional qualities, the specifics of interpersonal relations.

Goal of management- the desired result to be obtained after the implementation of control actions. Basic

the purpose of control is a predetermined, programmed state of the system, the achievement of which in the control process allows you to solve the desired problem. The process of goal-setting is a determining condition for the effectiveness of management activities of leaders and governing structures.

Management tasks- This is the formulation of specific issues to be resolved and consistently leading to the achievement of the main goal of management.

Management is always carried out in specific systems. Social management system is a control system in which there are subject-subject (person-person) relations. It includes: the subject and object of management, the purpose of management, the manifestation of management functions, principles and relations.

Subject of management is a structurally designated association of people and leaders, endowed with management powers and carrying out management activities. Control object includes individuals or their groups, which are directed by the organized, systematic, systematic impact of the subject of the government.

Management functions ensure the implementation of a number of specific areas of management activities. They are classified into:

• target, the purpose of which is to focus on a specific goal of the system, which may cover an industry, region, institutions, etc .;
• organizational, the purpose of which is to use the best methods for uniting specialists, employees to realize the goals of the existence of the management system, to ensure the life of all its substructures;
• logistics, through which the head determines the actual needs of the system and its subsystems in material resources;

• economic and financial, which allows the head to timely determine the real cost for his organization in the implementation of the task and the costs incurred by it for the life support of his divisions;
• accounting and control, which consists in ensuring the collection, transfer, storage and processing of accounting data, i.e. quantitative processing, registration and systematization of information on the activities of the system, on the implementation of managerial decisions, on the quantitative availability of finances and material resources;
• social, aimed at facilitating the effective resolution of contradictions arising in society, which are caused by such social phenomena as the heterogeneity of work and its remuneration, social inequality of people, the presence of citizens who have lost the ability to productive work and require social protection;
• motivation, aimed at ensuring the conscientious performance of subordinates of their duties.

Psychological science gives great importance principles of management, representing the basic rules, norms, guidelines, on the basis of which the management process is organized, the scientifically grounded organization of management functions, the choice of adequate methods and techniques of management influences.

The most general of these are the following principles:

• social orientation, reflecting the need for governing bodies in the process of developing and implementing management decisions to take into account the interests of society, industry, specific organizations and social and professional groups;
• legality, consisting in the fact that the organization and activities of management bodies and employees are governed by the norms of law, and all acts of management (orders, instructions, orders) are based on the requirements of the law;
• objectivity, requiring knowledge and taking into account the objective laws of interaction between the subject and the object of management, taking into account the existing possibilities, the real state of social processes;

• consistency, assuming that the subject of control, when choosing the methods of methods, forms of influence on the object, must take into account all those changes that are carried out in the environment within which this control system functions and develops;
• complexity, consisting in the fact that in each complex act of management it is necessary to take into account all its aspects: technological, economic, social, ideological, psychological, organizational, political;
• publicity, ensuring the availability of discussion and competent participation of all representatives of managerial relations in decision-making based on broad awareness and taking into account public opinion and includes truthful, timely and broad information about the actual state of affairs in the organization;
• connections of one-man management and collegiality, reflecting in the management process the interaction of two forms of manifestation of power - one-man command is directly related to the personal responsibility of the leader for the results of decisions made, and collegiality acts as a factor in the collective development of draft decisions and thereby increases the degree of their validity.

Finally, psychology pays special attention to attention to management relations, when, in the process of exercising management functions and observing its basic principles, people (members of a certain group, employees of a particular organization) enter into certain contacts and connections, during which both their general and special interests of each person are satisfied. Without this, the harmonious development of both society itself and the people that make it up is impossible.

The essence and types of psychological impact

In the course of interaction, communication, relationships and management, there is always a psychological impact, which is the socio-psychological activity of some people, carried out in various forms and by various means and aimed at other people (their groups) in order to transform or change psychological characteristics

personality (her views, opinions, attitudes, value orientations, moods, motives, attitudes and stereotypes of behavior), group norms, public opinion or people's experiences that mediate their activities and behavior. There are several types of psychological impact. Informational and psychological impact(often called information and propaganda, ideological) is the impact of words, information. It sets as its main goal the formation of certain ideological (social) ideas, views, perceptions, beliefs in people, while at the same time evoking positive or negative emotions, feelings and even violent mass reactions in them.

