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Social Change Issue and Theory

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Please help me with identifying a specific social change issue that has has a society wide impact such as the shooting in Ferguson, MO, of the the unarmed black male. Make reference to the theory that can be used to evaluate this issue/movement. How would this theory explain the primary cause for the social change? What are the strengths of this theory in evaluating this issue? What are the limitations of this theory in evaluating this issue? See the attached which outlines each theory.

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Solution Summary

This solution discusses social change in the context of conflict.

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(1) How would this theory explain the primary cause for the social change?

Based on the Conflict theory, social order is seen as being founded on organized coercion (Pfeiffer.edu). Given this theory, there is an "underlying struggle over power, ideas and morals...socially created, and serve the interests of parties to the conflict". The causal determinants pointed out by Machiavelli and Hobbes (cited in pfeiffer.edu) are based upon lines of division among conflicting interests. Findings suggest that social motives/behaviors are important risk factors for the initiating situations of violence. Thus, social contexts provide numerous opportunities for increased agitated feelings that lead to other consequences such as conflict with peers, aggression and violence.

According to Schlee (2004), people take sides in violent conflicts based on two types of reason—concepts and categories. For example, the manner in which people view or identify themselves has been systematically determined. The change process takes place when individuals begin to rebel at the way in which they have been perceived and/or labeled. Thus, as Schlee (2004) points out, individuals have a plausible reason for rejecting their identity; and thus join on a given side. Therefore, for people reasoning about their identities and changing them, categories are expected to be ...

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