- Sociology
- Thinking Sociology
- Social Identity
- Cultural, Knowledge & Belief
- Social Organization and Control
- Production, Inequality and Social Division
- Digital Stories
WELCOME TO SOCIOLOGY
The Study of Society
Sociology focuses on identifying, explaining, and interpreting patterns and processes of human social relations. This introductory course is designed not just to teach you some of the major findings of sociology, but to help you master fundamental sociological skills, including the ability to think with a "sociological imagination" as well as integrate "technological fluency" with "informational literacy" utilizing basic computer-based data analysis—skills which have broad applicability in a range of educational and work settings.
Our goal in is class is for you to gain a different perspective of a diverse world often taken for granted and to gain new insight into the ways that society shapes people and the way people shape their society. Our objectives are directed at building competence as a critical thinker and change agent so that you will better able to raise relevant questions about the direction in which society is moving, interpret social trends, and examine significant social problems.
It is my hope that this hands-on experience of "doing" sociology will both enliven your interest in sociological analysis and help you develop practical skills that you can use in other contexts as well. We can best understand the process of social interaction when we understand the person in place and in time. Our syllabus sets the place, time and process of this course for you the person.
Welcome to my world, your world, our world.
Dr. Michael Thompson
How Tolerant is Intolerant?
By Karis Sperling x
In looking at Sociology and the building blocks of society one thing really stuck out to me: society will always progress. Our textbook addresses the evolution of modern society right off the bat. There is no getting around it, and why would we want to? Stagnation has never made for a thriving society. However; this idea stirred up many questions for me. At what cost do we evolve as a society? At whose expense does change occur? Is it at the cost of those seeking new freedoms or at the expense of those who lose the values they hold dear or both?
I have great respect and admiration for those who have gone before us in history to pave the way for change in society. Great names like Martin Luther, the founding fathers, Martin Luther King Jr, Ghandi, and many, many others stand out. They stand out because they were willing to stand up for their beliefs and be the impetus for a discussion that led to change in society. As a society we have come a long way from the chains of oppression that we used to be defined by in America. We have not finished that fight yet by a long shot; we still have divisions over race, religion, and gender to name a few. There is no denying that cultural progression to a tolerant, cohesive society is a worthy pursuit. My question is this, have we actually become so afraid to be racist, sexist, or intolerant that we have swung too far the other way?
There is no denying that religious persecution is wrong. It has always been an American ideal that every individual feels free to express their values and traditions without fear of oppression or persecution as a result; but how do we accomplish this? Do we accomplish this through education of our society about the different beliefs and values of our society’s members? Do we accomplish this by silencing the “established” and the “intolerant” so that the other voices can have their turn?
What are we so afraid of? Change throughout history came through debate. Why must we silence some voices so that others can be heard? This viewpoint seems a bit limited. It says that society is too weak to handle the debate. That the whole fragile system can be brought crashing down if everyone is not in complete agreement. And if we are not in complete agreement, as it is impossible, we are better off to silence the dissenters so as to make it appear that everything is okay. Since when is it a threat to one person’s lifestyle and belief if another simply does not agree? This is America after all, a land full of debates. A blogger on “Battle of Ideas”, points back to respected philosophers like Voltaire, Locke, and others who emphasized “moral independence”. This goes with the idea that everyone should be free to hold an opinion, no matter what.
Perhaps this is naive but I believe that the human spirit and society as a whole is strong enough to truly coexist with many diverse, and at times dissenting values. I do not believe that this can be accomplished by deciding whose values and voice gets to be heard and whose does not. I do not believe that cohesion can be accomplished through oppression. To say that one child cannot say what his family believes in at school because it might challenge and offend another child whose family believes differently seems rather restrictive all around. To say that only one way is right is the very definition of narrow-minded is it not?
By no means should we allow violence on the streets or lynch mobs running rampant through the countryside. However, who gets to decide who can openly have an opinion and who needs to keep theirs quiet? It seems to me to be a slippery slope to say that in the name of progress we have to shut down the traditions of the past. When and where does it stop? At what point does our well-intentioned tolerance actually become the intolerance we despised so much? One article by Mike Myatt puts it well, “The bottom line is this; when society reaches a place where people are afraid to share their personal beliefs for fear of public excoriation, we have devolved not evolved.”
Resources:
http://www.battleofideas.org.uk/2011/session_detail/5601/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2013/12/31/tolerance-versus-free-speech-keeping-the-main-thing-the-main-thing/
** Society**
By Lexie DesLauriers+
What is a society? Sociology looks at a society as a whole or a national society. Within a society there are institutions that help regulate the activities that go along within a society. Looking at institutions we are only focusing on the national level of society. There is also an interpersonal society which is based on the face to face and small interactive groups. Throughout all of these groups and levels society has inequalities of many thing. What makes each society itself and special is its Culture. Society is made up of a lot of things but breaking each part and section of a society down is amazing to see how it works.
Institutions are practices that regulate activities within a social life. Such as religion, marriage, and education just to name a couple. In some societies these institutions and organizations become specialized, when these organizations are specialized they are closely related. The schools get there funding from the government which means that they education institution and government institution are closely related. Some believe that institutions should not be specialized, our book says that “education has not been giving Britain the skills they need in there economy, these institutions should not be studied in isolation.” This means that we shouldn’t just focus on one institution. All of the institutions within a society are linked together in some way.
Interpersonal societies have many different levels of society but usually remain in small groups. Some may be your family a sports team or the group of friends you have. As the groups grow bigger they become an organization. An organization is supposed to help social groups carry out an activity that has some type of goal. Some organizations may remain private that you have to have a membership to be a part of. I am a member at the gym that I work out in therefore I am a part of that organization, there goal is to help people have a healthier life style.
Society has inequalities but some of these inequalities are dominant and others are dominated. There are many inequalities within a society some may be gender, or class, and race, and with these inequalities come conflict. Many great people in our history had to deal with those inequalities. Martin Luther King Jr. comes to my mind about inequality. He felt that whites and blacks were not being treated equal, so he went on strike this is an example of Social conflict, coming together as one and challenging the higher power or as seen back then the whites.
Society is not all made up just by structure it also has its own culture and belief. Merriam-Webster defines culture as the beliefs, customs, and arts of a particular society, group, place or time. Different cultures of the world says that the” American culture of the people is a blend of native Americans as well as a large number of immigrants from different countries, recognizing four races as Native American, African American, Asian, and European American.” They also state the traditional festivals that are a part of the American culture, Christmas, Good Friday, New Year celebration. (Different Cultures of the World)
So what is a society? After learning about what a society is and how it works is an amazing thing and how it all functions with all the difference that it has is incredible. A Society is put together by its Institutions which are broken down into interpersonal societies, within these societies come inequality and adversity, but with all of that comes culture and beliefs. Society is made up of a lot of things but breaking each part and section of a society down is amazing to see how it works
Resources
"Different Cultures of the World." Buzzle (n.d.).