Psychogenic effects is a consequence of:

• physical impact on the brain of an individual, as a result of which there is a violation of normal neuropsychic activity (for example, a person receives a brain injury, as a result of which he loses the ability to think rationally, his memory is lost, etc.; or he is exposed to such factors , like sound, lighting, temperature, etc., which, through certain physiological reactions, change the state of his psyche, activity;)
• shock impact of environmental conditions or some events (for example, pictures of mass destruction, numerous victims, etc.) on a person's consciousness, as a result of which he is unable to act rationally, experiences affect or depression, panic, etc. ... The less prepared a person is for the psycho-traumatic influences of the surrounding reality and its physical influences, the more pronounced his mental trauma, called psychogenic losses.

Psychoanalytic (psychocorrectional) impact- This is the effect on the subconscious of a person by therapeutic means, especially in a state of hypnosis or deep sleep.

Neuro-linguistic impact(neurolinguistic programming) is a type of psychological influence that changes people's motivation by introducing special linguistic programs into their consciousness. You can compose message texts in the tools mass media so

in a way and in such a form (content) that they cause certain reactions of the psyche and behavior of people.

Psychotronic (parapsychological, extrasensory) influence- This is the influence on other people, carried out by transferring information through extrasensory (unconscious) perception.

Psychotropic effects- This is the impact on the psyche of people with the help of medicines, chemical or biological substances.

There are certain methods of psychological influence. Belief- This is a logically reasoned impact on the rational sphere of people's consciousness. Suggestion- This is the impact on the consciousness of an individual or a group of people, based on an uncritical (and often unconscious) perception of information. Infection- This is an impact based on the unconscious susceptibility of people (especially as part of a group) to emotional influence in conditions of direct contact. Imitation- a method of assimilating the traditions of society, the mechanism of conscious or unconscious reproduction of the experience of actions and deeds of another person (the subject of psychological influence), in particular, his movements, manners, actions, behavior, etc. Hypnosis- unconscious perception of information during sleep.

Individual-specific influence a person exercising psychological influence consists in transferring (or imposing) to people the samples of personal and other activity that they have not yet mastered, in which his individual psychological characteristics are expressed (kindness, sociability, or, conversely, ill will, selfishness, etc.).

Functional role influence the subject of psychological influence is a form of exercising his functions and interaction with other people, expressed in the imposition of social values ​​and actions on other people, methods of possible behavior, set by the goals that he pursues and determined by the role that he plays (or performs).

Directional influence- this is the influence of the subject of psychological influence, which is focused on certain

people or their specific personal qualities and socio-psychological characteristics.

Undirected influence is an influence that is not aimed at a specific object.

Direct influence- this is the direct influence of the subject of psychological influence himself or his personality traits to other people.

Indirect influence- impact directed not directly to the object of influence, but to its environment.

Influence is realized through the forms of psychological influence: example, encouragement, coercion.

Example is a purposeful and planned impact on the consciousness and behavior of people by a system of positive images designed to serve as a role model for them, the basis for the formation of the ideal of communicative behavior, a stimulus and a means of social self-development.

Encouragement- externally active stimulation, motivation of a person to positive, proactive, creative activity.

Compulsion- this is the application of such measures to objects of psychological influence, which induce them to fulfill their duties despite the unwillingness to recognize guilt and correct their behavior.

The specifics of the conflict between people

Relationships between people are not always cloudless. They can take shape conflict, which is an intractable situation that may arise due to the existing disharmony of interpersonal relations between people in a society or a group, as well as as a result of an imbalance between the structures existing in them.

Conflicts arise not due to the manifestation of objective circumstances, but as a result of their incorrect subjective perception and assessment by people.

