Social
Development
The American sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902 - 1979) has suggested a solution to the problem of understanding how and why human behaviour is socially organised (that is, why clear patterns of behaviour develop amongst human beings).
He argued that all societies are faced with solving four great problems if they are to both exist and survive over time. Parsons focused on the idea of "four great problems of human existence" because of the way in which his general theory of society developed the idea of "society" as a "functional social system" of "structured relationships"
Parsons argues that a way has to be found to solve each of these "problems of human existence" if a society is to develop and grow. Thus, if a solution is not found to any or all of these problems, then a society will not develop or persist.
In addition, you should note that although I've separated each of these problems for the sake of illustration, the various "solutions to the problems" are necessarily inter-linked.
For example, the specific way people solve the economic problem will have consequences for the solution of political, family and cultural problems (an idea we will develop in more depth at a later point). We could, however, note that if, for example, a society is organised politically, culturally and economically in such a way as to exclude women from the workforce then it's highly-likely that one consequence of this is that women's primary social role will be that of "housewife" - a situation that exists, in slightly different ways, in countries such as Saudi Arabia, Iran and Afghanistan.