Why Am I Supposed to Care What "society" Thinks?" Shakes Fist at Sky. 21 July 2014. Web. 28 July 2015.
Social Identity
By: Alissa Otter x
Everyone has an identity. Social Identity is however we identify ourselves. It provides people with self-esteem. Social Identity also can affect your gender identity. Teenagers go through phases where they try to find their identity. Social Identity is an important asset in every human’s life.
Each person identifies themselves as something different, whether it may be a mother, sister, aunt, Asian, religious or male and female. Identifying yourself is very important and gives you self-worth. It is hard to live day by day as no one. From the time you are born you are given an identity, your name, after that, you make out the person you are to be. You could be athletic, academic and so much more. Some can suffer from identity crises, and not know who they are, some of the percentage of the people who suffer from this are adopted and have no birth records, no parents, no heritage and no biological family to learn about who they truly are.
Social Identity gives one self-esteem. Self-esteem can do so much for someone. It helps you bloom to whoever you want to be. It gives you courage to be yourself. Self-esteem influences who you are and the actions you make to become you. By having a high self-esteem you will be more sure of yourself and be a happier person. You will make better choices in who you choose to be. This will give you a better chance to feel a higher worth for yourself. If you act and think like a better person you will become one too. Choosing to be who you want can be a tough decision, there are many choices in who to become. With wanting to be a good role model for society and making good decisions can be difficult for some, but still possible.
Gender Identity is also social identity. Some people think they are really a woman, when in reality, they are a man and the other way around too. Therapy can help people bloom in the right direction and get help. Therapists can help direct you to your given gender. Others choose to take the wrong direction and never figure themselves out. By living in a man's gender as a woman it can affect the way you identify yourself. While a man generally enjoys sports, fishing, and other hobbies, the man who thinks he is a woman may like to go shopping, paint and get their hair and nails done. It changes who you are. Society doesn’t agree with most of that. Although everyone does need to know who they truly are. It takes time to know who you are. Social identity doesn’t happen overnight, because you are changing yourself every day of the year for the rest of your life. It is important to know your correct gender to help and guide you to the right live and give you a more specific identity.
Teenagers can be confused as to who they are. Junior high and high school is a negative place for children. They are confused by who they are and who they should be. Students want to be better than each other. It's tough to find yourself in school. Kids are mean if you like a certain thing they don’t. They will criticize you for the way you identify you. They might like cheerleading or be the captain of the football team, but you like chess or might not like to be social at all. They can make you feel like you need to be someone you aren't.
In conclusion, it is important to know that you need to be yourself, and not someone else, just because they are more popular. Do what you enjoy and be yourself. Learn your Identity.
http://amr.aom.org/content/14/1/20.short
http://people.howstuffworks.com/what-is-social-identity.htm
Social Identity
By, Madison Brothers x
Social identity is a person's sense of who they are based on their group membership(s). Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. In today's society people tend to judge others based on their social identity, which isn't fair. You can see a lot of this in high schools. In high schools, it's not very common to see a basketball or football player hanging out with a member during school, because they aren't in the same groups. A star athlete is most likely going to be pretty popular, and so may think that he needs to act as such, and not hangout with someone who doesn't have the same status. The athlete is already acting the part of a "jock" and may see the band member as a "nerd" and not seize an opportunity to make a new friend because of the social identity groups of the high school. This falls into Tajfel's three mental processes.
The first process is categorization, we categorize objects in order to understand them and identify them. In a very similar way we categorize people (including ourselves) in order to understand the social environment. In the second stage, social identification, we adopt the identity of the group we have categorized ourselves as belonging to. The final stage is social comparison. Once we have categorized ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then tend to compare that group with other groups. If our self-esteem is to be maintained our group needs to compare favorably with other groups. This is critical to understanding prejudice, because once two groups identify themselves as rivals they are forced to compete in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem.
I was raised Roman Catholic, and growing up I noticed that I was treated differently because of my religion. I was even told a few times that someone didn't want to be associated with me because of my faith. The reasons that was given to me for this was based off of encounters with other Catholics that weren't so friendly, and they just didn't have the same beliefs. In today's society we are to quick to judge people based on their standing in school, on religion, or even ethnicity. In high school, I wasn't the only Catholic, and so in that I was able to connect with others that were Catholics, and it made me feel like I belonged in a group in high school, and I wasn't left out, because of what I believed in.
In conclusion, social identity is a big part of the world, and it can cause judgment upon those that shouldn't be judged. On the other hand it can be really good for someone. It can give someone the sense of belonging in a group and knowing that they aren't the only ones. We should be who we want to be not who society wants us to be.
References
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity_theory
Nichelle Erskine x
Dr. Thompson
Sociology
6-8-15
Who Am I?
I never realized how big of an impact growing up on the farm and playing sports had on my social life and identity. Social identity is defined as “a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership”, and growing up around agriculture and being involved in sports has helped me too form my own social identity. I believe that everyone has the chance to form their own identity, but little do they know that the way they are evolving is by the way they are living.
I grew up working on the farm from the moment school was out until it was dark or until my mom had supper on the table. On the weekends and in the summer we worked long days, getting as much done as possible. When I got to junior high I decided to give sports a try and I truly enjoyed it. I played sports and worked on the farm all through high school. Playing sports and being from an agriculture related family I hung out with the group that played sports and most of them worked or were raised on the farm. Tajfel proposed that stereotyping is based on a normal cognitive process. We tend to group like things together all while tending to exaggerate a little bit. We group people together in the same way. We all believe that our group is the “in-group” and any other group is the “out-group”.
We use social identification to categorize ourselves into the group that we think we belong to. We then begin to adapt to said group and we conform to the social norm. Social identity theory helps us to realize that people are motivated to achieve and maintain positive concepts of themselves, whatever that may take. Everyone wants to be on top, everyone wants to be in the “in-group”, whichever group that may be. When we punish the “out-group” for being who they are, we don’t realize what kind of effects we are having on their self-esteem. Whether it be based on how we were raised, gender, where we work, how we dress, or what we look like, who are we to judge and put others down just because they have a different “social norm” than us.
I believe that Americas these days believe they are entitled to everything if they know the right people or have the right amount of money. That is what forms their social identity and that is fine and well, but don’t criticize other people because they don’t know the same people or make the same money. People feel like they have to compete within their group just to fit in, which is termed as social competition. If you’re already in the “in-group”, why would you feel like you have to compete with people you have assumed to be just like you. There is a higher standard now days that people feel like they have to live up to. There is a lot of pressure on people now to act and be like everyone else which could lead to lower self-esteem issues or problems that they feel within themselves.
In conclusion, I feel like we should stop putting others down for the social identity they have formed and just accept everyone no matter what background they come from. I know that is easier said than done, and I’m sure that I am guilty of the same thing. I didn’t realize there was such a thing as social identity until I started this class. I always just assumed we were all put here to be who we are and I never realized I too had to form my own social identity. I hope that someday people can be who they want to be and not have to worry about what the new “social norm” is or who’s in the “in-group” or the”out-group”.
