10 Examples of Social Facts

The social facts, according to sociology and anthropology, are those ideas that regulate behavior that are generated from society and that are external to the individual, coercive and collective. It is, then, behaviors and thoughts socially imposed by the community. For example: the applause after a function, coups, elections.

This concept was coined by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim in 1895, and supposes a form of modification of the interiority of every subject, forcing him to feel, think and act in a certain way, akin to the community.

A subject can, however, oppose this collective mandate, thus strengthening their interiority and individuality, as artists do. However, the break with social facts can have consequences against them, such as censorship of others or, depending on the society and the fact, disapproval and punishment.

Types of social fact

A social fact can be classified according to three categories:

These social facts are always known to all members of the community, shared or not, and these are positioned with respect to them, for or against, without having to be previously discussed in any way way. In this way

the process is fed back: social events influence people and people generate and condition social dynamics.

Finally, from a certain point of view, all facets of human subjectivity: language, religion, the moral, the traditionsThey are social facts that give the individual a belonging to a community.

Examples of social facts

1. The applause after a performance. The social behavior approved and promoted after an act of some nature is the collective applause, and it is a perfect and simple example of social fact. Attendees will know when to clap and how, without anyone explaining it to them on the spot, simply carried away by the crowd. Not clapping, on the other hand, would be taken as a gesture of contempt for the act.
2. The Crossing of Catholics. Among the Catholic community, the cross is a learned and imposed part of the ritual, which is not only carried out at the end of the mass. or at times indicated by the parish priest, but also takes place at key moments of daily life: in the presence of a bad News, as a gesture of protection against an impressive event, etc. No one should tell you when to do it, it is simply part of a learned feeling.
3. Nationalisms. Patriotic fervor, devotion to national symbols and other behaviors of love for the homeland are encouraged openly by most societies, in response to an underlying opinion pattern of disregard for what is own self. Both aspects, chauvinism (excessive love for the national) or malinchismo (contempt for everything national) constitute social facts.
4. The elections. Electoral processes are fundamental social facts for the republican life of nations, so they are imposed by governments as a milestone of political participation often mandatory. Not participating in them can, even if it does not carry legal sanctions, be disapproved by others.
5. Demonstrations or protests. Another form of organized citizen participation is protests, which are often born out of the perception of a minor individual or group and then rise to mobilize and strengthen the sensation of community of the masses, sometimes pushing them to acts of recklessness (throwing stones at the police), exposing themselves to repression or even breaking laws (as in looting).
6. Wars and armed conflicts. An important social fact in the history of mankind is wars and conflicts, unfortunately. These transitory states of violence alter the entire social, legal and political apparatus of nations and oblige societies to behave in certain ways: martial and restrictive, like the army, or anarchic and selfish, as in the case of populations trapped in conflict zone.
7. Coups d'etat. Violent changes of government are external conditions to individuals that nevertheless impose certain feelings, for example, of joy and relief in the face of the overthrow of a dictator, of hope before the coming to power of a revolutionary group, or of depression and fear when, when they start governments unwanted.
8. Urban violence. In many countries with a high margin of criminal violence, such as Mexico, Venezuela, Colombia, etc. high rates of criminal activity are a social fact, as they alter the way people feel, think and act, often pushing them towards more radical positions and allowing lynchings of criminals or attitudes of equal violence to which they reject.
9. The economic crisis. The economic crisis factors, which drastically alter the way people interact commercially, are facts deep impact on emotionality (generating depressions, frustrations, anger), opinion (guilty is sought, arises the xenophobia) and acting (voting for populist candidates, consuming less, etc.) of the people affected.
10. The terrorism. The action of terrorist cells in organized societies has an important radicalizing effect, which we have witnessed in the Europe of early 21st century: the resurgence of right-wing nationalisms, fear and contempt for foreigners, Islamophobia, in short, various feelings that are imposed on the individual from not only the violent actions of extremists, but from all the media discourse woven around.