Social disruption

δSocial disruption is a term used in sociology to describe the alteration or breakdown of social life, often in a community setting. For example, the closing of a community grocery store might cause social disruption in a community by removing a “meeting ground” for community members to develop interpersonal relationships and community solidarity. The term is often associated with the effects of rapid population growth.

In punishment, social disruption occurs when the deliverer of punishment and the setting in which the punishment is delivered become conditioned aversive stimuli. More simply put, a person who delievers punishment can become something that is avoided by the subject of the punishment. For example, a lab rat may come to avoid an experimenter delievering shocks as punishment. The experimenter himself is not a punishing stimulus, but the rat learns to associate the actual punishment (the shocks) with the person delivering the shocks.

See also

For Sociology:

• Boomtown
• Gillette Syndrome
• Social problem

For Punishment:

• B.F. Skinner
• Operant Conditioning

References

W. David Pierce and Carl D. Cheney, Behavior Analysis and Learning 3rd ED