Understanding Social Change

Understanding Social Change

As Weinstein explains in our text on Social Change, our contemporary understanding regarding social change is that it may be intentional or it may be unintentional. In other words, individuals or social movements can intentionally cause social change (either progressive or regressive). It is equally true that unintended changes in society can result from environmental changes, migrations of people responding to war, climate change, cultural clashes, and urbanization.

1. Drawing from your readings, discuss one example of intended or unintended progressive social change and one example of intended or unintended regressive social change.
2. In light of the probability that there will always be proponents of change as well as persons seeking to maintain the status quo, discuss how human services professionals may play a role in advancing progressive social change or regressive social change.