Social Order

At the present time we consider ourselves to be well socialised and living in a generally harmonious society, but how has society manifested itself in to this seemingly natural way of life? To define social order it is often categorised as a place in which society has become organised and people have become able to unite with one and other to work together to attain common objectives. This organisation is necessary as without this socialisation process society, as we know it, would not be able to function in the coherent manner in which we have become accustomed. There would be no progression of the human race and the various technologies we now take for granted would have ceased to develop (Hechter & Horne, 2009). Without social order,

To achieve this level of social order a degree of social unanimity is required, this is possible due to an established collection of norms which are internalised in ones personality through the process of socialisation and specify appropriate human behaviour. Although everyone differs in individual aspects attributed to their personality, their beliefs and culture, social control regulates conduct which reflects these established norms which in turn enhances a homogeneous society (Mondal, 2015). These norms are social expectations regarding routines or customs associated with interactions in daily life, norms are defined as social if they are agreed on by society, however not all norms are shared and individuals adhere to norms in diverse degrees, (Miell & Dallos, 1996). These norms vary in severity and were historically categorised into three major types, Folkways, Mores and laws, (Sumner, 1906). The first of these, folkway refers to norms which only require minimal conformity and which relate to traditional mannerisms associated to society, this branch of norms are only implemented meekly and are not illegal

These values are structured in accordance to individual preferences, desirability and fundamental rights. These values are important in creating a stable social order. However social values differ from our own personal value base. Many individual values are shared widely over society, however this does not make them social values. Where individual values are only specific to that individual, a societal value takes the wellbeing of the wider community into account and is representative of their values as a society. Social values have been a central focal point for many years, Emile Durkheim (1897-1964) believed that without collective shared beliefs and values it would be impossible to achieve social order which in turn allows society to function harmoniously. Furthermore Durkheim believed that the more values shared by members of a society they will also have corresponding identities which aids in continued unity and avoid conflict, (Elwell, 2003). Shalom Schwartz (1992) conducted a survey, The Schwartz Value Inventory (SVI) which surveyed a pool of 60,000 individuals. The aim of the study was to identify a core number of common values, the study found that there were ten common value types identified which were, power, achievement, hedonism, stimulation, self-direction, universalism, benevolence, tradition, conformity and security (Schwartz, 2012). While a