Social norms and values. Social values and social norms

In order to exist in the social world, a person needs communication and cooperation with other people. But essential for the implementation of joint and purposeful action There must be a situation in which people have a common idea of how to act correctly and how to act incorrectly, in which direction to make their efforts. In the absence of such representation, concerted action cannot be achieved. Thus, a person, as a social being, must create many generally accepted patterns of behavior in order to successfully exist in society, interacting with other individuals. Such patterns of behavior of people in society, regulating this behavior in a certain direction, are called social norms.

social norms - a set of requirements and expectations that a social community (group), organization, society places on its members in their relationships with each other, with social institutions in order to carry out activities (behavior) of the established pattern. These are universal, permanent regulations that presuppose them practical implementation. They arise as a result of the need for a certain behavior. The most important characteristic of a norm is its generally accepted and universality.

Social norm is one of the complex forms of expression social relations. It consists of many elements, each of which has various properties, capable of also changing within fairly wide limits. The social norm embodies the public will, conscious social necessity. This is precisely why it differs from the so-called quasi-norms. The latter are most often of a rude, violent nature, fettering initiative and creativity.

Social norm fulfills following functions . 1. Norms are designed to guide and 2. regulate people’s behavior in different situations. The regulatory effect is that the norm establishes boundaries, conditions, forms of behavior, the nature of relationships, goals and methods of achieving them. 3. socializes the personality; 4. evaluates behavior; 5. Prescribes models of proper behavior. 6. A means of ensuring order.

Main public purpose social norm can be formulated as the regulation of social relations and behavior of people. Regulating relationships through social norms ensures voluntary and conscious cooperation of people.

We can roughly highlight the following groups of norms: 1. By carriers: universal, norms O, group. 2. By field of activity: economic norms, political norms, cultural norms, legal norms. 3. There are formal and informal norms. 4. By scale of action: general and local. 5. By the method of support: based on internal convictions, public opinion, coercion.

The main types of norms in order of increasing their social significance. 1. Customs are simply familiar, normal, most convenient and fairly widespread ways of group activity. New generations of people adopt these social ways of life partly through unconscious imitation and partly through conscious learning. At the same time, the new generation chooses from these methods what seems necessary for life. 2. Moral standards- ideas about right and wrong behavior that require certain actions and prohibit others. At the same time, members of the social community where such moral standards, share the belief that their violation brings disaster to the entire society. Members of another social community may, of course, believe that at least Some of the moral standards of this group are unreasonable. Moral norms are passed on to subsequent generations not as a system of practical benefits, but as a system of unshakable “sacred” absolutes. As a result, moral standards are firmly established and carried out automatically. 3. Institutional norms– a set of specially developed norms and customs relating to important points activities of O, embodied in social institutions. 4. Laws- these are simply reinforced and formalized moral norms that require strict implementation

Violation of norms causes specific and clear negative reaction on the part of O, its institutional forms, aimed at overcoming behavior deviating from the norm. Types of sanctions - negative or positive, i.e. punishment or reward. However regulatory systems are not frozen and forever data. Norms change, and attitudes towards them change. Deviation from the norm is as natural as following it. Conformism - complete acceptance of the norm; deviation is a deviation from it. Sharp deviations from the norm threaten the stability of O.

IN general outline The process of formation and functioning of social norms can be conventionally represented in the form of successively interconnected stages. First stage is the emergence and constant development of norms. Second– understanding and assimilation by the individual of the system of social norms of society, a social group, an individual, in other words, this is the stage of inclusion of a person in society, his socialization. Third stage– real acts, specific behavior of an individual. This stage is the central link in the mechanism of social-normative regulation. It is in practice that it is revealed how deeply social norms have entered the consciousness of an individual. Fourth The stage of the norm functioning process is the assessment and control of human behavior. At this stage, the degree of compliance or deviation from the norm is identified.

Values- beliefs shared in the community regarding the goals to which people should strive and the main means of achieving them. Social values– significant ideas, phenomena and objects of reality from the point of view of their compliance with the needs and interests of groups and individuals.