The following usually lead to conflicts causes:

• the presence of contradictions between the interests, values, goals, motives, roles of members of the society or group;
• the presence of confrontation between different people(by official leaders and informal

• leaders), formal and informal groups (microgroups), their members of different status, different microgroups;

• breakdown of relations between certain groups (micro-groups) and within them;
• the emergence and stable dominance of negative emotions and feelings as background characteristics of interaction and communication between members of society and groups. Conflict plays like constructive and destructive(has a negative impact on the moral and psychological state of members of society and its social groups, worsens relationships between people, negatively affects the effectiveness of joint activities) role.

Usually conflicts have their own structure. (parties to the conflict and conflict situation, those. collision of the parties involved) and dynamics:

• at the emergence of a conflict situation the occurrence of contradictions between members of the group is recorded;
• coming after a certain time awareness of the conflict situation activates the parties to the conflict to take the necessary measures;
• conflict interaction causes an acute confrontation between the parties;
• conflict resolution leads to the removal or getting rid of the contradictions of conflicting people (conflict resolution involves the activity of both parties to transform the conditions in which they interact, to eliminate the causes of the conflict, for which it is necessary to change the parties themselves; often the resolution of the conflict is based on a change in the attitude of opponents to its object or to each other);
• on post-conflict stage tension is released.

It may be the case fading conflict, those. temporary cessation of opposition while maintaining the main

signs of conflict and tensions between its participants. The conflict moves from an "explicit" form to a latent one. Fading conflict usually occurs as a result of:

• depletion of the resources of both sides needed to fight;
• loss of motivation to fight, reducing the importance of the object of the conflict;
• reorientation of the motivation of the parties (the emergence of new problems, more significant than the struggle in the conflict).

The conflict, moreover, can be settled or eliminated. Settlement of the conflict differs from resolution in that a third party takes part in eliminating the contradiction between its parties. Its participation is possible both with the consent of the warring parties and without their consent. Under the elimination of the conflict usually understood as such an impact on him, as a result of which the main structural elements of the conflict are eliminated. Despite the "non-constructiveness" of elimination, there are situations that require quick and decisive impacts on the conflict (threat of violence, loss of life, lack of time or material opportunities). Sometimes one conflict can develop into another conflict, when a new, more significant contradiction arises in the relations of the parties and the object of the conflict changes.

Distinguish social conflicts, characteristic of the whole society as a whole and its specific groups. They can play both positive and negative roles.

According to their inner content, social conflicts are divided into realistic and unrealistic. Realistic conflicts arise from the frustration of the specific requirements of the participants, their assessments, possible benefits and are aimed at the alleged source of frustration. Unrealistic conflicts are caused by the need to defuse tension for at least one of the parties to the conflict. They are also called rational and emotional, rational and irrational.

Conflicts can also be classified according to the spheres of society in which the objects of the conflict and the main goals of the participants in the confrontation lie. Conflicts in the socio-economic sphere- conflicts, the struggle in which is about the production, distribution and consumption of material goods, the functioning and management of enterprises of various

forms of ownership. Political conflicts are distinguished by confrontation over the management of society, the distribution and use of power, political structure society. Cultural conflicts are linked predominantly with the struggle of knowledge, ideas, beliefs and values. In the first place are the problems of interpretation and understanding of the meaning of life, its content, goodness, justice, the realization of freedom, equality of rights and obligations of the individual and society.

In reality, any conflict unfolds and affects all spheres of life, but the degree of involvement of the conflict in each of the spheres is different.

In terms of the composition of the participants, social conflicts - these are intergroup conflicts, which arise:

• between social communities - social-class, professional, national-ethnic, religious, etc .;
• between organizations, political parties, political unions and fronts, etc .;
• between the state and between social groups and communities, political parties, public organizations etc.;
• between social institutions and within social institutions(for example, between the political system and religion, between the state and the army; between states, unions of states).

The form of intergroup is often interpersonal conflicts that in some cases can play a noticeable role in their development: for example, conflicts between two leaders of social groups, movements, parties, groups in the government, etc.

When analyzing and understanding the role and significance of social conflicts, it is important that when they are resolved, a solution to the problem due to which it arose is found. The more completely the contradiction is resolved, the more chances for the normalization of relations between the participants, the less the likelihood of the conflict escalating into a new confrontation.

