Caribbean

Social Facts- Explain four features of social facts.

Social facts is a term made by Emile Durkheim that refers to facts, concepts and expectations that does not come from the will of the individual but from society itself. Social facts are defined as the cultural and societal norms, values and social structures that help to suppress an individual of society or society on a whole. People who break the law are made an example of and face the consequences thus restraining further individuals from following them. Social facts are important because they shaped society in the way it want it to be.

Firstly, social facts are external from an individual state of mind meaning that it is not related to the psychological or the emotional wellbeing of the individual. Durkheim states that there is a different in the state of mind of an individual than of a group eg. Where there is a national disaster of a country the patriotism is that so much stronger of a group than one person. Furthermore society would be more acceptable to sacrifice individuals rather for an individual to sacrifice oneself. This is known as heterogeneity of individual and collective state of mind. The importance of this is that when they are together thinking as one group but not as one individual better decision can be made in order to save lives and resources.

Secondly, they constraint human behavior, that is they prevent us from breaking the law of society by enforcing laws and regulations that when broken result in serious consequences for the individual. These socials norms and values help to from individuals to follow the way of life in which society operates. An examples can be the death penalty of Iran, where if someone is found guilty on blasphemy they would be stoned to death this would then be an example of anyone who decides to break this law, thus the laws set by society enforces social constraint on the individuals of society. The importance of this is to prevent individuals of...