Resources: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity_theory
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html
Jahrod Henderson x
A social identity is the portion of an individual's self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s). Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.
In order to increase our self-image we enhance the status of the group to which we belong. For example, England is the best country in the world! We can also increase our self-image by discriminating and holding prejudice views against the out group (the group we don’t belong to). For example, the Americans, French etc. are a bunch of losers!
Therefore we divided the world into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorization (i.e. we put people into social groups). This is known as in-group (us) and out-group (them). Social identity theory states that the in-group will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their self-image.
The central hypothesis of social identity theory is that group members of an in-group will seek to find negative aspects of an out-group, thus enhancing their self-image. Prejudiced views between cultures may result in racism; in its extreme forms, racism may result in genocide, such as occurred in Germany with the Jews, in Rwanda between the Hutus and Tutsis and, more recently, in the former Yugoslavia between the Bosnians and Serbs.
Henri Tajfel proposed that stereotyping (i.e. putting people into groups and categories) is based on a normal cognitive process: the tendency to group things together. In doing so we tend to exaggerate:
1. the differences between groups
2. the similarities of things in the same group.
We categorize people in the same way. We see the group to which we belong (the in-group) as being different from the others (the out-group), and members of the same group as being more similar than they are. Social categorization is one explanation for prejudice attitudes (i.e. “them” and “us” mentality) which leads to in-groups and out-groups.
Resources
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity_theory
WHAT IS SOCIAL IDENTITY?
By:Luis Hernandez x
Social identity shows everyone how we identify ourselves in society to others according to what we have in common to everyone else. Social identity gives people a sense of self-esteem and a structure for socializing, and it can have an affect on their behavior. While gender identity usually tends to show between the ages of two and three, many other forms of identity continue to show or grow throughout a person's life. During the years maturity many teens undergo the process of choosing their social identity or who they want to be. There are a lot of young people who experiment with body piercings, new hairstyles, music preferences, tattoos, and different forms of dressing them self’s these are ways in which teens try to fit in with a group or decide which group is right for them, hopefully its groups with good influences.
The first thing we tend to do is categorize objects in a certain way to understand them and identify them. In a very similar way we define people in order to understand the social environment. We use social categories like black, white, Hispanic, Christian, catholic, student, and janitor because they are useful. In the second we identify objects usually called social identification, we identity the group we have categorized ourselves as belonging to. If for I where to have categorized yourself as a student, the chances are you will adopt the identity of a student and begin to act in the ways you believe students act. There will be an emotional significance to your identification with a group, and your self-esteem will become bound up with group membership. The final stage is social comparison. Once we have categorized ourselves as part of a group and have identified with that group we then tend to compare that group with other groups. If our self-esteem is to be maintained our group needs to compare favorably with other groups. This is critical to understanding, because once two groups identify themselves as rivals they are forced to compete in order for the members to maintain their self-esteem.
Just to refresh in social identity theory the group membership is not something foreign or artificial which is attached onto the person, it is a real, true and vital part of the person. Again, it is crucial to remember in-groups are groups you identify with, and out-groups are ones that we don't identify with, and may discriminate against.
Resources:
http://www.exampleessays.com/viewpaper/95616.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity_theory
Mary Comer x
Gender Identities Altered by Parents
Can ones gender identity be altered by their parents? My experiences throughout my life in observing other family units tend to lead me in this direction. There are two families that come to mind that I have witnessed firsthand on how their children developed differently by the way their parents taught them their gender-role.
The first family I observed had a father, mother, daughter and a son in the family unit. The father was always busy with work and was seldom home. The intimate closeness with his father was absent which in turn had him draw closer to his mother. The mother was the main parent that did the nurturing for the daughter and the son. The son was always with the sister and played together. He did not have many friends that were boys to learn the characteristics of a boy. I could see that in his early years that he was developing more feminine than masculine. As he grew into a teen he was perceived as “gay” and the boys did not interact with him thus forcing him to befriend the females, which further instilled the female identity into him. He still to this day is more at ease around females.
The second family I observed had a father, mother, and two sons. In this case the father was around but did not interact with his boys. The mother in this family really wanted a daughter so she started to alter the gender identity of her youngest son. The boy’s name was George and she started calling him Georgie. She would paint his fingernails and toe nails. She would also buy him girly looking clothes and shoes. “Georgie” was a more petite boy compared to the older son. He was given dolls while her other son had trucks. “Georgie” was forced to learn a feminine lifestyle. He had no choice in the gender-role taught to him even though he wanted to play with other boys he felt uncomfortable being dressed like a girl. He also to this day is more accepted in the socialization of females while his older brother is “all boy”.
When we are born there is a biological difference between male and female in the aspect of the X and Y chromosome. Males have one of each while the females have two of the X chromosome. This is what makes up our sexual characteristics. Through social relationships we learn the norms of behavior of the biological sex, male or female traits. During the first three years of a child’s life, it is the most important time of learned behavior. Parents teach gender-roles like mother, like daughter and like father, like son. But when the father is not in the picture a lot or absent all together then the mother does all the nurturing for both sexes. The biological male child begins to identify more with the opposite sex. They long for the love of the father that they never received. When the male child hits puberty, sexual urges arise and they are still feeling the need for masculine intimacy. That is when the male child can start to have feelings for the same sex and begin to act on his urges for love from a male figure.
So you can see, gender identity in children is affected by the influence of their parents. Children form their gender identity from the social cues they receive thus molding them into the male or female sex. We are taught our gender-role and that develops us on who we are today.
Sources:
http://borngay.procon.org/view.answers.php?questionID=000027
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gender_identity
Is “Teenager” an identity?
By Kaylie Reeh x
People identify themselves in many different unique ways. Some will identify as a certain gender of by the color of their skin. Others will stand by a specific religion or a political vocation. Some people even go as far to identify themselves as specifically homeless, a person with AIDS, or even an alcoholic. These are all ways we describe ourselves to the people we meet and grow to learn. This is how we put ourselves into categories in the world. In experiments carried out by Henri Tajfel and John Turner, it was found that people favored the members of their own group. This was regardless if the group was based off of something extravagant or something awfully embarrassing. We all want to fit in and social identities help us find others who are in the same place we are.
Teens go through many different phases in their lives. This is the time in one’s life that they are trying their hardest to define and figure out who they are. Teens, while trying to “fit in”, are also trying to stand out and be noticed by those around them. They will dye their hair green to stand out but will cut it short in order to try and also “fit in” with the rest of their peers. If all of your friends love country music and you love rap the odds of you pretending to like country are pretty high. This help teen’s stay connected with their peers on a personal level. Getting tattoos and dressing differently all shows that teens are individuals but still as a group are one. This also helps teens to gain self-esteem and be able to stand up for what they believe in while also not making too big of a scene.