The victory of the right side is no less significant. The affirmation of the truth, the victory of justice have a beneficial effect on the socio-psychological climate in the relationship between the opposing sides. At the same

for a while it is necessary to remember that the wrong side also has its own interests. If we ignore them altogether, do not seek to reorient the motivation of the wrong opponent, then this is fraught with new, much stronger conflicts in the social sphere of society in the future.

The content of the political life of states, societies is special form realization of the political interests of people (classes, social groups, parties, national and religious communities, etc.) The political life of society is expressed in power relations (the struggle for Power) aimed at protecting, consolidating and developing the gains achieved, creating prerequisites for improving the position of certain political forces, the achievement of a balance between them. If there is no such balance, then political conflicts arise.

Political conflict- This is a clash of opposing social forces, due to certain mutually exclusive political interests and goals. A feature of a political conflict is the struggle for political influence in society or in the international arena.

Political conflicts are divided into foreign policy (interstate) and internal political, but they can manifest themselves at the interpersonal level, and at the level of small groups, and at the level of large social groups, and at the regional and global levels.

In addition, conflicts can be class, arising between social forces, groups, the relationship between which is of an antagonistic (often civil) nature.

May also occur conflicts between political parties (social and political movements). With the transition of world civilization from authoritarian forms of government to predominantly democratic, the struggle over the ways of development of society in democratic states shifted in favor of the activities of political parties and socio-political movements. The political struggle of parties rarely goes beyond the framework of constitutional norms, although it sometimes acquires a dramatic character (suffice it to recall the events in Russia in 1993)

Can often take place conflicts between various groups for leadership in the state, party, movement, etc.

These groups, as a rule, are not officially registered in associations, but their interests are always associated with the struggle for power. Sometimes political conflicts include interethnic conflicts, if they have a pronounced political connotation.

Political conflicts carry out certain positive and negative functions:

• stabilizing;
• contribute to the resolution of contradictions;
• stimulate a reassessment of political values;
• accelerate the consolidation of new structures;
• provide better knowledge of other people;
• can lead to disintegration and destabilization of society;
• can lead to the death of people and the elimination of material assets;
• can lead to adverse changes in power relations.

For a stable functioning society needs constant modernization, including political modernization as the basis for the legitimacy and stability of political power. But modernization is a process of resolving contradictions and conflicts that arise in the course of development. Political practice has developed ways to stabilize the system, leading to the prevention of internal political conflicts.

The specifics of the behavior of people in a crowd

People in society, especially during social crises and conflicts, do not always behave in an organized manner. An example of this is their actions in a crowd. Crowd is a relatively short-term, disorganized and unstructured gathering of many people, possessing a huge impact on society and its life, incommensurate with the individual power, capable of instantly creating or destroying, raising or lowering, disorganizing the behavior and activities of people.

Throughout history, the crowd was feared or admired for its strength, it was opposed to a person, an organized group and at the same time, they tried with all their might to be like her and borrow some of the qualities inherent in it, they tried to control the crowd not only to cope with

her anger, but also in order to direct this sweeping anger on someone hated.

The real element of the crowd is the socio-political crises that shake the entire society, as well as periods of transition from one state of society to another. Feelings of unhappiness, anxiety, injustice, a threat to their existence, together with the determination to eliminate the causes of the current situation, force people of various professions, gender, age, education, religion and nationality to urgently self-mobilize in order to oppose an undefined danger or specific perpetrators of evil. This is how a crowd is born - this seeming accident, a collection of heterogeneous people who feel each other's elbows, their constantly growing strength.

To the main psychological peculiarities crowds usually include:

• the short duration and structurelessness of the congestion of many people;
• single object of attention;
• lack of a common conscious goal;
• a high degree of contact between people and their spatial proximity;
• extreme emotional excitability of people;
• a high degree of their conformity, etc.

The most important mechanism that controls the behavior and actions of people in a crowd is circular reaction, which is a growing bilateral emotional infection of people in disorganized communities and extreme situations.

For example, when panic occurs, the fear of some participants in panic actions is transmitted to others, which in turn increases the fear of the former. The action of this mechanism can be compared with the process of the formation of a snowball, believing that in a crowd the psychological state, moods and forms of people's behavior resonate, are amplified by repeated reflection according to the pattern chain reaction, accelerate like particles in an accelerator and excite the crowd.

