Social status is an assessment by society of a person's position in it. What are social problems, what are they, and how are they related? Society's assessment of the social significance of one or another

Economic problems are not the only difficulties faced by the state. Another area is social problems.

These factors are closely interconnected among themselves, and to one degree or another are found in any country. Below IQReview prepared an analysis highlighting and describing current social problems in Russia and their impact on the lives of citizens.

What are social issues?

According to Wikipedia, social problems are situations, events and conditions that directly or indirectly negatively affect a citizen from the point of view of society. At first, this term ("social problem") referred only to the uneven distribution of wealth. It began to be used at the beginning of the 19th (19th) century, in Western Europe.

The list of problems has changed and continues to change over time along with:

changes in circumstances (economic, social, political);

and changes in living standards citizens;

change in the mood of citizens.

Types and classification

With all problems can be easily divided into:

Socio-economic. This includes all factors related to finances and material conditions.

Social and household. They include factors related to providing citizens with affordable housing, living conditions, material difficulties of young and large families.

Socio-psychological. Includes factors related to family and internal relations between relatives. This also includes family conflicts, domestic violence, betrayal, divorce.

Socio-political problems. This includes the arms race, regional and state conflicts, the growth of violence in individual countries and the world as a whole. This also applies to conflicts on religious or ethnic grounds.

E If you put another formulation, the classification of problems will look like this:

Between social groups.

Between classes.

Between individuals.

Between social systems.

The following factors are referred to global problems:

Demographic. Globally, it is associated with the overall growth of the world's population. In a number of states, it concerns a decrease in the number of inhabitants.

Food. Refers to the need to provide residents with food.

Energy. It concerns the need to provide the world's population with energy.

Ecological. Regarding pollution environment and waste disposal.

List of major problems in Russia and the world

Topical social problems all over the world are the same. The difference lies in the fact that in some countries some problems are more acute, while others - less. In some states, some social problems are practically absent: the percentage of their manifestations is very small.

Now let's list. The actual social problems today are as follows:

Alcoholism, drug addiction (both among adults and among minors).

Banditry, crime - both children and adults, terrorism, prostitution, extremism.

Homelessness, violations of children's rights, abortion, abandonment of children.

Fascism, conflicts arising on religious, national, ethnic grounds.

Inequality between classes of residents (when one part of the citizens is poor and the other is rich).

Unemployment, poverty, insufficient wages.

Disability (high number of disabled people relative to the total population), attitude towards citizens with disabilities.

Demographic crisis: high mortality, low birth rate, high number of emigrated citizens, a large percentage of pensioners and elderly citizens.

Environmental pollution, the possibility of a man-made disaster.

Health status: increased incidence, epidemics, high chance of infection.

Social inequality, infringement of certain categories of citizens.

Corruption (does not depend on the level economic development- can manifest itself in both a poor and a rich state).

Inflation.

Suicide (a large number of cases relative to the population).

Restriction of the rights of citizens, suppression of freedom of speech, movement.

Low level of education, lack of specialists.

Population of Russia

A complete list of these problems is most clearly manifested in third world countries. In addition to their acute manifestation, such states also lack completely (or work ineffectively) a system for their solution. That is, no one is trying to influence the situation. As a result, the harmful situation can progress and last for years and even decades.

In more developed countries, these problems also exist, but they are felt much weaker.

In Russia, the key negative factors are poverty and low salaries - even among narrowly specialized specialists and professions in demand.

Less serious are the following social problems:

High level of corruption, "nepotism", promotion of "friends". It can be traced in all structures.

Unemployment, lack of jobs in the regions.

Alcoholism.

Violence in family.

The rest of the social problems in the Russian Federation are for the most part a consequence of these factors, and to one degree or another depend on them.

Brief statistics

Social problems of Russia in figures have the following indicators (for 2016):

Alcoholism. Among about 5 million are alcoholics (of which 6% are minors).

Addiction. There are about 3 million citizens who constantly use drugs. Among them, 60% are aged 16-30, 20% are minors, 20% are citizens over 30 years old.

Crime. 2.16 million crimes were registered (10% lower than in 2015). Among them, 44% were cases of theft of someone else's property. Every second crime was committed by persons who previously violated the law, and every third was committed while intoxicated.

Corruption. The Russian Federation belongs to the countries with a high level of corruption. The most corrupt are the social sectors (medicine, housing and communal services), law enforcement structures and some government organizations (land distribution, government orders and government purchases, certification).

Unemployment. The unemployed - 4.1 million (compared to 2015, there is a decline in unemployment by 0.4%).

Inflation: 5.4% (in 2015 - it exceeded 12%).

Abortion. In 2015, 447 thousand abortions were performed at the request of women. According to statistics, the number of abortions in the Russian Federation has been steadily decreasing over the past two decades. For comparison: in 1995, 2.76 million abortions were performed in the Russian Federation.

