BY: Seth Heath

03/25/02

Social Fact or Social Fiction?

Emile Durkheim was the first professor of Sociology in France where he presented several innovative ideas concerning sociology one of which is the concept of “social fact”. He developed and discussed the concept of social facts in a work called The Rules of Sociological Method (1895). An excerpt of this book is found in Readings in Social Theory (2000) by James Farganis.

Durkheim said “A social fact is every way of acting, fixed or not, capable of exercising on the individual an external constraint; or again, every way of acting which is general throughout a given society, while at the same time existing in its own right independent of its individual manifestation.”(Farganis, 68) To Durkheim there are certain types of social behavior that are “not to be confused with biological phenomena, since they consist of representations and of actions; nor with psychological phenomena, which exist only in the individual consciousness and through it.”(Farganis, 64) Durkheim explained that social facts make themselves known only when the individual attempts to resist them. Durkheim states “in abandoning myself to them (social facts) unreservedly, I do not feel the pressure they exert upon me.”(Farganis, 64) What method does Durkheim propose we learn these mores and folkways of society?

The process, by which social facts are learned, since they are not innate in humans, is via education. Durkheim asserts that “the aim of education is, precisely, the socialization of the human being” and that “parents and teachers are merely the representatives and intermediaries”(Farganis, 65) of society. He illustrates this with the example of a child by saying “from the very first hours of his life, we compel him to eat, drink, and sleep at regular hours… in time the constraints cease to be felt, it is because it gradually gives rise to habits and to internal tendencies (internalization) that render constraint unnecessary.”(Farganis, 65) Having demonstrated the existence of social facts Durkheim sets out a method for measuring them.

In order to measure social facts, Durkheim says, we must first rid ourselves of any preconceived notions, find a demonstrable and quantitative social fact to measure and treat as it independent of society. An example provided by Durkheim is that of marriage, I will avoid his more popular measure, suicide. He says that one can measure the rate of marriage in a given age group to demonstrate the existence of social facts. Durkheim claims that when the longitudinal rates among these age groups are analyzed social fatcs become apparent. The social fact in this case would be the varying marriage rates thus suggesting that societal pressures cause higher/lower marriage rates across time and place. Now that we have seen how to find the existence of a social fact what is a good example of a social fact in modern society?

In order to successfully illustrate the existence of social facts and present a feasible situation I will further examine a topic Durkheim presented on page 67 of the Farganis book, fashion. Fashion and standards of dress are easily measurable and suitably objective to serve our purpose here. Durkheim calls the style of clothing we wear “obligatory” on page 67 and I agree with him. Can you imagine what people would say if I, an American male age 28, showed up to class wearing a mini-skirt and a halter top? Now I am not saying that I would become a transvestite, so I wouldn’t succumb to the social norm of women shaving their legs and arm-pits, I would wear my mini-skirt and halter top every day, hairy legs, bushy pits and all. I imagine that the reaction I would receive from the average student would be a rather shocked one. I think that first they would hypothesize I was fulfilling some kind of dare or bet, but what if I was serious and decided that I like mini-skirts better than shorts. I doubt that I would be able to carry on a conversation with a fellow student w/o my attire becoming a topic, supposing anyone would carry on a conversation with me in the first place. Now lets envision the opposite. What would be the reception I would receive if the mores of society permitted men to wear mini-skirts and halter-tops? I imagine there would be no difference from the reception I get now.

The reason I presented this extreme example is to prove a point. It is not innate in humans to be “freaked out” by men wearing mini-skirts and halter-tops. Acceptable standards of dress and fashion are established by society. When I dress my society expects a man to dress I encounter no external coercion. Like Durkheim says “I do not feel the pressure they exert upon me. But it is revealed as soon as I resist them.”(Farganis, 64) These social facts, these standards of normality forced upon us since birth and eventually internalized says Durkheim, “they come to each one of us from without and can carry us away in spite of ourselves.”(Farganis, 64)