Modern Social Thought - Essay Example

 Modern Social Thought 1. In what ways might a sociological imagination influence how you seek to understand this situation? First of all, Nadia has originated clearly from a traditional, religious family where arranged marriages are protocol and women are afforded few choices about their own lives and situations. Nadia is paired with Aarif who becomes exposed to illegal drugs and is therefore unable to care for or provide for his family. Nadia is first and foremost a mother and sees the need to eventually divorce Aarif whom she probably never loved to begin with and who has begun to take food and money away from his family. Nadia’s choice is in the best interest of her children but her decision is frowned upon by her own parents thus ostracizing her from her parents and relatives. Even though Aarif, Nadia’s husband, left her and her children homeless due to his drug habit, Nadia gets no sympathy from her relatives. Nadia is seemingly encountering social exclusion due to her going against the traditions of her Muslim upbringing even though it is for necessary purposes. Nadia’s circumstances can be said to be a function of family dynamics, social dynamics and cultural dynamics. All three of these aspects are unfortunately working against her in her attempt to raise and care for her children in the presence of a patriarchal upbringing and religion. When studying Nadia’s situation from a modern social theory, one can utilize Marxism as a guidelines for better comprehension, “Karl Marx is a central figure in a broader theoretical fraction: modern social theory”(Antonia, 2003). The first point which should be made concerning the facts surrounding Nadia’s life, is that each event and circumstance which has been described in the case study as taking place in Nadia’s life, is actually impacting her place in society as well as her personal feelings and her ability to cope and respond to stressors, “Social practices are not reflecting natural differences with these diacritical marks of gender. They are weaving a structure of symbol and interpretation around them and often vastly exaggerating or distorting them”(Connell, 1987). As a woman, Nadia is at a further disadvantage because of her patriarchal family. 2. Outline sociological theories and perspectives you consider relevant in understanding some of the social relations and processes in this situation. Nadia is living in the Westernized country of the U.K. where among certain groups, arranged marriage is still the ‘norm’ (Giddens, 2006). Nadia is seeing the westerners around her who have entered into marriage by choice but then take their commitment lightly and comparatively, Nadia is in an arranged marriage that she must escape for the sake of her children while experiencing social rejection from her relatives. It is the belief of Nadia’s relatives and community that “love comes from within the marriage” hence an attempt to justify arranged marriages continues to be made within smaller social circles motivated by religious rationale. (Giddens, 2006). Nadia’s son Mohamed has experienced losing his father in a sense to drug abuse and then becoming homeless with his mother and sister. Mohamed is most likely going to attempt to find a means of fitting in or a means of dealing with his family issues. Teen socialization practices that deal with certain levels of gang activity or small group dynamics may lend insight into why Mohamed has gravitated towards a group of youth seeking a form of knowledge at a local book store. It is here that Mohamed finds a radical embrace of the Muslim faith that provides him with acceptable and logical answers as to why his family has fallen apart. He feels, through his new knowledge and influences, that his family has not embraced the teachings of Islam and therefore has suffered accordingly. (Boyd, 2008). In most social theories surrounding heroin addiction, a life immersed in poverty and poor family dynamics usually can be attributed to involvement in drugs leading to destructive addictions. Aarif’s addiction to heroine is not surprising based on several different things; those who become addicted or feel the need to use drugs are often unhappy in one or many ways. Aarif was forced into a marriage where he quickly became a father and a provider. These assignments were just that, assignments and not choices. 3. Identify some ways in which sociological insights identified in a and b could be applied to address the actual and potential problems in this situation: In order to suggest practical social applications for Nadia’s situation, it is important to thoroughly look at each issue which has presented as a problem or a factor each contributing to her specific situation. Nadia is dealing with a series of events from an arranged marriage, followed by a husband who became a drug addict, homelessness after a financial betrayal from Aarif, social exclusion from her own relatives, a son who is gravitating towards a possibly dangerous gang or at the very least a bad influence and finally and social stereotyping when police arrive at Nadia’s door to tell her that her son is involved with the ‘wrong sort of Muslims who may be terrorists‘. To begin with, Nadia is at a disadvantage simply because she is a woman and due to the religious beliefs surrounding her upbringing and her marriage, she is treated less like a person and more like an object or possession. Nadia however is brave and regardless of the fact that she knows that her decision to divorce Aarif will result in her shunning, she does so anyway in order to begin a better life for her children. Luckily, Nadia is in the U.K. where receiving a divorce is not as difficult as it would be for women in other parts of the world. In this sense, Nadia is lucky to be in a society that will not inhibit her necessary choice to divorce Aarif. The aspect of Aarif’s drug abuse however, is somewhat contradictive to the other events involving the situation. Had Aarif been in another part of the world, he could have been killed for his drug use or the subject of much social out casting. Instead, he is in the U.K. where he will most likely be able to receive treatment and rehabilitation for his addiction. This does not change the fact that his addiction and series of bad decision making have ruined his family life, but this is still perhaps the best possible outcome as the marriage was arranged and not very promising to begin with. Interestingly, had Nadia been in a country which operated almost solely on the principles of Muslim, and had she been in good standing with the Muslim community around her, she would have never fallen victim to homelessness. Her Muslim community would have taken her in and cared for her and her children, again, as long as she and her children were above reproach in the eyes of their Muslim peers. Being in a Westernized country such as the U.K., she was easily able to ascertain a divorce but was also victim to the fact that the U.K. like other large, westernized countries, is plagued with homelessness and people only one late payment away from such conditions. Whether in the U.K. or in her native country of Bangladesh, Nadia was certain to face social exclusion from her family and peers for her decision to divorce. Sadly, there is not much acceptance for divorce among religions based on patriarchal ideology. Nadia is not only under a great deal of pressure to survive but is also under a great deal of cultural pressure as she is apart of a culture with very outdated practices such as arranged marriage. Furthermore, marriage is difficult enough as it is without being made to enter into with someone who you are not familiar with. Nadia may even be at risk for depression or even suicide, as she is having to deal with normal stressors plus additional ones, “common sense hold that because marriage increases in difficulty, it also increases the suicide rate”(Morrison, 1995). The best thing for Nadia to do in this situation is to rebuild her life and her children’s life by procuring suitable work in order to provide an income for herself and her children. She should also be cautious as to what types of fundamentalist groups her son is gravitating toward in his hopes to overcompensate for lack of a father and lack of supportive relatives. Finally, Nadia has ample opportunity to rebuild and renew her life in a westernized country where her unfortunate circumstances san be much more easily remedied than if she were in a more patriarchal society such as her native land. Nadia will need to understand specifically, in the case of Mohamed, there is an inherent need to “fit in” or be accepted. Nadia may want to avoid reprimanding Mohamed’s choices to spend time with this new group in hopes of detouring him from forming allegiance to a fundamental group that can poorly influence her son. Works Cited: Antonio, R.J. Cohen, Ira. (2003) “Marx and modernity”, Blackwell Publications, London Boyd, Danah. (2008) “Teen Socialization Practices”, retrieved from website at: http://www.danah.org/papers/talks/MacArthur2008.html Connell, R. (1987) “Gender and Power: Society, the person and sexual politics”, Stanford University Press,, Ca. Craib, Ian. (1997) “Classical Social Theory”, Oxford University Press, London Giddens, Anthony. (2006) “Sociology; 5th edition”, Simon Griffiths, London Harrington. Austen. (2005) “Modern social theory”, Oxford University Press, London Morrison, Ken. (1995) “Formation of modern social thought” Webb, Jennifer. Schirato, Tony. Danaher, Geoff. (2002), “Understanding Boardieu”, Allen and Unwin Publications Read More