Suicide. For 100 thousand citizens - 15.4 (for 2016). This is the lowest figure since 1960. In the "nineties" the Russian Federation ranked second in the world in the number of suicides, in 2013 - fourteenth, in 2016 - thirtieth. According to statistics, about 22% of suicides are committed by citizens aged 40-49, and men are 6 times more likely than women.

Ethnic conflicts. Due to the multi-ethnic composition of the population of the Russian Federation, conflicts on ethnic and religious grounds often arise. They mainly occur in large cities (where large diasporas of representatives of other nationalities live) and in cities located close to the southern borders.

Violence in family. Statistics on this type of crime is complicated by the fact that about 60-70% of cases are not reported to law enforcement agencies, and about 97% of cases do not reach court. According to rough estimates, about a quarter of all families are at risk (domestic violence is present to some extent).

Homelessness. The exact number of homeless children in the country has not been established, according to rough estimates, it is several thousand. There are about 72 thousand children of various ages in orphanages. More than 500 thousand children are full orphans, but are brought up in other families.

Prostitution. In 2014, according to rough estimates, the number of female employees in this industry was about 3 million.

Health status. Of 188 countries, the Russian Federation was in 119th place in terms of health conditions of citizens. HIV-infected citizens - about 1.5 million.About 300 thousand citizens per year die from oncological diseases... Tuberculosis statistics - 9 cases per 100 thousand population. In general, the assessment of the situation is below average.

Social inequality. According to official statistics around the world, the rating of the Russian Federation in the list of countries is high, but far from the “leaders” (in which inequality is most pronounced).

Demographic situation. Since 2010, the population has been growing steadily. As of the beginning of 2017, it is 146,804,372 citizens. From 1996 to 2009, inclusive, there was a demographic crisis: the population was steadily declining (from 148.291 million in 1996 to 141.9 million in 2009). The situation is more complicated with the age of the nation: the number of pensioners (at the end of 2016) is almost 43 million (that is, almost a third of the total number).

Disability. In 2015, there were almost 13 million people with disabilities in the Russian Federation. Among them - 605 thousand children with disabilities (under the age of 18).

Poverty. According to Rosstat, 21.4 million Russians (14.6% of the total population) can be considered poor. In fact, this indicator is much higher, since (according to which the amount of poverty is calculated) is much lower than the real amount needed for life. According to various estimates, between 40 and 70 million citizens (that is, slightly less than half) are below the poverty line.

Poverty rate in Russia

The relationship between individual factors

Almost all problems are closely interrelated and usually do not develop independently, but in a complex manner.

Larger and more serious factors "pull" several accompanying problems:

The rise in unemployment leads to poverty, an increase in crime, prostitution, social inequality, and a demographic crisis.

An increase in the number of alcoholics and drug addicts leads to an increase in crime, prostitution, domestic violence, early mortality, suicide, and an increase in morbidity statistics.

The growth of crime entails an increase in corruption, prostitution.

T social andeconomic problems... In case of prolonged the decline of the state's economy will be aggravated by the following negative factors, along the chain:

Decrease in living standards, incomes of the population.

Rising unemployment.

The rise in crime.

Aggravation of the problem of alcoholism and drug addiction - as citizens in difficult situations often resort to alcohol and drugs to distract themselves.

Increased incidence of domestic violence.

A decrease in the birth rate - as withlow income families do not have enough money to support their children.

Deteriorating health status of the population - due to cheap food, lack of funds for treatment and medicines, difficult working conditions.

Reasons for the appearance

Current social problems are a consequence of various causes. Each problem individually appears due to certain conditions. Often one problem is a consequence of another, since they are all closely related.

If we consider groups of problems, then the reasons for their occurrence include:

Demographic, family problems. They arise due to the low level of income of the population, unemployment, low level of medical care, lack of social programs (or their low quality) aimed at supporting families with children.

Crime. It is growing due to high unemployment, alcoholism and drug addiction, poor work of law enforcement agencies.

Fascism and conflicts arising on religious, national or ethnic grounds. It manifests itself due to the presence in a certain area of ​​two or more different social groups. Also, the reason may be the historical background, due to which some groups are aggressively disposed towards others.

Corruption. Arises due to weak government control, lack of public control for the activities of power structures on the part of the population (or the lack of response from law enforcement agencies).

Poor health of the population, a high percentage of disability. It arises due to insufficient funding for medicine, low living standards, poor environmental conditions, outdated production technologies, alcoholism and drug addiction.

Social inequality. It arises due to the large difference between the living conditions of different groups of the population (in the level of income, opportunities, benefits).

Violence statistics

It is possible to single out general factors that lead to the development and progression of problems:

Weak control of the state apparatus, slow (or ineffective) response to emerging problems (or lack of it at all).

Insufficiently effective work of law enforcement and other control bodies.

Insufficiently effective work of educational institutions.

