The Problem of Conformity:
Achieving Cooperation
Durkheim on Deviance
The problem of convincing individuals to operate in
non-rational cooperation: Classic Prisoner’s Dilemma
Problem solved?
Pre-Contractual Solidarity:
•The collective sense of belonging to a community
&
• The related sense of obligation to the welfare of the
community
Achieving Cooperation
(Pre-contractual) Solidarity
• Experienced at multiple levels
– Individual Level: Social Bond
– Collective/Structural Level: Solidarity
• What creates social solidarity?
Social Integration
Achieving Cooperation
Social Integration
2 kinds of Integration:
– Normative (cultural) integration
• Achieved by processes of internalization of collective sentiments
• To internalize a belief system is to adopt it as one’s own
– Structural integration
• Achieved by one’s position within a social structure; one’s
embeddedness in a network of relationships
• Marginalized groups less likely to be structurally integrated – leads
to deviance defined by dominant groups
• Structural Integration determines the social location from which
cultural learning takes place: integration takes place in segregated
social locations
Solidarity & Historical Context
• Historical context for Durkheim? Industrial
Revolution
– Complexity of Groups varies directly with the
Degree of Differentiation (esp. Structural Diff.)
– Industrial Revolution rapidly increases
complexity of society
• Historical shift from Mechanical to Organic
Social Organization (or solidarity)
Types of Solidarity
• Mechanical Solidarity
– Based on concrete experience. Consensus is generated from shared
experiences; force.
– Implies a low level of structural differentiation.
• Organic Solidarity
– Based more on abstractness of social values
– Also based on structural dependency (promoted by division of labor,
social complexity & diversity)
– What does this mean for forging consensus?
– Results in generally weaker bonding than Mechanical Solidarity
Rituals provide one way to share/reinforce collective sentiments
(values, beliefs, norms of community)
What are some of the potential outcomes of a shift from Mechanical to
Organic solidarity? Increases in (often associated with urbanism)…
- Anomie
- Norm Conflicts
- Social Mobility
- Individualism
- Materialism
Individual Level Integration
Produced by the Social Bond
Social Bonding has 2 purposes:
– Attachment to socially given needs & ideals
– Regulation of desires, aspiration, & appetite
Bonds result in:
– Sense of belonging to a community
– Sense of obligation for the collective good
All social systems (groups) must provide the mechanisms for
successful bonding. Mechanisms must be powerful and
mutually healthy for individuals & the group. The burden is on
the system to provide for bonding
How is this accomplished? Socialization
Contemporary US Society
Marked by Organic Solidarity
–
–
–
–
Complex
Diverse
Bonding less strong
What is the nature of American collective sentiments?
What are our values as a collective?
– Social Integration at the societal level is less complete
– Outcome: less consensus, more conflict
– Leads to advent of Conflict Approaches to Deviance