Free Essays on Sociology

Sociology is the scientific study of human social activity. In the effort to study human social activity sociologists break it down into objects of analysis. Sociological Theories One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people’s level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and dominated because she is not welcome there because of her wealth standards,... Free Essays on Sociology Free Essays on Sociology Sociology The functionalist perspective is a very important part of sociology. Founded by Emile Durkheim, functionalism is thought of as, â€Å"society as a living organism in which each part of the organism contributes to its survival† (Schaefer, pg. 10). Another way to understand functionalism is to look at some of the simple ways and ideas of the theory. One of the ways to see functionalism is to understand that this theory of sociology looks at facts overtime or certain things in society like crime, sports, race, etc. and examines what the world would be like if one of these aspects were to disappear. Functionalism deals with slow change, progress, and the social equilibrium. Emile Durkheim, the founder of functionalism, was born in 1858 and was the son of a rabbi. Durkheim studied in both France and Germany, in which later in his life became the first French professor of sociology. The most well known work of Durkheim was done around 1897 and dealt with suicide and society, which resulted in his book Suicide. The book looked at suicide in society and stated that society was the main factor of people committing suicide. Some of Durkheim’s research involved looking at facts like why men were more likely to commit suicide, why soldiers were more likely then citizens, or single people more likely then married people. Durkheim asked questions like, why do some people kill themselves and others don’t? Durkheim came up with two different types of suicide, altrustic and anomic. Altrustic is giving up your life for something that you believe in. An example would be a soldier fighting for his country or the way that Jesus gave up his life fo r mankind. Another example would be a cult. Altrustic suicide is any suicide that a person would commit out of the act of love. Anomic is different from altrustic because these people that commit suicide feel disconnected with society and feel that killing themselves is the only... Free Essays on Sociology Sociology is a social science that makes sense of human behavior and human nature by looking at societies and social relationships (Curra 56). There are many different ways to look at sociology; we can look at human behavior in its habitat or human behavior with other humans. We are social beings in the society we live in, we follow social meanings, and we are social actors which change our realities of everyday life. Social meaning is a product which is assigned by members of a group. People make what we know to be meaning. Meaning doesn’t exist out there by itself; we as a group of people give things meaning. Would we as babies know what is right and wrong? No, we are taught those things as we age. Also there are different meanings to things in different societies. If we go to the east people sit on the floor, but in the west it wouldn’t be considered appropriate. This is because meanings have more then one way of looking at it; the people who give the meaning may have different views. This is very significant because we as people don’t understand these rules have not existed out there, they were created by us. We follow these rules because we live in civilization where these meanings have been created. A child like Isabelle, who was discovered in November 1938, she was, isolated most of her life. She was forced to live in isolation because of the embarrassment it caused her grandparents. Isabelle spent most of her time with her mother, who was deaf and mute. So this means Isabelle didn’t get a chance to hear or talk to anyone. Therefore she didn’t learn how to communicate. But, when she did communicate it was a form of body expressions. When she was discovered she acted like a wild person, because she feared them. When she was discovered her caretakers started to acquaint her with the social world. This would involve her to learn the rules of society, which she had no clue of before because of the isolation. This sh... Free Essays on Sociology During this semester, we have covered many articles. After reading â€Å"The code of the streets†, by Elijah Anderson, I realized what the inner city is really about. Anderson’s views on the code of the streets were strictly about how to survive as far as protecting your self and providing for your self. He breaks it down into two groups and then compares the two groups how society views us African Americans. The two groups were the â€Å"decent† and â€Å"street’ families. The decent families have an average job, take care of their family and are some what educated. Many of them go to church and play a major part in their children’s schooling. They teach their children no to get involved in violence and they are strict. On the other hand, the street families are the total opposite. They are drug users and they are prone to violence. Anderson shows that some of the reasons for a lot of these problems originate from their environment. If y ou grow up or live around a drug infested neighborhood, then most likely you will result to drugs. In the community, due to lack of jobs, and employment discrimination, a lot of people turn to