Our identity is a product of various elements and is shaped by our choices and individual experiences. Thus, the major impact of the paramount surrounding world and the craving for an answer to life’s unknown question of “Who am I?” places us in a constant evolutionary position. We are forced as individuals living in a hegemonic society, to conform into the dominant group’s standards. In some way, we develop an inauthentic mask so as to follow the norms and hide and disguise defeated attempts to assimilate. We witness the main character, through the expressive use of symbolism, attempting to assimilate and connect with a world that continually rejects him, being isolated by the whites and alienated from the blacks.
Belonging is a multi-faceted concept that manifests itself as an intrinsic necessity within the human experience, as palpable within Maslow’s Hierarchy of Inner Needs. Ultimately, however, perceptions and ideas of belonging and not belonging vary and culminate to be lucidly imparted within Sally Morgan’s “My Place” in which an articulation of both collective enfranchisement and personal estrangement bolsters the above notion and explicitly typifies the multihued nature of belonging and not-belonging that pervades within the paradigms of cultural, societal and familial microcosms, essentially defining one’s identity. These notions are further enhanced by the respective composers via a multiplicity of visual and literary elemental constructs including visual imagery, metaphoric language and symbolism. Sally Morgan’s “My Place” is an anecdotal and introspective autobiography that unquestionably represents the concept of belonging that pervades principally within the various microcosms of the protagonist Sally Morgan, as conveyed via the epigraph, “how deprived we would have been if we had been willing to let things stay as they were…we would never had known our place”, communicating Sally’s struggle and ultimate success within her belonging experience. Explicitly, however, My Place explicates values and perspectives pertinent to the paradigms of familial, societal and cultural spheres which permeate belonging and not belonging, and parallel to Romulus, My Father, further extends to demarcate the catalyzing implications of exogenous and endogenous forces upon an individuals belonging experience within the aforementioned domains.
A cause for contention can arise, when the assumptions that dictate acceptance into a community come into conflict with a character’s integrity and values. In ‘The Crucible’, Miller depicts a society amongst which “A
Corruption makes the poor poorer. In terms of social impact, corruption causes the rich to become richer and the poor to become poorer as a general trend. This causes an increase in social divisions and conflict between the socioeconomic groups. Corruption also causes division among various ethnic groups as people become bitter, suspicious, jealous and distrusting. 2.
On top of that, the tension that grows after discovering that one could have a higher standard of living than what they currently have, sometimes results in an act of rebellion or even violence. The more intense the feeling of deprivation, the more intense the act of violence. However, relative deprivation is only a perception. For example, one perspective may view an individual as working class, while the individual themselves may think they are living in extreme poverty. Perhaps a huge catalyst that allowed Barrington Moore’s classical model to progress was relative deprivation.
Bernstein’s early work comes close with being a ‘cultural deficit’ model. Although Bernstein is sometimes accused of claims he never actually made, his early writings do seem to make a negative judgement on the ‘restricted code’. Murray from the New Right perspective has more recently pursued the theme of the development of an underclass culture. The poorest stratum in society have a distinct set of values which stem from high rates of illegitimacy, single parenthood, welfare dependency, poor socialisation of children. This cultural deprivation which Murray controversially links to lower IQ levels, is seen as creating a group of pupils who are fundamentally alienated from the education system.
Craig Silvey has represented prejudice to be a major problem in Corrigan in the novel Jasper Jones. In Corrigan Jeffery and Jasper are the main targets of prejudice in the Corrigan community. Jasper Jones is an outcast in Corrigan because he is a half-caste, “they think I’m just
A sense of belonging can be temporary. Levels of acceptance can vary as individuals move from one stage of their life to another. This can generate insecurity and cause a group to which a person belonged to cease and create isolation. Circumstances can enforce involuntary obedience to a group ideology or behaviour. This unwilling compliance can cause many moral dilemmas.
Analyse the potential effects of barriers to equality and inclusion in own area of responsibility. The potential barriers that exist - critical reflection the cycle of oppression learned helplessness dis empowerment, diminished life chance social exclusion being marginalised poor interpersonal interactions and communication risk assessments and case for action new organisational structures and systems lack of group cohesiveness differing personalities the media; prejudice implication of non compliance e.g. financial, legal, moral, health LEARNED HELPLESSNESS Definition: a condition in which one becomes unable to help oneself due to previous failed attempts at controlling ones life; also a condition in which a person establishes and maintains contact with another by adopting a helpless, powerless stance. e.g. learned helplessness is controlled behaviour in which an
Who we are is defined by the social networks and communities to which we belong. When asked to define ourselves, we reply by talking about our relationships to people and places as members of nations, ethnic groups or neighbourhoods. Through membership within these groups we make statements about the kinds of people, beliefs and values that we want to be associated with and, ultimately, the kinds of people we are. Developing a sense of belonging is an important ongoing process that involves membership in or exclusion from, a wide variety of different groups during the