The Way Individuals View Society - Research Paper Example

? Sociology Chapter 2-5 Questions The five questions contained in this assignment pertain to the way individuals view society. By discussing such issues as micro and macro sociological theory, hidden culture, bureaucracies, ethnocentrism, and cultural relativism, individuals can begin to better related to those around us. Society is complex, dynamic, and constantly changing. It is important to consider these changes with a careful eye. While it is good and proper to develop individual core values that guide ones actions, it is also important to gain an understanding appreciation of other people groups and cultures in an attempt to live more in harmony with one another. That is the aim of the responses contained in these pages. Sociology Chapter 2-5 Questions Chapter 2, Page 63, Question 1 Do you favor Ethnocentrism or cultural relativism? Explain your position. It is interesting to hear how each society or culture truly believe that they are the ‘best’ civilization that the world has to offer. Whether an individual exhibits ethnocentrism or cultural relativism, the reality is that everyone wants to think that their way of thinking is correct. This can be seen a religious person or an athlete who believes they have just scored the perfect ‘10’. It is helpful, first, to consider what ethnocentrism means in this regard in an effort to determine what are the key ways that individuals think and act about their own society. At ethnocentric person will believe that their culture is superior to any other (Henslin, 2012). Some cultures will see others as primitive, or backwards in their thinking. The reality, however, is that individual cultures can rarely be truly be viewed as ‘wrong’. Instead, they are different. They exhibit different values, beliefs, and ways of carrying out everyday life. This does make them any better or inferior to another. It simply makes them ‘different’, which is a good aspect of life. If we are all the same, it would be a pretty boring civilization that we live in. For this reason, I favor cultural relativism. This discounts the notion that any once culture is better than another and advocates more of an understanding approach to each and every society that is encountered. A cultural relativist does not have to accept the values and beliefs of another culture and try to integrate into their own way of thinking, but they certainly make an effort to understand the actions that are taking place and the basis by which people perform those actions (Brown, 2008). In essence, whether than viewing another culture as ‘wrong’, a cultural relativist truly just sees them as different, and they embrace those differences and consider them to be a valuable part of living in a global society (Fleischacker, 2011). Chapter 3, Page 91, Question 1 What two agents of socialization have influenced you the most? Can you pinpoint their influence on your attitudes, beliefs, values, or other orientations to life? Simply put, agents of socialization are the various forces in our community that influence our core values and beliefs the most (Henslin, 2012). I would have to say that the two particular agents that have influenced me the most to this point in my life are my peer groups and mass media. While other agents of socialization, such as family, community, religion, school, and a my professional work environment are certainly influencing factors as well, my peer groups and media around me have served to shape many of the core values that are reflected in my everyday thought processes and actions. My peers are a strong influence on my life because I choose to be ‘one of them’ As is the case with most, people I tend to socialize with others that have like interests, behave similarly to me, and espouse roughly the same values and morals that I do. In my case, my peers are now a stronger influence on my life than my family, even though I still highly respect the teachings of my parents and other members of my extended family. I can pinpoint the influence that my peers have on my attitudes and beliefs in terms of the reality that I spend so much of time with them. As my peers changes their own values and core beliefs, usually as a result of maturity through the years, I find that I myself begin to do the same. We live in a fluid society that contains many agents of socialization, the primary of which seems to me to be those closest in age and mindset to our own (Fisherman, 2011). Peer groups fit this bill. A second influencing factor on my life rests in mass media. I cannot escape the influence of media, as it is all around me. The news seems to have its own slant on local, national, and world affairs. While we must take this with a grain of salt and do our own research, we cannot escape the reality that the society in which we live is largely a product of the media. As we watch movies and television shows, for example, we find ourselves emulating the lives of those characters that we view. We long to be like them, or we desire to have a brief respite for our own life and become more like those of others that are portrayed in the mass media. This is perfectly natural, yet it is a bit frightening to consider how much we truly are influenced by the simple words and actions of those we have never met in various forms