Political Evolution and
the Development of Early
Civilization
What is Civilization?
a highly developed culture, including its social organization, government, laws,
and arts, or the culture of a social group or country at a particular time.
4 Major Civilizations
1. Sumerian civilization (E. Turkey-SE Iraq)
2. Indus Valley Civilization (NE Afghanistan-Pakistan and NW India)
3. Shang Civilization (China)
4. Egyptian Civilization (Egypt)
Characteristics of these civilization
1. Developed and highly advanced cities
2. Well-defined city centers
3. Complex and systematic institutions
4. Organized and centralized system of government
5. Formalized and complex form of religion
6. Job specialization
7. Development of social classes
8. Implementation of large-scale public works and infrastructures
9. Sophisticated and detailed forms of arts and architecture
10. Advanced technology
11. System of writing and recording
Becoming a Member of
Society
Processes that each member of society has to experience and undergo.
1. Enculturation- is the process by which people learn the requirements of
their surrounding culture and acquire the values and behaviors appropriate
or necessary in that culture. The process by which an individual adopts the
behaviour patterns of the culture in which he or she is immersed.
-parents
-adults
-peers
2. Socialization- is the process through which a person, from birth through
death, is taught the norms, customs, values, and roles of the society in which
they live. This process serves to incorporate new members into a society so
that they and it can function smoothly. It is guided by family, teachers and
coaches, religious leaders, peers, community, and media, among others.
3 Goals of Socialization
1. Impulse control and helps develop conscience. Picked up naturally as
individual grows up.
2. How to prepare for and perform certain social roles. (occupational roles,
gender roles, marriage and parenthood)
3. Cultivates shared sources of meaning and value. Learn what is important
and valued within a particular culture.
3. Identity Formation
is the development of the distinct personality of an individual regarded as a
persisting entity in a particular stage of life in which individual characteristics
are possessed and by which a person is recognized or known.
- Sense of continuity
- Sense of uniqueness from others
- Sense of affiliation
Components of self-concept
• Physical
• Psychological
• Social attributes
Which can be influenced by individual’s habits, beliefs and ideas.
Cultural Identity- affiliation with a group or culture
Ethnic Identity- identification within a certain ethnicity
National Identity- a common origin, ancestry or parentage
Religious Identity- adherence to beliefs and practices
Several identities can be embraced by an individual but there is always a
dominant identity which seems to orchestrate the other identities in the set.
Norms and Values
Norms- norms are standards, rules, guides and expectations for
actual behaviour.
Values- are abstract conceptions of what is important and
worthwhile.
Value- “honesty”
Norm- ex. the expectation that students will not cheat or use
such material forbidden by the codes in the examinations is a
norm.
Values are general guidelines, while norms are specific guidelines.
Values are general standards, which decide what is good and what is bad.
Norms are rules and expectations that specify how people should and should
not behave in various social situations.
Values are ends while Norms are means to achieve these ends.
Sometimes, the values and norms of a society conflict with each other.
Ex.)The change in one element of material culture (mechanisation of
agriculture) may sometimes conflict with the associated aspect of non-
material culture (system of joint family or collective living).
Though there is a difference between norms and values, still, there is often a
direct relationship between values, norms, and sanctions of a society.
For example, if a society highly values the institution of marriage, it may have
norms and strict sanctions which prohibit the act of adultery and do not allow
divorce.
Statuses and roles
Status and role are very important in socialization because the
behavior of young members of society are controlled by
assigning certain status which they will enact.
Status- (child, parent)
Ascribed Status- a social position of a person received at birth or takes on
involuntarily later in life.
(ex. Being a son, teenager, Filipino)
A matter of which we have little or no choice at all.
Achieved Status- a position that a person takes voluntarily that reflects
personal identity and effort.
(ex. honor student, nurse, achievements)
In real world, most statuses involve a combination of these two.
Roles- refer to the behavior expected of someone who holds a particular
status. A person holds status and performs a role.
Ex. Status: Student = Role: attending classes and completing assignments.
Ex. Status: Professor = Roles to his or her students, colleagues, deans, support
staff and community.
Conformity
and
Deviance
Conformity and deviance are twin processes that flow from the enculturation
and socialization process.
Conformity- is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group
norms.
It is when goals, rules and expectations are internalized that conformity will
follow.
Deviance- a behavior that violates expected rules and norms.
It simply a nonconformity or a behavior that departs significantly from social
expectations.
In sociology, deviance describes an action or behavior that violates social
norms, including a formally enacted rule (e.g., crime),
as well as informal violations of social norms (e.g., rejecting folkways and
more).
Ex. crime is defined as a violation of one specific type of norm, a law.
NO ACT IS INHERENTLY DEVIANT IN AND OF ITSELF. DEVIANCE IS DEFINED
SOCIALLY AND WILL VARY FROM ONE GROUP TO ANOTHER.
Social Control
The social control theory suggest that deviance occurs when a person's or
group’s attachment to social bonds is weakened.
People care about what others think of them and conform to social
expectations because of their attachments to others and what others expect
of them.
Most people probably feel some impulse towards deviant behavior at some
time but their attachment to social norms prevents them from actually
participating in deviant behavior.
Human Dignity, Rights and the Common Good
When individuals become members of society, they each submit to the norms
of that society,
They are held accountable under the norms and laws of that society under
which they seek protection.
One of the dangers is that one is forced to adopt and adapt to the standards of
that society.
This is a necessary surrender of some individual rights in exchange for being a
beneficiary of the common good.
PERFORMANCE TASK
How to promote protection of human dignity, rights and the
common good in the Philippines.
1. Identify the problem
2. Propose possible solutions
3. Role of the government
4. Role of the citizens
