Examples of Social Symptoms – Every day, especially those of us who live in urban areas are often faced with many events. Sometimes the events that arise are small events that recede in just a matter of hours. Even so, it is not uncommon for the events that emerge to be major events that involve many people and make headlines in various mass media.
Unfortunately, most of the events that occur are sometimes not good events, such as cases of theft, to brawls that occur between students. In fact, the frequency with which such incidents occur is that most people who live in big cities get bored, and quickly forget about it.
There are many reasons why events like this often occur, one of which is because the harsh urban life sometimes makes it easier to trigger disputes with other people. Well, discussing events that often occur in society is often known as social phenomena. What is a social symptom?
You may rarely hear this one term. However, the term social phenomenon is not a term commonly used in everyday conversation. For those of you who are curious about what social phenomena are, let’s see the explanation of social phenomena below!
Definition of Social Symptoms
Social phenomena occur quite often in Indonesia, although they occur quite frequently, the term social phenomena itself still sounds strange to many people. If you are a person who is also unfamiliar with this term, you need to know that social phenomena are various events that are often experienced by humans, both events experienced by individuals or groups. Social phenomena themselves are very closely related to the so-called social norms and values that apply in society.
Usually, events that arise are related to violations of the norms that apply in the local community. Social events can happen to anyone, both individuals and groups, and are caused by many things. Starting from economic demands, cultural friction, to politics can also appear as a cause of a social phenomenon.
Classification of Social Symptoms
Social phenomena are events that occur quite frequently in urban areas and are caused by many things. Apart from being caused by various reasons, social phenomena are also classified into many types. Starting from social phenomena due to economic, political, psychological, culture, even the natural surroundings.
1. Social Symptoms due to Economics
The first social symptom is a social phenomenon that arises due to economic problems in society. You could say, when compared to other social phenomena, social phenomena due to economics are the social phenomena that appear most often and are the social phenomena that have the greatest effect on the people of Indonesia.
The economic problems that arise on their own can vary. Starting from the soaring prices of staple goods, to necessities that are difficult to obtain due to limited stock.
Apart from the skyrocketing prices of staple goods, another economic problem that has occurred is the poverty rate and the number of unemployed which is creeping up every year.
2. Social Symptoms Due to Politics
Not only economic, social phenomena can also be caused by political problems. As the name implies, this social phenomenon appears in the scope of politics and government, whether it’s the central or regional government.
In foreign countries, social phenomena resulting from politics are actually rare. However, the story is different with Indonesia. In Indonesia itself, social phenomena due to politics are caused by rampant acts of corruption and money laundering by government officials.
3. Social Symptoms Due to Cultural Problems
In addition to social symptoms due to economics and politics, social symptoms can also arise due to problems in culture. This has also happened several times in Indonesia, bearing in mind that our country is not a homogeneous country, the emergence of social symptoms due to cultural problems is actually quite natural to occur.
In Indonesia itself, cultural problems that arise are usually caused by cultural friction and a lack of tolerance in society. Although quite reasonable, social phenomena due to cultural problems are not something that can be ignored because they can lead to divisions.
4. Social Symptoms Due to the Natural Environment
In the past, social phenomena caused by the environment and nature were not something to worry about. Considering that people used to really appreciate nature, they were very careful in all things related to nature.
This is different from people nowadays who actually care less or even have the heart to destroy nature for their own sake. As a result, the balance of nature is disrupted and triggers many problems. These problems eventually lead to social symptoms due to the natural environment.
5. Social Symptoms of Psychological Consequences
Not only nature, deviations in one’s behavior in their environment can also cause social problems. Behavioral deviations themselves can be caused by various factors. Whether it’s because of their bad nature, or it could be because of psychological problems.
Once or twice, this social deviation will make other people who are around him feel uncomfortable and eventually lead to social phenomena that occur in society.
Examples of Social Symptoms that Often Occur in Society
1. Examples of Social Symptoms due to Economics
Most of the economic problems caused by the limited number of basic commodities, so the price soared. Not enough there, the population explosion also made the problem worse. As you know, currently 60 percent of Indonesians are young people and the majority of them are over 17 years old and ready to work.
Unfortunately, the population explosion was not accompanied by sufficient employment opportunities, thus causing the number of unemployed to increase rapidly, as well as poverty.
People who have difficulty finding money and buying staples, inevitably start acting recklessly by committing crimes such as robbery, which not only harm other people, but also themselves.
2. Examples of Social Symptoms Due to Politics
One example of the most frequent political problems in Indonesia is acts of corruption committed by government officials. Even if the perpetrators are caught, there will still be huge losses that must be borne by many parties, including the community.
An example is the cooking oil corruption that occurred recently. This case made the stock of cooking oil very limited and the price increased many times. If so, the trouble is the community.
They are forced to switch to bulk oil whose quality is not good enough. Even if there is packaged cooking oil, they have to queue for hours and pay a higher price than they should.
3. Examples of Social Symptoms Due to Cultural Problems
When compared to other countries, the majority of Indonesians do have a pretty good sense of tolerance. However, this does not guarantee that our country will be free from cultural friction. Once or twice, there have been cases of disputes caused by a lack of tolerance in each individual, resulting in a lack of respect for other cultures that are not in line with them.
