Social disruption is a term used in sociology

Sociology

Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...

 to describe the alteration or breakdown of social life

Social relation

In social science, a social relation or social interaction refers to a relationship between two , three or more individuals . Social relations, derived from individual agency, form the basis of the social structure. To this extent social relations are always the basic object of analysis for social...

, often in a community setting. For example, the closing of a community grocery store might cause social disruption in a community

Community

The term community has two distinct meanings:*a group of interacting people, possibly living in close proximity, and often refers to a group that shares some common values, and is attributed with social cohesion within a shared geographical location, generally in social units larger than a household...

 by removing a "meeting ground" for community members to develop interpersonal relationships and community solidarity. The term is often associated with the effects of rapid population growth

Population growth

Population growth is the change in a population over time, and can be quantified as the change in the number of individuals of any species in a population using "per unit time" for measurement....

.

Social disruptions can take place in a variety of forms, from natural disasters to the grocery store example in the above paragraph. It can take place after anything that happens that changes the usual routine in an environment.

Punishment

In punishment

Punishment

Punishment is the authoritative imposition of something negative or unpleasant on a person or animal in response to behavior deemed wrong by an individual or group....

, social disruption occurs when the deliverer of punishment and the setting in which the punishment is delivered become conditioned aversive stimuli

Aversives

In psychology, aversives are unpleasant stimuli that induce changes in behavior through punishment; by applying an aversive immediately following a behavior, the likelihood of the behavior occurring in the future is reduced. Aversives can vary from being slightly unpleasant or irritating to...

. More simply put, a person who delievers punishment can become something that is avoided by the subject of the punishment. For example, a lab rat may come to avoid an experimenter delivering shocks as punishment. The experimenter himself is not a punishing stimulus, but the rat learns to associate the actual punishment (the shocks) with the person delivering the shocks.

The use of punishment seems necessary when trying to suppress violence

Violence

Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...

 or stress.

See also

For Sociology:

• Boomtown
  Boomtown
  A boomtown is a community that experiences sudden and rapid population and economic growth. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons,...
  
  
• Gillette Syndrome
  Gillette Syndrome
  Gillette Syndrome is a term used to describe the social disruption that can occur in a community due to rapid population growth. Such disruptions usually include increased crime, degraded mental health, weakened social and community bonds, abnormally high costs of living, and other social...
  
  
• Social problem

For Punishment:

• B.F. Skinner
• Operant Conditioning
  Operant conditioning
  Operant conditioning is a form of psychological learning during which an individual modifies the occurrence and form of its own behavior due to the association of the behavior with a stimulus...