The poor state of the economy as a whole.

High population density.

Change too fast(technological progress, rapidly changing fashion trends), which leads to the development of a consumer model of behavior, when the population strives to have all the fashionable goods, spending money on it. Also, in this case, people are easily amenable to advertising and other information obtained from external sources.

Ways to fight and prevention

Statistics show that solving social problems forever and everywhere is impossible. It is possible to partially reduce their manifestation, down to a minimum.

Moreover, the measures taken to address some social problems can lead to the emergence of other negative phenomena. For example, in the 30s of the last century Soviet Union actively engaged in the fight against unemployment. Its level fell: new jobs began to be created for citizens in construction, industry and the agricultural sector. However, this resulted in inefficient employment and heavy manual labor.

Before starting to deal with the problem, it is necessary to conduct a detailed analysis of it. It should include:

Scale: what territory (city, region, etc.) the factor covers.

“Target audience”: which segments of the population and age groups feel its influence.

How dangerous the situation is.

What problems and factors accompany its appearance.

What problem is the key of the complex (for example, alcoholism is one of the main causes of poor health, an increase in crime, and domestic violence).

After "diagnostics", the authorities should develop a set of measures aimed at combating negative factors. Solutions to social problems can include:

Enlightenment " target audience". The population should be aware of the current situation and its development, as well as the consequences that it entails. For example, when it comes to combating drug addiction, it is necessary to regularly bring to the attention of the population information about the consequences of drug use, as well as about crimes committed while under the influence of drugs.

Development of measures aimed at solving key and related problems.

Strengthening control over the situation, regular monitoring of dynamics. It is necessary to track in which direction the statistics are changing, and at what pace the changes are taking place.

If possible - toughening of responsibility. For example, if we are talking about drug addiction, then the terms of imprisonment for the distribution and production of substances should be increased.

Modern measures to deal with each problem separately - the task is always individual. The same negative factor will manifest itself differently in each country.

Representatives of all levels of government, regulatory bodies and state structures- from deputies of the State Duma to. Funds should not be left out. mass media... Their task is to inform the population of the current situation, its changes and possible consequences.

Social problems of Russia (video)

in psychology) (social understanding), a way by which people evaluate their own behavior and the behavior of others. the work of the Austrian is devoted to the origin. Fritz Haider (1896-1988) Psychology interpersonal relationships(1958). He believed that people often give meaning to not always explainable facts of their lives, linking them with non-obvious causal factors, for example, moods (in such cases, self-perception is of great importance). Haider also paid great attention prejudice in assessing the behavior of other people. For example, we clearly fall into prejudice when we believe that another person completely shares our opinion. We also exaggerate the role of factors such as ability, character, intentions, and underestimate the role of many others. ext. factors such as societies, pressures and difficulties in fulfilling a person's task. There is disagreement among psychologists about the reasons for this bias. According to ongoing research, people have developed objectivity. representations (scenarios) regarding the consequences of behavior. They do not need special causal analysis because they are scenarios provide ready-made predictions and explanations. Psychologists rely on Haider's ideas to understand how the assessment that people give to success and failure affects motivation and predisposition to depression (interpersonal perception, social identity theory).

Test on the topic " Social sphere»

Option 1.

A 1. The assessment by society of the social significance of a particular status, enshrined in culture and public opinion, is called

1) value 2) adaptation 3) prestige 4) sanction

A 2. There are a huge number of examples in history when commoners became generals. In this case, the army acts as

1) social adaptation 3) social determinants

2) social lift 4) social control

A 3. After graduation, K. got a job as a manager in a small private firm. After some time, he moved to work as a top manager in the largest holding company in the South of Russia. This situation can be seen as an example.

1) horizontal social mobility 2) vertical social mobility

3) social stratification 4) professional differentiation

A 4. Relations between people (or groups of people), which are carried out in accordance with the laws of the social organization of society, are called

1) social relations 2) social structures

3) social integration 4) social differentiation

A 5. The distribution of social groups in a hierarchically ordered sequence is called

1) adaptation 2) stratification 3) mobility 4) socialization

A 6. The democratic (partner) family, in contrast to the patriarchal (traditional), is characterized by

1) living together for at least three generations

2) fair division of household responsibilities

3) the economic dependence of women on men

4) the dominant role of men in the family

A 7. The functions of the family include

1) education of law-abiding behavior in children

2) determination of the amount of utility bills

3) setting school standards

4) determination of the minimum wage

A 8. Social control is a special mechanism for maintaining public order and includes two main elements:

1) power and action 2) norms and sanctions

3) expectations and motives 4) statuses and roles

A 9. There are rules for ending a telephone conversation:

The caller hangs up first. The man who called the woman is waiting for the woman to hang up first.

If the boss called his subordinate, then the latter waits for the boss to hang up. What type of social norms can they be attributed to?