violence and Anderson is trying to let mainstream know that they need to know the code of the streets. Another article we read was William Julius Wilson’s article, â€Å"When work disappears†. Wilson talks about how the employment woes. Jobs are widely available, but due to race and lack of individual initiative, jobs are limited. Jobbing is so ridiculous, that adults in many inner city neighborhoods are not working in a typical week. â€Å"Joblessness triggers other neighborhood problems that undermine social organization, ranging from crime, gang violence, and drug trafficking to family breakups†, says Wilson. It seems that you can’t get a job because of your race or your background. People are so fed up with it, they move out but that causes problems for other residents. When a lot of peo... Free Essays on Sociology Sociology is the scientific study of human social activity. In the effort to study human social activity sociologists break it down into objects of analysis. Sociological Theories One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people’s level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and dominated because she is not welcome there because of her wealth standards,... Free Essays on Sociology Voting today has turned into a big conflict. Between trying to get the young people to vote, and all the absentee ballots that certain states are having. I certainly do believe that voting is important to do at a young age, or at any age. For the youth of the nation to vote, the leaders of today are going to need to get out there and pressure them to vote. There are many problems today that arise with voting and the young voting. I believe that if I could understand everything a little bit better than I would be more likely to vote. Many problems arise today with voting itself. First of all when the youth look at the ballots today they don’t understand what they are voting for and what to already know. From this I believe that is where all our absentee ballots are coming from. The leaders of today need to get out there and explain to the youth what exactly they are voting for and what they need to know to vote today. Instead of just telling them to vote, they need to explain this in a =n easy and understanding way. Explain what the amendments are for, and who they should vote for in congress and the supreme court as well. The youth today doesn’t get into to voting for two good reasons. First of all, they aren’t shown any reason to vote seeing that the leaders of today don’t get out there and bring themselves down to our level. The second reason is that they don’t understand what’s on the ballots in the first place. If the people running would bring themselves to a concert or a sports game and talked to the young, they would become more appealing. Also they need to sit down and find ways for the young to understand what exactly they are voting for. They need to explain what each amendment is for and who each of the people on congress and the supreme court are. Also the sheriffs also need to reach out to the youth also. When I look at voting myself, these are all the reasons I might not have wanted to vote. Not very man... Free Essays on Sociology Sociology is a sense of human behavior and human nature by looking at societies and social relationships. There are many different ways to look at sociology; we can look at human behavior in its habitat or human behavior with other humans. We are social beings in the society we live in, we follow social meanings, and we are social actors which change our realities of everyday life. Social meaning is a product of which is assigned by members of a group. People make what we know what is meaning. Meaning doesn’t exist out there by itself; we as a group of people give things meaning. Would we as babies know what is right and wrong, no we are taught those things as we age. Also there are different meanings in different societies. If we go to the east people sit on the floor, but in the west it wouldn’t be considered appropriate. This is because meanings have more then one way of looking at it; people who give the meaning may have different views. This is very significant because we as people don’t understand these rules have not existed out there, they were created by us. We follow these rules because we live in this society where these meanings have been created. A child like Isabelle, who was discovered in November 1938, she was, isolated most of her life. She was forced to live in isolations because of the embarrassment it caused her grandparents. Isabelle spent most of her time with her mother, who was deaf and mute. So this means Isabelle didn’t get a chance to hear or talk to anyone. Therefore she didn’t learn how to communicate. But, when she did communicate it was a form of body expressions. When she was discovered she acted like a wild person, because she feared them. When she was discovered her caretakers started to acquaint her with the social world. This would involve her learning the meanings of the social society, which she had no clue of before because of the isolation. This shows how humans are trained to ac... Free Essays on Sociology The Ego And Rational Thought The seemingly paradoxical roles of ego and rational thought can be seen as both opposing functions, and complementary functions, both ultimately of equal importance, and both necessary for the formation of a balanced human being. The ego can be seen as the primal garden. It contains within it the seeds for rational thought and the