Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

The concept of social pathology applies the medical metaphor of pathology to describe and explain social problems. From this perspective those individuals and groups who deviate from social norms, or institutions that do not fit with core social norms, are “sick” or pathologic and a risk to the society's “health.” Social pathology was a very influential model in nineteenth-century American and European sociological writings on social problems. The concept is closely related to those of social disorganization and deviance. However, social disorganization focuses on the malfunctioning of social institutions and structures rather than on the individual. The concept of deviance became popular in the 1950s. It was strongly influenced by the concept of anomie (Durkheim, Merton) and is similar to social pathology in that it focuses on the individual criminal. When the concept of social pathology became famous, many authors using this concept also applied Darwinist and evolutionary models to the analysis of society. They aimed to contribute to social progress and regarded every kind of behavior or social phenomenon that appeared as obstacles to social progress as pathologic and therefore inferior. The concept of social pathology contains an inherent tension. On the one hand, it emerged at a time when sociologists such as Comte and Spencer sought to establish the field of sociology as a ... log in or subscribe to read full text