Chicago School: Social Change

Abstract

The Chicago School of sociologists theorized social change primarily through a set of theories referred to as the “organism metaphor.” Organism metaphors of society have characterized society as a whole functioning together as a single organism, or have characterized societies as composed of a number of organisms functioning in an ecological system. Chicago School sociologists interpreted the organism metaphor as less functional and more conflict oriented. Their attention to the unequal distribution of social ills across cityscapes shifted away from a naturalistic, scientific, and cohesive view of social organisms toward a medical, interventionist, and struggling view of social organisms. The focus on eradication of social pathologies added a distinctly US style of sociology that viewed social life as in need of amelioration.