LESSON 7 Handouts:

SOCIAL AWARENESS TOWARDS

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

SOCIAL AWARENESS
It is the state of being informed of the opinions, events and institutions that
affect the person, his family and the society at large.

ELEMENTS OF SOCIAL AWARENESS

1. Opinions refer to the different concepts and principles of how the

individual, the family, and the society should be.

2. Events these are the phenomena, natural or manmade, that affect the
society.
Examples: typhoon, earthquake, revolution and election

3. Institutions promote particular actions in a society through regularized and

prearranged views and actions. (Palispis, 1996)
Examples: government and its agencies, church, school etc.

There are ways how a person reaches the level of awareness on certain topic
of social significance. This depends on the channel how the person obtains such
awareness.

LEVELS OF SOCIAL AWARENESS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_consciousness#Theory)

1. Acquired derives a persons viewpoint from the mainstream culture. This

individual avoids identifying himself or herself with a marginalized culture.

2. Awakened a person explores alternatives to the dominant cultural

viewpoint. This person might identify with a marginalized group, but the
mainstream culture is central to his or her questioning or exploration.

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3. Expanded a person strongly identifies with their marginalized group. This
person views status as a continuously changing social construct, thus viewing
responses as a lifelong process. This individual has an understanding of the
complexity of the social hierarchy, and acts carefully after weighing both
sides.

It is not enough that a person is aware of something of social significance;

there are areas wherein awareness and engagement will bring positive result to
the society.

AREAS OF SOCIAL AWARENESS

1. Political
An opinion, event or institution is political when it involves national or local
government leadership and how this leadership affects the society.

Political Concepts

a. Patriotism means love of country.

Examples: paying exact tax or following simple traffic laws.

b. Nationalism is a strong conviction that the country should be for its citizen
and not for aliens.
Example: Nationalist politics means policy making in government
should be free from foreign control.

2. Economic
Involves countrys resources and how these resources should be
distributed.
Example: Nationalist Economy the control of the economy must
be on the hands of Filipinos, especially the key industries like steel, petro-
chemical, cement, power etc.

3. Socio-cultural
This refers to the standards how we should live together as community.
These are the values that inculcated to our children in schools.
Example: Values on citizenship, concern for others, respect for law
and order, obedience to moral and legal authorities

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Why should we be aware of these Areas?
Aside from material reasons behind our participation in social issues
discussions, there are other important reasons why we should spend our
precious time knowing things of social importance.

1. Religious or Spiritual Duty

Gomez (1998) explains that an action for justice and solidarity is part of
the social teachings of the church.
Another important part of the teachings of the Catholic Church is
the timeless ideas of St. Thomas Aquinas. He emphasizes the
importance of justice in every persons social relations.

JUSTICE giving everyone his due.

Forms of Justice according to Tersigni (2004)

a. Personal it involves the rights of an individual

b. Social it involves social structures such as laws, customs,
institutions and policies that form our society. (Highest form of justice)
Those who are less favored in life should be favored in law

2. Democratic Right and Responsibility

For Sodaro (2004) democracy has four aspects. Two of these
aspects are democracy as rights and liberties and democracy as popular
sovereignty.

2.1 Democracy as rights and liberties

This refers to concept of democracy as composed of peoples rights
and liberties. People within a democratic society should have the basic
rights and freedoms before can be called as democratic.

2.2 Democracy as popular sovereignty

On this aspect, government authority should come from the people.
One way is through election.
The concept of popular sovereignty for Sodaro (2004) does not end in
elections. Elected officials must be accountable to the people even while serving
their mandate.

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 3. SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

A doctrine claims that an entity whether it is state, government,

corporation, organization or individual has a responsibility to the society. It
also means that the role and responsibility of their members and citizens
to help improve society by taking a proactive stance in their societal role.

This is one of the reasons as well as the purpose of social

awareness. The main aim of social awareness is to develop a socially
responsible individual which is a very important key for a harmonious
community.

Response of each unit in Social Responsibility

Government its responsibility is to create a law that will benefit the

whole nation
Example: RA 9003 Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of
2000

Corporation its duty is not only following the laws but creation of
opportunities for the people.
Example: Lamoiyan Corporation, maker of Hapee Toothpaste,
about 30 percent of the employees is hearing-impaired

Organization its role is to support government and individuals in dealing

with social responsibility.
Example: Eco-Waste Coalition, one of their tasks is to oppose the
creation of landfills.

Individuals everyones duty is to be a law abiding citizen

Example: joining in an environmental activity like NSTP-CWTS tree
planting.

To be socially aware, you need to:

Read the political and social currents in an environment

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 Be a good listener in order to understand the feelings and
perspectives of others
Be tolerant and cultivate opportunities with diverse people

A S S I GNM ENT

Direction: Answer the following questions.

What are the social problems of our country nowadays? Give at

least two (2) examples in the following aspects: Social, Political,
Cultural and Economic?

Briefly and concisely, make a reflection paper about your

answer in number 1.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/socialresponsibility
http://www.pattencoaching.com/tag/social-awareness/