1) norms of etiquette 2) customs 3) norms of law 4) traditions

A 10. The social conditions under which people have different access to social benefits are called

1) social mobility 3) social inequality

2) social status 4) social relations

A 11. Which judgment is correct?

A.R. and P. got married, formed a family, began to live separately from their parents - this is an example of horizontal mobility.

B. An example of horizontal social mobility is the receipt by a worker of a managerial position in an enterprise in connection with graduation from a university.

A 12. Which judgment is correct?

A. Behavior that deviates from the values, norms, attitudes and expectations of a society or social group is called deviant.

B. Any manifestation of deviant behavior is a crime.

1) only A is true 3) both statements are true

2) only B is true 4) both judgments are wrong

IN 1. Analyze the data provided in the table of the social survey, reflecting the answer to the question "What is success?" What conclusion can be drawn from these data?

Age

Be the best

Respect for others

Material independence, independence

Career

Family Children

14 ~ 18years

24%

25%

26%

18%

18-25 years old

11%

19%

45%

28%

25-30 years old

10%

44%

32%

11%

1) young people in all age groups singled out economic, independence, independence from others as the main criterion of success

2) young people under the age of 25 consider the creation of a strong family the most important in life

3) to be the best - a criterion typical for young people aged 18 to 25 years. This is due to their adolescent maximalism.

4) the number of people who believe that career growth is the most important in life decreases with age

Q 2. Read the text below, each position marked with a letter.

A. The development of interethnic relations in the modern world is associated with two trends - interethnic integration and national differentiation. B. In our opinion, they operate constantly, but not without conflict. C. The aggravation of the national question is associated with the contradictions between the growing scientific and technological revolution, which requires maximum cooperation, international division labor, and the national identity of states and peoples. D. Between the nation-states themselves, contradictions arise in connection with the presence of specific interests: the use of natural resources, transport communications. E. The reasons for the aggravation of conflicts are of a political, economic, demographic nature.

Determine which positions are worn

1) the factual nature 2) the nature of value judgments

Write a number under the letter of the position indicating its character.

Q 3. Read the text below where a number of words are missing. Select the words you want to replace the spaces from the list provided.

Social inequality characterizes the relative position of individuals and social *** (A). Specific group or individual *** (B) are recognized by members of society and in public opinion they are attributed to a certain significance. Social inequality in modern society is most often understood as *** (B) - the distribution of social groups in a hierarchical order. The concept of "middle class" describes such a socially comfortable position as economic well-being, the presence of property, valued in society *** (D), civil rights. Social inequality is determined primarily by the significance and *** (D) of the functions performed for society. In modern society, the profession becomes the defining criterion of the social *** (E)

The words in the list are given in the nominative case. Each word can only be used once. Select words one by one in sequence, filling in each gap. Note that there are more words in the list than you need to fill in the blanks.

1) status 2) group 3) criterion

4) bundle 5) profession 6) prestige

Part 3 (tasks of level C)

1. What is the meaning of social scientists in the concept of "social mobility"? Drawing on knowledge of the social science course, compose two sentences containing information on factors affecting social mobility

Additional task for the profile level:

2. To speak at a seminar, you need to prepare a detailed answer on the topic "Interethnic relations". Make a plan according to which you will perform.

3. Text. Modern migration processes in Russia

External migration processes in Russia are characterized by qualitative characteristics in relation to the emigrating contingent. Recall that the country has lost at least 100 thousand people annually over the past 15 years. The most educated, professionally trained people are leaving Russia, and huge capital has been spent on their training. "Brain drain" is an indicator that characterizes the socio-economic and political situation of a country. First of all, scientists, doctors, technical and creative intelligentsia, highly qualified workers are leaving Russia. Our citizens, leaving the country, significantly contribute to the growth of the scientific, technical and intellectual potential of Germany, Israel, the United States and a number of other countries.

The brain drain is very promising. According to the results of surveys of graduate students of leading natural-technical universities (Moscow State University, MIPT, MEPhI, MAI, etc.), more than 50% of them would like to emigrate, and 10-12% already have specific offers for work abroad. Today, every fifth emigrant has a higher education, including among those who left for Israel - 30%, in the United States - more than 40% (the share of people with higher education in Russia is only 13.3%). The departure of a highly qualified specialist is tantamount to a loss of $ 300 thousand per year for Russia. The damage to the departure of one specialist with a doctorate degree in some cases reaches $ 2 million.According to the most conservative estimates of experts on population migration, in the coming years Russia will suffer losses of $ 30-35 billion annually due to the departure of highly trained specialists.