Social identities can also influence ones behavior. People take on different identities in different environments. At home a teenager might be laid back and relaxed but at school they might be very outgoing and want to be the center of attention. This, however, doesn’t mean that teens will reject all values that they have learned at home. They have the same beliefs but a different way of showing them around different groups of people. Ethnicity and culture, gender, and sexuality are the main identities teens struggle with. They are trying to decide who they are as an individual while also trying to figure out how they are like the rest of the people their age.
On the outside it may seem like teens are crazy for dying their hair and getting weird piercings on their faces when really they are only trying to be themselves while also “fitting in”. It is hard for adults to understand what teens go through on a day to day basis. If a boy wears nice clothes and is kind to girls he may be called gay when he is just treating women how he was taught. Girls might be called lesbian if they don’t dress girly enough and are super close with their best friend. It is so hard for teens to be themselves in this world because they are constantly being judged by those on the outside. Teens are also going through puberty and experiencing sexual attractions to others and to them this could be confusing and something they want to hide from others. This time either helps teens conform their sexuality or question whether what they have chosen is wrong.
All of these things are vital key components to a teenager’s life. This is when they get to try new things and decided for themselves what or who they want to be.
**Sources*
http://www.pbs.org/thisemotionallife/topic/adolescence/identity-formation
http://people.howstuffworks.com/what-is-social-identity.htm
Shaping of Ones Personality
Kai Comer x
Everyone has social behavior, whether you have a good well behaved attitude or a narcissistic cannibal flaw on things. Social behavior is a term for conduct that is exchanged by individuals in a society. All people fall under either one of the following two categories introverted and extroverted. Introvert people are those that are preoccupied with their own feelings and tend to not communicate with others and keep to themselves. Extrovert people are those whose actions and motives are directed outward. They tend to show more of a warm interest to their surroundings and are more outgoing.
People communicate multiple times throughout the day. Through our body language and voice. Most of these people are able to communicate with little to no struggle. Carrying out many conversations in one day. Some of these conversations are with known individuals while other conversations are with random strangers. There are also those individuals that can communicate effortlessly with any person they see. It doesn’t matter who they are communicating with, but they are able to have a full conversation. Then there are individuals that don’t communicate well with others.
The individuals that don’t communicate or are not wanting to communicate are considered introverts. They also can be called antisocial. Anti-social means not sociable, not wanting the company of others. Antisocial personality disorder is a type of chronic mental condition where the thinking of an individual is dysfunctional. I believe that every individual currently inhabiting this planet has had some sort of antisocial conduct. Whether that conduct was just a short scene to avoid the unwanted conversation of a passing bystander or a constant hiding out in a locked dark room like a brown recluse.
A person’s personality is what makes them who they are and is combined of their thoughts, emotions, and behavior and that makes them unique, just like everyone else. There are many major impacts that will impact an individual’s life into what they will become, and what their personality will be. Birth order is one of many impacts that will have an effect on a child and shape them into an adult. Whether they are the first born, middle, last, or only child. Each of these positions in the birthing order has its own differentiating influence on the final product or adulthood. Many personality disorders can be related to genetics passed down or environmental social norms an individual has encountered.
One influence on an individual’s personality is their genetics. The person will inherit tendencies passed down by their parents. Some passed down traits or genes can be shyness or even just a positive outlook on life. Some individuals will have and pass down genes that will make them more prone to antisocial personality disorders.
The environment also has a major influence on how we as human beings behave on a personality level. The surroundings they grow up in and events that transpire around them will have either a negative or positive reaction to ones personality. Life situations from the parenting they received will affect an individual by whether they experienced a loving or abusive relationship that can also have a good or bad effect on someone.
So a blind man would tell you, because I didn’t want to say so you can see, there are many different aspects that affect a person’s personality and how it comes about. Through the genetics of your parents to the environment you were raised in, and anything in between.
Sources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/extrovert
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/antisocial-personality-disorder/basics/causes/con-20027920
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anti-social_behaviour
Breanna Garrett x
Am I The In-Group or The Out-Group?
We all remember those middle school years right; from that age up until our mid-twenties? All those sometimes-awkward stages we all went though and all the different groups we tried to be apart of? All the work that we put ourselves thought to discover where we fit in actually has relevance. We were finding our social identities. A social identity is the portion of an individual’s self-concept derived from perceived membership in a relevant social group. Basically it is a sense of who a person is based on their group members.
The entirety of the social identity theory came about in the late 1970’s. Henri Tajfel is whom we have to thank for that. He proposed that the groups like family, football team, or the debate club people belonged to were an important source of pride and self esteem. Being a part of a group gives us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world. Social identity theory states that social behavior will vary along a continuum between interpersonal behavior and intergroup behavior. Completely interpersonal behavior would be behavior determined solely by the individual characteristics and interpersonal relationships that exists between two or more people. Completely intergroup behavior would be behavior determined solely by the social category memberships that apply to two or more people.
With being a part of a group we try and make that specific group look a little bit better than all the rest to make ourselves to look just that much better. In order to do that we enhance the status of the said group. For example: “Debate club is the best in the high school!” And oppositely we discriminate and hold prejudice views against the group we do not belong to. By doing this, the world becomes divided into “them” and “us” based through a process of social categorization. This is known as ‘us’ being the in-group and ‘them’ being the out-group. And just like trying to make yourself look better, each group as a whole will discriminate against the out-group to enhance their image.
Taijfel proposed that there are three mental processes involved in evaluating others as ‘us’ or ‘them’. These mental processes come in this order: social categorization, social identification, social comparison. We use categorization to understand people and identify them. The simple categories like black, white, Jewish, teacher, or doctor are used mainly because of the fact that they are useful. With social identification we adopt the identity of the group we have categorized ourselves as belonging to. If you are attending college and categorize yourself as a student, you will do as a student does. You will conform to the norms of the group. The final stage is social comparison. In this stage we have already categorized ourselves as a student and identified with them. After that we start to compare ourselves to other groups. We develop prejudice ideas about all the others group about how they are not as good as the one we are apart of.
Bibliography
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_identity_theory
Feminism Vs Masculine
By Lexie DesLauriers +
Has the separation of the spheres broken down? Throughout history the way people are looked at has changed due to social identity. Women’s identity changed when they started to get paid jobs. The way men were looked at changed when they had to start getting feminine jobs due to the change of social identities. Due to all the change with the social identities of men and women have the spheres been broken down or are they still the same to where women didn’t work and men did all the working?
