SS 111-Foundation of Social Studies Dr. Victoria R.

Arce
First Term/A.Y. 2023-2024 Instructor
Chapter VI
Basic Concepts in Social Studies
1. Concept of Self-Reliance
Self-Reliance
 is a quality of depending on yourself for things instead of relying on others and
combines well with self-belief.
Examples of Self-Reliance
1. Striving towards your goals bravely
2. Embracing your individuality
3. Thinking Independently
How to Develop Self-Reliance
1. Accepting yourself and being your own best friend.
2. Have inner confidence.
3. Making your own decisions
4. Recognize and manage dependence.
5. Having your own values
6. Not relying on “things” to feel happiness.
7. Decide who you want to be, and how you want to get there.
Importance of Having Self-Reliance
1. Means you can solve problems and make decisions by yourself.
2. Allows you to feel happy by yourself, in yourself, and about yourself—without needing
to rely on others.
3. Involves developing self-acceptance.
4. Involves acquiring self-knowledge and practicing self-compassion.
5. Gives you perspective and direction.
Ways of Promoting Self-Reliance
1. Accepting Responsibilities
2. Making your own decisions
3. Learning more practical skills
4. Looking after your body
5. Recognizing and accepting your feelings
6. Finding healthy ways to express your negative emotions.
7. Not comparing yourself with others

2. Peace and Conflict Resolution

Peace
 is state of totality of well-being, fullness of life here and thereafter.
 should be perceived in relation to order, harmony, and equilibrium.
  a state of harmony characterized by the lack of violence, conflict behaviors and
the freedom from fear of violence.
 Suggests the existence of healthy or newly healed interpersonal or international
relationships, prosperity in matters of social or economic welfare, the
establishment of equality and a working political order that serves the true
interests of all.
Conflict
 is viewed as a dynamic process in which structure, attitudes, and behaviors are
constantly changing and influencing one another.
 essentially means a confrontation between individuals or groups over scarce
resources.
 it may range from the use of physical force to litigation or intimidation through
threat of physical harm or war.
 Five Categories of Conflict
1. Structural
 differences and disagreements on the state structure-constitution, act and
different law of the nation.
 prevails on the issues of unequal distribution of national resources.
2. Ideological
differences on norms, values and ideology create conflict.
3. Interest-baseddifferences in interest, will and wishes among the people.
4. Factual
 some published fact and information might create conflict among individuals,
group and parties, issues concerning the border of the two countries, result of
the election, etc.
5. Relational
 lack of communication, misunderstanding, misinterpretation, misconception
of opponent.
Conflict Resolution
 process of analyzing a problem and strategizing solution to sort out the differences
between two parties in discord.
 the method to solve problems between two parties, communities, or nations.
 the process or resolution brings an agreement between the parties involved in the conflict.
 relates to all domains of conflicts, whether within or between families, organizations,
communities, or countries.
 refers to ways of settling or ending conflicts that entail joint efforts to reach mutually
acceptable agreements.
 can be applied to all stages of conflicts and encompasses relatively constructive ways of
conducting and transforming conflicts and then maintaining secured and equitable
relations.
3. Concept of Social Problem
Social Problem
 It is a social condition or pattern of behavior that harms some individuals or all
people in a society. It raises public concern and collective action to bring about
change.
  Any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of
people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to
be addressed.
 All social problems may be harmful to all members of society whether they
realize it or not.
 Social problem has both an objective component and a subjective component.
Objective Component
 Awareness of social conditions through life experiences and through reports in the media.
Subjective Component
 The belief that a particular social condition is harmful to society or to a segment of
society and that it should and can be changed.
Some important definitions of social problems are given below:
 Horton and Leslie: It is often defined as a condition which many people consider
undesirable and wish to correct.
 Lindbergh: “It is any deviant behavior in a disapproved direction of such a degree that it
exceeds the tolerance limit of the community.”
 L.K. Frank: Any difficulty of misbehavior of a fairly large number of persons which we
wish to remove or correct.”
 Fuler & Mayer: “A social problem starts with the awakening of people in a given
locality, with the realization of certain cherished values that are threatened by the
conditions which have become acute.”
Examples of Social Problem
1. Violence
2. Crime
3. Poverty
4. Substance Abuse
5. Environmental Pollution
6. Inadequate access to Health Care
7. Weakening Economy
8. Inadequate Schools & etc.
Characteristics of Social Problem
1. Harmful consequences for society.
2. Deviations from the normal situation.
3. Social in origin.
4. Caused by many social conditions.
5. Interconnected.
6. Affect all sections of society.
 7. Different impact on different individuals.
8. Require a collective approach for their solution.
9. Occur in all societies.
Reactions to Social Problems
1. An attitude of unconcern
 Many people remain indifferent to a problem thinking that does not affect them.
 Sometimes their own individual problems like family tensions and job pressures
keep them so engaged that they do not find time to be interested in what affect
others.
 It is only when their own interests are involved that they become agitated and start
taking interest in the problem.
2. Fatalism
 Some people are so fatalistic that they attribute everything to destiny.
 Issues like poverty and unemployment, are explained in terms of misfortunes and
past karma.
 They, therefore, suffer the misfortune quietly and wait some miracle to happen.
3. Vested Interest
 Some people take no interest in the existing problems because they stand to gain
so long as the problem exists.
 Motivated by self-interest, they describe the problem as insoluble and talk about
its eradication as a waste of time.
4. Absence of expert knowledge
 Some people, though deeply concerned about the problem, do not take much
interest in it, believing that its solution is impossible unless people change their
attitudes and values.
 As the changes much be initiated by a change in outlook, they remained
unconcerned about finding alternative possibilities of treatment.
 Some people may have incorrect, unreliable, and superficial knowledge or
fallacies about social problems.
Types of Social Problems
1. Economic Problems
 These problems arise due to imbalances in economic distribution such as poverty,
unemployment, etc.
2. Cultural Problems
 Problems that arise from established beliefs, values, traditions, laws, and
languages of a nation falls under this category such as dowry, child marriage,
problems of the aged, the homeless and the widowed, divorced, illegitimacy,
crime, etc.
3. Physical or Geographical problems
 These include the nature of land, water resources, minerals, natural altitudes, etc.

