Assuming the Roles of Social Advocate

A social movement is defined as an informal type of group action that is large and groups the organizations and individuals who want to focus on particular social or political issues. The social movements carry out, go against, or undo a specific social change that has happened in a given society (Della Porta & Mattoni, 2015). Therefore, the significant reasons why the social movements exist lie among the facilitation, refusal, and the undoing of a change that takes place in a given community. Additionally, the social movements strengthen the individuals or organizations making their voices to be heard more than if they would exist separately. Various types of social movements exist. The multiple categories of the social movements are based on the kind of change expected, the methods used to facilitate change, the targeted individuals, the scope of change and the range of change in the given community. The first social movement is the redemptive social movement (Mayer & Roberta, 2017). The redemptive type of social movement is usually radical in scope and is focused on an individual. The second type of social movement is the alternative social movements, which focus on the specific individuals but advocate for a limited amount of change unlike the redemptive social movements (Mayer & Roberta, 2017). The other type of social movements is the reformative social movements that focus on a large group of people and enhances limited change in the group. The last variety of social movements is the revolutionary social movements (Mayer & Roberta, 2017). Eponymous to the world revolution, the revolutionary social movements have their scope on large groups of people and effecting radical changes in them and how they interact with one another within the society. The movements may foster types of changes such as the conservative and innovative changes. The innovative changes involve the movement attempting to introduce new norms in the society or lead to a change in the current ones. On the other hand, the social movements enhancing conservative transition centrally, focus on the preservation of the existing norms in the individuals and organizations. 

From their definition, sociological theories are the approaches and statements that describe the relationship between the facts with the specific explanations of how and why they are connected. The major sociological theories are the conflict theory the structural functionalism model, and the symbolic interactionist approach. To explore the social movements and how they relate facts in the social world, the structural functionalism theory will be the most appropriate. The structural functionalism model views the society as a complex system, which is made up of interconnected, parts which work together to promote the stability and solidarity in the community (Parsons, 2017). The structural functionalism approach looks at the society from a macro-level perspective, which focuses on the broader focus on the social structures responsible for shaping a society as a whole. The structural functionalism theory thus holds that the social movements in the society are as a result of the social structure and functions, which are different among the individuals and organizations that work together to achieve some solidarity (Parsons, 2017). 

It is essential to note that social movements are goal oriented and mostly the individuals or organizations planning such a movement develop and maintain a common goal (Parsons, 2017). To facilitate the social transition in the society, the social movements create or innovate change to address a social problem observed in the community. The social movements are also known to vocally challenge particular emergent issue affecting individuals and the entire society in a resistant manner. Lastly, the social movements assume the responsibility of social change in the community by providing a political voice to the disadvantaged groups in society. The roles of social advocates are quite similar to those of the social movements in the creation, resistance, and support for change (Parsons, 2017). Most notably, the social advocates create and support legislative measures that enhance the change in society and especially when the transition is expected to have a positive effect on the community in question. 

Six Steps of Social Movement Success 

The social movements can address a social issue in the society such as the discrimination against the African American students in the college across the United States of America. The issue of racial discrimination in the colleges across the US becomes a social issue due to the encompassment of the society in observing the cases of discrimination, and the effects of the discrimination such as the open violence among the black students, which becomes an issue affecting the community at large. The social changes desired in the past to eliminate the problem of racial discrimination in the past have involved both violent and non-violent methods of settling the issue in the country. However, the violent means have attracted other repercussions to the black community such as the death of the activists and the increase of police brutality targeting the African American community in the US. The following steps can be used to enhance social movement success to solve the issue of racial discrimination in American societies. 

Information Gathering 

The first fundamental step towards making a social movement success is to be informed. The individuals or organizations taking part in the social movement to advocate for a social change have to perform proper and adequate research to comprehend and articulate a social problem facing an institution, person, or a community (Van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2017). A variety of data collection procedures ranging from qualitative ones to quantitative ones exist that the researchers can bank on to comprehend and be in a favorable position to gather the information regarding a social problem faced by part of or the whole society. Quantitatively, the researchers on the social issues in the community can select from questionnaires, surveys and the review of the existing data regarding the social problem from past research. On the other hand, the qualitative methods of data research that the scholars can apply to unearth a social problem are interviewing, focus groups, and the case study approach that closely resembles the review of the existing literature and data regarding the social issues and the changes addressing them. The gathering of information is not centrally focused on the side of the victim. The research may span the perspective of the perpetrator of a social injustice using the abovementioned data collection procedures to collect data regarding aspects such as the reasons for the occurrence of the social problem and the changes that they think could be the most suitable to the issue. 

