WITSOC REVIEWER

HNU VISION

A Catholic institution trailblazing excellence in educating servant leaders.

HNU MISSION

We commit ourselves to the:

 Faithful witnessing to the Word.

 Pursuit of the highest standard of innovative instruction, research, and community service.
 Formation of committed professionals guided by the principle of prophetic dialogue.

HNU GOALS

We aim to

 Make HNU a model Basic Ecclesial Community.

 Perform the institution’s trilogy of function with excellence and scholarship.
 Engage actively in the apostolate of Communication, Bible, Mission Animation, and Justice,
Peace and Integrity of Creation to protect the integrity of creation.

HNU CORE VALUES

I – Integrity

S – Social Responsibility

E – Excellence

E – Evangelization

S – Servant Leadership

LESON 1: MEANING AND NATURE OF SOCIETY

In sociology, the term society refers NOT to a group of people BUT

 To the complex pattern of the norms of interaction that arise among them
 Maclaver and Page: “a system if usage and procedures, authority and mutual aid, of many
groupings and divisions, of controls of human behaviour and of liberties. Society involves the
whole gamut of relations. It is structural and functional arrangement. From structural point of
view it concerns role, status, norms, values, institutions.
 Functionally, society may be defined as a complex of groups in reciprocal relationships
interacting upon one another, enabling each person to achieve the fulfilment of life. Further
society may be viewed as the process of stimulus response relationship which results in
interaction, communication and consensus.
 Stimulus response relationship is at the core of organized living. Social interaction is that
dynamic force which modifies the attitudes and behavior of the participants.
 It takes place through communication. In communication, one infers from the behavior of
another the idea or feeling of the other person. He then reacts not to the behavior but to the
inferred meaning of it, and the other person likewise reacts to his response.
 This give rise to common understanding and common definition of the situation, in short,
consensus. Society consists in mutual interaction and inter relation of individuals and of the
structure formed by their relations.
 Society is a process rather than a thing, motion rather that structure.
 The important aspect of society is the system of relationships by which the members of the
society maintains themselves.
 Ginsberg: “A society Is a collection of individuals united by certain relations or modes of
behavior which mark them off from others, who do not enter into those relations or who differ
from them in behavior”
 Giddings: “Society is the union itself, the organization, the sum or formal relations in which
associating individuals are bound together. “
 Parsons: “Society may be defined as the total complex of human relationships in so far as they
grow out of action in terms of means-end relationship, intrinsic or symbolic”
 Hence, society is to be interpreted in a wider sense. It is both structural, functional and dynamic
organization.

NATURE OF SOCIETY

1. Society is abstract.
- Renter: ““Society is an abstract term that connotes the complex of interrelations that exist
between and among the members of the group. In this way, society exists wherever there
are good or bad, proper or improper relationships between human beings. These social
relationships are not evident, they do not have any concrete from, hence society is
abstract.”
2. Society is NOT a group of people.
- Wright: “Though society is real thing, it means in essence a state or condition, a relationship
and is therefore necessarily an abstraction”.

3. Society is organisation of relationships.

- Society is the total complex of human relationships. It includes whole range of human
relations.
4. Physical element in social relationship.
- According to Maclver and Giddings and some other sociologists, social relationships
invariably possess a psychical element, which takes the form
- of awareness of another’s presence, common objective or common interest etc.
 - There is neither any society nor any social relationship, without this realisation. Society
exists only where social beings behave towards one another in a manner determined by
recognition of each other. Only those relationships which are so determined are social.
Social relationship differ from relations between other objects, only by virtue of this psychic
element. They have in them an element of emotion and feeling, urges, sympathy and
sentiments.

LESSON 2: SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF SOCIETY

SOCIAL STRUCTURE

In sociology, the distinctive, stable arrangement of institutions whereby human beings in a society
Interact and live together.

MAJOR COMPONENTS OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

1. Statutes - the position that someone occupies in society.

3 types of status

- Ascribed
- Achieved
- Master (a status that is so important that it overrides other statuses you may hold)
2. Roles - Whatever its type, every status is accompanied by a role, which is the behavior expected of
someone—and in fact everyone—with a certain status.

3. Social Networks - A social network is the totality of relationships that link us to other people and
groups and through them to still other people and groups.

4. Groups and Organizations

- A social group (hereafter just group) consists of two or more people who regularly interact on the basis
of mutual expectations and who share a common identity.

- Formal organization (also just organization), which is a large group that follows explicit rules and
procedures to achieve specific goals and tasks.

