Functions of social values. Moral norms, values and rules

Under the social values and norms understand the rules established in society, patterns, standards of human behavior that regulate social life. They define the boundaries of acceptable behavior of people in relation to the specific conditions of their life.

Signs of social values:

1) They are general rules for members of the society.
2) They do not have a specific addressee and operate continuously in time.
3) They are directed to the regulation of social relations.
4) Arise in connection with the volitional, conscious activity of people.
5) Arise in the process of historical development.
6) Their content corresponds to the type of culture and the nature of the social organization of society.

Ways to regulate people's behavior by social values:

1) Permission - an indication of behaviors that are desirable, but not required.
2) Prescription - an indication of the required action.
3) Prohibition - an indication of actions that should not be performed.

Any classification of values by type and level is invariably

conditional due to the fact that social and cultural values are introduced into it. In addition, it is difficult to insert one or another value that has its own ambiguity (for example, family) in a certain column. Nevertheless, we can give the following conditionally ordered classification of social values.

Vital: life, health, physicality, security, well-being, human condition (satiety, peace, cheerfulness), strength, endurance, quality of life, natural environment (environmental values), practicality, consumption, etc.

Social: social status, diligence, wealth, work, family, unity, patriotism, tolerance, discipline, enterprise, risk-taking, social equality, gender equality, ability to achieve, personal independence, professionalism, active participation in society, focus on past or future, extralocal or compatriotic orientation, level of consumption.

Political: freedom of speech, civil liberties, good ruler, law, order, constitution, civil peace.

Moral: good, good, love, friendship, duty, honor, honesty, disinterestedness, decency, fidelity, mutual assistance, justice, respect for elders and love for children.

Religious: God, divine law, faith, salvation, grace, ritual, Scripture and Tradition.

Aesthetic: beauty (or, conversely, the aesthetics of the ugly), style, harmony, adherence to tradition or novelty, cultural identity or imitation.

Let us consider some of them in more detail, accepting that the division into these categories is conditional and the same values can be accepted in different areas.

Family, relatives, older generation. In all cultures, there is a greater or lesser degree of respect for these social elements, which is expressed both in the behavior of people (respect of the younger for the elders) and in the forms of address.

In Asian and African cultures, age is usually revered as a sign of wisdom and experience, and sometimes becomes one of the cores of culture. The identification of an individual is carried out in his identification with his ancestors, although there is wide variability in resolving this issue for different cultures. If a number of nomadic peoples consider it a matter of honor to remember about 9-12 previous generations in different branches, then in a modern industrial society a person rarely keeps the memory of more than two generations of ancestors in a straight line.

Interpersonal relationships. The attitude towards equality or hierarchy in relations with other people is one of the criteria for the difference between cultures. What a European perceives as humility, obedience, a person's renunciation of his freedom, for other cultures means recognition of the right of a respected and influential person to lead. Orientation towards individualism or solidarity in many ways distinguishes the West and Eastern cultures, which will be discussed in more detail in subsequent chapters.

Wealth. Material wealth as a value is inherent, it would seem, in all cultures. However, in reality, the attitude towards it is very different, and the very object of wealth depends on the nature of the economy. For nomadic peoples, the most important wealth is cattle, for a settled peasant, land; in a feudal society, the status of an individual was directly related to the wealth demonstrated in the way of life.

The attitude to wealth depends largely on the dominant factor of sociality. In pre-industrial society, conspicuous wealth played an important role, as it was the most obvious evidence of the power and influence of its owners, their belonging to the upper class. The accumulation of wealth, so necessary in any society, lowered the status of the owner, unless it was intended for later distribution or use for the common good. The estates possessing monetary wealth - merchants and usurers - enjoyed for the most part low prestige, and especially usurers as people who benefit from the difficulties of other people.

The situation changes radically in industrial society. As capitalism grows, it is the accumulated and hidden capital put into circulation that acquires the greatest value in the public mind. The influence and power of the owner depend on the movement of capital through invisible financial channels, even if the owner himself led a relatively modest lifestyle. At a later stage, during the period of mass production, a new turn occurs, expanded consumption grows, turning into conspicuous consumption, in which goods and services are purchased not because of their own properties, but because they are expensive, that is, accessible only to wealthy people . Turning to conspicuous consumption not only brings satisfaction, but also raises the status of the rich in the opinion and attitude of others. This tendency is penetrating into other strata, who may feel the satisfaction of sharing in prestigious extravagance.

