Social adaptation: concept, examples, types, goals, stages

What is social adaptation?

Social adaptation (“adaptatio” translated from Latin as “adjustment”) is a continuous process during which an individual or group of people integrates into society, adapts to a new social environment, its requirements and conditions.

The result of social adaptation is the development of individual self-awareness, the formation of behavioral patterns, and the ability to self-realize. During this process, a person is trained to create harmonious relationships with other people , nature, and society. Throughout an individual’s life, there is not just the development and acceptance of socially significant norms and attitudes, but also their transfer to other members of society.

A person’s ability to self-actualize , identify and unleash their creative potential will directly depend on how quickly and easily adaptation occurs This process involves the creation of completely new social connections. If they are strong enough, then the goals set will be achieved. But adaptation should be understood not only as communication and habituation; this process is much deeper. Adapting to new conditions, the individual will evaluate his abilities and correlate the opportunities to meet his needs with the resources of society.

Stages of adaptation in conditions of partial divergence of value systems

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The previous stage of J. Szczepanski is relevant only if there is a cardinal discrepancy between the orientation of the individual and the orientations of the new surrounding reality. If there are certain coincidences, then the following stages of social adaptation will be relevant:

1. Balancing – it is characterized by the least degree of involvement of the individual in the adaptation processes to the new social environment. More often than not, this stage is associated with recognizing a new situation. The newcomer gets acquainted with the new environment, takes a closer look at the team as a whole and each of its members in particular, establishes social contacts, and studies the specific features of the psychological atmosphere. This stage is completely built on the processes of establishing “equilibrium” between the individual and new conditions for him;
2. Pseudo-adaptation. The most striking feature of this stage is the combination of external adaptation to the new environment with a negative attitude towards it. The individual seems to pretend that he is satisfied with the new rules, new conditions and value system, but his inner world completely rejects them. However, in order to avoid some attacks from the outside, as well as discrimination, he has to live in this image;
3. Adaptation – this stage is based on recognition and further (primarily internal) acceptance of the basic value systems of the new situation. At this stage, mutual concessions are very important - both from the individual himself and from the host community or team. The individual finds the strength and desire to abandon some of his views and values, while still maintaining freedom of choice and decision;
4. Assimilation - a feature of this stage is that there is a reorientation of the individual, an absolute transformation of his values, the previous system of norms and rules of behavior, his worldview. All this happens due to the influence of the environment to which the individual needed to adapt and adapt.

Note 2

It is worth noting that these stages are individual for everyone, since someone needs to go through all the stages of social adaptation, while for others it will be enough to move from the first stage to the last (from balancing to assimilation) without additional stages.

Example of social adaptation

Social environment - family, team at work, neighbors at home and other social groups. Social adaptation is necessary so that the individual can become involved in the processes in the social environment. In addition, social adaptation is one of the important tools that changes both the individual and the environment itself.

To better understand what social adaptation is, we can consider an example when new employees come to an enterprise. In modern applied sociology and social psychology, such adaptation is studied most widely. This is explained by the fact that this problem is of practical importance, because the economic component of the company’s work depends on its effective solution .

Two complex systems (person and company) begin to interact. The successful adaptation of new company employees largely depends on the following factors: material and technical equipment, type and level of work organization, characteristics of relationships within the team, the level of corporate culture and remuneration. The company's requirements lie in these characteristics, at the same time they show advantages that distinguish the company from other participants in the labor market.

Concept and definition in psychology

Social perception - what is it in psychology

The psychological definition of adaptability is associated with the physiological and mental properties of the organism. In sociology, adaptation is a type of personal activity, the goal of which is to achieve comfortable well-being in society. A person achieves this state through analytical abilities, an adequate assessment of his skills and potential, and developed self-control skills.

A socially adapted person is a person who is able to make thoughtful decisions and anticipate the development of a particular situation.

Adapted person

A socially adapted person is one who successfully solves problems of interaction at 3 levels: physiological, psychological, social.

Psychologists believe that social adaptation is a process of a person’s life in society in which he feels good, does not experience discomfort with minor changes in circumstances, and his psyche does not malfunction when exposed to negative external factors.

Additional Information. Social adaptation cannot exist separately from socialization. These two processes are interdependent and complementary.

Levels of social adaptation

Characteristic for a person’s adaptation is the process of his socialization, the assimilation of social behavioral norms, and “growing into” the social world. In other words, social adaptation is the most important mechanism ensuring effective socialization.

Thus, if “socialization” should be understood as a gradual process during which, under certain social conditions, a personality is formed, then social adaptation is a relatively short time period when an individual actively masters a new social environment.