grounds from which rational thought may proceed. Rational thought itself, therefore, is the fruit born of ego. Only after the ego has brought forth the existence of rational thought can the next process occur - the formation of the concept of self-realization. Although identifying the motivational force behind behavior has been micro-philosophized for thousands of years, with various schools of philosophy arguing about what, exactly, motivates the human being to action - egoism to please self, or altruism to please others being primary arguments - the actual underlying motivation for ethical conduct continues to be the same motivation observed by the Ancients. Aristotle observed that love begets love, that the good coming from a person begins first with a core of self-love which is then extended outward. Intertwined within all of the actions, he observed, is a desired state of happiness as opposed to a state of pain. In acting virtuously, one experiences a sense of happiness. Although the term egoism has developed distasteful flavors over the centuries, ego remains the primal garden that can then be tended by the conscious thought. Ego, even in its most primitive stage, knows well the opposing concepts of pain and pleasure. They are simple concepts to understand. Like a finely balanced scale with neither tray holding a disproportionate share of motivational fuel, the ego provides first a form of science of in which it perceives a need to preserve itself. It provides functions and maneuvers that are not necessarily in need of conscious thought. After this stage, the r... Free Essays on Sociology The information learned in this class has helped me a lot, and probably will continue to help me throughout my life. I learned a lot of things.  · about cultural diversity, and that people of the Arapesh are gentle, warm, receptive, non-aggressive, contended, and trusting people  · again about cultural diversity, the Mundugumor are an aggressive group of people, men and women are violent, competitive, and jealous.  · a lot about subcultures, there is a subculture called â€Å"straight-edge† that condone a sex, drug, and alcohol free lifestyle  · in comparison to subculture, a counterculture is something that goes against regular culture (for example, anarchists and punks)  · each society and culture creates its own mores, values, norms, traditions, and taboos, and the rules for â€Å"breaking† those  · about socialization and the effects of isolation (Anna, Isabelle, and Genie from Ch. 5)  · parental characteristics such as level of education, religious orientation, economic status, cultural heritage and occupational background can influence a child’s personality  · many of our aptitudes result from inherited qualities or from a combination of hereditary and environment  · that adolescence is a group on its own, in the social level due to working laws, education, and the juvenile justice system  · a lot about social stratification (the ranking of individuals or categories of people on the basis of unequal access to scarce resources and social rewards) and the effect it has on prejudism, racism, ageism, and sexism  · when I was studying for a test a few chapters ago, I learned a lot about the social structures and characteristics of animals, with help from my sister. Kait is a Vegan, and was explaining to me who a â€Å"chicken farm† works. The average wingspan of a chicken is 32 inches, but they are kept in cages that are only 16 inches, often times several are put into one cage, as many as physics will allow. Since they ... Free Essays on Sociology Sociology is a sense of human behavior and human nature by looking at societies and social relationships. There are many different ways to look at sociology; we can look at human behavior in its habitat or human behavior with other humans. We are social beings in the society we live in, we follow social meanings, and we are social actors which change our realities of everyday life. Social meaning is a product of which is assigned by members of a group. People make what we know what is meaning. Meaning doesn’t exist out there by itself; we as a group of people give things meaning. Would we as babies know what is right and wrong, no we are taught those things as we age. Also there are different meanings in different societies. If we go to the east people sit on the floor, but in the west it wouldn’t be considered appropriate. This is because meanings have more then one way of looking at it; people who give the meaning may have different views. This is very significant because we as people don’t understand these rules have not existed out there, they were created by us. We follow these rules because we live in this society where these meanings have been created. A child like Isabelle, who was discovered in November 1938, she was, isolated most of her life. She was forced to live in isolations because of the embarrassment it caused her grandparents. Isabelle spent most of her time with her mother, who was deaf and mute. So this means Isabelle didn’t get a chance to hear or talk to anyone. Therefore she didn’t learn how to communicate. But, when she did communicate it was a form of body expressions. When she was discovered she acted like a wild person, because she feared them. When she was discovered her caretakers started to acquaint her with the social world. This would involve her learning the meanings of the social society, which she had no clue of before because of the isolation. This shows how humans are trained to ac...