Social Conditioning: An Obstacle to Integration?

The realm of modern social consciousness is comprised of notions, perceptions and established views. Often, these instruct society as to how they are to act, interact and deal with certain realities. In most cases this is the backbone of society’s values system and source of norms. It is the basis of behavior as well as individual views that determine a significant area of the social sphere like that of interaction. Plainly put this is a source of stability and consistency for any community. However, this is also a source of controversy and conflicts. In societies that are challenged with multiculturalism, emerging ethnic sectors and a recently recognized immigrant segment find this edifice of values problematic.
It must be noted that these beliefs, notions and norms have been instilled into the collective consciousness of society via social conditioning. The institutions and relationships in the community work to transmit, promote, ingrain and impose all of these in every individual and every corner of social life. However, social dynamism demands that there be a stretching, bending and perhaps partial abandonment of the same. This is more urgent in terms of accepting and living side by side with individuals who do not share the popular beliefs of the community. Those with different values and norms from the rest of society have a great deal of difficulty fitting in. Equally enough the community tries to accommodate these new individuals.
The reality of integration and in the long run the building of multicultural, multifaceted and diverse society is challenged and often hampered by the system of values pre – conditioned into the community. As norms and culture can be a source of ethical conduct, it is also the precursor of prejudice, racism and xenophobia. These are meant to exist to protect Changing Your Habits Steps To Better Health and integrity and stability of a culture. However, in a way it also hampers significantly social evolution, which is the basis of any social integration. These are, in fact, seen to be the foremost barriers to this type of social change. As such if any and all integration is to succeed it must be by means that circumvent if not negate this gap.
However, in a way integration is meant to overcome barriers such as those imposed through social conditioning. Social evolution and the creation of a multicultural society stems from the crisis of a society trying to hold on to establish values while changing to accommodate elements that are foreign to their belief system.
Integrating ethnic and immigrant communities into society does not transpire via simple absorption. The social forces always entail a measure of conflict. The dialectic of social change is pronged on the meeting of opposites and the clash resulting to synthesis. The Blacks in the United States, What Is Dental Insurance for example, became part of mainstream society not by being accepted at the onset but society evolving to accept them. This is the fundamental truth of integration – overcoming of barriers. These walls were erected by the social forces, and by the very same process are they overcome.