Back in the day of 1850’s to the 1950’s women were confined to house work and had nothing to do with paid work. But as of today even though women are doing paid work majority of women are still in the health care job field. Even with women in the health care job field many women only work part time. Women do this because they still have to take care of things at home like kids and the stereotypical cleaning and cooking for the rest of the family. Social identities are about dominance. With dominance comes discrimination but how do we think the separation of spheres will be broken down when there is always that stereotype of how women only cook and clean. With having then gender based discrimination it still will limit women to only being able to work in those types of job fields. Women may only have part time jobs and work in the health care but women can do anything men can do. Even with this base discrimination there are some women that overcome that that can do anything men can do. Women out there working in our armed services and as police officers.
Women have changed in society but have men? As the rise of women in the work force has increased it has made men change the way that they work. Instead of working in more masculine jobs they have had to start working in the child and health care services. As the percentage of women working has risen it has made men change the meaning of masculine. It now stands for a man that has feelings and shows emotion and can be a part of the child and health care services. Throughout history as women changed it made men also change their ways. Men has had to change their way of not being so manly and becoming more down to earth kind hearted people. But saying this there is still that discrimination that men cannot be so kind and down to earth they are only people who work and are nasty people who don’t eat with their mouth closed and go out to the bar and drink. Even with the new meaning of masculine there will always be that base of discrimination. So not only should the question be can women do anything men can do it should also be can men do anything women can do?
Has the separation of the spheres broken down? Even though women now have paid jobs and men are doing more feminine things the spheres have not been broken down. Women are still in some places discriminated due to their gender. Women still have the stereotype of cooking and cleaning and only being able to do house work. Men still have the stereotype of not doing any cooking and cleaning but being the one that works and fix things. Even with all the change that has happened over the years on social identity there is still that base discrimination upon gender. Therefore the spheres have not been broken down, men still have dominance over women.
** Resources
Fulcher, James, and John Scott. Sociology. Fourth ed. New York: Oxford UP, 2011. Print.
"How To Sell Online To Masculine vs Feminine Cultures." Psychology Today. Web. 28 July 2015.
**
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Family Identities
Brian Miller x
“Social identity is a person’s sense of who they are based on their group membership(s). Tajfel (1979) proposed that the groups (e.g. social class, family, football team etc.) which people belonged to were an important source of pride and self-esteem. Groups give us a sense of social identity: a sense of belonging to the social world.”
Social identity can be organized as group within a society. It can be families, groups in schools, different status’s in work environments, or even grouped by financial statuses. This is something that can be seen from a person’s personal point of view, or from someone on the outside of such status as well. Let’s look at the different social identities in a family setting.
First, you have the parents in a family. They are the main breadwinners and caregivers in such a setting. They are the ones who everyone looks up to for support and understanding. Parents are sort of like Kings and Queens of the family. They make all the rules around the household, and teach their kids from what is right in the world to do and what is wrong in the world to do. Usually there is one parent who the children listen to better and think is the main head of the household. A mother will identify herself as a mother and caretaker, a father will identify himself as a father and caretaker. They can also use names such as hard, fun, loving, and discipliner to their identities.
Next, you have the children of the family. This can be a little more complicated if there is more than one child and there ages differ more than a couple years. The first child (the older one) will usually have more responsibilities to take on and more opportunities to do things first. They are the ones who will be looked upon from the younger siblings to set good examples and be good role models. The older child will usually identify themselves as the oldest, first child while the others will be considered the youngest or middle child. They will also identify themselves as brothers, sisters, friends, or even cousins to others.
Looking into a family setting, you are able to see the different status’s that each group or family member has and what they can use to identify themselves with. They each will have a different social identity depending on their place within the family. Parents will always have the highest social identity, and then it will come the oldest children to the youngest child. Everyone in the family will have a social identity for themselves with different names they can call each other. The most common in a family setting is mother, father, brother and sister.
You can also look at different families in order to see the social identities of them all as well. If you look at a white American family living in the suburbs compared to a white American family living in a trailer park, you will see the difference in how they think about themselves and how people around them think. Basically, you have the family living in the suburbs labeled with a middle class standing and respectable in the eyes of others around them, and then you have the family living in the trailer park to be considered lower class and not as respected as the middle class family.
Labeling and stereotyping has a tremendous amount to do with the social identities of others. It doesn’t matter if it is a personal identity they are looking through or a social identity. You can see this the most with middle and lower class families. It shouldn’t matter where they are living, the different kinds of Mechanic clothes they are wearing, or the difference in the amount of money they make, but it does. Labeling people has a great amount of influence on the social standing and identity of people.
References:
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html
http://www.bbcprisonstudy.org/resources.php?p=59
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Dylan Means x
There is a wide variety of cultures throughout the world today. The only culture I've known all of my life is small town rural America. Just like any other culture small town life has its pros and cons.
I worked at my local grocery store all the way through high school and although it sucked, I look back now and can't help but be proud of the work I did. During my job, I would carry out groceries, now over 90% of the time it would just be people I know. But what got me is when the out-of-towners or the city slickers would come get their groceries and I would take their groceries out to the car, and I was shocked. They had no idea there was such a thing as a carry out. They were so appreciative just because of our small town service. Things like that we take for granted around here in our rural culture. That's definitely something I'll remember for the rest of my life. And that is just one of the pros of living here I guess, you experience the small town service you can't get anywhere else.
As most small town people would tell you, faith and religion is strong in small communities. I've lived in Phillipsburg Kansas my whole life. Population is a little over 2500, and has exactly 21 churches. All different religion but with that many churches, and saying everyone goes to church on Sunday, each church averages 119 people. Going to church every Sunday, and seeing the regulars each week is just part of our culture. Everyone knows everyone, and we try to have each others' back.
Another big part of our culture is sports and outdoor activities. There isn't much to do for fun in Phillipsburg, so most find their peace by going hunting, fishing, or boating. During the summer me and my buddies take our jet-skis and boats to the lake almost every weekend. I feel like that is something we would miss out on if we lived in a different culture. Days where I'd be at the lake or hunting, those in cities would probably be found inside at a gym, or playing video games. I'd say I'm pretty lucky to come from a small community culture.
Sources: http://www.thecultureist.com/2013/12/20/best-blogs-and-websites-of-2013/http://theculturetrip.com/
Jeremy Gwinn x
Religion.
Everybody has a different view when it comes to what they believe in. According to google there are roughly 4,200 different religions in the world today. The five main religions are Hinduism, Buddhism, New Age, and Christianity. Everyone that has a religion think that theirs is the right one, but how are we supposed to know which one is actually true.
As history shows, religious faith or belief can often prove to be a much stronger force than considerations of pure self-interest. In some circumstances people will even sacrifice their life for their faith. In spite of whether this powerful force works for the good or bad of mankind, it would be a great mistake to think that the globalization and economization of thought has lessened religion’s importance. Religion continues to act as one of the major factor to better the human behavior. Man is incurably religious although the form and object of his religious feelings may change over time
There is no proper definition for the world religion as everyone has its own point of view about the religion but there are few things that must be considered and understand when we go on a talk about the religion. What if there was not the true religion, the world would become the darkest prison. What if we were not been told that there are always two paths to spend your life the right path which is difficult because you have to follow rules and the law given by the god, and the other path is the easy path where there are no restrictions there is no obedience required.
