social contract

Examples of social contract in the following topics:

• Socialization

  • Functionalism argues that the social structure is responsible for all stability and instability, and that that the social structure is continuously attempting to maintain social equilibrium among all the components of society.
  • The values and norms of society are agreed upon by all members of society because there is a "social contract" in effect which protects us from one another and keeps society stable and balanced.
  • Merton's socialization research of medical students.
  • The key processes for Parsons for system reproduction are socialization and social control.
  • Parsons never spoke about "perfect socialization"—in any society socialization was only partial and "incomplete" from an integral point of view.

• The Nature of Marriage

  • Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people called spouses that creates kinship.
  • Marriage is a social union or legal contract between spouses that creates kinship.
  • The most frequently occurring form of marriage is between a woman and a man, where the feminine term 'wife' and the masculine term 'husband' are generally used to describe the parties of the contract .
  • The reasons people marry vary widely, but usually include the desire to publicly and formally declare their love, to form a single household unit, to legitimize sexual relations and procreation, for social and economic stability, and for the education and nurturing of children.
  • The most frequently occurring form of marriage is between a woman and a man, where the feminine term 'wife' and the masculine term 'husband' are generally used to describe the parties of the contract.

• Social Control Theory

  • Social control theory argues that relationships, commitments, values, and beliefs encourage conformity.
  • Social control theory describes internal means of social control.
  • Social control theory seeks to understand how to reduce deviance.
  • Ultimately, social control theory is Hobbesian; it presupposes that all choices are constrained by social relations and contracts between parties.
  • How do individuals develop a particular conscience that promotes social adherence?

• Physical Health

  • A person's social class has a significant impact on their physical health, their ability to receive adequate medical care and nutrition, and their life expectancy.
  • Social determinants of health are the economic and social conditions that influence individual and group differences in health status.
  • Social determinants can be used to predict one's risk of contracting a disease or sustaining an injury, and can also indicate how vulnerable one is to the consequences of a disease or injury.
  • Many social scientists hypothesize that the higher rate of illness among those with low SES can be attributed to environmental hazards.
  • Health inequality refers to the unequal distribution of environmental health hazards and access to health services between demographic groups, including social classes.

• Marriage and Responsibility

  • Marriage is a governmentally, socially, or religiously recognized interpersonal relationship, usually intimate and sexual, that is often created as a form of contract.
  • The most frequently occurring form of marriage is between a woman and a man, where the feminine term wife and the masculine husband are generally used to describe the parties to the contract.
  • The reasons people marry vary widely, but usually include publicly and formally declare their love, the formation of a single household unit, legitimizing sexual relations and procreation, social and economic stability, and the education and nurturing of children.

• Spencer and Social Darwinism

  • Social Darwinism explains individuals' success by attributing it to their greater fitness.
  • For example, a social Darwinist might argue that students who receive higher grades are more academically fit than others.
  • Spencer questioned whether the evolution of society would result in peaceful anarchism (as he had first believed) or whether it pointed to a continued role for the state, albeit one reduced to minimal functions—the enforcement of contracts and external defense.
  • Evolution meant progress, improvement, and eventually perfection of the social organism.
  • This is why Spencer's theories are often called "social Darwinism."

• Adolescence

  • Adolescence is a period of significant cognitive, physical and social development, including changes in family and peer relationships.
  • In the west, such "coming of age" milestones include driving a vehicle, having legal sexual relations, serving in the armed forces or on a jury, purchasing and drinking alcohol, voting, entering into contracts, completing certain levels of education, and marrying.
  • Sociologists interested in adolescence might focus on the acquisition of social roles (e.g., worker or romantic partner) and how this varies across cultures or social conditions.
  • Peer groups offer members the opportunity to develop various social skills like empathy, sharing and leadership.
  • These small friend groups break down even further as socialization becomes more couple-oriented.

• The Economy

  • In the most simple of terms, economies consist of producing goods and exchanging them; they are fundamentally social systems.
  • Economies are fundamentally social systems.
  • One cannot think of economies as discrete entities; economic systems necessarily interact with social and political systems.
  • The government is responsible for issuing money, supervising public utilities, and enforcing private contracts.
  • Informal economic activity is a dynamic process which includes many aspects of economic and social theory: exchange, regulation, and enforcement.

• Preindustrial Societies: The Birth of Inequality

  • In general, pre-industrial societies share certain social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization, including limited production, a predominantly agricultural economy, limited division of labor, limited variation of social class, and parochialism at large.
  • They tend to have relatively non-hierarchical, egalitarian social structures, often including a high degree of gender equality.
  • Manorialism was widely practiced in medieval western and parts of central Europe, until it was slowly replaced by the advent of a money-based market economy and new forms of agrarian contract.

• Crime

  • While every crime violates the law, not every violation of the law counts as a crime; for example, breaches of contract and of other civil law may rank as "offenses" or as "infractions. " Modern societies generally regard crimes as offenses against the public or the state, as distinguished from torts, which are wrongs against private parties that can give rise to a civil cause of action.
  • This approach considers the complex realities surrounding the concept of crime and seeks to understand how changing social, political, psychological, and economic conditions may affect changing definitions of crime and the form of the legal, law-enforcement, and penal responses made by society.
  • All such adjustments to crime statistics, together with the experience of people in their everyday lives, shape attitudes on the extent to which the state should use law or social engineering to enforce or encourage any particular social norm.