Morality and Society

“Man is a moral being, only because he lives in society. Let all social life disappear and morality will disappear with it” – Emile Durkheim
The statement that has been put forward by Emile Durkheim is valid in many ways, and I do believe it is agreeable. A person’s character or the guidelines that lead him through life are impacted by society. Not only are we put on a certain path by society, but we are set out to achieve the perception of what is truly right. Also 'right' can be objectified in many ways, yet that which separates moral from immoral is society itself. Without it we will never know how to deal with life’s encounters. At a very young age we decide to follow a set of rules that have been put forward by the people around us, whether it is our parents, teachers or even a complete stranger. If we are to co-exist with each and every other person that we come across we will have to maintain our morals. Some may say that without society that our life might not be so different, as we become who we want to be besides the fact that we are not surrounded by anyone to guide us. As humans, we require a specific form of conduct or at least that is what is expected of us. We crave towards social acceptance. The minute we do something in disregard to what we are meant to do, we will surely be labelled as an outcast. Society keeps us from being isolated also it builds up our character. It may not always be right, but whether we like it or not society does make us or break us.
Several social changes have impacted our society as well; some of the more elaborate changes that have taken place include media, religion, education, social relationships, parenting styles and economic instability. Social relationships and parental styles have...

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...more self- aware of situations; also they fight for what they believe in. There are now more educated people, and more students especially women have started pursuing careers that were not available to them before.
Surely, these changes have impacted our moral value system. It is hard to say whether if there have been more positive outcomes than negative. Yet these changes have changed the society’s beliefs on what is right and wrong even with the existence of formally created values.

References

 Aronson E., Wilson T. D. & Akert R. M. (2007). Social Psychology (Sixth Edition). New Jersey: Pearson Education.
 Estrada E. & Vargas-Estrada E. (2013). How Peer Pressure Shapes Consensus, Leadership, and Innovations in Social Groups. Scientific Reports DOI: 10.1038/srep02905
 Kopko, K., & Dunifon, R. (2010). What’s New: Parenting and Adolescent Development