Showing papers on "Social network published in 1968"

Modern Social Theory

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Some conceptual difficulties in the theory of social conflict

Abstract: classification. For example, industrial conflict (employer vs. employed) can appear under any of the abstract types, since either party can be a person, group, or organization (Boulding, 1962, p. 213). International conflict can fall under either homogeneous or heterogeneous organization conflict, depending on whether the parties (which may be tribes, feudal states, universal agricultural empires, industrial powers, or superpowers) are equal, unequal, or hopelessly unequal (pp. 227-229). The conflict of ideological systems is partly ecological, partly organizational (p. 278). In Boulding’s view, these empirical types (which do not represent an exhaustive list) are different enough from each other to require separate treatment. Whether this dual classification implies 8 -f4 special theories, 8 X 4 special theories, or some intermediate or larger number, is not at all clear. The mode of abstraction represented in Boulding’s eight-type scheme has been carried a step further. One need only distinguish two types of parties-individuals vs. collective entities (e.g., Sorokin’s distinction between persons and groups). Similarly, the structural relations between parties can be reduced to a simple dichotomy : either the conflicting parties are members of a larger system or else they are separate, autonomous entities which happen to interact in a common environment. This latter distinction has appeared (under various labels) in many schemes: distinctions such as those between intragroup and intergroup conflict (Simmel, 1955; Coser, 1956), intraparty and interparty conflict (Mack and Snyder, 1957), conflict within a social unit and conflict between social units (Levinger, 1957), or internal conflict (&dquo;quandaries&dquo;) and conflicts between parties (Boulding, 1957), all reflect the same basic dichotomy. By combining these two basic dichotomies, one arrives at a simple classification containing four types of conflict, as illustrated by Galtung (1965b, p. 348), who presents the following table: By ignoring the differences among concrete types which could appear in the bottom row, this table implies a smaller number of special theories than any scheme so far discussed. Galtung’s four-cell scheme is not merely a condensation of Boulding’s eight abstract types, but rather a partial condensation combined with the addition of new types. On one axis (nature of parties), Galtung has simply ignored Boulding’s distinction between groups and organizations, replacing these with a single category, i.e., &dquo;collectivities.&dquo; Furthermore, he ignores the distinction between homogeneous and heterogeneous pairs of parties. The result is that one of Boulding’s types of conflict (interpersonal) is retained in Galtung’s scheme, while the remaining seven types are apparently subsumed under a single category (intersystem, collective level). Thus Galtung’s scheme reduces Boulding’s eight types to only two by ignoring certain distinctions. On the other axis (structural relations between parties), Galtung introduces new types by attending to an aspect (intrasystem vs. intersystem) which is at best only implicit in Boulding’s scheme. Thus intrapersonal conflict is not one of Boulding’s eight types (even though he does discuss intrapersonal conflict as a factor which influences the behavior of indi-

Social Work Values

Abstract: (1968). Social Work Values. Journal of Education for Social Work: Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 67-76.

Parsons' Concept of “Generalized Media of Social Interaction” and its Relevance for Social Anthropology

Abstract: The concept of “generalized symbolic media of social interaction” was introduced by Parsons five years ago in his two articles on the concepts of power and influence.1 I believe that it represents a theoretical development of the first importance, which has received much less attention—particularly in my own field of social anthropology—than it deserves. The purpose of the present paper is to review and criticize the concept itself and to point out its relevance to certain problems in social anthropology.

Truth's Search for Power: The Dilemmas of the Social Sciences

Abstract: Social scientists sometimes express the hope that their work eventually will be applicable to the solution of social problems. Yet, for the social scientist, there is a tension between the optimistic assumption that scientific rationality can solve social problems and the realistic observation that he himself lacks power. Each generation of social science from Comte to the present school of “applied sociology” has offered its own vision of the scientific solution of social problems. Several dilemmas, both within the social sciences themselves and in the relationship between social scientists and men of power, are involved in the discrepancy between the promised salutary effects of social science and actual accomplishments. These dilemmas are discussed under the headings: positive versus normative statements, value freedom versus civic responsibility, career advancement versus social problem solving, consultation versus co-optation, and comprehensive planning versus bargaining.

Community social structure and issue differentiation : a study in the political sociology of welfare

Abstract: (1968). Community Social Structure and Issue Differentiation: A Study in the Political Sociology of Welfare. Sociological Focus: Vol. 1, No. 3, pp. 1-16.

Social Analysis and Social Action

Abstract: Publisher Summary This chapter presents a social analysis and social action. Most sociologists, including Amitai Etzioni, feel that such combination of theory and methods is the very foundation on which sociology as a science ought to be built and is in fact being constructed. What is lacking most is social analysis, the systematic exploration of social issues, that is, concern with the methodological questions of sociological analysis of the great issues of the present age that tend to involve the study of macroscopic units. Social analysis requires special training and distinct methods, knowledge, and a professional tradition. It requires more than a simple application of an existing body of knowledge to the study of a set of problems; it is also a question of studying the problems that application of sociology engenders.

What Can We Know and Teach About Social Systems

Abstract: A general systems approach to education is proposed. A general system is thought of not so much as a body of doctrine, but as a way of looking at things which permits the perception of the world as a totality and fosters communication among the specialized disciplines. In social science education the comparative study of relatively stable cultures is necessary. Once the idea has been established that there are stabilities in social systems, then we can go on to dynamics and developmental systems, and into concepts of economic and political development and idiological change. All real systems are dynamic, having four types of patterns in a space-time continuum: perceptible stable relationships, life cycle, evolution and learning, and the decision-making system. In this context, people should know: a little about the order of magnitude of the factual world; where to find information and how to use it; facts about the shape of the space-time continuum --the history and geography of the world; the nature and necessity of investigation; and a distrust of purely personal experience, or an awareness of cultural bias and generalization. All of these things are necessary to avoid what Veblen called "trained incapacity", an inability to live in the world as it really exists. (SBE)

The Application of Optical Coincidence Cards to the Matrices of Digraphs of Social Networks

Abstract: Interest has centred recently on the application of the theory of directed graphs to social networks. Graph theory provides a vocabulary and a set of measures which enable the formal properties of a social network to be expressed. A social network may be represented by a number of directed graphs each of which depicts some institutional or interactional aspect of the relationships among individuals involved in it. Such directed graphs may be so complex that their properties are not easily ascertained by visual inspection. However, all the properties of a directed graph may be obtained by performing certain operations on its adjacency matrix.)Whilst a computer may be programmed to perform these operations, optical coincidence cards may be adapted to provide a novel and simple alternative method of manipulating boolean matrices up to 50 × 50 in size which is of low cost and does not require special skills or access to special equipment.

Communication: Science as a social system

Abstract: (1968). Communication: Science as a social system. The Philosophy Forum: Vol. 7, No. 1, pp. 55-72.