Violence in Modern Society: a Summary Essay

Some historic social challenges seem to continue, despite theoretical and technological advancements for the holistic understanding of solutions to problematic human behavior. A situation qualifies as a social problem if its outcomes promote consistent negative consequences on communities. Whereas the subjective approach to modern problem-solving techniques may entail policymaking, citizen sensitization, and campaigns against a social issue, there is a need for objective reasoning by deconstructing factors behind an identified situation. This paper summary is a reflective analysis of the research topic ‘Violence in Modern Society and How Durkheim’s Functionalism May Help,’ providing a recap of the significant theories and analytical details on the study literature. The critical takeaway from theoretical analyses of Durkheim’s functionalism model is that violence results from unsuccessful social integration, anomia that undermines connection and cooperation among community members.

Reason for Choosing Main Topic

Violence is one of the most common social challenges, even in the most civilized communities around the globe. I chose my paper’s main topic, ‘Violence in Modern Society and How Durkheim’s Functionalism May Help’ to help me understand the significant reasons behind endless aggression and the possible paradigm shifts that could promote social harmony. One concept that I sought to learn was the psychological connection with aggressive behavior, especially the conditions that trigger brutality. The other reason for choosing this topic was my experiences with micro-aggressions, which are common among peers and friends, and some escalate into major brawls. Therefore, I wanted to understand if there is a connection between social violence and self-violence, especially if intrapersonal conflicts fuel aggressive behavior. I had a knowledge gap in understanding the role of emotions in physical aggression or whether there are personality traits likely to promote violence. However, I did extensive research into the topic and uncovered major concepts, areas, and sub-topics which conveyed critical explanations of the main topic.

Areas and Sub-Headings for In-depth Research

Anomie is one of the core concepts for explaining the origin of savagery and aggressive behavior in society. Therefore, I dwelled on the subheading ‘Anomie and Conflicts in the Society’ because anomie is a social instability resulting from a total breakdown in morality values, standards, and norms for behavioral control (Mahfud & Adam-Troian, 2019). Durkheim’s functionalism theory also conveyed anomie concepts by detailing that disintegrated social norms or organic standards promote disconnections within societies, resulting in a moral crisis that is detrimental to functional interactions (Serpa & Ferreira, 2018). Poor morals and disintegrated systems promote feelings of estrangement, which can result in hostility (Serpa & Ferreira, 2018). Therefore, the anomie concept was sufficient to complete the entire research, albeit there should have been a model for explaining solutions to weathered moral standards and anarchy.

I dwelled on the second sub-heading, complementary to anomie and functionalism, which was ‘Collective Consciousness and Social Integration.’ I considered this second sub-heading for an in-depth analysis of the mechanisms for reversing/avoiding anomie. Considering Serpa & Ferreira’s (2018) analysis of anomie impacts on violent extremism, the express reasoning would be that communities with strong social control structures can control potency. Moreover, Blommaert (2018) observed that unrevised social rules become mundane and ineffective at ensuring social integration. Anomie results from community members’ unwillingness to follow old moral standards but unable to find new rules for behavioral conformation (Blommaert, 2018). Therefore, my primary interest was uncovering patterns for formulating and revising social standards to maintain solid connections and integrative conformity to established controls.

Research Findings

One of the major findings was that social disintegration promotes aggressive behavior. Conversely, socially integrated systems with balanced laws and punishment schemes promote harmonic coexistence with minimal to no anarchies (Serpa & Ferreira, 2018). Social integration solves anomie by promoting collective problem-solving through autonomous communications. Durkheim insisted that functional societies should not concentrate on repressive laws and punishment to enforce morality standards (Serpa & Ferreira, 2018). Therefore, communities can reach social integration for controlling violence through problem definition and collaborative resolution-finding, retaining punishment primarily for educative purposes (Serpa & Ferreira, 2018). The reason for promoting problem-solving is that communities must ensure collective consciousness by elaborating on social facts and letting members choose whether to conform.

Topics to Share with Audiences/Class

My opinion on high violence rates in most societies today is that we live in structurally unfunctional communities, where frustrations and absent moral values lead to destructive behaviors such as crime, riots, and suicides. I would also reiterate to my audience that violence is a social disease that begins from intrapersonal conflicts. It implies that an individual perceives anomie at a personal level before getting into fully-fledged anarchy. Another opinion I formulated based on research outcomes is that frustrations leading to violence have no connections with an individual’s socioeconomic situation but rather moral decadence.

Conclusion

An overly aggressive population is an endangered community prone to crime, high suicide rates, or endless riots. Most social aggressions destroy the residual moral standards and controls because people living in fear tend to get into anomie, seeing no value in life. Social integration is a collaborative approach involving value exchange because members must sit down, discuss problems, then let others choose whether to join. Social mobility and flexible value setting promote value preservation, whereas organic solidarity in integrated communities promotes continuous self-regulation. Unsuccessful social integration promotes violence because community members lack cooperation and social connections to enforce morality and harmony.

References

Blommaert, J. (2018). Durkheim and the Internet: Sociolinguistics and the sociological imagination. Bloomsbury. Web.

Mahfud, Y., & Adam-Troian, J. (2019). “Macron demission!”: Loss of significance generates violent extremism for the Yellow Vests through feelings of anomia. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 24(1), 136843021988095. Web.

Serpa, S., & Ferreira, C. M. (2018). Anomie in the sociological perspective of Émile Durkheim. Sociology International Journal, 2(6). Web.