SOCIAL TENSION AND ITS CAUSES :

Society Cannot exist unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere, and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without.

--Edmund Burk

Social tensions usually result from the conscious pursuit of exclusive values by individuals and/or social groups. The individual members and groups always widen or narrow their claims on society for life, liberty of movement,
property and other desirable things by competing against one another. Competitors become self-conscious rivals, opponents or even enemies. The relative position of an individual in relation to the current value in a society is controlled by influences of which he is mostly unaware. On the other hand, everyone believes in some measures that his personality and life can and should be protected from the encroachment by others and that it can be enhanced at the expense of others.

Our society is feudalistic and capitalistic. It is greatly stratified into classes, castes and religious, provincial, rural and encloses groups. In such a vastly stratified society, social tension is quite common.

Causes of Societal Tension

A single factor cannot create social tensions. Many factors together could

 bring the society under stress and strain. Today whole world wants to make economic progress through industrialization with the judicious use of modern technology and science. This has created deep cooled social tensions all over the world.

The main causes of social tensions are given hereunder.

Urbanization

Urbanization is a population shift from rural to urban areas, "the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas", and the ways in which each society adapts to the change. It is predominantly the process by which towns and cities are formed and become larger as more people begin living and working in central areas. The United Nations projected that half of the world's population would live in urban areas at the end of 2008. It is predicted that by 2050 about 64% of the developing world and 86% of the developed world will be urbanized. That is equivalent to approximately 3 billion urbanites by 2050, much of which will occur in Africa and Asia. Notably, the United Nations has also recently projected that nearly all global population growth from 2016 to 2030 will be absorbed by cities, about 1.1 billion new urbanites over the next 14 years.

Unemployment

Unemployment occurs when people who are without work are actively seeking work. The unemployment rate is a measure of the prevalence of unemployment and it is calculated as a percentage by dividing the number of unemployed individuals by all individuals currently in the labour force. During periods of recession, an economy usually experiences a relatively high unemployment rate.

According to International Labour Organization report, more than 200 million people globally or 6% of the world's workforce were without a job in 2012. There remains considerable theoretical debate regarding the causes, consequences and solutions for unemployment. Classical economics, New classical economics, and the Austrian School of economics argue that market mechanisms are reliable means of resolving unemployment. These theories argue against interventions imposed on the labour market from the outside, such as unionisation, bureaucratic work rules, minimum wage laws, taxes, and other regulations that they claim discourage the hiring of workers.

Social stratification

Every society is divided into various groups and these groups enjoy different social statuses and privileges.

This division of society is called social stratification. The term social stratification refers to the division of a population into strata, one on the top of another, on the basis of possession of certain characteristics, like inborn qualities, material possessions and performances. It involves the distribution of unequal rights and privileges among the members of society. According to Melvin M. Tumin, social stratification refers to “arrangement of any social group or society into hierarchy of positions that unequal with regard to power, property, social evaluation, and / or psychic gratification.

Social stratification is universal. All societies exhibit some system of hierarchy whereby its members are placed in positions that are higher or lower, superior or inferior, in relation to each other. The quote Sorokin, “Unstratified society, with a real equality of its members, is a myth which has never been realized in the history of mankind”. Hence, the stratification system is a worldwide phenomenon.

Social Stratification in our society, commenced with the Chatur-varna system. Its origin remains unknown. It, however, gained prominence towards the end of the Rigvedic age. A person could be a Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaish, or Sudra. To be of one or the other order depended on one’s choosing the varna. Apparently, Varna divided the society; but it did not block the chances of social mobility. The caste in contrast is acquired on the basis of birth. The advanced industrial societies of the west are characterized by the “open class” system.

The social structure of India, on the other hand, is dominated by the “closed class”, that is, the caste system. Any careful observer will find two types of class hierarchy in the Indian social scene; the ‘traditional caste hierarchy’ which is articulated in religious terms and the ‘modern hierarchy’ ‘which is emergent

Political Corruption

It’s natural to think of elections when we think of political corruption. People or organizations with their own agendas can skew voting. They may secretly give parties big donations. Or parties and candidates can buy votes instead of winning them.

But political corruption isn’t just about election rigging. It can lead politicians in office to steer away from good government. Their decisions can benefit those who fund them. The public interest comes second. Political corruption can divert scarce resources from poor and disadvantaged people. This is especially common in countries where democratic institutions are weak or absent. Private rather than public interests dictate policy.

Crime

In ordinary language, the term crime denotes an unlawful act punishable by a state. The term "crime" does not, in modern criminal law, have any simple and universally accepted definition, though statutory definitions have been provided for certain purposes. The most popular view is that crime is a category created by law; in other words, something is a crime if declared as such by the relevant and applicable law. One proposed definition is that a crime or offence (or criminal offence) is an act harmful not only to some individual or individuals but also to a community, society or the state ("a public wrong"). Such acts are forbidden and punishable by law.

The notion that acts such as murder, rape and theft are to be prohibited exists worldwide. What precisely is a criminal offence is defined by criminal law of each country. While many have a catalogue of crimes called the criminal code, in some common law countries no such comprehensive statute exists.

The state (government) has the power to severely restrict one's liberty for committing a crime. In modern societies, there are procedures to which investigations and trials must adhere. If found guilty, an offender may be sentenced to a form of reparation such as a community sentence, or, depending on the nature of their offence, to undergo imprisonment, life imprisonment or, in some jurisdictions, execution.

Pollution

Factories and industries are being set up fast resulting in smoke and dust all over. This creates water, air and soil pollution so much that it threatens the existence of human life on earth.

 There can be no specific reason, which create social problem. However, industrialization; immobility; weak social institutions and controls cause great social tensions all over the society.