The circular reaction is capable of capturing into its orbit a large number of people, emotionally stimulating at the psychophysiological level the spread of not only fear (in a panic crowd), but also other emotions: joy, sadness, anger, etc.

It is believed that a circular reaction leads to a situational erasure of individual differences between people covered by it, i.e. the behavior and emotional state of a person are determined not so much by his conscious interpretation of the situation as by the sensory perception of the state of the people around him. In extreme cases, the action of this reaction can lead to the transformation of the group into a homogeneous mass, unconsciously reacting in the same way to stimuli.

Researchers of the phenomenon of the crowd also note that as the effect of the circular reaction in the crowd increases, the criticality of people decreases, i.e. their ability to independently and rationally evaluate what is happening around. At the same time, the suggestibility of the people who make up the crowd increases in relation to the influences emanating from this crowd. And all this is combined with a loss of the ability to perceive messages, the source of which is outside the crowd.

At the same time, the circular reaction should not be regarded as an exclusively harmful phenomenon that only determines the irrational and socially dangerous behavior of people. Expressed in a fairly moderate form, it increases, for example, the effectiveness of collective perception of art or political agitation aimed at mobilizing people to solve socially significant problems. A circular reaction becomes a socially dangerous phenomenon only when it contributes to the spread of negative emotions: fear, hatred, anger, anger.

The likelihood of a circular reaction increases sharply during periods of social tension in society associated with various kinds of crises, since a significant number of people may experience similar emotions and their attention will be focused on common problems.

There are several types of crowd.

Random crowd- an unorganized community of people arising in connection with some unexpected event - for example, a traffic accident, fire, fight, etc.

Usually a random crowd is formed by the so-called onlookers, i.e. persons experiencing a certain need for new impressions, thrills. The main emotion in such cases is people's curiosity. A random crowd can quickly gather and dissipate just as quickly. Usually

it is not numerous and can unite from several tens to hundreds of people, although there are also some cases when a random crowd consisted of several thousand.

Conventional crowd- a crowd whose behavior is based on explicit or implied norms and rules of behavior - conventions.

Such a crowd gathers for a pre-announced event, such as a rally, political demonstration, sports event, concert, etc. In such cases, people are usually motivated by a very focused interest and they must follow the norms of behavior appropriate to the nature of the event. Naturally, the behavior of spectators at a symphony orchestra concert will not coincide with the behavior of fans of a rock star during her performance and will be fundamentally different from the behavior of fans at a football or hockey match.

Expressive crowd- a community of people, distinguished by a special force of mass manifestation of emotions and feelings (love, joy, sadness, sadness, grief, indignation, anger, hatred, etc.).

An expressive crowd is usually the result of the transformation of an accidental or conventional crowd, when people, in connection with certain events they have witnessed, and under the influence of their development, become possessed by a general emotional mood, expressed collectively, often rhythmically. The most common examples of expressive crowds are football or hockey fans chanting slogans in support of their teams, participants in political rallies and demonstrations expressing their support for the policies of the ruling regime or protest.

Ecstatic crowd- the kind of crowd in which the people who make it up drive themselves to a frenzy in joint prayer, ritual or other actions.

Most often this happens with young people during rock concerts, with believers, representatives of some religious denominations or religious sects.

Aggressive crowd- a gathering of people striving for destruction, destruction and even murder. At the same time, people who make up an aggressive crowd do not have a rational basis for their actions and, being in a state of frustration, often

direct their blind anger or hatred to completely random objects that have nothing to do with what is happening or with the rioters themselves.

Aggressive mobs are relatively rare on their own. More often than not, it is the result of the transformation of a casual, conventional or expressive crowd. So, football fans, annoyed and angry with the loss of their favorite team, can easily turn into an aggressive crowd that begins to destroy everything around, break benches in the stadium, smash windows of nearby houses and shop windows, beat random passers-by, etc. It is no coincidence that in many countries, football fields of stadiums are surrounded by special iron bars, fans of opposing teams are seated in isolated sectors, and reinforced police and even security forces are on duty at matches.