4. Biological Problems
  Inter-mixtures or races, marriage of deficient and unfit persons and population
explosion leading to poverty and unemployment, physical diseases and defects.
5. Psychological problems
 Problems that arise from ill mental and neurological health fall under this
category such as Neurosis, Psychosis, feeble mindedness, suicide, alcoholism,
drug abuse, etc. e

Stages in the development and end of a Social Problem

Fuller and Myres have referred to three stages through which the problems pass in the process of
being defined and solved:
1. Awareness
 In the beginning, only a few people raise questions but gradually more people
become aware of the existence of the problem.
2. Policy Determination
 As awareness spreads to a larger segment of society, possible solutions come to be
discussed. It emphasizes “what should be done to how should it be done”.
3. Reform
 As basic solutions and policies are decided upon, the stage of action is reached.
This stage is called the stage of implementation rather than a stage of decision.
[Link] of Growth and Development
The terms growth and development are often used interchangeably. They are
conceptually different.
Growth
 is the process of increase in the size of an organism or part of an organism,
usually as a result of an increase in the number of cells. Growth of an organism may stop at
maturity, as in the case of humans and other mammals, or it may continue throughout life, as in
many plants. In humans, certain body parts, like hair and nails, continue to grow throughout life.
 When maturity comes, the second set of teeth, primary and secondary sex
characteristics, etc., appear. Similar changes occur in all aspects of the personality. During
infancy and childhood, the body steadily becomes larger, taller and heavier. To designate this
change, the term growth is used.
 Growth involves changes in body proportions as well as in overall stature and
weight. The term growth thus indicates an increase in bodily dimensions. But the rate of growth
differs from one part of the body to the other.