4 Types of groups in an organization

1. Formal Group

2. Command Group

3. Committees

4. Informal Groups

5. Social Institutions - Another component of social structure is the social institution, or patterns of
beliefs and behavior that help a society meet its basic needs.

[Examples of social institutions include the family, the economy, the politics (government), education,
religion, and medicine]

THE MACRO LEVEL OF SOCIETY

When sociologists use the term "social structure" they are typically referring to macro-level social forces
including social institutions and patterns of institutionalized relationships.
Major Social Institutions

1. Family

2. Religion

3. Education

4. Media

5. Law

6. Politics

7. Economy

MACRO [ Large System ]

 Nations
 Legal Systems
 Economies

MESO [ Medium Systems ]

 Organizations
 Communities
 Political Parties
 Ethnic Groups

MICRO [ Small Systems ]

 Families
 Relationships
 Individuals

- The organization and operation of these social institutions in a given society result in other
aspects of social structure, including socio-economic stratification, which is not just a
product of a class system but is also determined by systemic racism and sexism, as well as
other forms of bias and discrimination.
- The social structure of the U.S. results in a sharply stratified society in which very few
people control wealth and power — and they have historically tended to be white and male
— while the majority has very little of either.
SOCIAL NETWORKS: THE MESO LEVEL MANIFESTATION OF SOCIAL STRUCTURE

- Sociologists see social structure present at the "meso" level — between the macro and the
micro levels — in the social networks that are organized by the social institutions and
institutionalized social relationships described above.
- Our social networks are also a manifestation of social stratification, whereby social relations
between people are structured by class differences, differences in educational attainment,
and differences in levels of wealth.
- In turn, social networks act as structuring forces by shaping the kinds of opportunities that
may or may not be available to us, and by fostering particular behavioral and interactional
norms that work to determine our life course and outcomes.

SOCIAL INTERACTION: SOCIAL STRUCTURE AT THE MICRO LEVEL OF EVERYDAY LIFE

- Social structure manifests at the micro level in the everyday interactions we have with
each other in the forms of norms and customs.

CONCLUSION:

- In conclusion, social structure is composed of social institutions and patterns of

institutionalized relationships, but we also understand it as present in the social networks
that connect us, and in the interactions that fill our everyday lives

6. SOCIETY

- The largest component of social structure is, of course, society itself.

- Defined society as a group of people who live within a defined territory and who share a culture.

- Industrial society is more individualistic and impersonal.

- In traditional societies, community feeling and group commitment are usually the cornerstones of
social life.

- In industrial societies have many relationships in which one person barely knows the other person.

- Commitment to the group and community become less important in industrial societies, and
individualism becomes more important.
LESSON 3: THE HUMAN PERSON & SOCIETY

“The Human Persons Call for Active Participation In the Society and In Social Life”

II. The communal character of the Human Vocation

1. All men are called to the same end: God himself. There is a certain resemblance between the unity of
the divine persons and the fraternity that men are to establish among themselves in truth and love.
Love of neighbor is inseparable from love for God.

Two important clarifications from the Good Samaritan:

1. Limit of love for people abolished – love is universalized.

2. Not reduced to the generic but applies to every human being.

2. The human person needs to live in society.

Society is not for him an extraneous addition but a requirement of his nature. Through the exchange
with others, mutual service and dialogue with his brethren, man develops his potential; he thus
responds to his vocation.

3. A society is a group of persons bound together organically by a principle of unity that goes beyond
one of them.

As an assembly that is at once visible and spiritual, a society endures through time: it gathers up the past
and prepares for the future. By means of society, each man is established as an "heir" and receives
certain "talents" that enrich his identity and whose fruits he must develop. He rightly owes loyalty to
the communities of which he is part and respect to those in authority who have charge of the common
good.

4. Each community is defined by its purpose and consequently obeys specific rules; but "the human
person . . . is and ought to be the principle, the subject and the end of all social institutions”.

5. Certain societies, such as the family and the state, correspond more directly to the nature of man;
they are necessary to him. To promote the participation of the greatest number in the life of a society,
must the creation of voluntary associations and institutions be encouraged "on both national and
international levels, which relate to economic and social goals, to cultural and recreational activities, to
sport, to various professions, and to political affairs."

This "socialization" also expresses the natural tendency for human beings to associate with one
another for the sake of attaining objectives that exceed individual capacities. It develops the qualities
of the person, especially the sense of initiative and responsibility, and helps guarantee his rights.

6. Socialization also presents dangers. Excessive intervention by the state can threaten personal
freedom and initiative. The teaching of the Church has elaborated the principle of subsidiarity,
according to which "a community of a higher order should not interfere in the internal life of a
community of a lower order, depriving the latter of its functions, but rather should support it in case of
need and help to co- ordinate its activity with the activities of the rest of society, always with a view to
the common good”.