Panic crowd- a gathering of people, seized by a sense of fear, the desire to avoid some imaginary or real danger.

Panic is a socio-psychological phenomenon of the manifestation of the group affect of fear. Moreover, it should be borne in mind that the primary is individual fear, which, however, acts as a prerequisite, a ground for group fear, for the emergence of panic. The main feature of any panic behavior of people is the desire for self-salvation. At the same time, the fear that has arisen blocks the ability of people to rationally assess the situation that has arisen and prevents the mobilization of volitional resources for organizing a joint counteraction to the emerging danger.

Money-grubbing crowd- the accumulation of people who are in direct and disordered conflict with each other due to the possession of certain values, which are not enough to meet the needs or desires of all participants in this conflict.

The possessive crowd has many faces. It can also be formed by buyers in stores when selling high-demand goods with an obvious shortage of them; and passengers seeking to occupy a limited number of seats on a departing bus or train; and ticket buyers at the ticket booths before the start

any entertainment event; and depositors of a bankrupt bank, demanding the return of their invested money; and persons who rob property or goods from shops and warehouses during riots.

Questions for self-control

1. Give a definition of the activities of people.
2. Open those structure of activity.
3. What is human interaction?
4. What kinds of human relationships do you know?
5. List the mechanisms of social perception.
6. Give a definition of communication between people and describe its functions.
7. What is the role of social control and management in the life of society?
8. Describe the features and types of psychological impact of some people on others.
9. What is crowd behavior?
10. What is the mechanism of behavior of people in a crowd?

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Society is some kind of given that we do not choose, do not create and cannot control, but it controls us, and to one degree or another controls us. in society - what is it? "- you ask. The answer to the question is offered by this article. You will be asked to understand this complex issue, to understand for yourself why it happens this way and not otherwise, and whether we can change anything.

Social structure

Each of the aspects of society (socio-economic, cultural, institutional and human nature) itself is a complex association formed by the combination and interdependence of simpler component parts... The socio-economic order is formed by a combination of labor and personal activity. The institutional aspect includes public and private organizations. Culture is a combination of knowledge and technology, worldview and values. Human nature is also formed from the interaction of hereditary nature and its development in a particular individual. The characteristic of a person in society is therefore called the special term "individuality".

Society, like all, is irreducible. This complex whole cannot be reduced to any of the aspects; the characteristics of a person in a society do not characterize this society as a whole. Any explanation of society in terms of one aspect, be it culture, human nature, power struggles, or various institutions, is incomplete. It, like all complex systems, must be considered as an interaction of various scales, forming a single and irreducible whole.

And, as in other similar systems, its constituent parts do not exist separately, in isolation, but must be considered in their relation to the rest of the whole.

Hierarchical structure

A fundamental aspect of human social organization is its All forms of social organization, from a society of gatherers and hunters to highly developed civilization, are characterized by unequal distribution of power and hierarchy. Not all hierarchies are created equal. Some have strong centralized power and class divisions. Others, like the hunter-gatherer society, are less vertical, more democratic, and may not even have permanent leaders. But they all have something in common: the distribution of power in them is always uneven. There is always a dominant sector, it can be men, leaders, clans, healers, etc.

The biological reason for the existence of hierarchy lies in our competitive nature. Competition is one of the many aspects of human nature. Moreover, many of its aspects also conflict and compete with each other. For example, by nature, we strive not only for competition, but also for communication. That is, by nature, we must be connected and correlated with others and at the same time compete with them. Human competition forces us to organize ourselves into structures with an unequal distribution of power. Hierarchy, then, is an inevitable aspect of social organization.

Function of society

Unlike organisms or colonies, the behavior of which corresponds to the function performed, society as a whole does not have any specific role.

However, while not required, in some cases social systems have a function that is largely determined by political structure systems. Hierarchical social systems work for the benefit of those at the top of the hierarchy at the expense of those below.

The idea that society exists for the benefit of every individual is wrong. The social system can work both for the good and for the detriment of a person. How it will work in a particular case depends on random and arbitrary historical events... Attempts by individuals to control or design a system tend to have unforeseen and often undesirable consequences.

