2. The concept: Social Change
Change refers to evolution, progress or adaptation
Change is the law of nature
Change denotes a difference in anything observed,
over a period of time
Society is a web of social relationships
3. The concept: Social Change
Social change is a concept in sociology which talks
about a change in the established patterns of social
relations, or change in social values or change in
structures and subsystems operating in the society.
4. The concept: Social Change cont…
The term social change is used to indicate the
changes that take place in human interactions and
interrelations. Social change refers to an alteration in
the social order of a society. Social change may
include changes in nature, social institutions, social
behaviours, or social relations.
5. MEANING OF SOCIAL CHANGE
The word ‘change’ denotes a difference in anything
observed over some period of time. Hence, social
change would mean observable differences in any
social phenomena over any period of time.
Social change refers to the modifications which
take place in life pattern of people. It occurs
because all societies are in a constant state of
disequilibrium.
6. Definitions: Social Change
• According to Davis :
"By social change is meant only such
alterations as occur in social organization, that
is, structure and functions of society.“
7. Cont…
• According to Gillin and Gillin :
"Social changes are variations from the
accepted modes of life; whether due to
alterations in geographical conditions, in
cultural equipment, composition of the
population, or ideologies and whether brought
about by diffusion or invention within the
group.“
8. Cont…
• According to Jones:
"Social changes are a term used to describe
variations in, or modifications of any aspect of
social processes, social patterns, social
interaction or social organization."
9. Continue…
• According to MacIver and Page :
"Change in social structure is social change."
Social structure is the network of relationship in a
society involving social status, social roles and
social norms.
10. Continue…
• According to Merril and Eldredge :
"Social change means that large number of
persons are engaged in activities that differ from
those which they or their immediate forefathers
engaged in sometime before. When human
behaviour is in the process of modification, that
is only another way of indicating that social
change is occurring."
13. Nature of Social Change:
(1)Change is Social
(2)Universal
(3)Continuous
(4)Inevitable
(5)Temporal
(6)Degree or rate of change is not uniform
(7)Social Change may be planned or unplanned
(8)Social change is multi-causal
(9)Social change creates chain-reactions
(10)Prediction is uncertain
