Clinical sociology: a new perspective of intervention and action in social crisis situations

Cornelia Prioteasa

Journal of Community Positive Practices, 2025, issue 2, 98-112

Abstract: The dynamics of social life, characterised by crises dominated by the pressure of urgency, in which time is increasingly defined by two characteristics -- immediacy and has led to a growing concern among sociologists to develop a new methodological framework for the analysis and interpretation of individual and collective actions and behaviours in crisis situations. This perspective of a scientific approach brings to the fore the orientation of researchers towards the enhancement of the fundamental dimension of human affective experience, by introducing emotions in the analysis of social actions. This allows for an understanding of how the social actor is determined to act in emergency situations, in the space of interference between emotions and cognitions, as well as the effect of psychological pressure on its emotional balance. The article sets out to present the relationship between social crisis and the crisis of sociology, and to offer a new perspective on research into social reality. This is to be found in a frontier branch of sociology, namely clinical sociology. This discipline employs a specific methodological apparatus anchored in collaborative and clinical epistemologies, which facilitate the identification and understanding of the causes and forms of manifestation of crisis and its psycho-social genesis. Furthermore, it is argued that emotions play an important role in the analysis of social actions in the context of crisis situations. In contrast to classical sociology, clinical sociology is not primarily concerned with the measurement of reality, but rather with the identification of solutions to intra-psychic conflicts caused by the pressure of the social environment. The presentation also emphasizes the innovative and distinctive nature of the socio-clinical approach. This approach is not solely concerned with the generation of knowledge; it also aims to identify new knowledge and optimal solutions. In this regard, the sociologist assumes the role of an intervention actor, situated as closely as possible to the subjects -- individuals, groups, organisations, and institutions. This position facilitates a complex and holistic approach, as well as a double change -- individual and social.

Keywords: social crisis; crisis of sociology; clinical sociology; emotion and action; emergency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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