The paradox of the qualitative aspect of the immigration and emigration balance is determined by the fact that, giving a number of countries its most highly qualified personnel, Russia acquires very low qualified personnel from part of the surplus labor potential of neighboring and even distant countries. There is no exact definition of the number of immigrants to Russia; according to many experts, there are at least 1 million illegal immigrants. In a number of regions of the country, illegal immigration has a significant impact on the socio-economic, and often even on the state-political situation. For example, immigrants from the countries of Southeast Asia (mainly from China) concentrate in the Far East. Taking into account the growing outflow of the Russian-speaking population from the regions Of the Far East the increase in the proportion of Chinese among the total population creates not only ethnic and cultural problems, but also far-reaching economic, military-strategic and political difficulties.

Illegal immigrants occupy the most low-prestige jobs for the local population. A significant part of them agree to work outside their specialty and without formalizing their labor relations with the employer. This situation creates special social and economic consequences... Employers are becoming less interested in improving working conditions and introducing new, more advanced technology; favorable conditions are created for the development of the shadow economy; the level of injuries and morbidity among migrants is growing.

Russia is unable today to avoid both legal and illegal immigration. Its inevitability is predetermined by the demographic situation in the country. For the sake of preserving the territory, the state will have to open its doors wide to immigrants. It is extremely difficult to curb illegal migration today; we will have to respond by expanding legal opportunities for immigration. It is necessary, without delay, to develop a new migration legislation that takes into account today's and tomorrow's interests of Russia. But changing the laws alone is not enough. There is an urgent need for other attitudes in relation to the nation and citizenship, it is necessary to control the structure of immigration. At the same time, new management schemes and aspirations should be aimed at optimizing the demographic situation of the people of Russia, it is necessary not tomorrow, but today in reality to take care of their welfare and health.

P. D. Pavlenok, L. I. Savinov. "Sociology"

C1. What is a Brain Drain? Why does the author consider it to be an indicator characterizing the socio-economic situation in the country?

C2. Name at least three consequences of the brain drain.

SZ. What is the qualitative characteristic of illegal immigration? What social and economic problems arise in connection with it? (Name at least three.)

Answers to tasks:

Option 1.

Part A

Part B.

AT 11

IN 2.

AT 3.

Part 3 (C).

С 1. Social mobility - a change in the place occupied by a person or a group of people in the social structure.

Suggestions reflecting factors: subjective - a person's awareness of his social origin, state policy.

Test "Person and Society" Profile

Option number 1

1. Definition: "The totality of ideas, views, theories, as well as feelings, habits and morals of a certain social community or group" refers to the concept

A) public consciousness B) society

C) everyday consciousness D) ideology

2. Ivan - tall, thin, with beautiful features, courageous, calculating, slow and careful. All this characterizes Ivan as

A) personality B) citizen C) individuality D) professional

3. Automation of production is widespread in R. society, and computerization is being carried out successfully. What additional information will allow us to conclude that R.'s society is post-industrial?

A) the main product of production - industrial products

B) the main factor of production is knowledge

C) widespread use of mechanisms, technologies

D) class division of society

4. What feature characterizes a traditional society?

A) intensive urbanization B) the predominance of the assigned social status

C) high social mobility D) growth in consumption

5. The meaningful stimuli of human activity include

A) habits B) attraction C) motives D) emotions

6. Are the following judgments about the similarities and differences between humans and animals true?

A. Ants and other "social" animals work in the same way as humans.

B. All individuals of animals, unlike humans, always act according to the genetic program.

1) only A is true 2) only B is true 3) both statements are true 4) both statements are false

7. The basis of human existence is

A) friendship B) love C) consumerism D) activity

8. Write down the word missing in the outline.

Types ……………………….

traditional

industrial

postindustrial

9. What characteristic is not suitable for a traditional society:

A) low level of social mobility

B) the dominance of religion, customs and traditions

C) the agrarian nature of the economy

D) globalization of life

10. A person's need for anything is:

A) ability B) activity C) needs D) interest E) values

11. Characteristic feature postindustrial society is:

A) expansion of industrial production

B) a slowdown in the pace of development

C) the creation of mass culture

D) the use of computer technology

12. Occurrence transnational corporations in modern society, development international trade are a manifestation of the trend:

A) modernization B) globalization C) democratization D) informatization

13. The transition to a post-industrial society is characterized by:

A) formation market economy

B) restriction of social mobility

C) the development of mass communication

D) the organization of factory production

14. Are the following judgments about the globalization process true?

A) the development of mass communications makes the modern world more integral

B) all global problems are the result of economic integration

1) only A is true 2) only B is true 3) both statements are true 4) both statements are false

15. Social progress is expressed in:

A) the progressive development of society B) the relationship between society and nature

C) the stability of the forms of social life D) the systemic structure of society

16. In the transition from a traditional to an industrial society:

A) the prevalence of Agriculture over industry

B) the importance of science and education has increased

C) class differences have increased

D) the importance of collectivist values ​​has increased as opposed to the values ​​of individual freedom

17. Which of the following characterizes modern Western society?

A) agrarian type of society

B) underdevelopment of institutions of private property

C) the special value of human individuality

D) the predominance of collective forms of consciousness

18. At the heart of the civilizational approach to the study of society:

A) highlighting the general B) highlighting the special

C) the development of reason D) the development of morality.