The main philosophy of the religion is that it gives us the right way of life but is there any right religion on earth? Does god exist? How god looks likes, there are many more questions that arise when we talk about the philosophy of the religion. We need religion because it gives us the spirituality, it stops us doing evil things, we need religion because we want world to be the better place to live in.
I believe and know that the right religion is Christianity. Christianity means “the religion based on the person and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, or its beliefs and practices.” To me being a Christian means that you have accepted Jesus Christ into your heart by believing that he died on the cross for your sins and raised up three days later. This is what I have been taught all my life and I believe that this is the only way you will be able to spend the rest of eternity with God in heaven.
John 14:6-I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.
Resources:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Christianity
http://biblehub.com/john/14-6.htm
Jeremy Gwinn x
True Knowledge.
When I think about knowledge the first thing that comes to my mind is education. I believe that knowledge comes to people by their experiences in life. In other words, life is an instrument that leads me to gain knowledge. Many people consider that old people are wise because they have learned from good and bad experiences throughout their lives. Education requires work, dedication and faith to gain knowledge. We acquired knowledge through the guidance from parents, role models, teachers and life experiences.
Knowledge means: Familiarity, awareness, or understanding gained through experience or study. As students, knowledge is very important to guide us to continue our education. A way to acquire knowledge is to have a role model in our lives. In this society almost every child, adult and elder has had a hero in their lives. It is very important to have someone to admire because it helps to increase our interest in education and eventually it will lead us to gain knowledge. Role models make the students to feel positive that they will be able to fulfill their dreams. For example, I grew up in a Christian family. My role model since I was a little kid was Jesus. I wanted to be like him, and follow all his teachings. I knew that I could gain knowledge through his words. Another was my dad because he is a pastor that many people look up to for guidance and he has gone through a lot in his life and always figures a way to make everyone feel better about themselves and situations people are in.
In schools, teachers can be role models. Many students when they are younger want to be like their favorite teacher. Teachers have the responsibility to guide us to gain knowledge. They need to show us a way of knowledge. How do they show us knowledge? Through their experience of teaching. Many teachers use different methods to make their students to learn. They know the best way that student’s to gain the knowledge that they need to use through life. Although I know that teachers cannot always be there to guide us, we need to do our best to learn from them when we have the chance. Teachers sometimes act like our parents because they give us encouragement and sometimes they give us a push to continue our education.
Another way we acquire knowledge is through life experiences. This is why people say that older people have a lot of knowledge because they have lived a long life and have gained a lot of knowledge through the hard trials and the good ones.
Resources:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/knowledge
http://www.academicmatters.ca/2010/10/you-can-lead-students-to-knowledge-but-how-do-you-make-them-think/
Grace Randel +x
Sociology
Dr. Thompson
15 July 2015
The Culture of Spain
To me Spain has one of the most interesting cultures. Spain has so much history and so many beautiful things. Spain has a very amazing culture: from their food, to their dancing, and to their amazing history.
Food is extremely important to Spaniards. Food is very often a currency in Spain. Every time they eat they eat as a family. Often times they will have the whole family over every night for a dinner. Most of the important meals that Spaniards have happen around 2 PM. This would be comparable to the dinner we have here in the US. There are several foods that are commonly eaten in Spain. They are pork, peppers, beans, potatoes, and tomatoes. Two common foods that are commonly served wherever you go in Spain are tapas and churros. A tapas is a snack or appetizer you can get at almost any restaurant. A churro is a type of bread dessert. It is a type of pastry covered in sugar and cinnamon, they are commonly eaten with hot chocolate.
In Spain the language spoken is Spanish. Spanish has been derived from the Latin language. It is known as the language of romance. Mostly everyone in Spain speaks Spanish. However, in different areas of Spain they speak different versions of Spanish. Castilian began in the northern part of Spain. Castilian has since spread throughout Spain and is the most common version spoken. The other versions are Catalan, Basque, Galician, and Araneses. These are not as common as Castilian.
One of the most unique and beautiful things about Spain is their architecture. The two most visited buildings in Spain are the Great Mosque of Cordoba and the Alhambra. Both of these buildings were built in the style of Caliphal. During the 12th century Gothic style was very popular in Spain. Gothic brought Spain the Burgos, Leon, and the Toledo. All of these buildings are cathedrals. El Escorial, Barroco Compostelano, and Churriguera are buildings all built under the Baroque style. However, each of these buildings are extremely unique and all had different approaches while being made. The last extremely important building is the Sagrada Familia. It was created during the time of Modernism.
Spain is considered to be a democratic parliamentary constitutional monarchy. This means that there is a monarch, but there also happens to be a president. The monarch is the head of the state while the president is in charge of the government. In Spain they have numerous political parties and they have free elections. The main religion in Spain is Roman Catholic. 79% of Spaniards consider themselves Roman Catholic.
In Spain schooling is required, and higher education is greatly admired. Most parents hope their child will go onto college and receive a higher education. The required schooling goes until age sixteen. Primary or elementary education begins at age five in first grade and ends around age twelve in sixth grade. Spain has no junior high or middle school. The have what they consider secondary school which is like high school. They start their secondary education at first grade and go to fourth. Most children finish their fourth year at around the age of sixteen.
The culture in Spain is based largely around their family and their religion. Food and education are extremely important to their life styles. Spending time with family and friends is higher looked for than working full time. Spain is a beautiful country with lots and lots of history. I hope someday I will have the opportunity to visit.
References:
http://www.everyculture.com/Sa-Th/Spain.html
http://www.red2000.com/spain/primer/arch.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_of_Spain
*Brecka Waugh* x
Culture, Knowledge, and Belief
Popular Culture
Popular culture (or pop culture) is the “entirety of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, images, and other phenomena that are within the mainstream of a given culture”, especially in the early to mid 20th century Western culture and the emerging global mainstream of the late 20th and early 21st century. Popular culture is heavily influenced by mass media. This collection of ideas fills the everyday lives of the people in society. The most common pop culture categories are: sports, news, politics, fashion/clothes, technology and entertainment, such as movies, music, and TV.
A seemingly contradictory source of popular culture is individualism. Urban culture has not only provided a common ground for the masses, but it has also inspired ideals of individualistic goals. An individual may choose to join in all that is “popular” for popularity’s sake; or they may choose a course of action different than the “popular” choice. At times, these individuals that chose a different path, affect popular culture by their individuality. Of course, once a unique style becomes adopted by others, it ceases to remain unique. It becomes, popular.
The term "popular culture" was though up in the 19th century or earlier. Traditionally, popular culture was associated with poor education and the lower classes, as opposed to the "official culture" and higher education of the upper classes. Pop culture is also defined as the culture that is "left over" when we have decided what high culture is. Popular culture involves the aspects of social life most actively involved in by the public. Ray Browne in his essay ‘Folklore to Populore’ offers a similar definition: “Popular culture consists of the aspects of attitudes, behaviors, beliefs, customs, and tastes that define the people of any society. Popular culture is, in the historic use of term, the culture of the people.”