Value is a goal in itself, one strives for it for its own sake, because she's ideal. This is what is valued, what is significant for a person, what determines the life guidelines of his behavior and is recognized by society as such. The value content of phenomena encourages a person to act. Constantly being in the world of alternatives, a person is forced to choose, the criterion of which is values.

Within the framework of Parsons' "structural functionalism" social order depends on the existence of common values shared by all people, which are considered legitimate and binding, acting as a standard by which the goals of action are selected. Connection between social system and the personality system is carried out through the internalization of values in the process of socialization.

Values change along with the development of society. They are formed based on needs and interests, but do not copy them. Values are not a cast of needs and interests, but an ideal representation that does not always correspond to them.

Value orientations– a product of the socialization of individuals, i.e. mastering socio-political, moral, aesthetic ideals and immutable regulatory requirements, presented to them as members of social groups, communities and society as a whole. COs are internally determined, they are formed on the basis of correlation personal experience with existing cultural patterns in society and express their own idea of what should be, they express life’s aspirations. Despite the ambiguous interpretation of the concept of “value orientations,” all researchers agree that value orientations perform an important function as regulators social behavior individuals.

Within the framework of “structural functionalism” Parsons social order depends on the existence of common values shared by all people, which are considered legitimate and binding, serving as the standard by which the goals of action are selected. The connection between the social system and the personality system is carried out through the internalization of values in the process of socialization.

Frankl showed that values not only govern actions, they serve as the meaning of life and constitute three classes: values of creativity; c. experiences (love); c. relationship.

Classification of values. 1. Traditional (focused on preserving and reproducing established norms and goals of life) and modern (arising under the influence of changes in life). 2. Basic (characterize the basic orientations of people in life and main areas of activity. They are formed in the process of primary socialization, then remaining quite stable) and secondary. 3. Terminal (express the most important goals and ideals, meanings of life) and instrumental (means of achieving goals approved in this O). 4. A hierarchy from lower to higher values is possible.

N. I. Lapin offers his own classification of values, based on the following grounds:

By subject content(spiritual and material, economic, social, political, etc.); By functional focus(integrating and differentiating, approved and denied); According to the needs of individuals(vital, interactionist, socialization, life meaning); By type of civilization(values of societies traditional type, values of societies such as modernity, universal human values).

In the course of socialization, i.e., assimilation of elements of contemporary culture, including corresponding values and norms of behavior. The range of social values is quite diverse: these are moral and ethical, ideological, political, religious, economic, aesthetic, etc. Values are directly related to social ideals. Values are not something that can be bought or sold, they are things that make life worth living. The most important function of social values is to play the role of selection criteria from alternative ways actions. The values of any society interact with each other, being a fundamental substantive element of a given culture.

The relationship between culturally determined values is characterized by the following two features. Firstly, values, according to the degree of their social significance, add up to a certain hierarchical structure, divided into values more and less high order, more preferred and less preferred. Secondly, the relationship between these values can be either harmonious, mutually reinforcing, or neutral, even antagonistic, mutually exclusive. These relations between social values, developing historically, fill the culture of this type with specific content.

The main function of social values- to be a measure of assessments - leads to the fact that in any value system one can distinguish:

that which is most preferred (acts of behavior that approach the social ideal are those that are admired). The most important element a value system is a zone of highest values, the meaning of which does not require any justification (that which is above all, that which is inviolable, sacred and cannot be violated under any circumstances);
what is considered normal, correct (as is done in most cases);
that which is not approved is condemned and - at the extreme pole of the value system - appears as an absolute, self-evident evil, not allowed under any circumstances.

The formed system of values structures and organizes the picture of the world for the individual. Important Feature social values lies in the fact that, due to their universal recognition, they are perceived by members of society as something self-evident; values are spontaneously realized and reproduced in socially significant actions of people. With all the diversity of substantive characteristics of social values, it is possible to identify some objects that are inevitably associated with the formation of a value system. Among them:

definition of human nature, ideal personality;
picture of the world, the universe, perception and understanding of nature;
the place of man, his role in the system of the universe, man’s relationship to nature;
person to person relationship;
the character of society, the ideal of social order.

