Category: Psychology

Essay on the Dysfunctions of Religion – Religion as a basic social institution of human society has been fulfilling certain positive func­tions no doubt. Its role in promoting social solidarity, as Durkheim has pointed out, and its need in providing inner individual peace and solace as Edward Sapir has pointed out cannot be undermined. By looking at this manifest positive functions of religion one should not jump to the conclusion that religion brings man only advantages.Religion, on the contrary, has its own dysfunctional aspect also. It does certain disservices also. Sumner and Keller, Benjamin Kidd, Gillin, Karl Marx, Thomas F. O ‘dea and others have pin pointed the negative side of the functions or the dysfunctions of reli­gion also.According to Thomas F. O ‘Dea, one of the functionalists, the main…

Short Essay on Human Society – Human society is not only dynamic but also diverse. Differences are found between societies and within the same society among peoples and groups. In fact, society is based on the principle of difference. Society exhibits diversity because; people who constitute society themselves differ.As the popular saying “all fingers are not equal’- all people are not alike. They do differ. Human beings differ from one another in their physical development, in their mental make-up, in their moral, spiritual temperament, in their noble work, intellectual endeavors, criminal activity, and so on.The physical traits of people such as stature, skin, colour, height, weight, and texture of hair and its colour, structure of eyes, perimeter of the chest and so on do differ. Image Source: images.sciencedaily.com ADVERTISEMENTS: Their…

Essay on Assessment of Marx’s Contributions to Sociology – Karl Marx was undoubtedly a great social thinker, profound scholar and a prolific writer. He was an idealist who committed himself to the cause of welfare of the working community. It is more appropriate to call him a social philosopher than a sociologist.Marx has almost no influence on the development of early sociology which was dominated by the evolutionists, particularly social Darwin­ists. The mid twentieth century witnessed the rebirth of Marxist sociology. He has exerted a tremen­dous influence on a large number of sociologists.He has made scholars discuss the problems which he had raised, and has opened up vast new areas of investigation. “Most of the modern social sciences owe their existence in greater or lesser degree to Karl Marx” –…

It is said that the greatest need of a person in life is the feeling of ‘being wanted’ and ‘being noticed’. The thirst for wontedness is an unquenchable thirst, found in every human being. It is particularly true in the case of children. They long to be wanted, shown affection and appreciated. Children’s Day celebrated all over India on 14th November every year is an attempt in this regard.14th Nov. is celebrated all over India every year as Children’s Day in loving memory of Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of our country. He was a true friend of children. He profoundly loved them and kept them dear to his heart. Therefore children called him ‘Chacha Nehru’. ADVERTISEMENTS: In the Indian context ‘Chacha’ stands next to one’s father and…

India has produced many outstanding personalities who have left behind a legacy of greatness, noble life and sublime ideals. Among these men, Mahatma Gandhi stands in the forefront. Today he is considered as the greatest, the noblest and the finest Indian ever born in our land. He was the brightest star ever raised on the horizon of India.Mahatma Gandhi was born on Oct. 2, 1869 at Porbandar, in Gujarat, in a noble Hindu family. His full name is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi. After passing his matriculation examination, he was sent to England to study law. In 1890, he returned from England as a lawyer. ADVERTISEMENTS: Soon after his arrival in India, he was called to help the Indians who were facing numerous hardships under the British rule in South Africa. Gandhi…

It is amazing but true that social anthropology does not enjoy a re­spectable status in India and other Third World countries. Among the social sciences it was social anthropology which became a tool by pro­viding a tacit fund of knowledge to the colonial powers for the suppression of the people. The British had their colonial rule in India and many parts of Africa. They ruled over the masses of people with­out doing any substantial good to the common man. This historically made the colonial people quite unfriendly to the general public. The British administrators-turned-social anthropologists, such as Risley and Russell, provided clues to the British Empire for doing all kinds of injustice. It happened in South Africa and other parts of the world. Historically, all this ended in the erosion…

Essay on Interrelations Between Rural and Urban Sociology – Various branches of sociology study the different aspects of the same reality, that is, society. It is but natural that all the branches are interrelated. Accordingly, rural sociology and urban sociology too have interconnections.Rural sociology studies the village and urban sociology deals with the city. The city life de­pends on the village and what it produces. Similarly, the village is very much influenced by the city. Due to the pressures from within and attractions from outside people are flocking towards the cities from the villages.The economic necessity and social deficiency are ‘pushing’ the people out of the village, while the attractions of the city are ‘pulling’ them towards their centres. This has resulted in phenomenon known as ‘urbanisation’. Both rural sociology…

The term ‘evolution‘ comes from the Latin word ‘evoluere’ which means ‘to develop’ or to ‘unfold’. It closely corresponds to the Sanskrit word ‘Vikas’. Evolution literally means gradually ‘unfolding’ or ‘unrolling’.It indicates changes from ‘within’ and not from without’; it is spontane­ous, but not automatic. It must take place on its own accord. It implies continuous change that takes place especially in some structure. The concept of evolution applies more precisely to the internal growth of an organism. ADVERTISEMENTS: Meaning of Social Evolution: The term ‘evolution’ is borrowed from biological science to sociology. The term ‘organic evolution’ is replaced by ‘Social Evolution’ in sociology. Whereas the term ‘organic evolution’ is used to denote the evolution of organism, the expression ‘social evolution’ is used to explain the evolution of human society.…