Meaning of CONSCIENCE COLLECTIVE (ALSO COLLECTIVE CONSCIENCE):
As given by Emile Durkheim, conscience collective refers to collective morality, shared values and beliefs common to all members of a society. The conscience collective emerges due to similarity in thinking and is based on similar strong sentiments that are typical of a simple society having minimal division of labour and a solidarity of similarities or mechanical solidarity. Conscience collective is a social fact, that is, it is external to the individual and imposes constrain on him. A simple society has a strong conscience collective and is thus characterised by repressive laws which are coercive for the members of the group. Durkheim said that as population increases, division of labour also increases and becomes specialised, leading to the decline of conscience collective. It is now characterised by organic solidarity and restitutive laws.