What is social technology? The simplest answer: a set of techniques that allow you to influence a specific situation or the social system as a whole. Speaking in detail, the concept includes a whole structure of communicative methods that are used to control society or their own environment. Social technologies allow you to shape the right reality, manage others in your interests. Studying their science, which is called "management consulting."
Depending on the sphere in which these technologies are applied, they differ by:
- Actually social. Such technologies have developed historically. They are most easily explained using proverbs. “You can’t catch a fish from a pond without labor.” "Who does not work shall not eat". These social technologies involve caring for the vulnerable, the formation of social justice.
- Economic. They mean the correct distribution of labor based on an assessment of the abilities and capabilities of each employee, the distribution of managerial responsibilities for the intellectual optimization of labor.
- Managerial. This includes methods for creating leadership strategies, increasing collective responsibility, and developing effective management systems.
- Political. The guarantees of the correctness and optimality of political decisions affecting the life of society depend on them.
- Social technologies of the spiritual sphere. They determine the prerequisites for solving social problems, take into account trends affecting cultural life.
Today, our state is developing social work technologies related to improving the lives of families, vulnerable groups (pensioners, disabled people, children). Technologies for predicting social development, adaptation, socio-medical, pedagogical and others are being developed and implemented.
Especially important all representatives of the scientific community consider the technology of social work with the family, because it is in this unit of society that people spend most of their lives. And it is the family that first of all forms the personality, needs, behavior and aspiration of a person.
Such technologies are developed specifically for different categories. In particular, social technologies for working with the following families are highlighted:
- being in a socially dangerous situation;
- large families;
- incomplete;
- having a disabled child, etc.
Particular attention is paid to the protection of children who experience sexual, physical or moral abuse.
If you try to classify the types of social technologies, you will have to select several criteria.
So, according to the degree of fame, they are divided into classic (traditional) and innovative, i.e. designed with modern ideas and capabilities in mind.
Technologies can cover a specific region or the whole country, so they can be divided into global, aimed at solving universal human problems, and regional, taking into account the peculiarities of the region.
Some sociologists offer this classification of technologies:
- related to legal support of the life of society;
- determining administrative and power regulation;
- Information Support;
- related to spiritual and cultural development;
- providing stable social functioning.
In addition to the above, the concept of "social technology" can be considered as a direction of professional activity. In this case, it is advisable to highlight a number of actions aimed at anticipating and eliminating negative social processes. These include certain methods of exposure:
- administrative;
- managerial;
- economic;
- pedagogical;
- legal;
- psychological.
These methods relate to the tools of social psychology. They help to achieve your goals.