Labor as a value. Labor has by no means only economic significance or serves as a factor determining social relations. Labor is also an important cultural value. This is always present both in folk wisdom and in more complex systems of morality or ideology. So, in many languages there are similar proverbs: “Patience and work will grind everything” (and vice versa: “Water does not flow under a lying stone”). In fiction, Voltaire elegantly expressed his attitude to work: "Labor eliminates three great misfortunes from us: boredom, vice and need." True, in the spirit of his aristocratic circle, he put boredom in the first place.

Of course, the attitude to work, as well as to other values, is determined not only by spiritual or moral criteria, but turns out to be contradictory, depending largely on other factors, among which the following should be highlighted: a) production, i.e.

the class status of a person and his attitude to property, since assessments of his position for an entrepreneur and a hired worker can differ sharply; b) professional, covering the prestige of a particular profession; c) technological, that is, the attitude of a person to one or another side of production (machine, conveyor, computer), which can vary from high interest to indifference and even hostility.

According to the listed parameters, obviously, the attitude towards work can be negative as a source of oppression, dependence, as a factor that hinders personal development and suppresses vitality. Even in ancient Greece, a myth arose about Sisyphus, doomed to perform hard and meaningless work. In a Christian or Muslim paradise, a person was forever freed from labor and could only indulge in sensual or spiritual joys. In folk tales, often the lazy fool, devoid of greed, but possessing a good heart, succeeds more than the constantly preoccupied and tight-fisted hoarder.

In any class-differentiated system, the subjective disinterest of workers in their work is replaced by coercion, which can be in the form of direct coercion (work "under pressure", under threat of punishment) or purely economic necessity, i.e., physical survival, in maintaining their families.

Of course, there is both socially useless and harmful labor activity and what is in the interests of an individual, group or collective, but may diverge from the interests of society as a whole. Therefore, the regulation of labor activity requires the combination of labor orientations with moral motives.

In addition, there are universal, national, class, group, interpersonal norms.

Thus, values are not something that can be bought or sold, they are something that is worth living for. The most important function of social values is to play the role of selection criteria from alternative courses of action. The values of any society interact with each other, being a fundamental content element of this culture.

The relationship between culturally predetermined values is characterized by the following two features. Firstly, according to the degree of their social significance, values are formed into a certain hierarchical structure, subdivided into values of a higher and lower order, more preferred and less preferred. Secondly, the relationship between these values can be both harmonious, mutually reinforcing, and neutral, even antagonistic, mutually exclusive. These relations between social values, developing historically, fill the culture of this type with concrete content.

The main function of social values - to be a measure of assessments - leads to the fact that in any system of values it is possible to distinguish:

what is most preferred (acts of behavior approaching the social ideal - what is admired). The most important element of the value system is the zone of higher values, the value of which does not need any justification (what is above all, what is inviolable, sacred and cannot be violated under any circumstances);

what is considered normal, correct (as they do in most cases);
what is not approved is condemned and - at the extreme pole of the value system - appears as an absolute, self-evident evil that is not allowed under any circumstances.

The formed system of values structures, arranges for the individual a picture of the world. An important feature of social values is that, due to their universal recognition, they are perceived by members of society as something taken for granted, values are spontaneously realized, reproduced in socially significant actions of people. With all the variety of substantive characteristics of social values, it is possible to single out some objects that are inevitably associated with the formation of a value system. Among them:

definition of human nature, the ideal of personality;
picture of the world, the universe, perception and understanding of nature;
the place of man, his role in the system of the universe, the relationship of man to nature;
relation of man to man;
the nature of society, the ideal of social order.

Note that throughout life one system of values can be confirmed, the other can be discarded due to its inconsistency. As a result, a certain hierarchy is formed, which contains concepts that are applicable and relevant to each person. Social values are a concept that is formed individually for everyone, therefore it is difficult to find two people in one society who would have the same system. Very often an individual is faced with the fact that his principles run counter to new systems, or the theoretical foundations do not fit into real life. In this case, multi-layered systems begin to form, in which the proclaimed values often diverge from reality.