Consideration of social adaptation should be three-level:

1. society (macroenvironment) . The individual and social strata adapt to the peculiarities of the development of society (economic, social, political, cultural, spiritual);
2. social group (microenvironment) . A person adapts or, conversely, his interests do not coincide with the interests of a social group (family, team at work or study, etc.);
3. individual (adaptation within the individual) . A person’s desire for harmony, achieving a balance of internal position.

Adaptation of a person in a given society occurs when he enters into a system of relationships (with other people, social, business, professional). Social adaptation consists of different types of adaptation processes that form a system, namely: industrial, professional, everyday, leisure, political, economic, adaptation to forms of social consciousness.

Stages, mechanisms and methods of social adaptation

Stages of social adaptation:

1. Adaptation shock , which is understood as a general disorder of the functions of a social subject or system, due to some shock of a sociogenic nature caused by a sharp disruption of the usual interaction with the external environment. This is one of the most painful stages of social adaptation, and a period of paralyzing fear and inaction and, at the same time, a primary, emotional assessment and an attempt at the very first understanding of the essence of the changes taking place. It is at this stage of social adaptation that the subject first faces the need to master new elements of the social environment and learns their positive and negative sides.

The considered stage of social adaptation represents a rather serious danger for social subjects whose social, psychological and physical potential is insufficient to overcome the difficulties that arise. In some cases, adaptation shock can become the basis for the destruction of the human personality or even its physical death.

2. Mobilization of adaptation resources. Here, for subjects who managed to survive the stage of adaptation shock, a stage of deep understanding of the situation begins and concentration of efforts on a conscious search for a way out of it. This stage is associated with an active, conscious search, choice and development at the behavioral level of new models of life activity. In this case, the subject, based on the results of the initial development of the new social environment at the previous stage of social adaptation, gets the opportunity to choose and put into practice the most suitable way of behavior and activity, activating his own abilities and capabilities.

The present stage of social adaptation involves the activation of the subject's adaptive potential. Adaptive potential is understood as a set of properties and resources that a person or group has in a latent form and is activated and updated in the process of social adaptation. The elements of adaptation potential can be such characteristics of the subject as the level of education and qualifications, demographic and social status, socio-psychological characteristics, etc. It is the presence of the subject’s adaptive potential and its characteristic features that determine the subject’s ability to master the situation and become accustomed to it.

3. Response to the “environmental challenge”. This is the final stage of the process of social adaptation. Its content represents the implementation of a specific model of behavior and activity that is chosen by the subject taking into account his own adaptive resources and capabilities, ideas about what is happening, as well as the main characteristics of the social environment in which the process of social adaptation takes place.

At the same time, it is necessary to remember that the choice made by the subject does not necessarily have to meet the requirements of the environment. A subject may make a mistake in his choice, choosing a model of behavior and activity that corresponds to his own goals, aspirations and capabilities, but contradicts the objective laws and trends in the development of the situation in which the process of social adaptation takes place. This circumstance can subsequently lead a person to serious problems and difficulties. In such conditions, professional assistance from a specialist, including a social worker, becomes an important and necessary link in the process of social adaptation of the subject.

Basic mechanisms of social adaptation: voluntary and forced.

Let's consider the action of each of them.

Voluntary adaptation is a situation in which new living conditions offered to a subject by the environment do not contradict his system of value orientations, beliefs and ideals and opens up new prospects and opportunities for the subject and, therefore, is accepted without resistance, even if this requires making certain efforts . For example, the opportunity to make a good career or receive a high salary can be considered by a person as the basis and necessity for changing jobs and adapting to a new team, obtaining education, retraining, etc. Difficulties that inevitably arise during the development of a new environment and new living conditions are accepted by the subject as “difficulties of growth” that must be passed through in order to get what they want.

In conditions of voluntary adaptation, changes in the social environment to which the subject needs to adapt, firstly, do not prevent him from living and acting in a familiar, convenient and accessible way. Secondly, the values, principles and ideals that were previously characteristic of the subject change in the new conditions of life without much resistance or tension, since he himself believed or was convinced of the merits and advantages of the new, in comparison with the old. Thirdly, the requirements that are presented to the subject by the social environment are, to a certain extent, adjusted in such a way that they become understandable and accessible to him.

Forced adaptation , on the contrary, is a situation in which the characteristics and properties of a new living environment for a subject do not correspond to and contradict his value-normative attitudes. However, at the same time, the subject cannot but accept these characteristics. That is, in contrast to voluntary adaptation, forced adaptation rigidly forces a person to accept new living conditions. Without doing this, he will not only be unable to find a new social niche for himself and new opportunities for self-realization, but will also lose the existing ones. For example, in order to save the life of himself and his loved ones, the opportunity to work, study, etc., a person may agree to accept the most stringent demands of society or government, even those that contradict his inner beliefs.

