Sociology examines how our behavior individually and in groups is influenced by social processes and what that means. In fact once you start seeing things with a sociological perspective – things will never be the same. It’s knowing how and why we do what we do that engages us with the world around us and makes us more effective agents for social change. However, sociologist C. Wright Mills describes sociology as “the intersection of biography and history?” A lot of you may wonder what he mean: well from my studying and perspectives; The reason why he say sociology is the interception of biography and history is because, Biography: happens to individuals and History: happens to society. For example, every
M3. Explain why conformity and obedience are important in the public services, with reference to research studies. Conformity and obedience are forms of social influence which strongly affect our behaviour is social situations, from following fashions and unwritten social norms which organise our behaviour, to committing immoral acts because we are commanded to by someone who appears to be in a position of authority. This essay looks at the similarities and differences between the three, looking specifically at the factors that influence each two. Conformity within a group entails members changing their attitudes and beliefs in order to match those of others within the group.
For example, in the south, Jim Crow laws prevented blacks from marrying whites. Also, black literacy rates were low in the south because they were not offered the same educational opportunities as whites; states spent ten times more money on white schools than black schools. Also, blacks were expected to address white men as ‘master’ or ‘sir’ whilst being referred to as ‘boy’ themselves. They faced both de facto and de jure discrimination in the south. Also, black housing was significantly worse than white housing – 40% of black housing was substandard whilst only 12% of white housing was.
Krieken, R. et al. 2014, p. 205 defines class as referring to a “social group, defined in terms of its economic position in a hierarchy of inequality and with material interests that differentiate it from other classes.” This essay will set out to explain how sociology helps to understand class, and how the theories of Marx and Weber have influenced the basis for most modern sociological theories of class. Social class is a concept that has been argued about for hundreds of years. According to the Business Dictionary social class can be defined as “a status hierarchy in which individuals and groups are classified on the basis of esteem and prestige acquired mainly through economic success and accumulation of wealth. Social class may also refer to any particular level in such a hierarchy.” Sociologists have given a threefold classification of classes which consists of upper class, middle class and working class.
Marx believed that societies grew and changed due to struggles of different social classes. Durkheim believed in studying the “social facts,” which would help determine if a society was healthy or pathological. Weber’s focus on the structure of society included the elements of class, status and power. Each sociologist had a great influence in the field of sociology, but took different approaches to studying societies. Sociology enables us to understand how society functions and under which circumstances.
In sociological terms, however, individual career development is also a product of the constraints on and barriers to choices that individuals might prefer to make. Such constraints can occur because of limitations on individual choice that arise from political conditions or from economic circumstances. Sociological effects on choice also can be seen in family and cultural influences. Families with differing educational and socioeconomic backgrounds tend to reinforce different educational and occupational goals and belief systems related to career choice. Nations and cultural groups also differ in how particular types of education, work, or family roles are valued, and these perceptions tend to be internalized by group members and reflected in their choices.
Brian Partee SOCY2000-Ethnic Minorities in the U.S. Dr. Bram Hamovitch 5/4/2009 3. Race as a Class Herbert J. Gans in “Race as a Class” explains how the human population as a whole is considered one race by sociologists and most biologists, but subsequently, different races were socially constructed based on skin color and social class beginning during the colonization period. Certain white ethnics were initially seen as inferior to whites but were eventually accepted as whites as they became more financially successful and moved up the social hierarchy, while blacks tended to seemingly be trapped toward the bottom of the ladder in terms of social structure, education, and financial freedom. However, the color barrier can be
A great number of communities in the 1930’s were constructed by a social class system. The class system ranks citizens of a community according to wealth, appearance, skin color, reputation, etc. It denies the lower class the same opportunities as the higher-class. The class system also does not let the lower class move up in the system. The class system is commonly found in the South because of its history with African-Americans.
These big ideas can be categorized under social thinking, social influence, or social relations. The idea that we construct our social reality falls under social thinking, it describes the natural human urge to explain behavior, by attempting to attribute it to a cause, in order to make it seem orderly, predictable, and controllable (Myers, 2010). According to social psychology our social intuitions are powerful and sometimes perilous, suggesting that the human ability to understand something immediately, molds or influences behavior because it also shapes fears, attitudes, impressions, and relationships (Myers, 2010). It is also believed that social influences shape behavior as does behavior shape social influences. Myers (2010) provides an example as to how behavior is shaped by social influences making humans social creatures, “We speak and think in words we learned from others (Social psychology, p. 7).
Lynley Price Professor Burke GSWS 201 March 7, 2014 Being White Privileged As Wayne Dyer, an American self-help writer and motivational speaker, once said, “judgments prevent us from seeing the good that lies beyond appearances” (Racism Quotes and Sayings 1). I have never been a big fan of racism, putting down, or even judging others based on their ethnicity. Some of my best friends are of different ethnicities, so while writing this paper, as a white woman, I was thinking a lot about how I benefit from “white privilege”. “White privilege” refers to a set of societal privileges that white people benefit from beyond those commonly experienced by people of color in the same social, political, or economic spaces (White Privilege 1). A key element of white privilege is simply not having to think about race, not having to think about my color and how people are going to respond to me