7. God has not willed to reserve to himself all exercise of power. He entrusts to every creature the
functions it is capable of performing, according to the capacities of its own nature. This mode of
governance ought to be followed in social life. The way God acts in governing the world, which bears
witness to such great regard for human freedom, should inspire the wisdom of those who govern
human communities. They should behave as ministers of divine providence.

8. The principle of subsidiarity is opposed to all forms of collectivism. It sets limits for state intervention.
It aims at harmonizing the relationships between individuals and societies. It tends toward the
establishment of true international order.

 Subsidiarity is the principle of allowing the individual members of a large organization to make
decisions on issues that affect them, rather than leaving those decisions to be made by the
whole group.
 Collectivism is a political theory associated with communism. More broadly, it is the idea that
people should prioritize the good of society over the welfare of the individual.

II. Conversion and Society

9. Society is essential to the fulfillment of the human vocation. To attain this aim, respect must be
accorded to the just hierarchy of values, which "subordinates physical and instinctual dimensions to
interior and spiritual ones:"
10. The inversion of means and ends, which results in giving the value of ultimate end to what is only a
means for attaining it, or in viewing persons as mere means to that end, engender unjust structures
which "make Christian conduct in keeping with the commandments of the divine Law-giver difficult and
almost impossible."

11. Where sin has perverted the social climate, it is necessary to call for the conversion of hearts and
appeal to the grace of God. Charity urges just reforms. There is no solution to the .social question apart
from the Gospel.

LESSON 4: JESUS CHRIST: THE MAN WHO BECOME GOD

The only Son of the Father, the eternal Word, that is, the Word and substantial Image of the

Father, became incarnate; without losing His divine nature He has assumed human nature.

1. Why did the Word become Man?

1.1 With the Nicene Creed, we answer by confessing: "For us men and for our salvation he came down
from heaven; by the power of the Holy Spirit, he became incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and was made
man."

What is the Incarnation ?

The Word (Logos) became flesh.

 That is Incarnation.
 The word incarnation comes from Latin in meaning “in”, and caro, meaning “flesh”.
 Incarnation refers to the central Christian belief that the Son of God assumed human nature.

1.2 The Word became flesh for us in order to save us by reconciling us with God, who "loved us and
sent his Son to be the expiation for our sins": "the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world",
and "he was revealed to take away sins”.
1.3 The Word became flesh so that thus we might know God's love: “In this the love of God was made
manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.” “For
God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life.

1.4 The Word became flesh to be our model of holiness: "Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me."
"I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father, but by me." On the mountain of
the Transfiguration, the Father commands: "Listen to him!" Jesus is the model for the Beatitudes and
the norm of the new Law: “Love One Another as I have loved you.” This love implies an effective
offering of oneself, after his examples.
8 BEATITUDES

1. The poor in spirit are those who have the heart of the poor, the same attitude as the poor, and are
totally dependent on God. This is related to the words of Christ in Matthew 23:12, "And whoever exalts
himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."

2. Though the death of a loved one is commonly the reason for mourning, this beatitude is referring to a
mourning that lies even deeper within us. Jesus wants us to mourn our sin and the version of ourselves
that was once ruled by the ways of the world.

3. To be meek is to be gentle, humble, lowly. “The meek are the ‘gentle’… those who do not assert
themselves over others in order to further their own agendas in their own strength, but who will
nonetheless inherit the earth because they trust in God to direct the outcome of events.”

4. Jesus tells us that the ones who are blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness. In
other words, the blessed ones are not those who think they have righteousness, but those who feel they
lack righteousness.

5. Jesus tells us that to those who are merciful to others, mercy will also be shown to them. Those who
possess and demonstrate a disposition to kindness, forgiveness, and compassion are those who will
receive the same.

6. A heart that desires nothing more than to be with God because that truly is all our life should be
about! Within this beatitude, Jesus also promises that those who embody this pure heart will see God.
Only those with a pure heart will know Jesus because that is what Jesus sees.

7. Scripture teaches us that, to bring about peace, we must engage in actions that foster future
harmony. The ultimate example of taking action to cultivate future harmony is God’s choice to reconcile
the human race to Himself by sending down His only Son to serve as the final sacrifice for our sins
(Colossians 1:20; John 3:16).

8. Jesus confirms in this passage that we will experience persecution, but He invites us to respond
through rejoicing and gladness. Persecution develops in the Christian a deep spiritual formation into the
image of Jesus and the joy of being faithfully united with Him.