19. A number of terms are listed below. All of them, with the exception of two, belong to the industrial society. Find two terms that fall out of the general row, and write down the numbers under which they are indicated.

1. Popular culture, 2. Technology, 3. Community, 4. Private property, 5 . Castes , 6. Law, 7. Classes, 8. Environmental crisis, 9. Human rights and freedoms.

KEY to the Test "Man and Society" Grade 10. Profile

Option number 1

1- A 2- C 3- B 4- B 5- C 6- 2 7- G 8- Company 9- G 10- C

11- G 12- B 13- C 14- 1 15- A 16- B 17- C 18- B 19- 3.5

Founder Auguste Comte considered it about society, the space in which the life of people is carried out. Life is impossible without it, which explains the importance of studying this topic.

What does the concept of "society" mean? How does it differ from the concepts "country", "state", used in everyday speech, often as identical?

The country Is a geographical concept denoting a part of the world, a territory that has certain boundaries.

- the political organization of society with a certain type of power (monarchy, republic, councils, etc.), bodies and structure of government (authoritarian or democratic).

— social organization countries that provide joint livelihoods of people. This is a part of the material world, isolated from nature, which is a historically developing form of connections and relationships between people in the process of their life.

Many scientists have tried to study society, to determine its nature, essence. The ancient Greek philosopher and scientist understood society as an aggregate of individuals who united to satisfy their social instincts. Epicurus believed that the main thing in society is social justice as a result of an agreement between people not to harm each other and not to suffer harm.

In Western European social science of the 17th-18th centuries. ideologists of the new rising strata of society ( T. Hobbes, J.-J. Russo), opposed to religious dogma, was put forward idea of ​​social contract, i.e. contracts between people, each of which has sovereign rights to control their actions. This idea opposed the theological approach to organizing society according to the will of God.

Attempts have been made to define society based on the allocation of some primary unit of society. So, Jean-Jacques Rousseau believed that the family is the most ancient of all societies. She is the likeness of a father, the people are children, and all who are born equal and free, if they alienate their freedom, it is only for their own benefit.

Hegel tried to view society as complex system relations, highlighting as the subject of consideration the so-called, that is, a society where there is a dependence of everyone on everyone.

The works of one of the founders of scientific sociology were of great importance for the scientific understanding of society. O. Comte, who believed that the structure of society is determined by the forms of human thinking ( theological, metaphysical and positive). He considered society itself as a system of elements, which are the family, classes and the state, and the basis is formed by the division of labor between people and their relationship with each other. We find a definition of society close to this in Western European sociology of the 20th century. So, at Max Weber, society is a product of people's interaction as a result of their social actions in the interests of each and every one.

T. Parsons defined society as a system of relations between people, the connecting principle of which are norms and values. From point of view K. Marx, society Is a historically developing set of relationships between people emerging in the course of their joint activities.

Recognizing the approach to society as the relationship of individuals, K. Marx, having analyzed the connections and relationships between them, introduced the concepts of "social relations", "production relations", "socio-economic formations" and a number of others. Relations of production shaping public relations, create a society, located at one or another definite stage of historical development. Consequently, according to Marx, production relations are the primary cause of all human relations and create a large social system called society.

According to K. Marx, society is the interaction of people... The form of social structure does not depend on their will (people). Each form of social structure is generated by a certain stage in the development of productive forces.

People cannot freely dispose of productive forces, for these forces are a product of the previous activities of people, their energy. But this energy itself is limited by the conditions in which people are placed by the already conquered productive forces, the form of social structure that existed before them and which is the product of the activity of the previous generation.

American sociologist E. Shils identified the following features of society:

• it is not an organic part of any larger system;
• marriages are concluded between representatives of a given community;
• it is replenished at the expense of the children of those people who are members of a given community;
• it has its own territory;
• it has a self-name and its own history;
• it has its own control system;
• it exists longer than the average life span of an individual;
• it is united by a common system of values, norms, laws, rules.

It is obvious that in all the above definitions, to one degree or another, an approach to society as an integral system of elements in a state of close interconnection is expressed. This approach to society is called systemic. The main task of the systems approach in the study of society is to combine various knowledge about society into an integral system that could become a unified theory of society.

An important role in systemic studies of society was played by A. Malinovsky... He believed that society can be viewed as a social system, the elements of which are associated with the basic needs of people for food, shelter, protection, sexual satisfaction. People come together to meet their needs. In this process, secondary needs arise for communication, cooperation, control over conflicts, which contributes to the development of the language, norms, rules of the organization, and this, in turn, requires coordination, managerial and integrative institutions.

Society life

The life of society is carried out in four main areas: economic, social, political and spiritual.