Value orientations are the result of the socialization of individuals, that is, their mastery of all existing types of social norms and requirements that apply to individuals or members of a social group. The basis of their formation lies in the interaction of the experience that people have with samples of the existing social culture. On the basis of these concepts, one's own idea of the nature of personal claims is formed. Business relations always contain a value aspect in their structure. It defines explicit and implicit standards of behavior. There is such a thing as the professional values of social work, denoting the stable ideas and beliefs of people about the nature of goals, ways to achieve them and the principles of the future life. These values guide the social worker to the basic principles of his behavior in work and responsibility for his activities. They help an employee of any field to determine the rights and obligations that he has as a professional. Social values begin to form in early childhood. Their main source is the people around the child. In this case, the example of the family plays a fundamental role. Children, watching their parents, begin to imitate them in everything. Therefore, when deciding to have children, future mothers and fathers must understand what responsibility they take on.

Moral norms are similar to legal norms in that both of them play the role of the main mechanism by which human behavior is regulated. are unwritten laws that have developed over the centuries. In law, however, laws are enshrined legally.

Moral culture

Moral norms, values are the practical embodiment of morality. Their peculiarity lies in the fact that they determine the consciousness and characteristics in all areas of life: life, family, professional activities, interpersonal relationships.

Moral norms are a set of rules that determine human behavior, the violation of which causes damage to society or a group of people. They are formulated as a specific set of actions. For example:

you need to give way to those who are older;
say hello when meeting another person;
be generous and protect those who are weaker;
arrive on time;
speak civilly and politely;
wear certain clothes, etc.

The Foundation for Building a Healthy Personality

Spiritual and moral norms and values make up the image of a person who is perfect in the sense of conforming to the pattern of piety. This is the portrait to strive for. Thus, the ultimate goals of this or that act are expressed. In the form of an ideal, such an image as Jesus in Christianity is used. He tried to lay justice in human hearts, he was a great martyr.

Moral rules and norms play the role of personal for a particular person. The personality sets its own goals, in which its positive or negative side is manifested. Most people strive for happiness, freedom, knowledge of the meaning of life. Moral standards help them regulate their moral behavior, thoughts and feelings.

Morality functions in society as a combination of three structural elements, each of which represents one of the aspects of morality. These elements are moral activity, moral relations and moral consciousness.

Morality past and present

These phenomena began to appear for a long time. Each generation and community of people formed their own understanding of good and evil, their own ways of interpreting moral norms.

If we turn to, we will see that there the moral character was considered as an invariable phenomenon, actually accepted in the conditions of absence. The man of that time could not between acceptance and non-acceptance of the prevailing trends, he had to unconditionally follow them.

In our time, unlike legal norms, moral norms are more considered as recommendations for achieving happiness for oneself and the surrounding society. If earlier morality was defined as something given from above, prescribed by the gods themselves, today it is something similar to an unspoken social contract, which is desirable to follow. But if you disobey, in fact, you can only be condemned, but not called to real responsibility.

You can accept moral laws (for your own good, because they are useful fertilizer for the sprout of a happy soul), or you can reject them, but it will remain on your conscience. In any case, the entire society revolves around moral norms, and without them its functioning would be incomplete.

Variety of moral standards

All moral norms and principles can be conditionally divided into two groups: requirements and permissions. Among the requirements are obligations and natural duties. Permissions can also be divided into indifferent and overdue.

There is public morality, which implies the most unified framework. There is an unspoken set of rules that operates in a particular country, company, organization or family. There are also settings in accordance with which a separate person builds his line of behavior.

In order to know the moral culture, not only in theory, but also in practice, you need to do the right things that others will accept and approve.

Perhaps the value of morality is exaggerated?

It may seem that following the norms of morality shackles a person into a narrow framework. However, we do not consider ourselves prisoners using the instructions for this or that radio device. Moral norms are the same scheme that helps us build our lives correctly, without conflicting with our conscience.

Moral norms for the most part coincide with legal norms. But there are situations when morality and law come into conflict. Let's analyze this issue on the example of the norm "do not steal". Let's try to ask the question "Why does this or that person never steal?". In the case when the fear of the court serves as the basis, then the motive cannot be called moral. But if a person does not steal, based on the belief that theft is bad, then the act is based on moral values. But in life it happens that someone considers his own that, from the point of view of law, is a violation of the law (for example, a person decides to steal a medicine in order to save the life of a loved one).

The Importance of Moral Education

Do not wait for the moral environment to develop by itself. It also needs to be built, cognized, that is, to work on oneself. Simply, along with mathematics and the Russian language, schoolchildren do not study the laws of morality. And, getting into society, people can sometimes feel as helpless and defenseless as if they went to the blackboard in the 1st grade and were forced to solve an equation that they had never seen before.

