Social Processes

INTRODUCTION:
Social Process:
The fundamental ways in which people establish social relationship and interact are
called social process. It refers to the repetitive forms of behavior which are commonly
found in social life.
According to Maciver and Page a process means “continuous change taking place in a
definite manner through the operation of forces present from the first within the
situation”.
Social processes are the ways in which individuals and groups interact, adjust and
readjust and establish relationships and pattern of behavior which are again modified
through social interactions.
Definitions:
As Ginsberg says, “Social processes mean the various modes of interaction between
individuals or groups including cooperation and conflict, social differentiation and
integration, development, arrest and decay”.
According to Horton and Hunt, “The term social process refers to the repetitive form of
behavior which are commonly found in social life”.
Social processes are the products of social interaction which can be classified into two
groups:
1. Associative, and 2. Dissociative.
The processes of social interaction is either associative or dissociative.
Associative processes are also called the integrative or conjunctive social processes
which are essential for the integration and progress of the society. The major types of
associative processes are the following.
1. Co-operation
2. Accommodation
3. Assimilation
4. Acculturation
5. Amalgamation
Dissociative processes are also called the disintegrative or disjunctive social processes.
Although these processes hinder the growth and development of society, their absence
results in stagnation of society. Few important types or dissociative processes are:
1. Competition
2. Conflict
COOPERATION:
The basic term of human contact and association in society is co-operation. The people
working together to achieve results or people helping each other out to achieve a
common goal is known as cooperation. An example of cooperation is when one person
hands you a brick and you lay the brick.
This is the simplest of all social behaviors found in the most elementary forms of life.
The importance of the concept is as clear to the student of sociology as of physical and
chemical actions to a chemistry student. The customer co-operates with the
shopkeeper, though for a short while , for business purposes. The patient with the
doctor, the student with the teacher, the child and her mother, husband and wife, the
Imam and his followers, all co-operate together.
TYPES OF CO-OPERATION:
Cooperation is of different types. MacIver and Page have divided cooperation into two main
types namely, (i) Direct Cooperation (ii) Indirect Cooperation.
(i) Direct Cooperation
Under direct cooperation may be included all those activities in which people do like things
together. For example, plying together, working together, carrying a load together or pulling
the car out of mud together. The essential character of this kind of cooperation is that people
do such identical function which they can also do separately. This type of cooperation is
voluntary e.g., cooperation between husband and wife, teacher and student, master and
servant etc.
Definitions:
A.W. Green. “ Cooperation is the continuous and common endeavor of two or more persons to
perform a task or to reach a goal that is commonly cherished”.
F.E. Merrill: “cooperation is a form of social interaction wherein two or more persons work
together to gain a common end.”
(ii) Indirect Cooperation
Under indirect cooperation are in included those activities in which people do unlike tasks
together towards a common end. For example, when carpenters, plumbers and masons
cooperate to build a house. This cooperation is based on the principle of the division of labour.
In it people perform different functions but for the attainment of the common objective. In the
modern technological age, specialization of skills and function are more required for which
indirect cooperation is rapidly replacing direct cooperation.
COMPETITION:
According to Anderson and Parker, “Competition is that form of social action in which we strive
against each other for the possession of or use of so limited material or non-material good.” It
is one aspect of struggle which is universal not only in human society but also in the plant and
animal worlds.
Competition is an elementary, universal and impersonal form of social interaction. It is
elementary in the sense that it is basic to all other forms of interaction. Each individual is
involved in countless ways of which he is generally unaware in a vast web of competitive
relationships.
Definitions:
According to Sutherland, Woodward and Maxwell , “Competition is an impersonal,
unconscious, continuous struggle between individuals or groups for satisfaction which, because
of their limited supply, all may not have”.
Horton and Hunt: Competition is the struggle for possession of rewards which are in limited
supply—money, goods, status, power, love—anything.
Types:
There are mainly two types of competition:
(1) Personal Competition:
When two competitors contest for election to office, it is called personal competition. In this
competition, competitors know each other.
(2) Impersonal Competition:
When contestants are not aware of one another’s identity as we find in university or civil
service examinations, it is called impersonal competition.
FUNTIONS:
It performs many useful functions in society. Some of the main functions are:
(1) It serves the function of allocating scarce rewards among the competitors.
(2) It tends to enhance one’s ego and helps in satisfying it.
(3) It increases efficiency.
Early sociological thinkers such as Herbert Spencer saw competition as a necessary mechanism
for achieving social progress—a view that was very much in line with the emergent modern
capitalist system and its beliefs in competition as an engine that promotes low prices and high
efficiency. It is the main driving force of modern capitalistic societies. It is widely prevalent in
every sphere of modern life and in its every activity.
REFERENCES:
 http://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/
 https://www.slideshare.net/noshadahmed786/9social-processes-andsocialchange

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INTRODUCTION:

(1) Personal Competition:

competition, competitors know each other.

(2) Impersonal Competition:

service examinations, it is called impersonal competition.

(2) It tends to enhance one’s ego and helps in satisfying it.

(3) It increases efficiency.

every sphere of modern life and in its every activity.

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