4. Examples of Social Symptoms Due to the Natural Environment
Nature can indeed be a source for human life. However, like a double-edged sword, nature can also turn into a terrible threat if humans act arbitrarily.
Illegal logging, for example, makes forests bare and flammable. When a forest is burned, it is not only the animals that are harmed because they lose their homes, but also humans who live not far from the forest area. Smoke from forest fires is not friendly to the human respiratory system. As a result, not a few residents experienced respiratory problems and had to be rushed to the nearest hospital for treatment.
5. Examples of Psychological Consequences of Social Symptoms
No one in this world is born with psychological problems. However, the pressures of life, the behavior of people around, and a toxic environment make many people experience various psychological problems. Starting from mild stress, depression, to other psychiatric problems.
Although it is rarely realized, a person’s mental problems can also be very disturbing to other people who are around him. If you have a neighbor who suffers from a mental disorder, it can sometimes be very upsetting because of his uncontrollable and destructive behavior. Once or twice, other people can be patient. However, if it is too frequent, emotional residents may be provoked to carry out attacks.
Characteristics of Social Symptoms
Not only divided into several forms and examples, social phenomena also have certain characteristics. What are the characteristics?
1. Complicated
After reading the types of social phenomena and also examples, you might be able to conclude that social phenomena are very complicated things. Social phenomena become complicated because they are influenced by various factors such as economic, political, social, cultural, and even psychological factors.
Not only that, social phenomena are also increasingly complicated because they involve many relationships, not only relationships with fellow human beings, but also human relationships with the natural surroundings.
2. Has Diverse Characteristics
Every social phenomenon that occurs in society is indeed different from one another. Social phenomena as a result of politics clearly cannot be equated with social symptoms as a result of psychology. However, even though every social phenomenon is different, all of them still have a relationship with one another.
Social symptoms due to politics, for example, are indeed carried out in the political sphere, while social symptoms due to psychology occur in certain environments. But in the end, it is society that will still be the victim.
3. Not General
Apart from having different characteristics from each other, social phenomena are also strongly influenced by the condition of the people in a region. Considering that the conditions in each region are different from each other, the social symptoms that appear in one area will also be different from the social phenomena that appear in other areas. It is this influence of the conditions of society in a different region that makes social phenomena not universal or uncommon.
4. Dynamic nature
Just because social phenomena are uncommon does not mean that society will always be faced with the same social phenomena forever. After all, life in a region tends to change from time to time.
These life changes also change social phenomena. The social phenomena that emerged ten years ago will clearly be different from the social phenomena that will emerge in the future. It is this change that makes social phenomena dynamic because they follow the changes that occur in people’s lives.
5. Contextual in nature
Another characteristic of social phenomena is their contextual nature. Social phenomena can be called contextual because social phenomena appear based on the situation in an area. In most urban areas in Indonesia, for example, social phenomena that arise are caused by economic problems.
Meanwhile, social phenomena in the world’s metropolitan cities are mostly caused by psychological problems where the citizens of the world’s metropolitan cities have a high level of stress when compared to residents of cities in developing countries.
6. Hard to Predict
Unlike rain which shows certain signs before it actually falls, social phenomena are abstract in nature, making it difficult to predict when they will come. Not infrequently, social symptoms suddenly appear in society just because they are triggered by small things that are trivial in nature.
Fortunately, even though the social phenomena that appear have a major effect on society, social phenomena can still be overcome with a note from the community because they want to work together and follow the existing norms.
Negative Impact of Social Symptoms
Social symptoms are not always bad, but on the other hand, social symptoms that appear can also have a negative effect on society. Here are the negative impacts of social phenomena that you need to be aware of.
1. Increasing the Crime Rate
Social phenomena can affect the behavior of society in general. Social symptoms as a result of the economy, for example, will affect the psychology of the people affected. The high cost of cooking oil a few months ago, for example, made people panic buy, and even caused riots in various areas because people were scrambling to buy the remaining cooking oil.
Social phenomena due to the economy have also forced many unemployed young people to commit crimes, such as stealing or selling drugs in order to get money. Actions like this clearly violate the law and make the crime rate increase significantly.
2. Increasing the Chances of Conflict
Not only does the crime rate increase, social phenomena can also open up opportunities for conflict to occur in society. Both the conflict between individuals and conflicts between groups.
Conflicts like this if left unchecked can lead to acts of violence such as brawls or wars which claim many lives in large numbers.
3. Enlarging the Gap Between Social Classes
Social inequality is nothing new in Indonesia. Even though it’s not too obvious, you can always find social inequality like this everywhere, especially in big cities, like Jakarta and other big cities in Indonesia.
Social phenomena can make the existing gap between people from the upper class and people from the lower middle class even bigger. If left unchecked, severe social inequalities in an area can make relations between its residents disharmonious.
Where the rich are reluctant to mingle with other circles that are considered unequal to them. Over time, other groups will feel emotional and end up with criminal acts such as robbery or theft committed by the lower class against people from the upper class.
So, that’s an explanation of social phenomena , complete with examples of social phenomena, their characteristics and negative impacts on society. Once again, social phenomena are not something you can predict when they will come and how big the effect will be on society. However, when they appear in an area, social phenomena can still be overcome by the community as long as they try to work together and follow the existing norms.
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Author: Siti Marliah
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