Is it possible to objectively compare different societies?

In contrast to relativistic beliefs, systems can be assessed objectively and compared in terms of the benefits they bring to individuals. As mentioned earlier, systems do not have any function, so they can work both for the benefit and harm of a person. From this position, some of them are good. Others are bad. Some systems are better than others.

A good system is one that promotes general welfare. The bad one brings harm to people or contributes to the well-being of some at the expense of others, because the characteristic of a person in the society of other people always presupposes this division.

How can society be changed?

What is the characteristic of a person in society? The answer to this question is not so easy. We began this article by saying that we do not choose, create, and cannot control society, but it controls the life of each of us. Does this mean that it is an independent system that controls people and is not subject to their control? Is it possible to change the society in which we live?

The topic "man and society" has always attracted the attention of politicians and sociologists. As said social systems "are not set in stone." There is no reason people couldn't change them. We must be able to choose a social system that will work for the benefit of people. The characterization of a person in society is a topic that concerns each of us.

However, for a number of reasons, this is not easy to do. First, individuals cannot change the system on their own. Only collective action can lead to changes in it. And collective action is difficult to organize, as it is generally determined to be part of the system, not rebel against it. Second, those who benefit the least from the system and have the most reasons for wanting to change it have the least power in the system.

To what extent should a person be responsible for society?

In general, the responsibility of the people is quite insignificant. After all, if we often have a very vague understanding of our own nature, and the ability to control it is very limited, what can we say about such complex topic how is society in a person's life? However, despite the limited responsibility that individuals have, responsibility for it still exists.

Characteristics of a person in society in terms of the degree of responsibility

It is those of us at the top of the hierarchy who bear the greatest responsibility. They tend to have more high level education, health, opportunities, resources and power to effect change. But at the same time, they are the least likely to improve the system. This is because they derive the most benefits from it and therefore will resist change and will not support changes that hurt their interests. In addition, the way of thinking of such people, as a rule, lacks the necessary critical and analytical potential. The higher a person climbs the hierarchy, the more they tend to conform to the system in order to protect their power.

The lower a person is on the level of the hierarchy, the lower the role of a person in society, the less responsibility he has, since he usually has a low level of education, health, material resources, he lacks the ability and power to make changes. In addition, such people are often manipulated, they are controlled by those who are higher. They are forced to take care of their fundamental and urgent needs first of all. The topic "man and society" seems to be inaccessible to them.

The middle strata of society bear almost the same responsibility as those at the top of the hierarchy. The degree of this responsibility is inversely proportional to its verticality, as well as the role of a person in society. In order to maintain their power, the top of society will try to keep the middle strata happy (and in the lower hierarchies it will try to take care of the lower strata as well). Therefore, the middle strata also benefit from the existing system with its capabilities, resources and unlimited power, and therefore share responsibility with the top of society. Unlike the latter, who are not capable of changing the system, the middle strata have the capabilities and resources for this. However, in their power struggles, they tend to adapt to the system and act in the interests of those at the top, ensuring the legitimacy of the system. The characteristic of a person in society is what is largely on their conscience.

Ignorance does not absolve from responsibility

Ignorance, lack of understanding does not relieve the top and middle strata of society from responsibility. Unlike the lower classes, they have the ability and resources to understand the system and influence it. If the system is bad, then by adjusting to it, they contribute to keeping it in bad condition. Despite the collective consciousness of rationalizing, justifying or ignoring the harm of the system, individuals still remain responsible for this state of affairs. Society plays an important role in human life, and we are all responsible for it.

In unequal societies, the system is not usually challenged by people from the upper or lower strata of society, but by a minority from the middle stratum that decides to defend freedom, justice, equality and the interests of those below, future generations, and environment... Although most of the middle strata of society, as a rule, quickly adapt to the system, those who do not identify with it, cannot come to terms with it, and who have enough education, material resources and strength to challenge her.

The revolutionary changes caused by such people often lead to the replacement of one type of hierarchy with another (which in some cases turns out to be even worse). On the other hand, a stable improvement of the system occurs when these people enter the scene and participate in the process of social development.