The Social Environment
Why Study the Social Environment?
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A multi-perspective approach.
Offers a global picture.
Demonstrates interrelationships.
Gives students the chance to explore various
disciplines.
The Social Sciences
• Based on scientific knowledge.
• The most important area of study for
understanding humans.
• Consists of a broad range of disciplines.
Anthropology
The study of humankind
Economics
The study of the ways in which people
make a living and meet their material
needs.
Geography
Study of the natural environment and
how it is influences and is influenced by
humans.
History
The study of past, their relationship to
one another and to the present.
Political Science
The study of social arrangements
designed to establish and maintain
peace and order within a given society.
Psychology
The study of the human mind, personality and
behavior.
Sociology
• The study of the development, structure and
functioning of human society.
• Interested in understanding social issues and
problems
Human Origins
Paradigms
Two Competing Paradigms
Creationism:
The dominant paradigm up through the
18th Century. Based on the Bible.
Evolution:
A gradual process of change over time
that occurs at the genetic level.
The Creationist Paradigm
Fixity of SpeciesChristianity is the only acceptable truth.
Every species is created by the Grand
Architect and possesses anatomical
structures designed for the purpose for
which they were required.
Geological Time:
They earth was believed to be only roughly
6,000 years old. Thus, not enough time for
the process of natural selection to operate.
A Short History of Evolution
• The age of exploration led the recognition of
biodiversity.
• 17th century discovery of the laws of physics
(motion and gravity).
• Invention of the microscope and other
equipment.
• The enlightenment (1500-1800’s)-shift in
worldview.
A Short History of Evolution
Carolus Linneaeus- a Swedish physician
and botanist developed a system for
classifying both plants and animals.
A Short History of Evolution
Jean Baptiste Lamarck:
• The first to offer an explanation for how the evolutionary
process works.
• If the environment changes, an animal’s activity patterns
would change to accommodate new circumstances.
• Changes occur in response to bodily needs.
• Modifications occur through the redirection of bodily fluids
and forces.
• Known as Use-disuse theory.
Lamarck’s Model
A Short History of Evolution
Charles Lylle:
Uniformitarianism: Earth’s features are the result of long-term
processes that continue to operate today as they did in the past.
For slow acting geological processes to produce the changes
present in the earth, the planet has to be much older than
previously thought.
Deep time: permitted the necessary depth of time to allow for
the slow process of evolutionary change.
A Short History of Evolution
Charles Darwin:
After graduation in 1831, Darwin undertook a scientific expedition
aboard the HMS Beagle that took five years, circled the globe, and
changed the course of his life and the history of biological science.
A Short History of Evolution
Began his journey believing in the fixity of species.
Observations of 13 varieties of finches in the Galapagos Islands –
that they had all been modified over time in response to
different habitats and dietary preferences.
A Short History of Evolution
• On the Origins of Species, published in 1859 turned biology
upside down and is one of the most influential scientific
publications of all time.
• Darwin’s failing was that he could not identify the mechanism
by which traits are passed from one generation to the next.
• Believed it was a process of “blending”.
Natural Selection
• Nature selects forms of species most fit to survive and
reproduce in a given environment (selective pressures).
• A prerequisite of natural selection is that there exists a variety
of forms within a species population.
• Natural selection operates when there is competition for
strategic resources.
• Members of the population that possess the traits that help
them survive tend to produce larger numbers of offspring over
time- less fit members decrease or may become extinct
(reproductive success)
• Natural selection processes will continue to favor one form
over another as long as the relationship between the
population and the environment remains in balance.
Natural Selection : An Example
Resistance to antibiotics is
increased though the
survival of individuals that
are immune to the effects of
the antibiotic, whose
offspring then inherit the
resistance, creating a new
population of resistant
bacteria.
Genetic Mutation
Random genetic changes that lead to new
characteristics.
If offspring who possess these new changes
survive, they will pass these traits on to their
offspring.
Society, Culture and Culture
Change
Culture Defined
• A total pattern of human behavior that
includes artifacts, customs, traditions,
language, values, actions, beliefs shared by
a group.
• Learned through enculturation.
• Is learned outside of awareness.
• Has a reciprocal relationship with the
physical environment.
• Changes and evolves.
• Can be adaptive or maladaptive.
• Links us to others and the past.
Seven Elements of Culture
1. Conventions
Simple customary ways of doing things.
Slow to change and persist over time
Possess little moral value.
Carry little if any sanctions if violated.
2. Mores
• A type of convention.
• Must be observed for culture to survive.
• If broken can incur social disapproval.
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Seven Elements of Culture
3. Laws
• Codified, formal and enforced.
• Regulations and principles designed to maintain
obedience and order.
• Carry punishments and may differ across cultures.
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4. Social Institutions
Established complex patterns of behavior
Are designed to promote the interests of society
members.
Provide order and allow for the coordination of society.
May provide for social change.
Seven Elements of Culture
5. Artifacts
• Knowledge of how to produce certain items and
products manifests as material culture.
• Such materials or products are essential to the function
of a human society or cultural group.
6. Language
• There exists s direct link between culture and
language.
• Is one of the major vehicles by which culture is passed
from generation to generation.
• Language influences perceptions.
Seven Elements of Culture
7. Social Values~
• Are the motivating force behind the functioning of
society.
• Are culture bound and should contribute to the
general welfare of a society.
Culture Change
Forces of Culture Change
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Discovery
Innovation
Diffusion
Acculturation
Ideas and Ideology
Collective action
Migration
Barriers to Cross Cultural
Competence
• Ethnocentrism
• Culture shock
• Stereotyping
Cultural Relativism
The idea that a cultural group should be understood by others in
terms of that group’s own culture.
Geography
Geography Defined
The study of the spatial interactions of human beings
and their physical environments and with the spatial
aspects of human existence.
• Why are cities located where they
are?
• What is the relationship between the
environment and culture?
• Why do some areas develop and
others do not?
Demography: A Branch of
Geography
Knowing and applying geographic information about populations, social processes
(e.g., population density, migration, birth and death rates, fertility rates)
• Number and characteristics of a population.
• Increase and decrease of populations in a given
area:
1. Health Care.
2. Sanitation
3. Birth Control Practices.
4. Food availability and other resources.
5. Distribution of peoples within countries and
regions.
6. Differences and similarities within populations
Demographers
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Market Analyst
Real Estate
Community Association Manager
Urban and Regional Planner
Public Health Officer
Population Growth
Death and birth rates.
Profound increase since the 1800’s.
Decline in death rate
Advances in health care and
sanitation.
• Increase in per capita food output
• Increase in standards of living
• Industrial Revolution
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The U.S. Census
Reasons For the U.S. Census
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Taken every ten years.
Was first taken in 1790.
Critical to representative democracy.
Mandated by the U.S. Constitution.
Equitable distribution of public funds.
Helps us see how our country is changing.
Geopolitics (Political Geography)
• The study of the effects of geography on international
politics and international relations.
• A method of foreign policy analysis which seeks to
understand, explain, and predict international political
behavior based on geographical variables.
• Variables include:
 physical location
 size,
 climate,
 topography,
 demography,
 natural resources
 technological advances
Geopolitics
Geopolitics