Education 

After the gathering of the relevant information regarding a social disorder from the perspectives of both the perpetrators and the victims, the next important step is to educate the parties involved. The researchers and the advocates of social change have to inform even the parties in opposition to their intention to facilitate social change to address the disorder that has taken place in society. The education has to be clear and has to include the issue of concern among social advocates and their allies (Van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2017). The significant benefit of educating the partners involved regarding a social problem is that there is a considerable reduction of the misunderstandings that may take place in case the social advocates begin their work of advocacy for a social rectification without the prior knowledge of the parties. Furthermore, it is advisable for the social advocates to educate their parties regarding the social movement to bring about the desired change so that they can receive the maximum support that would strengthen the said movements to solve a social problem observed in the society finally. Necessary education to parties such as the police in the case of a demonstration to advocate a social change may ensure that they are adequately prepared for the same. This would ensure peace, little or no destruction of property and the avoidance of disruption of activities such as in a city where not all the residents are involved in the mass demonstration. 

Personal Commitment 

After educating the parties to be affected by the social movement and the social change in a community, the next step is to provide a personal commitment for the advocacy of the success of a social movement. Logically, the more committed the social advocates are to their work, the higher the chances of instituting the social change that is desired in the community. Personal commitment is enhanced by the adequate knowledge of the intent of a social movement among its participants and their informed consent upon the declaration of their desire to be part of the movements advocating for social change (Van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2017). Sufficient communication via direct and open lines is essential to the boosting of the commitment of the individuals involved in a given social movement to effect a particular social change in society. The social advocates have to play the effective role of eliminating the hidden motives among the members of a social movement in the planning process to foster the commitment of the participants. The presence of hidden motives and especially among the leaders of the social movements may have negative implications on the cultivation of the high levels of commitment among the members of the social movement and not to mention the dying loyalty among the participants once the hidden motives are realized. If suffering is involved in obtaining social justice, the leaders and the members of the social movement are supposed to be aware and willing to undergo it without the use of coercion or force. 

Discussion/ Negotiation 

After the personal commitment among the leaders and the members is enhanced within the social movement, a successful movement will then head to the discussion or negotiation step. The work of the social advocates in this phase of the movement becomes rather involving as they plan the best strategy to face the opponent parties and negotiate the social issue and how it is affecting the individuals or the society with the hopes of eventually solving the menace. The social advocates have to apply their skills of grace, intelligence, and wisdom in this stage to confront the other party presumably in the wrong (Van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2017). The social advocates also have to carefully and strategically make use of humor as they go through the list of injustices reported to have been perpetrated by the other party. In the negotiation stage, social advocates also have to ensure that they have a sound plan of addressing and resolving the injustices in question. The social advocates are also supposed to be keen on the positive statements of the opponent rather than focusing entirely on the social evil they have done. The major goal of the social advocates in the negotiation stage of the social movement success is to present the facts that justify the wrong done by the other party. Nonetheless, the confronting party should avoid seeking to humiliate the other party in an attempt to revenge on the harm done as such an angle of discussion may lead to more arguments and social injustices. 

Direct Action 

More often than not, the confronted party is usually not willing to enter into and remain in the discussion or negotiation planned by the confronting party. The step is also critical in facilitating the success of the social movements in an event where the other party is not willing to oblige to non-violent movements targeting social change. The significant advantage of the direct action is that it creates a creative tension into the conflict, which aims at attracting the opponent to a discussion or negotiation with the confronting party (Van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2017). The creative tension also supplies moral pressure to the opposition party to make them want to work with the confronting party towards the resolution of the social conflict and the restoration of social order in a given community. In facilitating the efficiency of the direct action, the social advocates may make use of their political or economic powers and especially if the opponent does not have sufficient prowess on either aspect. The direct-action step involves both violent and non-violent activities. Violent direct action may include political assaults and destruction of property while on the contrary, the non-violent direct action may include go-slows at work, strikes, and the occupation of a particular workplace and the blockade of various sections of streets in major cities. 

Reconciliation 

Whether the conflicting parties settle the social injustices at the negotiation or the direct-action step, they may opt to make use of the reconciliation step as the last phase in the nonviolent settling of the conflicts addressing social injustices. Mostly, the reconciliation between the conflicting parties ends up with the establishment of friendship among them, which promotes social change, reduces the likelihood of the repetition of the social issue, and restores the social order in the most amicable manner (Van Stekelenburg & Klandermans, 2017). The social advocates whose intentions of settling the social dispute does not revolve around the desire to win the argument or humiliate the opponent party mostly prefer the step of reconciliation. Strategically, social advocates may employ the negotiation phase as a nonviolent act directed against the evil forces and systems, which bring about the oppressive policies. The reconciliation process of restoring social order is therefore not directed to the individuals or organizations that perpetrated a social injustice. The reconciliation path to restoring social justice is not a walk in the park, as the conflicting parties have to come up with a strategic plan to address the social issue and eliminate the chances of the problem affecting the society once again in the future. Therefore, the social advocates require the particular skills enabling them to direct fruitful discussions on the addressing of social evils. 