Social norms

In a situation where the system of social values is characterized by stability, reproducibility over time and prevalence within a given society, this system is formalized and concretized in the form of social norms. It is worth paying attention to the double definition of the concept “norm”. According to its first use norm - an abstractly formulated rule, prescription. It is known, however, that the concept of “norm” in relation to any series of phenomena and processes also denotes that set of phenomena or signs of a process that serve as their predominant characteristic, are constantly renewed, steadily manifesting themselves in this series phenomena (then they talk about normal phenomenon, normal process, about the presence of an objective (real) norm). IN social life there are ordinary, recurring relationships between members of society. These relationships come under the concept objective(real) norms in human behavior. A set of acts of action characterized by high degree uniformity and repeatability, and there is objective social norm.

Objective social norm

This is a characteristic of existing phenomena or processes (or acts of command), therefore, its presence and content can be established only by analyzing social reality; the content of social norms is derived from the actual behavior of individuals and social groups. It is here that social norms are reproduced day after day, often manifesting their effect spontaneously, not always being reflected in the consciousness of people. If in law the sphere of social obligation is expressed in the form of rationally conscious and logically formulated rules (prohibitions or commands), where means are subordinate to goals, and immediate goals are subordinate to distant ones, then social norms are not divided into goals and means in the public consciousness, they exist in the form of stereotypes (standards of behavior), as something implied, are perceived as such and reproduced in the command without their obligatory conscious evaluation.

Social norms, spontaneously ordering the behavior of people, regulate the most diverse types of social relations, developing into a certain hierarchy of norms, distributed according to degree social significance. Political norms, directly related to the system of ideological values, influence norms of an economic nature, the latter - on technical norms, etc. Norms of everyday behavior, professional ethics, family relations and morality as a whole cover essentially the entire set of socially significant acts of behavior.

The social norm embodies the vast majority of relevant phenomena (acts of behavior). It can designate what is usually, naturally, typical in a given area of social reality, which characterizes its main social property in this moment. These are the majority of precisely homogeneous, more or less identical acts of behavior. Relative homogeneity makes it possible to summarize them and separate them from other acts of behavior that constitute deviations, exceptions, anomalies. A norm is a synthetic generalization of mass social practice of people. In social norms, i.e. stable, most typical types and methods of behavior in specific areas of social practice, the effect of objective laws is manifested social development. Socially normal is what is necessary, what naturally exists in a given structure of society.

A social norm in the sphere of human behavior in relation to specific acts can be characterized by two main series of quantitative indicators. This is, firstly, relative number acts of behavior of the corresponding type and, secondly, an indicator of the degree of their compliance with some average sample. The objective basis of a social norm is manifested in the fact that the functioning and development of social phenomena and processes occurs within appropriate qualitative and quantitative limits. The totality of actual acts of action that form social norms consists of homogeneous, but not identical elements. These acts of action inevitably differ from each other in the degree of correspondence to the average model of the social norm. These actions, therefore, are located along a certain continuum: from complete compliance with the model, through cases of partial deviation, up to complete departure from the limits of the objective social norm. In qualitative certainty, in the content, meaning and significance of the qualitative characteristics of social norms, V real behavior Ultimately, the dominant system of social values manifests itself.

The total number of homogeneous (i.e., more or less corresponding to a certain characteristic) acts of behavior is the first quantitative indicator of a given set of acts. The difference between similar homogeneous acts is due to the fact that the specified qualitative feature in each specific case can be expressed in varying degrees, i.e. acts of behavior may have different frequency characteristics from the point of view of the manifestation of this feature in them. This is the second quantitative parameter of this population. Deviations from the average pattern of behavior to some level fit within the framework of what can be considered an objective social norm. Upon reaching a certain limit, the degree of deviation will be so high that such acts will be classified as anomalies, antisocial, dangerous, criminal acts.

Going beyond the limits of an objective social norm is possible in two directions: with a minus sign (negative value) and with a plus sign (positive value). Here again it appears unbreakable bond social norms with the dominant value system. It is such a system that not only provides social norms with their qualitative characteristics, but also determines the polar meanings of cases of going beyond these norms. At the same time, there is an important pattern: the higher the degree of compliance of a given act with the average example of a social norm, the more similar acts there are, and the more less degree this correspondence, the smaller the relative number of such acts.

