Social geometry is a theoretical strategy of
sociological
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
explanation
An explanation is a set of statements usually constructed to describe a set of facts which clarifies the causes, context, and consequences of those facts. It may establish rules or laws, and may clarify the existing rules or laws in relat ...
, invented by sociologist
Donald Black, which uses a multi-dimensional model to explain variations in the behavior of social life. In Black's own use and application of the idea, social geometry is an instance of
Pure Sociology.
Variables
While social geometry might entail other elements as well (or instead), Black's own explanation of the model includes five variable aspects: horizontal/morphological (the extent and frequency of interaction among participants), vertical (the unequal distribution of resources), corporate (the degree of organization, or of integration of individuals into organizations), cultural (the amount and frequency of symbolic expressions), and
normative
Normative generally means relating to an evaluative standard. Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good, desirable, or permissible, and others as bad, undesirable, or impermissible. A norm in ...
(the extent of previously being the target of
social control). Black refers to this multi-dimensional amalgam as "
social space".
Precursors
Each element of Black's model is arguably an extension of part of something earlier in
sociology
Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation and ...
. For example, vertical space is reminiscent of
Marxist concerns, morphological of
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim ( or ; 15 April 1858 – 15 November 1917) was a French sociologist. Durkheim formally established the academic discipline of sociology and is commonly cited as one of the principal architects of modern social science, al ...
, and cultural perhaps of
Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu (; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influence ...
. However, several aspects of Black's approach differ from those previous theorists.
First, they emphasized a largely unidimensional model: Marx, for example, emphasized solely economic status (and derivatives of it, from base to superstructure) while Durkheim and
Weber de-emphasized economic differentiation.
Second, by including multiple dimensions, Black's model allows for consideration of each variable while holding others constant. That is, the theoretical propositions hold under a condition of ''
ceteris paribus
' (also spelled '; () is a Latin phrase, meaning "other things equal"; some other English translations of the phrase are "all other things being equal", "other things held constant", "all else unchanged", and "all else being equal". A statement ...
'', a probabilistic approach characteristic of science generally and contrary to the general
cleavage of sociology between purported
determinists and those who are anti-scientific. (Later versions of Black's work, such as "The Elementary Forms of Social Control", utilize multiple dimensions in a different way - as ''simultaneous'' dimensions, to generate a typology of social settings and conflict management patterns.)
Further, the inclusion of these variables within the same model allows for the possibility of both interaction effects between variables as well as correlation between them, with any one variable being used to explain any other. Black himself uses each of the dimensions to explain variation in normative behavior, but relational or cultural behavior might also be jointly accountable by the other dimensions.
Most significantly, Black's Social Geometry entails an
epistemological
Epistemology (; ), or the theory of knowledge, is the branch of philosophy concerned with knowledge. Epistemology is considered a major subfield of philosophy, along with other major subfields such as ethics, logic, and metaphysics.
Episte ...
departure from reliance on
individualistic explanations,
teleology
Teleology (from and )Partridge, Eric. 1977''Origins: A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English'' London: Routledge, p. 4187. or finalityDubray, Charles. 2020 912Teleology" In ''The Catholic Encyclopedia'' 14. New York: Robert Appleton ...
, and even individuals as such. That is, it is an instance of
pure sociology, and thus uses a different logic and language than any precursors from whose work Black's ideas may said to be extended or derived.
Measurements
The model allows for several different kinds of measurement along these dimensions. First, location: For example, any case (individual, group, etc.) can be located in vertical space by their wealth. Second, distance: For example, any two cases (individuals, organizations, etc.) can be measured according to their relative wealth. Third, direction: Law, for example, is more likely in a downward direction (from a wealthier case to a less wealthy one) than upward (the reverse).
Black also cites examples – particularly in ''The Behavior of Law'' (1976) – which indicate ''movement'' through social space, such as a society becoming more stratified, or the status (and collective liability) of an ethnic group changing over time.
References
* 1976. ''The Behavior of Law''.
* 1998. ''The Social Structure of Right and Wrong''. (Revised Edition, original edition 1993) {extends the model to address variable aspects of additional empirical matters}
Methods in sociology