In order to understand popular culture, we must first distinguish between what has been traditionally referred to as "high" and "low" culture. High Culture is linked with the elite, upper class society, those families and individuals with an ascribed status position. It is often associated with the arts such as opera, ballet and classical music, sports such as polo and lacrosse, and leisure pursuits such as hunting and shooting. Clearly, high culture is associated with a small elite in society, who, it is argued, operate a system of social closure – not allowing entry to ‘outsiders’ – therefore ensuring that high culture maintains its elite and exclusive position. Low culture is a derogatory term for some forms of popular culture that have appeal to the masses. Low culture is thought to encompass such things as gossip magazines, reality television, popular music, yellow journalism, and escapist fiction.
Following major cultural and social changes brought by mass media innovations, the meaning of popular culture began to overlap with those of mass culture, media culture, image culture, consumer culture, and culture for mass consumption. Social and cultural changes in the United States were a pioneer in this with respect to other western countries. Urbanization is a key ingredient in the formation of popular culture. People who once lived in homogeneous small villages or farms found themselves in crowded cities marked by great cultural diversity. These diverse people would come to see themselves as a ‘collectivity’ as a result of common, or popular, forms of expression.
In conclusion, pop culture is the ideas that fill the everyday lives of the people of society. This can change from day to day, but it is always what is “popular”.
RESOURCES:
“High and Low Culture.” Boundless, 10 Jul. 2015. Retrieved 14 Jul. 2015 from https://www.boundless.com/sociology/concepts/high-and-low-culture-0-5619/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Popular_culture
-Taryn Pacheco-x
Mexico
The culture of Mexico is something that interest me because my In-Laws are Mexican. It is always amazing to me how much family means to the Mexican culture. Everything they do revolves around family. Food and dancing are other cultural aspects of Mexican communities.
Mexico has multiple different cultures, depending on the location in the country, such as Northern or Southern. There they have provinces instead of states. Each province has its own distinct culture and religion preferences. My husband’s family comes from the province of Chihuahua. I have not been around many other families from different provinces, but I can tell you what has been observed from the culture of Chihuahua.
Everyone seems to gather around food, even the Americans, but the Mexicans love to prepare and serve food. There is food at every kind of event, whether it be a birthday or a baby shower, they have a full course meal. Any chance the Mexican culture can throw a party, they will have one! One big dish for the Mexican culture is tamales. Tamales are usually made of shredding red or green meat packed in corn flour and wrapped with corn husks. They are them steamed until fully cooked. I personally love tamales and would love to know the process of making them. This is usually an all day process and they never make just a few. Since it takes so long to make there is usually make multiple dozen. Tamales have been around since before Columbus came around, so they are a regular tradition for the the Mexican culture.
Another huge aspect of the Mexican culture is dancing. Mexicans love to dance and usually find any excuse to do so. I have never actually been to Mexico, so I am sure there is more dancing that goes on down there, but I have been to enough events to know how they do things. Mexicans will dance at quineañeras, weddings, and even graduation receptions. I have not quite figured out the stepping for the dancing but it is sort of like a faster two-step and they stay huddle in a huge circle and go around and around. It is very fascinating to watch and they never stop for breaks.
Religion is always a social part of every country that defines who they are as people. The religion in the United States is pretty much a free reign. Most Americans choose what religion they want to belong to and what church to attend. In Mexico the main religion is Roman Catholic. Roman Catholicism was introduced to the Mexican culture by the Spanish. When the Spanish came over to Mexico they shared their religion and the Mexicans, willingly, accepted it and the practices. In the Hispanic religion, the Virgin of Guadalupe is a very significant figure. Many Mexican homes, if not all, have a statue or picture of the Virgin of Guadalupe, which I am sure many of us have noticed in restaurants or if you have been to someones home. Another part of the Catholic religion and culture in Mexico, are the Rosary beads. These beads look like a necklace that comes to one and has a cross on the end. Some have a little flat piece, where the two strands become one, which has the Virgin of Guadalupe on it.
In Mexico, gender roles play a huge part in their daily lives. Unlike in America, the women usually stay home and attend to the housekeeping, cooking, and children while the men go work to provide for the family. If the women do work, about 35% of the population, they work in non-registered and underpaid informal activities. Educations levels for the women are usually lower than that of the men, also. I have observed this through my husband’s family. Most of the women do little jobs, like clean houses, while the men go out and make more money. While some Americans may look at that as downgrading women, it is their culture in Mexico and it was how they grew up and how their ancestors before them did things. We all get stuck in our own cultures and ways and its hard to look past. Mexico is a very interesting country and full of history. I would love to go visit someday and learn more about the culture and people.
References:
http://www.everyculture.com/Ma-Ni/Mexico.html
http://www.gourmetsleuth.com/articles/detail/tamales
Monquez Townsend
Kansas V.S North Carolina
The difference between North Carolina and Kansas. First of all I am from a city so we have a lot more stores than Kansas. North Carolina closer to the ocean so when it’s hurricane season it gets really bad. North Carolina have so many trees but Kansas barely has any. I thought I was lost when I got here. North Carolina people we talk more country, but Kansas do more country things like farming, riding horses, and everyone has a pickup. Kansas has a lot of nice and proper people, but North Carolina it’s everyone for themselves. The mall in Kansas are different. Kansas doesn’t have a lot of African American, when seen the first one I smile really hard. North Carolina everyone doesn’t speak to each other or greet but Kansas they smile, say hey how you doing, and hold doors for you. Everyone I spoke to in Kansas wrestled before but North Carolina it doesn’t get any respect.
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/knowledge
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html—
I am I, and I wish I weren’t
Hope Cochran x
Being an avid reader my entire life, I have read hundreds of books of many differing genres. Typically, I tend to be drawn to books that involve dystopian and utopian societies. When pondering the idea of social organization and control for this assignment, I instantly thought of books such as Brave New World, 1984, Fahrenheit 451, and even the Hunger Games trilogy. Although all of these books discuss social control imposed by the government, I will also delve into the concept of social control created by our own selves.
When researching the specific topic of social control, I found that the definition of social control is the regulation of individual and group behavior in an attempt to gain conformity and compliance to the rules of a given state, society or social group. Social control can then be broken down into two means: informal control and formal control. Informal control includes customs, norms, and mores. These also may include forms of shaming, ridicule, sarcasm, criticism, and exclusion to force beliefs and moral code onto other human beings. Formal control typically stems from some sort of ruler or government and can pertain to torture, murder, exile, imprisonment, and other scare tactics to convince people to avoid civil and moral disobedience.