So all the words that morality fetters, enslaves and makes a slave out of a person are true only if moral norms are perverted and adjusted to the material interests of one or another group of people.

social hunger strike

Nowadays, the search for the right path in life worries a person much less than social discomfort. Parents care more about the child becoming a good specialist than a happy person in the future. It becomes more important to enter into a successful marriage than to know true love. Giving birth to a child is more important than realizing the true need for motherhood.

For the most part, moral requirements do not appeal to external expediency (if you do this, you will succeed), but to moral duty (you need to act in a certain way, as this is dictated by duty), thus having the form of an imperative, considered as a direct and unconditional command.

Moral norms and human behavior are closely interrelated. However, thinking about the laws of morality, a person should not identify them with the regulations, but fulfill them, guided by his own desire.

Introduction

social values

social norms

Types of social norms

Conclusion

List of used literature

Introduction

The concept of social values and norms first appeared in sociological science thanks to M. Weber. Analyzing the actions of individuals, Weber proceeded from the neo-Kantian premise, according to which every human act appears meaningful only in relation to the values in the light of which the norms of human behavior and their goals are determined. Weber traced this connection in the course of sociological analysis of religion.

The science of axiology is engaged in the study of values (from the Greek "axia" - value and "logos" - a word, concept, doctrine). It is included as a fundamentally important component in the structure of a number of philosophical and sociological concepts of neo-Kantian-Weberian, phenomenologically-interactionist and positivist-scientistic orientations.

The emergence and functioning of social norms, their place in the socio-political organization of society are determined by the objective need to streamline social relations. At the heart of the emergence of social norms (“general rules”) are, first of all, the needs of material production. Social norms are requirements, prescriptions, wishes and expectations of appropriate behavior.

social norm prescription behavior

1. Social values

Currently, a number of prominent sociologists (for example, G. Lasswell and A. Kaplan) believe that values are the basis that gives social interactions a certain color and content, making social relations out of them. Value can be defined as a targeted desirable event. The fact that subject X values object Y means that X acts in such a way as to reach the level of X, or at least come close to it. The personality takes a position of evaluation in relation to all components of its environment. But she will carry out social actions in relation to someone only because of things that she values and considers useful and desirable for herself, that is, for the sake of values. Values in this case serve as an impetus, a necessary condition for any kind of interaction.

An analysis of social values allows us to conditionally divide them into two main groups:

welfare values,

other values.

Welfare values are understood as those values that are a necessary condition for maintaining the physical and mental activity of individuals. This group of values includes, first of all: skill (qualification), enlightenment, wealth, well-being.

Mastery (qualification) is an acquired professionalism in some area of practical activity.

Enlightenment is the knowledge and information potential of the individual, as well as his cultural ties.

Wealth implies mainly services and various material goods.

Well-being means the health and safety of individuals.

Other social values are expressed in the actions of both this individual and others. The most significant of them should be considered power, respect, moral values and affectivity.

The most important of these is power. This is the most universal and highest value, since the possession of it makes it possible to acquire any other values.

Respect is a value that includes status, prestige, fame and reputation. The desire to possess this value is rightfully considered one of the main human motivations.

Moral values include kindness, generosity,

virtue, justice and other moral qualities.

Affectivity is a value that primarily includes love and friendship.

Everyone knows the case when Alexander the Great, who had power, wealth and prestige, offered to use these values to the philosopher Diogenes of Sinop. The king asked the philosopher to name a desire, to present any requirement that he would immediately fulfill. But Diogenes had no need for the proposed values and expressed only one wish: that the king would move away and not block the sun for him. The relationship of respect and gratitude, which Macedonsky counted on, did not arise, Diogenes remained independent, as, indeed, the king.

Thus, the interaction of needs in values reflect the content and meaning of social relations.

Due to the inequality that exists in society, social values are unevenly distributed among members of society. In every social group, in every social stratum or class, there is its own distribution of values, different from others, between members of the social community. It is on the unequal distribution of values that relations of power and subordination, all types of economic relations, relations of friendship, love, partnership, etc. are built.

A person or group that has advantages in the distribution of values has a high value position, and a person or group that has less or no values has a low value position. Value positions, and therefore value patterns, do not remain unchanged, since in the course of the exchange of existing values and interactions aimed at acquiring values, individuals and social groups constantly redistribute values among themselves.

