Society - Its Origin and Development

Henry Kalloch Rowe

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• Publié par: thoek
• Publié le: 08 décembre 2010
• Nombre de lectures: 35
• Langue: English

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Title: Society
Its Origin and Development
Author: Henry Kalloch Rowe
Release Date: May 25, 2007 [EBook #21609]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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SOCIETY
ITS ORIGIN AND DEVELOPMENT
BY
HENRY KALLOCH ROWE, Ph.D.
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF HISTORY AND SOCIOLOGY IN NEWTON
THEOLOGICAL INSTITUTIONCHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
NEW YORK CHICAGO BOSTON
Copyright, 1916, by
CHARLES SCRIBNER'S SONS
[iii]
PREFACE
In studying biology it is convenient to make cross-sections of laboratory
specimens in order to determine structure, and to watch plants and animals
grow in order to determine function. There seems to be no good reason why
social life should not be studied in the same way. To take a child in the home
and watch it grow in the midst of the life of the family, the community, and the
larger world, and to cut across group life so as to see its characteristics, its
interests, and its organization, is to study sociology in the most natural way and
to obtain the necessary data for generalization. To attempt to study sociological
principles without this preliminary investigation is to confuse the student and
leave him in a sea of vague abstractions.
It is not because of a lack of appreciation of the abstract that the emphasis of
this book is on the concrete. It is written as an introduction to the study of the
principles of sociology, and it may well be used as a prelude to the various
social sciences. It is natural that trained sociologists should prefer to discuss
the profound problems of their science, and should plunge their pupils into
material for study where they are soon beyond their depth; much of current life
seems so obvious and so simple that it is easy to forget that the college man or
woman has never looked upon it with a discriminating eye or with any attempt
to understand its meaning. If this is true of the college student, it is
unquestionably true of the men and women of the world. The writer believes
that there is need of a simple, untechnical treatment of human society, and
offers this book as a contribution to the practical side of social science. He
writes with the undergraduate continually in mind, trying to see through his
eyes and to think with his mind, and the references are to books that will best
[iv]meet his needs and that are most readily accessible. It is expected that thepupil will read widely, and that the instructor will show how principles and laws
are formulated from the multitude of observations of social phenomena. The
last section of the book sums up briefly some of the scientific conclusions that
are drawn from the concrete data, and prepares the way for a more detailed and
technical study.
If sociology is to have its rightful place in the world it must become a science
for the people. It must not be permitted to remain the possession of an
aristocracy of intellect. The heart of thousands of social workers who are trying
to reform society and cure its ills is throbbing with sympathy and hope, but there
is much waste of energy and misdirection of zeal because of a lack of
understanding of the social life that they try to cure. They and the people to
whom they minister need an interpretation of life in social terms that they can
understand. Professional persons of all kinds need it. A world that is on the
verge of despair because of the breakdown of harmonious human relations
needs it to reassure itself of the value and the possibility of normal human
relations. Doubtless the presentation of the subject is imperfect, but if it meets
the need of those who find difficulty in using more technical discussions and
opens up a new field of interest to many who hitherto have not known the
difference between sociology and socialism, the effort at interpretation will have
been worth while.
HENRY K. ROWE
NEWTON CENTRE, MASSACHUSETTS.
[v]
CONTENTS
PART ONE—INTRODUCTORY
CHAP. PAGE
I. Characteristics of Social Life 1
II. Unorganized Group Life 16
PART TWO—LIFE IN THE FAMILY GROUP
III. Foundations of the Family 24
IV. The History of the Family 29
V. The Making of the Home 37
VI. Children in the Home 42
VII. Work, Play, and Education 51
VIII. Home Economics 60
IX. Changes in the Family 67
X. Divorce 74
XI. The Social Evil 81
XII. Characteristics and Principles 88PART THREE—SOCIAL LIFE IN THE RURAL
COMMUNITY
XIII. The Community and Its History 91
XIV. The Land and the People 99
XV. Occupations 104
XVI. Recreation 108
XVII. Rural Institutions 115
XVIII. Rural Education 120
XIX. The New Rural School 127
[vi]XX. Rural Government 136
XXI. Health and Beauty 144
XXII. Morals in the Rural Community 151
XXIII. The Rural Church 156
XXIV. A New Type of Rural Institution 162
PART FOUR—SOCIAL LIFE IN THE CITY
XXV. From Country To City 169
XXVI. The Manufacturing Enterprise 180
XXVII. The Industrial Problem 186
XXVIII. Exchange and Transportation 201
XXIX. The People Who Work 212
XXX. The Immigrant 221
XXXI. How the Working People Live 230
XXXII. The Diversions of the Working People 238
XXXIII. Crime and Its Cure 248
XXXIV. Agencies of Control 256
XXXV. Difficulties of the People Who Work 263
XXXVI. Charity and the Settlements 271
XXXVII. Educational Agencies 280
XXXVIII. The Church 287
XXXIX. The City in the Making 294
PART FIVE—SOCIAL LIFE IN THE NATION
XL. The Building of a Nation 300
Economic and Social Functions of the
XLI. 305
People as a Nation
XLII. The State 313
XLIII. Problems of the Nation 324
XLIV. Internationalism 333
PART SIX—SOCIAL ANALYSIS
Physical and Personal Factors in the [vii]XLV. 340
Life of SocietyXLVI. Social Psychic Factors 348
XLVII. Social Theories 357
XLVIII. The Science of Sociology 364
Index 373
[1]
SOCIETY: ITS ORIGIN AND
DEVELOPMENT
PART I—INTRODUCTORY
ToCCHAPTER I
CHARACTERISTICS OF SOCIAL LIFE
1. Man and His Social Relations.—A study of society starts with the obvious
fact that human beings live together. The hermit is abnormal. However far back
we go in the process of human evolution we find the existence of social
relations, and sociability seems a quality ingrained in human nature. Every
individual has his own personality that belongs to him apart from every other
individual, but the perpetuation and development of that personality is
dependent on relations with other personalities and with the physical
environment which limits his activity.
As an individual his primary interest is in self, but he finds by experience that
he cannot be independent of others. His impulses, his feelings, and his ideas
are due to the relations that he has with that which is outside of himself. He may
exercise choice, but it is within the limits set by these outside relations. He may
make use of what they can do for him or he may antagonize them, at least he
cannot ignore them. Experience determines how the individual may best adapt
himself to his environment and adapt the environment to his own needs, and he
thus establishes certain definite relationships. Any group of individuals, who
have thus consciously established relationships with one another and with their
social environment is a society. The relations through whose channels the
[2]interplay of social forces is constantly going on make up the social
organization. The readjustments of these relations for the better adaptation of
one individual to another, or of either to their environment, make up the process
of social development. A society which remains in equilibrium is termed static,
that which is changing is called dynamic.
2. The Field and the Purpose of Sociology.—Life in society is the subject
matter of sociological study. Sociology is concerned with the origin anddevelopment of that life, with its present forms and activities, and with their
future development. It finds its material in the every-day experiences of men,
women, and children in whatever stage of progress they may be; but for
practical purposes its chief interest is in the normal life of civilized communities,
together with the past developments and future prospects of that life. The
purpose of sociological study is to discover the active workings and controlling
principles of life, its essential meaning, and its ultimate goal; then to apply the
principles, laws, and ideals discovered to the imperfect social process that is
now going on in the hope of social betterment.
3 . Source Material for Study.—The source material of social life lies all
about us. For its past history we must explore the primitive conduct of human
beings as we learn it from anthropology and archæology, or as we infer it from
the lowest human races or from animal groups that bea