perpetuated in the mass media. Chapter 4, Page 12, Question 3 To illustrate why we need both macro sociology and micro sociology to understand social life, analyze the situation of a student getting kicked out of college. It is important to first understand what the components of both macro and micro sociology are in the first place. According to Henslin (2012), sociological theories at the macro level view large-scale patterns of society. It other words, it is meant to look at and evaluate the big picture as it relates to social structure. This would be like the helicopter pilot or skydiver who views the community below from them from 10,000 feet or more in the air. By contrast, sociological theories at the micro level narrow the focus down to how individual interact with and behave around others. In other words, consider that same skydiver now being at the ground level viewing the immediate surroundings around them (Henslin, 2012). To consider this topic further, consider a college student who suddenly gets kicked out of school. At the micro level, they have immediate concerns about what the next stage of life holds for them. Do they have any job prospects? Where are they going to live? What are they going to do for money in the near term? These are also issues that affect the individual at the micro level because they are the very areas where social interaction and subsequent behavior take place. At the macro level, however, they may begin to look at the big picture of society. Perhaps this even will be the wake up that is needed for the individual to take time to reflect on the longevity of life and to seek out ways that they can be more productive members of society. Some of the questions the person might be prone to asking at this stage are: What is my purpose in life? How can I get my life back on track and what steps do I need to take be proactive in doing so? What has got me to this point? In other words, macro sociology requires the person take the event of getting kicked out of college and looking at in the grand scheme of things to determine what place they will ultimately have in society. Chapter 5, Page 151, Question 1 Identify your in-groups and your out-groups. How have your in-groups influenced the way you see the world? What influence have your out-groups had on you? My in-groups involve my close acquaintances and friends, family, and those that I work with. In addition, I am in a few community and civic organizations that comprise my in-group. My out-groups include those that are of a completely different faith than my own, individuals who have values opposite from mine, and others who simply do not express an interest in what I enjoy doing. Interestingly enough, I am still drawn to my out-groups out of a desire to expand my horizons. Simply because I am not interested in something now does not mean that I should not try to at least understand it and look for ways to get more involved in society. Until I reach that point, however, my in-groups are still the individuals largely responsible for the way I see the world. I do see society through a narrow lens simply because so much of time is spent with those in my ‘in-group’. Since they share my same core values, I adapt to their way of thinking and end up viewing the world in that manner as well. In the end, in-groups will likely continue to influence the way I view the world to a large degree, but I sincerely hope that I begin to expand my horizons by looking towards out-groups to gain a deeper and profound appreciation of the global community. Chapter 5, Page 151, Question 1 You are likely to work for a bureaucracy. How do you think that this will affect your orientations to life? How can you make the ‘hidden’ culture work to your advantage? Is it true that so many individuals in society work for a bureaucracy that I am likely to as well. It is helpful to first understand what exactly a bureaucratic organization entails. Such a concept is typically used to refer to any entity that has certain operational procedures in place that are quite rigid and set in place. Such organizations are often reluctant to implement radical change, and when they do change, the pace at which they do so is unusually and frustratingly slow (Henslin, 2012). As a consequence, a hidden culture emerges inside the organization that can certainly be used to my advantage. A hidden culture is, just as its name implies, a culture within a culture. It is a different way do doing things that allows individuals to bear the strict guidelines placed on them in such a way that is more manageable. One of the common criticisms of a bureaucracy is that the rules and policies make it nearly encompass to navigate. By getting involved in the hidden culture at play, however, an individual can being to get around the rigidness of everyday life and find ways to get things done at a more manageable pace that encourages change and benefits society. References Brown, M. (2008). Cultural relativism 2.0. Current Antrhopopology, 49(3), 363-383. Fisherman, S. (2011). Socialiization agents. Religious Education, 106(3), 272-298. Fleischacker, S. (2011). Adam smith and cultural relativism. Erasmus Journal for Philosophy and Economics, 4(2), 20-41. Henslin, J. (2012). Essentials of sociology: A down to earth approach (10th ed). Pearson: New York. Read More