Social disintegration is the tendency for society to decline or disintegrate over time, perhaps due to the lapse or breakdown of traditional social support systems. In this context, "society" refers to the social order which maintains a society, rather than the political order that defines its boundaries. Society in the sociological sense is not the same as a country.
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Integration and disintegration
The theoretical origins of this idea lie with Émile Durkheim and Ferdinand Tönnies. In the work of both researchers, one can see a division into two types of social integration, corresponding to two historical phases:
Debate
Those who espouse social disintegration beliefs tend to doubt the integrative capacity of organic solidarity, claiming that if it is not based on primordial ties and relationships, it is fabricated. On the other hand, optimists might argue that new complex forms of integration can emerge, for example through new communal forms of identity formation or through economic interdependence. There is also social disintegration that is attributable to economic integration.)