The term growth also denotes the increase, as in size, number, value, or strength,
extension or expansion. It is also associated with the increase of something such as an industry,
organization, or idea is its development in size and wealth.
Examples of growth include:
-Physical growth such as increase in weight and height and other bodily changes that
occur as a child matures.
 -Organizational growth such as an increase of the number of employees in a workplace,
significant increase of revenue and expansion.
Development
 by contrast, refers to qualitative changes taking place simultaneously with
quantitative changes of growth.
 It may be defined as a progressive series of orderly, coherent changes. The term
progressive signifies that changes are directional, that they lead forward rather than backward.
Orderly and coherent suggest that there is a definite relationship between the changes taking
place and those that precede or will follow them.
 represents changes in an organism from its origin to its death, but more
particularly the progressive changes which take place from origin to maturity. Thus, development
may be explained as the series of overall changes in an individual the emergence of modified
structures and functions that are the outcome of the interactions and exchanges between the
organism and its environment.
 specify maturation of functions. It is related to the maturation and myelination of
the nervous system and indicates acquisition of a variety of skills for optimal functioning of the
individual.

ACCORDING TO HURLOCK (1959)

● Development means a progressive series of changes that occur in on orderly predictable
pattern as a result of maturation and experience.
ACCORDING TO J.E. ANDERSON (1950)
● Development is concerned with growth as well as those changes in behavior which result
from environmental situations.
ACCORDING TO LIEBERT POULOS AND MARMOR (1979)
● Development refers to a process of change in growth and capability over time as a
function of both maturation and interaction with the environment.
Four Types of Growth and Development
1. Physical. Refers to body growth and includes height and weight changes, muscle and
nerve development, and changes in body organs.
2. Mental. Refers to development of the mind and includes learning how to solve problems,
make judgements, and deal with situations.
3. Emotional. Refers to feelings and includes dealing with love, hate, joy, fear, excitement,
and other similar feelings.
4. Social. Refers to interactions and relationships with other people.
Principles of Growth and Development
1. Development is a continuous process from conception to maturity.
2. Development depends on the maturation and myelination of the nervous system.
 3. The sequence of the development is the same for all children, but the rate of development
varies from child to child.
4. Certain primitive reflexes anticipate corresponding voluntary movement and have to be
lost before the voluntary movement develops.
5. Development follows a direction and uniform pattern.
6. Generalized mass activity given way to specific individual response.
7. Principle of hierarchical integration.
8. Development lacks uniformity of rate.
9. Development proceeds from general to specific responses.
10. Principles of independence of systems.
11. Most traits of development are correlated.
12. Development is a result of interaction of maturation and learning.
13. Development is a product of the contribution of heredity and environment.
5. Concept of Human Rights
Human Rights
 is one of the most important concepts in our modern era.
 Activists, Governments, and corporation use it to draw on a collective
understanding that all people deserve certain rights and freedoms.
 No matter who a person is, where they’re from, what they believe, or how
they live, everyone has rights that cannot be taken away.
 are a set of principles concerned with equality and fairness.
 one of the ways that we recognize the fundamental worth of every person is by
acknowledging and respecting their human rights.
 They recognize our freedom to make choices about our lives and to develop our
potential as human beings. They are about living a life free from fear, harassment, or
discrimination.
 are rights we have, simply because we exist as human beings - they are not
granted by any state. These universal rights are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex,
national or ethnic origin, color, religion, language, or any other status. They range from the most
fundamental - the right to life - to those that make life worth living, such as the rights to food,
education, work, health, and liberty.
 Human rights law obliges governments to do some things, and prevents them
from doing others. Individuals also have responsibilities: in using their human rights, they must
respect the rights of others. No government, group or individual person has the right to do
anything that violates another right.
  can broadly be defined as a number of basic rights that people from around the
world have agreed are essential.
 These rights include the following:
1. Right to life
2. Right to a fair trial
3. Freedom form torture and other cruel and inhumane treatment
4. Freedom of speech
5. Freedom of religion
6. The rights to health
7. Rights to education, and an adequate standard of living.

