ABSTRACT
The structure and culture of human society are constantly in flux. Usually the changes have some kind of internal order, even though they are so complex that valid prediction, based on scientific knowledge, of the course of any given change is only partially possible. The internal order, in the sense that one stage flows out the preceding stage and leads more or less inevitably to the succeeding stage, justifies the name of “process” To open this section on social processes, Professor Ernest W. Burgess delineates the nature of the basic social processes.
Some social conditions and processes are out of harmony with certain social values, and when these affect a sizable number in the population in substantially the same way, they may be called “social problems.” The development of a social problem and the course of its solution, if any, is itself a social process. Professor Burgess’ article thus sets the stage for the consideration of human behavior as social process and social problem.