Depending on the means used in the process of social adaptation, another group of mechanisms of this process is distinguished.

1. Mental mechanisms aimed at the formation and development of the subject’s psyche, the influence of various factors of the social environment on it and the adaptation of the individual’s mental makeup to the requirements of the environment. This group of social adaptation mechanisms includes the mechanisms of mental defense, mental trauma, mental and psychological suggestion, etc.

2. Socio-psychological mechanisms designed to adapt the individual to the environment through its mastery in various ways.

This group includes, firstly, cognitive mechanisms, i.e. adaptation to the environment through its exploration, study and cognition. These include the mechanisms of imagination, thinking, and cognitive activity. Secondly, these are emotional mechanisms that allow the subject to adapt to the environment through the emotional states that it causes. In this case, the emotional experiences of an individual in a new living environment become the basis for him making appropriate decisions regarding the most appropriate forms of behavior and activity for the environment. This group of social adaptation mechanisms includes fear, anxiety, anxiety, peace, etc. Thirdly, these are behavioral mechanisms, which represent the choice and implementation by a subject in a new situation for him of a certain model of behavior and activity.

3. Social mechanisms represent the most significant elements of such a group of phenomena. These include, first of all, the mechanism of social activity, which can be considered as a universal mechanism of social adaptation. It is in the process of social activity that the subject is actually included in a new system of social relations, norms and values. As part of social activity, the subject acquires new social statuses and roles that allow him to enter a new social environment.

Another mechanism from this group is the mechanism of social communication, which allows the subject, firstly, to improve his existing communication skills and acquire new ones, and secondly, to expand the social environment of his own life and learn new social norms and values.

The external form of manifestation of adaptation processes, which allows us to draw conclusions about how successfully they proceed in each specific case, is adaptation behavior, i.e. the process of interaction between the subject and the social environment, during which mutual requirements and expectations are agreed upon and certain mechanisms of social adaptation are implemented.

Forms of adaptive behavior:

· conformism or subordination of the subject to the environment , when he fully fulfills the new requirements placed on him;

· innovation or renewal by a subject of the environment , when the development of the environment is carried out by the subject through certain changes in its individual aspects, properties and characteristics;

· external decency or ritualism , in which the subject’s adaptation to the environment occurs through external adherence to the requirements placed on him; at the same time, the subject’s own internal motives and goals may not coincide with similar characteristics of his new social environment;

· “ withdrawal” of the subject from the environment , his self-isolation or retreat; this form of behavior is chosen by the subject, most often, when his own social and personal resources are insufficient to overcome the stage of adaptation shock or when the subject’s own goals and interests fundamentally do not coincide and cannot coincide with similar characteristics of the environment;

· transformation of the environment by the subject or rebellion , rebellion, when the subject seeks to completely transform the environment in accordance with his ideas about it.

Thus, in the process of social adaptation, the subject’s activity can be adaptive, when he himself strives to adapt to the environment (conformism, ritualism and retreatism) and adaptive, in which the subject strives to independently change the environment in accordance with his goals, objectives and needs. The most effective result of social adaptation can be achieved in the case of a combination of adaptive and adaptive aspects in the behavior of the subject.

Types of social adaptation:

1. Functional , which represents the subject’s adaptation to a new social environment through the development and performance of new social functions. For example, a child’s adaptation to school is possible, among other things, through his mastering the functional responsibilities of a student.

2. Organizational , associated with the development and adaptation of the subject to new organizational structures, to a new system of social or intragroup stratification. An example of such adaptation can be a person’s mastery of hierarchical relationships in a new team. For example, at work, military service.

3. Situational, which represents the external adaptation of the subject to new conditions of existence and life. This type of social adaptation can be observed when a subject begins to adapt to the environment by fulfilling some of its requirements, rules and norms.

When organizing work on social support for a person, group or organization faced with the need for social adaptation to new conditions of existence and life, it is necessary to take into account that this process presupposes the need for the subject to overcome quite serious barriers.

The main barriers to social adaptation in modern society include:

· socio-psychological (beliefs, principles, habits, stereotypes of behavior and activity inherent in the subject);

· social (representing negative characteristics of the social environment in which the adaptation process takes place);

· sociocultural (value-normative characteristics of the subject).

These and many other barriers to social adaptation sometimes require significant efforts to overcome, which are beyond the power of one person. That is why the activities of social workers and other specialists in working with people necessarily include work on organizing and implementing processes of social adaptation of various groups of the population and each individual, regardless of the degree of his social well-being.