Economic sphere there is a unity of production, specialization and cooperation, consumption, exchange and distribution. It ensures the production of goods necessary to meet the material needs of individuals.

Social sphere represent people (clan, tribe, nationality, nation, etc.), different classes (slaves, slave owners, peasants, proletariat, bourgeoisie) and other social groups that have different material status and attitudes towards the existing social order.

Political sphere covers the power structures (, political parties, political movements) that govern people.

Spiritual (cultural) sphere includes philosophical, religious, artistic, legal, political and other views of people, as well as their moods, emotions, ideas about the world around them, traditions, customs, etc.

All these spheres of society and their elements interact continuously, change, vary, but in the main remain unchanged (invariant). So, for example, the era of slavery and our time are sharply different from each other, but at the same time all spheres of society retain the functions assigned to them.

In sociology, there are various approaches to finding the foundations choice of priorities in the social life of people(problem of determinism).

Even Aristotle emphasized the extremely important state structure for the development of society. Identifying the political and social spheres, he viewed man as a "political animal." Under certain conditions, politics can become a decisive factor that completely controls all other spheres of society.

Supporters technological determinism the determining factor of social life is seen in material production, where the nature of labor, technique, technology determine not only the quantity and quality of material products produced, but also the level of consumption and even the cultural needs of people.

Supporters cultural determinism believe that the backbone of society is made up of generally accepted values ​​and norms, the observance of which will ensure the stability and uniqueness of the society itself. The difference in cultures predetermines the difference in the actions of people, in the organization of material production, in the choice of forms of political organization (in particular, this can be associated with the well-known expression: "Every nation has the government it deserves").

K. Marx proceeded in his concept from the determining role of the economic system, believing that it is the mode of production of material life that determines the social, political and spiritual processes in society.

In modern Russian sociological literature, there are opposite approaches to solving problems of primacy in the interaction of social spheres of society... Some authors are inclined to deny this idea itself, believing that society can function normally if each of the social spheres consistently fulfills its functional purpose. They proceed from the fact that the hypertrophied "swelling" of one of the social spheres can have a detrimental effect on the fate of the whole society, as well as underestimating the role of each of these spheres. For example, underestimating the role of material production (the economic sphere) leads to a decrease in the level of consumption and an increase in crisis phenomena in society. The erosion of the norms and values ​​that govern the behavior of individuals (the social sphere) leads to social entropy, disorder and conflict. Acceptance of the idea of ​​the primacy of politics over the economy and other social spheres (especially in a totalitarian society) can lead to the collapse of the entire social system. In a healthy social organism, the vital activity of all its spheres is in unity and interconnection.

The unity will weaken - the efficiency of the life of society will decrease, up to a change in its essence or even disintegration. As an example, we will give the events recent years XX century, which led to the defeat of socialist social relations and the collapse of the USSR.

Society lives and develops according to objective laws unity (society) with; ensuring social development; concentration of energy; promising activity; unity and struggle of opposites; transition quantitative changes in high quality; negation - negation; conformity of production relations to the level of development of productive forces; dialectical unity of the economic base and social superstructure; the growing role of the individual, etc. Violation of the laws of the development of society is fraught with major cataclysms, large losses.

Whatever goals the subject of social life sets for himself, being in the system of public relations, he must obey them. In the history of society, hundreds of wars are known that brought him huge losses, regardless of what goals were guided by the rulers who unleashed them. Suffice it to recall Napoleon, Hitler, former US presidents who started the war in Vietnam and Iraq.

Society is an integral social organism and system

They likened society to a social organism, all parts of which are interdependent, and their functioning is aimed at ensuring its life. All parts of society perform their assigned functions to ensure its life: procreation; ensuring normal conditions for the life of its members; creating opportunities for production, distribution and consumption; successful activity in all its spheres.

Distinctive features of society

An important distinguishing feature of society is its autonomy, which is based on its versatility, the ability to create the necessary conditions to meet the diverse needs of individuals. Only in society can a person engage in narrow professional activities, achieve its high efficiency, relying on the existing division of labor in him.

Society has self-sufficiency, which allows him to fulfill the main task - to provide people with conditions, opportunities, forms of organizing life that facilitate the achievement of personal goals, self-realization as comprehensively developed individuals.

Society has great integrating force... It provides its members with the opportunity to use habitual patterns of behavior, to follow established principles, subordinates them to generally accepted norms and rules. It isolates those who do not want to follow them in various ways and means, ranging from the Criminal Code, administrative law to public censure. A substantial characteristic of society is the achieved level self-regulation, self-government that arise and are formed within him with the help of social institutions, which, in turn, are at a historically defined level of maturity.

Society as a whole organism has the quality consistency, and all its elements, being closely interconnected, form a social system that makes the attraction and cohesion between the elements of a given material structure stronger.