In their striving to achieve values, people enter into conflict interactions if they consider the existing value model unfair, and actively try to change their own value positions. But they also use cooperative interactions if the value model suits them or if they need to enter into coalitions against other individuals or groups. And, finally, people enter into interactions in the form of concessions if the value model is considered unfair, but some members of the group, for various reasons, do not seek to change the existing situation.

Social values are the basic initial concept in the study of such a phenomenon as culture. According to the domestic sociologist N.I. Lapin “the value system forms the inner core of culture, the spiritual quintessence of the needs and interests of individuals and social communities. It, in turn, has a reverse effect on social interests and needs, acting as one of the most important motivators of social action, the behavior of individuals. Thus, each value and value system has a dual basis: in the individual as an intrinsically valuable subject and in society as a socio-cultural system.

Analyzing social values in the context of social consciousness and people's behavior, one can get a fairly accurate idea of the degree of development of the individual, the level of assimilation of all the wealth of human history. That is why they can be correlated with one or another type of civilization in the depths of which a given value arose or to which it mainly refers: traditional values oriented towards the preservation and reproduction of established goals and norms of life; modern values that have arisen under the influence of changes in public life or in its main areas. In this context, comparisons of the values of the older and younger generations are very indicative, which makes it possible to understand the tension and the causes of conflicts between them.

social norms

social society behavior

Human society is a set of people's relations to nature and to each other, or a set of social phenomena; at the same time, a social phenomenon is understood as such an interconnected behavior of individuals that causes certain changes in nature, society and the person himself. It follows from this that there is neither society nor social phenomena outside the behavior of individuals and their interrelated actions.

However, individuals as members of society, as conscious, creative and free beings, are free to choose their behavior. And their actions can not only be inconsistent, but often contradict each other. And the opposite of behavior can call into question not only the implementation of social functions, but also the existence of society. Therefore, there is a need to regulate human behavior, that is, to determine its method and ensure that people's behavior is acceptable to society.

People as social beings create a new world, different from nature (although not completely separated from it), but there must be order in it. And in order for this order to exist, social norms are created, which are essentially a special product of human society.

Social norms, streamlining the behavior of people, regulate the most diverse types of social relations. They form a certain hierarchy of norms, distributed according to the degree of their sociological significance.

Compliance with the norms is regulated by society with varying degrees of rigor. Violations of taboos (in primitive societies) and legal laws (in industrial societies) are punished most severely, and habits are most mildly punished.

The social norms that determine human behavior ensure the existence of people in society and the existence of a person as a person - in his relationship to other people and to himself. With their help, a person seeks to preserve and realize certain values in the natural and social reality in which he lives.

Social norms are the expected rules of human behavior and society, according to which a person must behave in such a way as to ensure the consistency of individual behaviors necessary for the implementation of basic social functions. Man is a free being, and within the limits of freedom granted to him by natural law, he can behave in different ways. And the more developed a society is, the more confidently it progresses, the greater the progress of human consciousness and freedom, the more a person behaves as a free being, and society can influence his free behavior with the help of rules created by society. And this means that just as there is no society without free and purposeful behavior of a person, so there is no society without social rules, with the help of which the coordination of these free behaviors is ensured.

Understood in this way, social norms also presuppose a relative freedom of human behavior, which each person feels when he acts in accordance with social rules, although he might neglect the latter. At the same time, when a person violates the rules of conduct, he must be prepared to undergo a certain kind of sanctions, by applying which the society ensures that individuals respect the social rules.

With the help of social norms, society seeks to ensure the implementation of certain social functions. The exercise of these functions is of public interest. This public interest is not necessarily, in the full sense of the word, the interest of the predominant part of society. However, it is social in the sense that, with the help of social norms, it ensures the coordination and coordination of the actions of individuals in order to successfully unfold, first of all, the process of social production that ensures the existence of society at a given stage of its development.

To realize the many and varied goals in society, there are many social norms. However, this set did not always exist. Social norms have gone their way of historical development, along with the development of society. At the beginning of human history, when human society was undeveloped, social norms constituted a single set and did not differ from each other either in the way they arose or in the way they were applied.

However, with the development of society, there is a differentiation of certain types of norms. Namely, with the differentiation of society, special groups of people arise who have a special interest and who want to realize it. Then there is a differentiation of social norms. Social norms begin to differ both in terms of the goals that people are trying to realize with their help, and in their form, that is, in the way they arise and in the means by which their application is ensured.

