Social change in sociology is the alteration of mechanisms within the social structure.
This is characterized by changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior, social organizations, or value systems. (Form, 2014)
The value system of the United States has changed greatly over the years. The best example of this can be seen in the films. Looking at the Disney princess as one example with Snow white being the first we see how modest she dressed and how she drawn as a young lady. Over time her counterparts have become no longer ladies but women and much less modest. The same trend is reflected in our own society.
Another change that has ties to the past as well as with us today is that of gays. In the bible it tells us that God destroyed Sodom because of fornication and homosexuality. In many ways that understanding has been the tradition of the past and is now changing to again to be acceptable in the today’s society.
With every social change the key elements are the same in that the people shift in their standards of what they find acceptable and what they do not. These changes can be simple traditions of the past like holding a door open for a lady to more complex standards like arranged marriages.
Modernization means to make modern, in other words bring up to date in style, design, methods, etc. As societies modernize, the individual becomes increasingly important, gradually replacing the family, community, or occupational group as the basic unit of society.
When we look to see the example of modernization we can see it from the growth of cities. In the past villages were made up of families that lived and worked together to survive. The modernization of this is we now live is large cities and often don’t even take the time to get to know our neighbors. It is also reflected in the change to our way of communication from the face to face to now text and emails. Where many people and get to know people with never really meeting them. Families use to...