Conclusion 

The role of a social advocate in the social movements in the different parts of the world is necessary to their success. The social issue identified in the paper points out the racial discrimination against the African American students in the colleges across the US. The issue can be explored from a structural functionalist theorist's perspective. The college community is made up of interrelated parts and systems which work together to achieve a common good. From the explanations of the model, the college community is destined to be reliant on the activities of every individual, a student, lecturer, or a member of the non-teaching staff regardless of their race. The interaction between the college itself and the other students with the students of the African American origin has brought about the increase in the cases of racial discrimination. The theorists explain that the interaction among the interrelated parts of the society in the move towards achieving solidarity for the common good does not always involve desirable actions and collisions among individuals may occur along the way. Such a perspective can be used to explain the social injustice of racial discrimination among college students in the US from the analysis of the structural functionalism theory (Parsons, 2017). A more in-depth analysis of the structural functionalism theory reveals its inability to address and properly explain issues regarding discrimination based on race in the social settings and institutions such as the colleges based in the United States of America. The reason the structural-functionalist approach is inefficient in addressing racial discrimination is that it mostly focuses on the emphasis of the culture and society assuming a unification role. The theory has in the past been criticized for its inability to state and explain the reasons underlying racial discrimination among African American students in the colleges across the United States of America. However, various scholars have attributed the reduction in the cases of racial discrimination in the colleges to the proper comprehension of the theory and its application (Parsons, 2017). Therefore, the solutions to the issue of racial discrimination in American colleges lies in the understanding and proper application of the structural functionalism theory in sociology. That is because the structural functionalism model approaches society through an orientation that is on the macro level. 

A different theory such as the interactionist perspective in sociology is in a better position to address the various aspects of race and ethnicity such as the causes and effects of racial discrimination in the colleges based in the US (Rex, 2018). According to the approach, racial discrimination as a social problem occurs in a race relation cycle, which begins with contact. An example of contact In the American colleges is the admission of the African American students together with those of the other races found in the country and having them study in the same classrooms (Rex, 2018). The other component of the cycle is the conflict, which takes place when the students and the administration interact with one another, and the collision in the shared values, beliefs, and opinions leads to the arising of the issues such as discrimination based on race. The other stage of the race relation cycle is the accommodation phase where the students of the different races learn how to accommodate their differences and move towards achieving oneness (Rex, 2018). In this case, the interactionist perspective is similar to the structural functionalism theory in working towards the achievement of a common goal in harmony and unity. The last phase in the race relation cycle is the assimilation stage where the students in the various colleges coexist regardless of their differences in race. Therefore, the intended result of the structural functionalism theory is similar to that of the interactionist model. 

According to the perspectives of the social advocates, the first step towards the resolution of the social disorders such as the racial discrimination in the American colleges is the gathering of the information related to the issue of the racism from the victims as well as the alleged perpetrators of the vice. The next step is to offer the necessary education to the parties involved in the social movement against racial discrimination in the American colleges against the African American students. The education is also offered to the other members of the social movements advocating for a change in the racial discrimination as a social vice. The third stage entails the boosting of personal commitment levels among the leaders and the members of the social movement to address the racial discrimination against the black students in the American colleges. The keeping of the communication channels open is key to ensuring that the leaders and members in the social movements against social disorders in the society advocate for the social change while at the same time committed to the movements. The fourth step is the discussion or negotiation of the issue of racial discrimination in the United States of America among African American students in college. The second last step is the direct action involving either violent or non-violent activities to coerce the conflicting parties into solving the social issue, in case they decline to be part of the negotiation. The last step is the reconciliation of the different races in the US to eliminate the social issues of racial discrimination in college. 

References 

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Mayer, N. Z., & Roberta, A. G. (2017). Social Movement Organizations: Growth, Decay, And 

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Idea of Social Structure (pp. 67-84). Routledge. 

Rex, J. (2018). The Concept of Race in Sociological Theory. In Race and Racialism (pp. 35-56). 

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Van Stekelenburg, J., & Klandermans, B. (2017). Individuals in Movements: A Social 

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