It is useful to resort to a schematic, graphical representation of this relationship (see Fig. 2). To do this, we will plot vertically the number of specific, relatively homogeneous (but never identical) acts of action, and horizontally the degree of their correspondence to the average pattern (both with a “plus” and with a “minus” sign).

In the above graph, in zones “c” and “c1” there are acts of action that fall within the limits of an objective social norm; this is how people usually act. Zone “a1” is deviations that go beyond the limits of the objective social norm. These are actions other than average norm, that which is condemned. Zone “a” contains actions that deviate even more from the social norm (maximum deviations); these are actions condemned by the majority, assessed as unacceptable and criminal. Zone “c” contains actions that go beyond the average social norm towards social ideals; these are those actions that are admired (although rarely followed).

Rice. 2. Graph of the relationship between social norms and deviations

The quantitative and qualitative characteristics of social norms are extremely indicative from the point of view of the level of dynamics social change and their content. A situation is possible when those acts of behavior that were in the minority grow to such an extent that they begin to move from the category of deviations and exceptions to the stage of formation of a new model of social norm. Usually, this marks a radical transformation of the system of social values of a given society

Of greatest interest to sociology are behavioral elements- social values and norms. They largely determine not only the nature of people’s relationships, their moral orientations, behavior, but also spirit society as a whole, its originality and difference from other societies. Isn’t this the originality the poet had in mind when he exclaimed: “There’s a Russian spirit there... it smells like Russia!”

Social values- these are life ideals and goals that, according to the majority in a given society, one should strive to achieve. These in different societies can be, for example, patriotism, respect for ancestors, hard work, a responsible attitude to business, freedom of entrepreneurship, law-abidingness, honesty, marriage for love, fidelity in married life, tolerance and goodwill in relationships between people , wealth, power, education, spirituality, health, etc.

Such values of society arise from generally accepted ideas about what is good and what is bad; what is good and what is evil; what should be achieved and what should be avoided, etc. Having taken root in the minds of most people, social values seem to predetermine their attitude towards certain phenomena and serve as a kind of guideline in their behavior.

Eg, if the idea is firmly established in society healthy image life, then most of its representatives will have a negative attitude towards the production of products by factories with high content fat, physical passivity of people, poor nutrition and addiction to alcohol and tobacco.

Of course, goodness, benefit, freedom, equality, justice, etc. are not understood equally. For some, say, state paternalism (when the state takes care of and controls its citizens down to the last detail) is the highest justice, while for others it is infringement of freedom and bureaucratic arbitrariness. That's why individual value guidelines may be different. But at the same time, in every society there are also general, prevailing assessments life situations. They form social values, which, in turn, serve as the basis for the development of social norms.

Unlike social values social norms but it is not only of an orienting nature. In some cases they seem to recommend, and in others directly require compliance with certain rules and thereby regulate the behavior of people and their joint Life in society. The whole variety of social norms can be conditionally combined into two groups: informal and formal norms.

Informal social norms - This naturally folding in a society, patterns of correct behavior that people are expected or recommended to adhere to without coercion. This may include such elements of spiritual culture as etiquette, customs and traditions, ceremonies (for example, baptisms, initiations, burials), ceremonies, rituals, good habits and manners (for example, the respectable habit of communicating your garbage to the trash can, no matter how far it is and, most importantly, even when no one sees you), etc.

Separately, in this group, the mores of society, or its moral, moral standards. These are the most cherished and revered patterns of behavior by the people, non-compliance with which is perceived especially painfully by others.

Eg, In many societies it is considered extremely immoral for a mother to abandon her child to the mercy of fate. small child; or when adult children do the same in relation to their old parents.

Compliance with informal social norms is ensured by the strength of public opinion (disapproval, condemnation, contempt, boycott, ostracism, etc.), as well as through common sense, self-restraint, conscience and awareness of the personal duty of each person.

Formal social norms present specially designed and established rules of conduct (for example, military regulations or rules for using the subway). A special place here belongs to legal entities, or legal norms- laws, decrees, government regulations and others regulatory documents. They, in particular, protect the rights and dignity of a person, his health and life, property, public order, and the security of the country. Formal norms usually provide for certain sanctions, g.s. either reward (approval, reward, bonus, honor, fame, etc.) or punishment (disapproval, demotion, dismissal, fine, arrest, imprisonment, the death penalty etc.) for compliance or non-compliance with standards.