3. Types of social norms

With the development of society, the number of social norms also increased. Numerous social norms are divided into various groups depending on the criteria used in their classification. Most often, based on the means by which people are influenced, behaving in accordance with social norms, the latter are divided into social prescriptions and technical rules.

a) Social prescriptions are social norms in the narrow sense of the word. These are social norms that determine the social behavior of a person, that is, a person's attitude towards other members of society. When people act in accordance with social precepts, a social state is established that is beneficial, that is, one that can be considered beneficial to the society that makes these rules.

Social prescriptions regulate relations between people in the state and in narrower communities, that is, in social groups. These are the norms by which a person's behavior is regulated in relation to other people in the state, in the family, on the street, in the process of producing material goods, etc. These norms serve the realization of a common goal, the achievement of which is in the interests of some broad community, although not necessarily in the interests of its individual members. In order to ensure a respectful attitude to these norms, the community takes certain measures, from education to sanctions, with the help of which the violator of social norms is deprived of certain benefits.

A social prescription has two parts: a disposition and a sanction.

The disposition is that part of the social prescription that determines the behavior of the individual in such a way that the interest of the community, the collective, is observed.

The sanction provides for the deprivation of the one who violated the disposition of certain benefits and thereby satisfies the desire of the community to punish those members of society who do not adhere to the accepted way of behavior. The indirect impact of the sanction on people's behavior is also very important, namely: knowing that they are threatened with certain sanctions, that is, deprivation of certain benefits, people, as a rule, refrain from violating social prescriptions.

However, the sanctions by which society seeks to influence the behavior of people so that it corresponds to the disposition of the legal norm cannot be exclusively negative, that is, aimed only at depriving some of the benefits of those members of society who violate social rules. Positive sanctions can also be provided - not for breaking the rules, but for behavior in accordance with them. They are, in fact, a reward for behavior that is desirable for society.

In society, there are numerous social prescriptions that can be classified into different types based on a variety of criteria. However, it can be argued that most often social prescriptions differ depending on the type of community that creates them; from the activity to which these instructions refer; and the type of sanction to be applied in case of violation of the order.

The most significant differences in individual social prescriptions stem from the sanctions by which they are treated with respect; moreover, the nature of such sanctions depends on which social communities - organized or unorganized - create certain social prescriptions. More severe sanctions in relation to the violator are provided for by those social prescriptions that are created by organized social communities, that is, social organizations. Usually in this case we are talking about depriving the offender of significant benefits with the help of coercion, which often takes the form of physical violence. Legal norms are the most typical representative of this type of social prescriptions.

In unorganized social communities, social prescriptions arise spontaneously, over a long period of time, and are deeply embedded in the consciousness of the members of the community. In such communities, in which matters do not come to acute conflicts, sanctions for violation of the rules of conduct are not strict, and they are applied by the society as a whole, and not by special bodies. An example of social prescriptions created by organized communities are legal norms, while unorganized communities are ordinary norms.

b) Technical rules are such norms of behavior that are social only indirectly. But it is they that regulate not the relation of man to other people, but the relation of man to nature. These are the norms that are based on knowledge of nature and determine the behavior of a person in the process of appropriating nature. However, man relates to nature not only as a natural, but also as a social being, that is, his relationship to nature and society is a social relationship. In this sense, the considered norms are also social norms.

By means of actions which are prescribed by technical rules, man can bring about certain favorable changes in nature. Therefore, we can say that these norms determine the activity for the transformation of nature (material nature in the narrow sense of the word). Such, for example, are the rules indicating how to obtain a certain chemical product by combining certain elements, how to cure a disease, create some material wealth, and so on. Thus, technical rules serve to achieve a certain goal, in which either an individual or many people are interested. As for behavior in accordance with these rules, there is a complete coincidence of the interests of society and the individual: both society and the individual are interested in observing technical standards, and there is no disagreement between them. Technical norms are essentially instructions to the individual as to how he should act; they act as assistance to the individual on the part of society, and not as orders. The similar nature of technical rules is the reason for the lack of sanctions that society could apply to violators of these rules. Since the subjects to which the technical rules relate want to realize a certain goal, they must adhere to these rules. If the subjects do not follow these rules, the goal will not be achieved and the interest will not be realized. So, for example, one who wants to get well must follow the prescriptions of medical specialists, otherwise he will continue to get sick. Therefore, it is believed that in order for a person to act in accordance with technical rules, it is enough for him to understand that such behavior ensures the realization of the desired goal.