Part and whole as components unified system connected inseparable bonds with each other and support each other. At the same time, both elements have relative independence in relation to each other. The stronger the whole in comparison with its parts, the stronger the pressure of unification. Conversely, the stronger the parts are in relation to the system, the weaker and stronger the tendency to separate the whole into its component parts. Therefore, for the formation of a stable system, it is necessary to select the appropriate elements and their unity. Moreover, the greater the discrepancy, the stronger the bonds of adhesion should be.

The formation of a system is possible both on the natural foundations of attraction, and on the suppression and subordination of one part of the system to another, that is, on violence. In this regard, various organic systems are built on different principles. Some systems are based on the dominance of natural relationships. Others - on the domination of force, others seek to hide under the protection of strong structures or exist at their expense, the fourth unite on the basis of unity in the fight against external enemies in the name of the highest freedom of the whole, etc. There are also systems based on cooperation, where force is not plays an essential role. At the same time, there is a certain framework beyond which both attraction and repulsion can lead to the death of this system. And this is natural, since excessive attraction and cohesion threaten the preservation of the diversity of systemic qualities and thereby weaken the system's ability to self-develop. On the contrary, strong repulsion undermines the integrity of the system. At the same time, the greater the independence of the parts within the framework of the system, the higher their freedom of action in accordance with the potentialities embedded in them, the less their desire to go beyond its framework and vice versa. That is why the system should be formed only by those elements that are more or less homogeneous among themselves, and where the tendency of the whole, although it dominates, does not contradict the interests of the parts.

By the law of every social system is an hierarchy of its elements and ensuring optimal self-realization by the most rational construction of its structure in the given conditions, as well as the maximum use of environmental conditions for its transformation in accordance with its qualities.

One of the important organic system laws — integrity law, or, in other words, vitality of all elements of the system... Therefore, ensuring the existence of all elements of the system is a condition for the vitality of the system as a whole.

Fundamental law any material system, ensuring its optimal self-realization, is the law of the priority of the whole over it constituent parts ... Therefore, the stronger the danger to the existence of the whole, the more victims from its parts.

Like any organic system in difficult conditions society donates a part for the sake of the whole, the main and the indigenous... In society as an integral social organism, the common interest under all conditions is in the foreground. However, social development can be carried out all the more successfully, the more the common interest and interests of individuals will be in harmony with each other. Harmonious correspondence between general and individual interests can be achieved only at a relatively high stage of social development. Until such a stage is reached, either public or personal interest prevails. The more difficult the conditions and the greater the inadequacy of social and natural components, the stronger the general interest manifests itself, realized at the expense and to the detriment of the interests of individuals.

At the same time, the more favorable conditions that have arisen either on the basis of the natural environment, or created in the process production activities the people themselves, so, all other things being equal, the general interest is to a lesser extent carried out at the expense of the private.

Like any system, society contains certain strategies for survival, existence and development... The survival strategy comes to the fore in conditions of an extreme lack of material resources, when the system is forced to sacrifice its intensive development in the name of extensive, or more precisely, in the name of universal survival. In order to survive social system withdraws material resources produced by the most active part of society in favor of those who cannot provide themselves with everything necessary for life.

A similar transition to extensive development and redistribution of material resources, if necessary, occurs not only on a global, but also on a local scale, that is, within the framework of small social groups if they find themselves in an extreme situation when funds are extremely insufficient. In such conditions, both the interests of individuals and the interests of society as a whole suffer, since it is deprived of the opportunity to develop intensively.

The social system develops differently after getting out of an extreme situation, but being in conditions inadequacy of social and natural components... In this case survival strategy is replaced by strategies of existence... The strategy of existence is realized in conditions when there is a certain minimum of funds to provide for everyone and, in addition, there is a certain surplus of them in excess of what is necessary for life. In order to develop the system as a whole, the surplus of produced funds is withdrawn, and they concentrate on decisive areas of social development in the hands of the most powerful and enterprising... All the rest of the individuals are limited in consumption and are usually content with the minimum. Thus, in unfavorable conditions of existence common interest makes its way at the expense of the interests of individuals, a clear example of which is the formation and development of Russian society.

SOCIAL ASSESSMENT

- English evaluation, social; German Bewertung, soziale. Approval or disapproval that a group, organization or society shows towards its members in response to the fulfillment or non-fulfillment of the requirements presented to them.

Antinazi. Encyclopedia of Sociology, 2009

See what "SOCIAL ASSESSMENT" is in other dictionaries:

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Books

• Social qualimetry, quality assessment and standardization of social services, EF Shimorina. The manual was prepared in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard of the 3rd generation in the direction of training Social work. The manual reveals the main ...
• Social qualimetry, quality assessment and standardization of social services. Textbook, Shimorina EF .. The manual has been prepared in accordance with the Federal State Educational Standard of the 3rd generation in the direction of training "Social Work". The manual reveals the main ...