Social Disorganization

SOCIAL DISORGANIZATION

Social Disorganization:

Life is a process of continuous adjustment and readjustment. The social organism is always undergoing a change necessitating adjustment of its different parts.

When the various parts of society are properly adjusted, we have social order and a well organized society, but when they fail to adjust themselves to the changing conditions, the result is social disequilibrium or disorganization leading to social problems.

Since social disorganization puts the society out of gear, it has been an important subject of study in sociology. However, before we study social disorganization, it would be fruitful to study social order as its study is helpful in understanding the nature of social disorganization.

The Meaning of Social Disorganization:

Social disorganization is the process opposed to social organization.

Social organization, Some Fundamental Concepts’, is an orderly relationship of parts.

The significance of this orderly arrangement lies in what it does. When the parts of social structure do not perform their functions efficiently and effectively or perform them badly, there occurs an imbalance in society.

The social equilibrium is disturbed and society gets out of gear.

·        Emile Durkheim defined social disorganization as “a state of disequilibrium and a lack of social solidarity or consensus among the members of a society.”

·        W.I. Thomas and Florien Znaniecki conceived of social disorganization as “a decrease of the influence of existing rules of behavior upon individual members of the groups.”

     According to Mowever, social disorganization is “the process by which the relationships between members of a group are shaken.”

·        Stuart A. Queen, Walter B. Bodenhafer, and Ernest B. Harper described social disorganization in their book ‘Social Organization and Disorganization’ as the counterpart of social organization.

·        According to Ogburn and Nimkoff when the harmonious relationship between the various parts of culture is disturbed, social disorganisation ensue.

 

^·          According to R.E.L. Faris, “Social disorganization is a disturbance in the patterns and mechanisms of human relations. 

 

·        According to Elliott and Merrill, “Social disorganisation is the process by which the relationship between members of the group are broken or dissolved.”

 

On the basis of these definitions it may be said that –

ü  Social disorganization refers to serious mal-adjustments rather than un-adjustments in society so that they fail to satisfy the needs of the individuals satisfactorily.

ü  Society, as we know, is the web of social relationships. In an organized society social relations have some patterns and mechanisms. When the relations become disordered or disintegrated there is social disorganization.

ü  In a well organized society the various institutions are in a harmonious adjustment or, in other words, there exists functional balance between the various elements of the social structure. When there is a lack of adjustment and balance and institutions do not function in a manner that satisfies all the individuals, we can speak of social disorganization.

ü  Social disorganization, therefore, is to be considered in terms of functional disequilibrium, it is disequilibrium within customs, institutions, groups, communities and societies. Comparing social disorganization with social organization Queen and Harper write, “If social organization means the development of relationships which persons and groups find mutually satisfactory, then disorganization means their replacement by relationships which bring disappointment, thwarted wishes, irritation and unhappiness.” Social disorganization often brings personal disorganization, since a person is a social creation and his “self” a social product.

ü  It may be, however, noted that no objective criteria for measuring the degree of disorganisation are available; whether a situation represents organisation or disorganisation is largely a matter of subjective judgment. For example, divorce may be thought of as signifying family disorganisation. Actually it may be due to a better knowledge of the divorce laws and altered attitudes towards marriage.