Thus, people in their behavior adhere to technical rules, because, acting in accordance with them, they realize a certain interest of their own; ignoring these rules, they cannot realize their interest and may suffer certain hardships. That is why there is no need for society to ensure the implementation of technical rules by imposing sanctions on their violators.

However, there are also cases where a social community is interested in observing technical rules and, in order to ensure their implementation, also provides for sanctions against those who violate these rules. But in this case, the technical rule turns into a social prescription, and when these sanctions are applied by the state, the technical norm turns into a legal one. So, for example, there are technical rules governing the construction of residential buildings, and those who do not comply with them create a risk of destruction of these buildings. Today, the state prescribes: how much reinforcement and how exactly it should be used in construction so that the building does not collapse during an earthquake. Since the earthquake is a danger to the whole society, the latter seeks to protect itself from possible disastrous consequences by prescribing the method of construction.

What kind of technical rules and when they become social prescriptions depends on many social circumstances and on the knowledge people have about nature and the methods of its appropriation, that is, adaptation and transformation by human needs. In modern society, more and more aspects of the labor process are regulated by legal norms, in order to create working conditions worthy of a person, in developed societies there are a large number of technical rules. Each area of human creativity creates its own technical rules. At the same time, technical rules are subject to continuous changes occurring in the course of changing human consciousness and ways of appropriating nature, its adaptation to the needs of people. The change in technical rules is directly related, first of all, to the development of science and the emergence of new opportunities for the development of technology.

Technical rules are social rules, for man's relation to nature is a social relation; also, the attitude of man to science, to the knowledge it gives and its application, is the attitude of society to science. This attitude of society towards science and the application of its knowledge in practical activities can be twofold, namely: society can contribute to the development of science and the speedy application of its knowledge in practical activities, but it can also impede the use of scientific knowledge, and thereby hinder the development of science.

What will be the attitude of society towards the application of scientific knowledge in practice depends on a large number of social factors. This attitude is determined both by the nature of the production relations existing in a given society and by the ideology of this society (it is known, for example, that the Catholic Church in the Middle Ages was against the development of science and the use of scientific knowledge).

Conclusion

In sociology, the concepts of social values and norms are very often used, which characterize the basic orientations of people both in life in general and in the main areas of their activity - in work, in politics, in everyday life, etc.

Social values are the highest principles on the basis of which consent is ensured, both in small social groups and in society as a whole.

Social norms perform very important in society

functions. They are:

regulate the general course of socialization;

integrate individuals into groups, and groups into society;

control deviant behavior;

serve as models, standards of behavior.

Social norms form a system of social impact, which includes motives, goals, direction of the subjects of action, the action itself, expectation, evaluation and means.

Social norms perform their functions depending on the quality in which they manifest themselves:

as standards of behavior (duties, rules);

as expectations of behavior (the reaction of other people).

Social norms are guardians of order and guardians of values. Even the simplest norms of behavior embody what is valued by a group or society.

The difference between norm and value is expressed as follows:

norms are rules of conduct

values are abstract concepts of what is good and evil,

right and wrong, right and wrong.

In the context of the formation of a new morality in modern society, it is not a ban that is important, but the constant support of social values and norms in the expectation that time will make amendments and put an end to the "i" in human needs.

List of used literature:

1.Markovich D.Zh. Sociology: Textbook. - M., 2000

2. Modern Western sociology: Dictionary M., 1990

Sociology in questions and answers: Textbook / ed. prof. V.A. Chumakov. - Rostov n / a., 2000

Toshchenko Zh.T. Sociology. General course. - M., 2004

Frolov S.S. Sociology: Textbook. - M., 2000

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In order for a person to be able to freely exist in the world, he needs to be able to interact with the people around him. Values are the specific characteristics of the objects of the environment around us, which determine their positive and negative value for each person and society as a whole. The social value of law is a concept, having understood which, a person will understand what his positive role in the life of society is. Thanks to him, a stable order in the structure is ensured, as well as the possibility of carrying out the usual human actions.

Note that a person, being a social being, must create certain patterns of behavior that are applicable in a particular situation. This is done so that you can safely exist in society and interact with other individuals. Such patterns are called

Social values are what is important for every person a priori. Decisions made once become for us the main line of behavior, which we try to adhere to every day, all our lives. That is why value orientations act as a way of regulating and determining the behavior of an individual. They help him to distinguish the significant from the unnecessary, the essential from the meaningless.

