Society

From Wikipedia A society, or a human society, is a group of people involved with each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or social territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. Societal demands tell us what to do, how to do it and who to do it with. It governs our taboos, rights of passage, . It has the unwritten rules that one has to follow to be accepted in the group.
Inadvertently societal demands affect both our physical and mental health. For example the practice of owning a dog simply for companionship purposes is well developed in western society. It is accepted and expected of of you. Studies have shown that having a pet improves both your physical and mental health. This paper in the psychology and society journal tells you more.
Societal relations affect the level of development in terms of infrastructure, technology, livelihoods of a people. Similar thinking among a people means they have similar approaches to solving problems and similar ideas in the way they want to modify the environment. Thus a capitalistic society like the united states will have better developed infrastructure and technology than a socialistic society.
Societal ideologies also play a big part in implementation of human rights and their abuses. For example most African society consider thieves as evil human beings with traditional punishments being death. Thus in modern African societies where there are laws and defined punishments most people still mete out punishments like mob justice or burning of thieves which are human rights abuses. Police officers also because of traditional ideologies shoot unarmed suspects or even torture them. Ideologies in western countries such as the belief in right and wrong lead to behaviors such as whistle blowing an example being the latest Snowden/NSA saga.
Information and society are closely linked. Indeed the increase in the amount of information available to a group of people leads to modification of societal demands and behavior. Until the colonization of Africa the practice of wearing clothes was unheard of. This was probably due to the relatively comfortable environmental conditions present in Africa unlike the cold temperate climates of western countries where wearing of clothes was a necessity. 
Changing societal mind sets as well as working with them should be considered by governments, NGO's and all other organisations that work with people.
Disclaimer: I am in no way a sociologist. These are just the random thoughts of a bored veterinarian.