Although I have not finished Brave New World yet, the concept of informal control by social conditioning even from birth is a key concept throughout the book. From infancy to adulthood, each class of people are conditioned to behave in the norms for their class and to despise anything other than their accepted norms. The society is comparable to a total institution as described by Erving Goffman. The disappearance of private life was evident, as it was deemed abnormal for citizens in the book to ever be alone. Our society today revolves around people constantly being in contact with one another and if someone does not attempt to do so, then they are deemed “odd.” There were planned and supervised activities day in and day out, and missing those activities also raised red flags and lead to isolation. Not drastically different than our society in America today.
Everyone has experienced some form of informal control at some point in their lives, but I believe it is more powerful and evident today with social media. As a user of Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, I personally witness shaming or criticism on a daily basis. It ranges from adolescent girls and even adult women downgrading each other for whatever reason they see fit, to mass numbers of people making derogatory comments about an obese man in a swimming suit. My generation is sadly creating a standard by shaming others into conforming to an expectation through mass media. It makes me think of a quote from the book, Brave New World by Aldous Huxley: “I am I, and I wish I weren’t.” Formal control does not tend to be much of an issue until it comes to police abuse against the African American population, but that is an essay of its own.
I hope and pray that the world never comes to the point of absolute governmental domination as it did it many of the books I previously listed, but the eerie similarities of social control between the novels and our society are undeniable. I do believe that America is becoming increasingly receptive to differing opinions and stereotypes, but there is always room for improvement.
Bibliography
Fulcher, James, and John Scott. Sociology. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford U, 2011. Print.
Huxley, Aldous. Brave New World. New York: Harper & Bros., 1946. Print.
"Social Control." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 11 July 2015. <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_control>.
Social Media or Social Control?
by Karis Sperling x
It is a question on the minds of many Americans these days, are we too controlled by our technology and our entertainment? Have our own creations become our masters? The older generation has been screaming the warning for years, and now many others are joining in the call. So many people seem to be controlled by their cell phones, social media, and the pressures of popular culture.
Girls and women watch supermodels on the runway and impose those standards on themselves. They starve themselves until they can fit this lofty artificial superwoman ideal. Boys and men watch professional athletes on TV and start taking steroids believing that this is the only way to the top. No one dares to leave the room, let alone the house, without their cell phone. This is the facet of this social media-social control that I would like to take a look at today. The idea that we as a society have allowed a form of social control to rule over us, our very own social media.
There is even a growing trend of “sleep texting” according to an article in the Huffington Post by Katherine Bindley. In her report she paints a picture of the average teenager sleeping with their trusty cell phone tucked in safe and sound next to them at night. When it goes off in the middle of the night it is just enough to stir them so they can respond, but not enough to truly wake them up. The teen wakes in the morning to find sent garbled texts they have no memory of sending.
Why do we allow ourselves to be so controlled by our own possessions? For some it is an addiction, for others a means of enabling procrastination. For some it is fear that they will miss something big. Some have come to believe that social media is their only means of connection to others. That it is easier to connect there; to be seen, heard, and accepted online than in person. The problem comes when it does not transfer to their real lives and they soon feel trapped in this online world of their own creation.
I cannot and will not argue that this strangle hold of control that our world of entertainment has on us is involuntary. In fact any person could pull the plug on this web at any moment, simple as that. Except it is anything but simple. Everywhere a person turns there it is again. Facebook invitations, email for work and school, business calls, and the friends and family that we would seldom be able to talk to without our technology. Then there is the fun of Netflix, movies, video games, and who would voluntarily give that up?
However, there must be some way to live in this world of technology and entertainment without being controlled by it. As one (ironically) online columnist argues people can and should free themselves from this self-imposed prison. Turns out people may not need these online connections as much as they seem to think. So, here is the argument of Kellia Ramares “We don’t need Facebook or any other social media platform to connect with people we know and with whom we currently associate offline… such an attitude separates people rather than connecting them.” She goes on to argue that people should break free. Go have coffee with a friend, IN PERSON. Go out and do something! She, like myself, is not arguing to walk away completely pointing out the many benefits of the online world. Just that society should find, and it may be different for each individual, a balance.
Sources:
Bindley, K. (n.d.). Sleep Texting Is On The Rise, Experts Suggest. Retrieved July 23, 2015.
Facebook: Social Connections or Social Control? (n.d.). Retrieved July 23, 2015.
Pic: http://social4ce.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/control-social-media-updates.jpg
Karly Kriss x
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—Social Identity Theory
By Tyler Rhodes—
Social identity is seen as the way we define ourselves in terms and categories we share with other people. Basically how we view ourselves in the social groups we are in. Social identity is said to be the framework for the way people socialize and behave which can also influence the way other people look at you as a person or the way you are treated by others. It is said that your social identity often can change through the course of your life, mainly throughout the teenage years when you truly try to find yourself. The teenage years are where you experiment with different hair colors, piercings, taste of music and the way they dress. It is a teenager’s first time really experimenting with individuality and finding out a place or friend group where they belong.
There tend to be many different forms of social identity such as religious, political and the biggest social identity is gender. Now a days because we are so accepting of trans-genders and other aspects of social identity, gender identity is becoming bigger and bigger. Gender identity usually starts to occur around the age of two or three, and is seen to be one’s private sense of being a man or a woman, consisting primarily of the acceptance of membership into the male or female category.
However, the social identity theory is something I find quiet interesting about social identity. Studies show that people have more pride and self-esteem when they are a part of a group. To increase self-image we tend to enhance the group we belong too, such as going from hanging out with the “nerds” to the “popular” group. Social groups are usually categorized like high school the movie Mean Girls is a perfect example of that. You have the usually jocks, the popular girls who tend to dress nice, the just group of normal kids, the nerds, the Goths. However people dress or act tend to put them in the social group they are in which isn’t a bad thing. Social groups tend to consist of the people that are like you. You don’t necessarily have to have everything in common with your social group, but you tend to have most things in common. For example the way you dress, the way you act and parts of your personality all tend to be common traits shared within social groups.
Sometimes social identity theory is what often leads to stereotypes. In-groups and out-groups become a big part of that. In-groups are the group that you as the individual belong to. The out-group is the group outside of your in-group and different from your in-group. In-groups tends to make the out-groups look negative to make themselves look better, for example like republicans and democrats, during elections one makes the other look bad to make themselves look good. But this is how it leads to stereotypes, a negative thing is said and then all people in the group are seen to have that quality or trait.
Social identity is a huge part of everyday life, its who you hangout with at school or go to the gym with or even just sit and eat ice cream with. If it was not for social identity and social groups the world would be a different place, no one would have a sense of individuality in a group and everyone would be the same. Though the teenage years are rough and awkward trying to figure out who you are, in the long run they make you out to have the social identity you do and tend to always lean towards.
http://study.com/academy/lesson/social-identity-theory-definition-and-examples.html
http://www.simplypsychology.org/social-identity-theory.html