Social norms and values, their role in modern society.

In order to exist in the social world, a person needs communication and cooperation with other people. But essential for the implementation of joint and purposeful action should be a situation in which people have a common idea of how to act correctly, and how to act incorrectly, in what direction to make their efforts. In the absence of such representation, concerted action cannot be achieved. Thus, a person, as a social being, must create many generally accepted patterns of behavior in order to successfully exist in society, interacting with other individuals. Such patterns of behavior of people in society, regulating this behavior in a certain direction, are called social norms.

social norms - a set of requirements and expectations that a social community (group), organization, society places on its members in their relationships with each other, with social institutions in order to carry out activities (behavior) of the established pattern. These are general, permanent regulations that require their practical implementation. They arise as a result of the need for a certain behavior. The most important characteristic of a norm is its universal acceptance and universality.

A social norm is one of the complex forms of expression of social relations. It consists of many elements, each of which has different properties that can also change over a fairly wide range. The social norm embodies the public will and the perceived social importance. This is precisely why it differs from the so-called quasi-norms. The latter are most often of a rude, violent nature, fettering initiative and creativity.

A social norm performs the following functions. 1. Norms are designed to guide and 2. regulate people’s behavior in various situations. The regulatory effect is that the norm establishes boundaries, conditions, forms of behavior, the nature of relationships, goals and methods of achieving them. 3. socializes the personality; 4. evaluates behavior; 5. Prescribes models of proper behavior. 6. A means of ensuring order.

Main public purpose social norms should be formulated as the regulation of social relations and behavior of people. Regulating relationships through social norms ensures voluntary and conscious cooperation of people.

The main types of norms in order of increasing their social significance. 1. Customs are simply familiar, normal, most convenient and fairly widespread ways of group activity. New generations of people adopt these social ways of life partly through unconscious imitation and partly through conscious learning. At the same time, the new generation chooses from these methods what seems necessary for life. 2. Moral standards- ideas about right and wrong behavior that require certain actions and prohibit others. At the same time, members of the social community where such moral norms operate share the belief that their violation brings disaster to the entire society. Members of another social community may, of course, believe that at least some of the group's moral standards are unreasonable. Moral norms are passed on to subsequent generations not as a system of practical benefits, but as a system of unshakable “sacred” absolutes. As a result, moral standards are firmly established and carried out automatically. 3. Institutional norms– a set of specially developed norms and customs concerning important aspects of the activities of the organization, embodied in social institutions. 4. Laws- these are simply reinforced and formalized moral norms that require strict implementation

Violation of norms causes a specific and clear negative reaction on the part of the organization, its institutional forms, aimed at overcoming behavior deviating from the norm. Types of sanctions - negative or positive, ᴛ.ᴇ. punishment or reward. At the same time, regulatory systems are not frozen and forever given. Norms change, and attitudes towards them change. Deviation from the norm is as natural as following it. Conformism - complete acceptance of the norm; deviation is a deviation from it. Sharp deviations from the norm threaten the stability of O.

In general terms, the process of formation and functioning of social norms can be conventionally represented in the form of successively interconnected stages. First stage- ϶ᴛᴏ the emergence and constant development of norms. Second– understanding and assimilation by the individual of the system of social norms of society, a social group, an individual, in other words, this is the stage of inclusion of a person in society, his socialization. Third stage– real acts, specific behavior of an individual. This stage is the central link in the mechanism of social-normative regulation. It is in practice that it is revealed how deeply social norms have entered the consciousness of an individual. Fourth The stage of the norm functioning process is the assessment and control of human behavior. At this stage, the degree of compliance or deviation from the norm is identified.

Values– beliefs shared by the organization regarding the goals to which people should strive and the basic means of achieving them. Social values– significant ideas, phenomena and objects of reality from the point of view of their compliance with the needs and interests of groups and individuals.