The Early Origins of Human Rights

 Human Society didn’t always believed in universal human rights the way we do now.
 The first recorded example of anything close to human rights comes from Cyrus the
Great, a Persian King.
 When he conquered Babylon, he established a set of basic rights for everyone.
We can find those rights, which includes freedom from slavery and freedom of
religion
 The Magna Carta, which became an official part of English Law in 1297, represents a
major milestone for rights like due process and equality under the law.
 Centuries later, the Bill of Rights from the United States lay another road map to modern
human rights.
 In the United States, the 19th Amendment (1920) gave women the right to vote, but racial
discrimination and violence hampered the ability of both Black men and women to
exercise this right.
What do Human Rights Cover?
 The Human rights cover virtually every area of human activity. They include civil and
political rights, which refer to a person’s rights to take part in the civil and political life of
their community without discrimination or oppression.

A. Economic, social, and cultural rights include:

1. The right to fair wages with equal pay for equal work
2. The right to a decent living
3. The right to safe and healthy working conditions
4. The right to take part in cultural life
5. The right to benefit from scientific progress
6. The right to free primary education
7. The right to accessible higher education
8. The right to the “highest attainable standard” of physical and mental health

B. Civil and political rights include:

1. The right to life
2. The right to freedom from slavery
3. The right to a trial in a reasonable time frame
4. The right to equality before the law
5. The right to freedom of thought
6. The right to freedom of expression
7. The right to freedom of religion
8. The right to peaceful assembly
9. The right to privacy
Principles of Human Rights
1. Universality and inalienability
 Human rights are universal and inalienable. All people everywhere in the world
are entitled to them. No one can voluntarily give them up. Nor can others take
them away from him or her.
2. Indivisibility
 Human rights are indivisible. Whether civil, political, economic, social or cultural
in nature, they are all inherent to the dignity of every human person.
Consequently, they all have equal status as rights. There is no such thing as a
'small' right. There is no hierarchy of human rights.
3. Inter-dependence and inter-relatedness
 The realization of one right often depends, wholly or in part, upon the realization
of others. For instance, the realization of the right to health may depend on the
realization of the right to education or of the right to information.
4. Equality and non-discrimination
 All individuals are equal as human beings and by virtue of the inherent dignity of
each human person. All human beings are entitled to their human rights without
discrimination of any kind, such as race, color, sex, ethnicity, age, language,
religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, disability, property,
birth or other status as explained by the human rights treaty bodies.
5. Participation and inclusion
 Every person and all peoples are entitled to active, free and meaningful
participation in, contribution to, and enjoyment of civil, political, economic,
social and cultural development, through which human rights and fundamental
freedoms can be realized.
6. Accountability and rule of law
 States and other duty-bearers must comply with the legal norms and standards
enshrined in human rights instruments. Where they fail to do so, aggrieved rights-
holders are entitled to institute proceedings for appropriate redress before a
competent court or other adjudicator, in accordance with the rules and procedures
provided by law.

Who is responsible for protecting human rights?

We’ve described human rights as a concept and what those rights include, but whose
job is it to ensure those rights are protected? The Universal Declaration of Human Rights
says that “every individual and every organ of society” must play a role. That includes
teaching about human rights, promoting them, and establishing measures that protect
them. Individuals and businesses bear responsibility, but the government has the primary
duty.
When a government ratifies a human rights treaty, they agree to do three things:
respect, protect, and fulfill human rights. To respect human rights, governments cannot
take away (or interfere with) a human right. The government must also protect rights and
stop private actors (like corporations) from violating them. Lastly, to fulfill human rights,
a government must provide education, food, housing, access to healthcare, and so on.