The scientist studied social values in detail and identified three forms of their existence that can mutually flow one into another:

public ideals.
The subject embodiment of these ideals.
motivational structures.

Note that throughout life one can be confirmed, the other can be discarded due to its inconsistency. As a result, a certain hierarchy is formed, which contains concepts that are applicable and relevant to each person. Social values are a concept that is formed individually for everyone, therefore it is difficult to find two people in one society who would have the same system. Very often an individual is faced with the fact that his principles run counter to new systems, or the theoretical foundations do not fit into real life. In this case, multi-layered systems begin to form, in which the proclaimed values often diverge from reality.

Business relations always contain a value aspect in their structure. It defines explicit and implicit standards of behavior. There is such a thing as the professional values of social work, denoting the stable ideas and beliefs of people about the nature of goals, ways to achieve them and the principles of the future life. These values focus on the basic principles of his behavior in work and responsibility for his activities. They help an employee of any field to determine the rights and obligations that he has as a professional.

Social values begin to form in early childhood. Their main source is the people around the child. In this case, the example of the family plays a fundamental role. Children, watching their parents, begin to imitate them in everything. Therefore, when deciding to have children, future mothers and fathers must understand what responsibility they take on.

Of greatest interest to sociology are behavioral elements- social values and norms. They largely determine not only the nature of people's relationships, their moral orientations, behavior, but also spirit society as a whole, its originality and difference from other societies. Isn't this originality the poet had in mind when he exclaimed: "There is a Russian spirit ... there it smells of Russia!"

social values- these are the life ideals and goals that, in the opinion of the majority in a given society, one should strive to achieve. Such in different societies can be, for example, patriotism, respect for ancestors, hard work, responsible attitude to business, freedom of enterprise, law-abidingness, honesty, love marriage, fidelity in married life, tolerance and goodwill in the relationship of people , wealth, power, education, spirituality, health, etc.

Such values of society stem from generally accepted ideas about what is good and what is bad; what is good and what is evil; what should be achieved and what should be avoided, etc. Having taken root in the minds of most people, social values, as it were, predetermine their attitude to certain phenomena and serve as a kind of guideline in their behavior.

For example, if the idea of a healthy lifestyle is firmly established in society, then most of its representatives will have a negative attitude towards the production of high-fat products by factories, the physical passivity of people, malnutrition and passion for alcohol and tobacco.

Of course, goodness, benefit, freedom, equality, justice, etc. are far from equally understood. For some, say, state paternalism (when the state takes care of and controls its citizens to the smallest detail) is the highest justice, while for others it is an infringement of freedom and bureaucratic arbitrariness. So individual value orientations may be different. But at the same time, in every society there are general, prevailing assessments of life situations. They form social values which, in turn, serve as the basis for the development of social norms.

Unlike social values social norms but-syat is not only an orienting character. In some cases, they are recommend, and in others directly require observance of certain rules and thereby regulate the behavior of people and their joint life in society. The whole variety of social norms can be conditionally combined into two groups: informal and formal norms.

Informal social norms - This naturally folding in society, patterns of right behavior that people are expected or recommended to adhere to without coercion. This may include such elements of spiritual culture as etiquette, customs and traditions, rites (say, baptisms, initiations into students, burials), ceremonies, rituals, good habits and manners (say, a respectable habit of informing your trash to the bin, no matter how far it is and, most importantly, even if no one sees you), etc.

Separately, in this group, the mores of society, or its moral, moral standards. These are the most cherished and revered by the people patterns of behavior, non-compliance with which is perceived by others as especially painful.

For example, in many societies it is considered highly immoral for a mother to abandon her young child to her fate; or when adult children do the same to their old parents.

Compliance with informal social norms is ensured by the power of public opinion (disapproval, condemnation, contempt, boycott, ostracism, etc.), as well as due to sanity, self-restraint, conscience and awareness of the personal duty of each person.

Formal social norms present specially designed and established rules of conduct (for example, military regulations or rules for using the subway). A special place here belongs to legal, or legal regulations- laws, decrees, government resolutions and other regulatory documents. They, in particular, protect the rights and dignity of a person, his health and life, property, public order, and the security of the country. Formal rules usually provide for certain sanctions, g. s. either reward (approval, reward, premium, honor, fame, etc.) or punishment (disapproval, demotion, dismissal, fine, arrest, imprisonment, death penalty, etc.) for observing or non-compliance with the rules.

Functions of social values. Moral norms, values ​​and rules