Types of social adaptation

Social adaptation can be of several types, for the classification of which certain characteristics are used. These include:

• Managerial (organizational)
  . If there is no management, a person will not receive favorable conditions, the prerequisites will not be created for his social role to develop, to influence him, to ensure activities that meet the interests of the individual and society.
• Economic
  . This process is characterized by high complexity. During it, individuals and subjects learn new socio-economic norms and principles of economic relations. Here, the “social block” is of particular importance, which includes the process of adaptation to the social reality of the size of unemployment benefits, the level of wages, and pensions that exist in reality. It is important that they meet both the physiological needs of a person and the socio-cultural ones. Full social adaptation of a person is impossible if he lives in poverty and can barely make ends meet.
• Pedagogical
  . Adaptation of an individual to education, training, upbringing, as a result of which a system of his values ​​is formed. For teachers today, the problem of maladjustment of individuals in childhood and adolescence is especially relevant.
• Psychological
  . From a psychological point of view, the adaptation process involves adapting the senses to the stimuli that affect them, so that the receptors are better protected from unnecessary stress. Psychological adaptation is a continuous process in which an individual lives, because there are constant changes in socio-economic living conditions, political and moral orientations, ecology and other factors.
• Professional
  . During professional adaptation, an individual adapts to a new activity, a new environment, working conditions, and the characteristics of the profession. Success is determined by a person’s inclination towards a specific professional activity, the coincidence of personal and social motivations for work, etc.

Goals and objectives of social adaptation

Social adaptation is an important component of the socialization process. Socialization provides learning, and the goal of adaptation is to find relevant ways for self-realization, change acquired knowledge, and acquire new knowledge that suits a specific environment.

Social adaptation implies the subject’s ability to effectively form interaction with the group where his life and development will take place. Throughout his life, an individual will be in different social groups , different situations will occur, and meetings with different people will take place. Thanks to social adaptation, a person will quickly and successfully navigate new conditions and will be able to build relationships with other individuals within a specific social group. The main motive of the individual is the desire to self-actualize, and not to adapt to new conditions.

To achieve this you need:

• accept changes in your usual way of life, form new attitudes for personal development;
• actively establish communications with participants in the professional and social environment;
• apply the conditions of society in order to develop one’s personality and self-realization;
• increase the level of resistance to stressful situations;
• establish adequate relationships with other individuals;
• accept and comply with the norms and values ​​of the environment;
• achieve your goals and satisfy your needs without harming others.

Stages of social adaptation

The process of social adaptation is characterized by a constant flow and high dynamics. Throughout life a person is in this process. Researchers have identified the main stages of the adaptation process of individuals of childhood and adolescence:

• from birth to 1 year – the child’s complete dependence on adults with whom there is constant interaction;
• 1-3 years – copying of family members begins, the use of means of manipulation;
• 3-6 years - the first exit outside the family society, discovery and study of new roles, the relationship between oneself and other family members, conscious copying;
• 6-10 years - the beginning of school life, adaptation to new conditions and people, active intellectual progress, manifestation of individual personal qualities;
• 10-11 – 14-15 years old – active establishment of communication and interaction with peers, self-awareness is formed, the search for individuality, the manifestation of feelings for the opposite sex.

If upbringing is incorrect, the consequences in the future may be negative. Childhood and adolescence are the period when an individual acquires the skills he needs to develop his personality and successfully adapt to society.

Stages of social development

Throughout his life, a person is in contact with society, taking into account existing rules.

Based on how adequately a person perceives the surrounding reality, experts assess the success of adaptation and distinguish three stages of social development:

• familiarization;
• orientation;
• self-affirmation.

Positive adaptation and successful interaction with the environment allows strong individuals to subsequently influence society. And even change the existing system. A person transforms the external conditions of life, creating a favorable environment for his existence.

Criteria for successful social adaptation:

• objective: educational success, career achievements, social status;
• subjective: creativity, desire for personal growth, adequate self-esteem.

Biological factors are becoming less and less significant in social adaptation. Thanks to modern science, people with disabilities are successfully adapting. Devices for correcting biological functions of the body help them actively participate in public life.

How social adaptation occurs: main stages

Polish sociologist J. Szczepanski identified the following stages of the adaptation process:

1. Mastering the norms and rules of behavior in society, but the values ​​and traditions established in society are not yet accepted by the individual. This is explained by the fact that he is not sufficiently familiar with the new environment, its orders, and also by the fact that the individual consciously does not accept and denies its values.
2. Tolerance stage . At this time, recognition of the equivalence of each other by the individual and the environment occurs.
3. The individual's entry into a new environment. He begins to adapt to her, which is expressed in mutual concessions. Not only does the individual recognize the values ​​of the society that accepts him, but society itself accepts the values ​​and attitudes of the individual.
4. The individual fully adapts to the conditions and requirements of the new environment or assimilation occurs. The behavior patterns and habitual way of life of the individual consciously change, he accepts new attitudes that operate in society.