In Parsons's “structural functionalism,” social order depends on the existence of common values shared by all people, which are considered legitimate and binding, serving as the standard by which the goals of action are selected. The connection between the social system and the personality system is carried out through the internalization of values in the process of socialization.

Values change along with the development of society. They are formed on the basis of needs and interests, but do not copy them. Values are not a cast of needs and interests, but an ideal representation, and they do not always correspond to them.

Value orientations– a product of the socialization of individuals, ᴛ.ᴇ. mastering socio-political, moral, aesthetic ideals and immutable normative requirements imposed on them as members of social groups, communities and society as a whole. COs are internally conditioned, they are formed on the basis of correlating personal experience with cultural patterns existing in society and express their own idea of what should be, they characterize life’s aspirations. Despite the ambiguous interpretation of the concept of “value orientations,” all researchers agree that value orientations perform an important function as regulators of individuals’ social behavior.

Frankl showed that values not only govern actions, they serve as the meaning of life and constitute three classes: values of creativity; c. experiences (love); c. relationship.

Classification of values. 1. Traditional (focused on preserving and reproducing established norms and goals of life) and modern (arising under the influence of changes in life). 2. Basic (characterize the basic orientations of people in life and basic areas of activity. They are formed in the process of primary socialization, then remaining quite stable) and secondary. 3. Terminal (express the most important goals and ideals, meanings of life) and instrumental (means of achieving goals approved in this O). 4. A hierarchy from lower to higher values is possible.

N. I. Lapin offers his own classification of values, based on the following grounds:

By subject content(spiritual and material, economic, social, political, etc.); By functional focus(integrating and differentiating, approved and denied); According to the needs of individuals(vital, interactionist, socialization, life meaning); By type of civilization(values of societies of the traditional type, values of societies of the modernity type, universal values).

Social norms and values, their role in modern society. - concept and types. Classification and features of the category "Social norms and values, their role in modern society." 2017, 2018.

Social values- in a broad sense - the significance of phenomena and objects of reality from the point of view of their compliance or non-compliance with the needs of society, a social group, or an individual. in a narrow sense - moral and aesthetic requirements developed by human culture and which are products of social consciousness. Social values are a product of the mode of production material life, which determines the actual social, political, spiritual process of life, they always act as regulators of human society, people’s aspirations and their actions. Values are certainly aligned in a certain way hierarchical system, which is always filled with concrete historical meaning and content. That is why the scale of values and assessments based on them contains an orientation not only from minimum to maximum, but also from positive value to negative. Social norms - instructions, requirements, wishes and expectations of appropriate (socially approved) behavior. Social instructions are a prohibition or permission to do something, addressed to an individual or group and expressed in any form (oral or written, formal or informal). Everything that is valued by society in one way or another is translated into the language of prescriptions. Human life and dignity, treatment of elders, collective symbols (for example, banner, coat of arms, anthem), religious practices, laws of the state and much more constitute what makes a society a cohesive whole and is therefore especially valued and protected. First type - these are norms that arise and exist only in small groups(groups of friends, family, work teams, youth parties, sports teams). Second type- these are the norms that arise and exist in large groups or in society as a whole. These are customs, traditions, mores, laws, etiquette, and manners of behavior. Any social group have their own manners, customs and etiquette. There is secular etiquette, there are manners of behavior of young people, just as there are national traditions and mores. All social norms can be classified depending on how strictly their implementation is required. Violation of some norms is followed by a mild punishment - disapproval, a smirk, an unfriendly look. Violation of other norms may result in very strong and harsh sanctions - expulsion from the country, imprisonment, even the death penalty. If we arrange all the norms in ascending order, depending on the punishment following their violation, then their sequence will take the following form: customs, manners, etiquette, traditions, group habits, mores, laws, taboos. Violations of taboos and legal laws (for example, killing a person, insulting a deity, revealing state secrets) are punished most severely; individual species group habits, in particular family ones (for example, refusal to turn off the lights or close the front door). Social norms are carried out in society very important functions, namely: regulate general progress socialization; integrate individuals into groups, and groups into society; control deviant behavior; serve as models and standards of behavior.

Social norms and values. Social values ​​and social norms

Social norms

Objective social norm

Social norms and values. Social values and social norms