Control And Its Effects On The Choices People And Individuals Make

Consumer culture today is thriving – but not necessarily in a good way. As consumer culture thrives, we have desires for products and services. Consumer spending is a major part of a country’s/world’s economy and that makes the economy strong but the aftermath is an unsustainable lifestyle. Although, Wall-E didn’t indicate exactly what caused consumers to destroy the planet and then flee for the sake of human survival, there are many guesses that can be made as to how it happened. One of the major points made in class during week eight was the fact that the world is becoming overpopulated. This major issue can possibly be

The first way we got a jump start was through the article summary assignments based on articles pertaining to contemporary culture. In all honesty, some of them did cause me to look at things with eyes I had not used before. One article in particular that sticks out in my mind, is Stuff is Not Salvation, by Anna Quindlen. Through her use of Ethos, she really brings to light how Americans have this ridiculous obsession with buying stuff. She notes how we are trying to use junk to make ourselves happier, but in the end, as Anna puts it, “The happiest families I know aren’t the ones with the most square footage” (Qtd in Perspectives pg 503). Before reviewing this article, I considered myself someone who didn’t necessarily NEED stuff, but as the assignment went on, I realized how bad it really has gotten for us as a society.

In this essay I will be outlining consumerism and claims that a consumer society is always a throw-away society. Consumption plays a big part in our lives and causes us to live in divided societies. It may make us feel like we fit in buying new gadgets and clothes and also give us that sense of belonging but we don’t take into account what happens to the old items and packaging. People do not want to look at the problems caused. I will use this essay with the evidence I have read

Consumer spending contributes to roughly 68.8% of the United States economy with Americans spending about $1.2 trillion annually on non essential goods (Mark Whitehouse). Citizens throw buckets of money into the U.S. economy with little thought because Americans qualify as compulsive shoppers. They constantly crave the newest edition, the most luxurious items, and every specific product that crosses their mind. American society smiles upon their poor habit of excessive spending even though the principal issues involved in this argument are those that should hold much concern to American society. Children also absorb the poor spending habits that trickle down to them through family, friends, and different industries.

According to the examples and experiences of others the word conflict deems negativity. However, conflict also entails both negative and positive outcomes as well. On the negative side conflict can be disruptive, however, on the positive side it can also serve as a source of creativity and a constructive action (McGrath, 2009).

Socialization is the relationship people have to important social processes, which includes education, family and peer relations (Siegel, 2015). Proper socialization leads to conformity, while improper socialization leads to nonconformity. Both theories are traced from the Sociological Criminology. Sociological Criminology was developed by Emile Durkheim in which he thought crime had a relation to social and environmental factors. According to Siegel (2105), “Durkheim thought that crime was normal because it is virtually impossible to imagine a society in which criminal behavior is absent” (p.11). Social control is a sub theory of Social process theory. Social process theory focuses its attention on

In this essay, I will critically assess that deviant behaviour is likely, related to the strength of social bonds. The Control Theory is the criminological theory, which is mostly driven by classicist beliefs, similar in the freedom of choice, and the ability to stop ourselves from committing a crime. It is a theory of why individual’s do not commit the crime? (Hirschi,1969) The theory was popular in the 1950’s/1960’s, as this was a new way of thinking since other theorists were interested, why do people commit a crime? and the control theory begins to explain the social controls/bonds to their society, which can insulate an individual from deviance. As it is presumed the majority of people would commit the crime if they had the chance. It

I would describe locus of control as the level of which someone believes they control the outcome of their lives. Those with an external locus of control believe that their actions and inactions do not affect their lives. They consider external factors like luck and fate to be more of the controlling aspects in their outcome. On the flipside of that, those with an internal locus of control believe that what they do and do not do directly affects the outcome of their lives. They credit their success to themselves and no other elements. Individuals can land on all different points of the spectrum as well. Those in the middle believe that they are somewhat in control, but also rely on luck to get them through some situations.

A huge issue with mass consumerism is the amount of waste it creates. This increasing demand for consumables is creating unnecessary pollution and byproducts. With the latest advances in technology being produced at such an alarming rate, products eventually get cast off and people are pressured to keep up with the supply of new, more luxurious items. Much of our waste problem is to be accounted for by the intentional flimsiness and unrepair-ability of the labor-saving devices and gad­gets that we have become addicted to (Berry, 1997). Unfortunately for us, this leads to bigger and bigger piles of trash. Additionally, our lack of recycling is astonishing and

Research has shown that there is significant variability in the way individuals perceive and interpret events. Frequently, individuals encounter and are exposed to situations in their environment where causation tends to be subjectively inferred. Due to these instances where one is able to nonchalantly assume the causality between certain events or situations that occur, gives rise to the phenomenon of illusory control. Langer (1975) introduced the concept ‘illusion of control’ as the expectancy of a personal success probability which is inappropriately higher than the objective probability would warrant. Even though the objective odds are evident, the remaining subjective expectation of success is thought to be dependent on factors

demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption... we need things consumed, burned up, replaced and discarded at an ever-accelerating rate.”

Consumerism is so powerful throughout developed nations, it is nearly impossible for citizens to go a day without buying goods. There are even set days throughout the year in America, such as Black Friday or Cyber Monday, that strongly encourage consumers to buy as much as they can. Many developed countries are starting to notice problems with consumerism and have developed an annual “Buy Nothing Day”; a day in several countries where citizens are encouraged to not purchase any goods. This is believed to help expose the problems that can stem from the expenditure of even just one day of the year (prompt). Holding an annual Buy Nothing Day is beneficial worldwide as it will save more natural resources and teach kids at a young age how to quit the habit of excessive consuming.

Social Control: Takes a different approach, instead of trying to figure out why people break laws, like the other theories, social control theorists are on a quest to find out why people are abiding rules. Essentially one-eighty-ing the others. However, just like the previous theories there were flaws in examining women. The text examines one of the most influential people of the social control theorists, that being Travis Hirschi. From previous classes we examined this theory from his lense during our juvenile delinquency course, however, after reading the book we come to find out that girls were never emphasized in his works. Though it does go without saying, Hirschi, still tested women as he did the male population in his samples though the author stated that in Hirschi’s analysis the women essentially “disappeared.”

In today’s society, “keeping up with the Joneses” has become a widespread lifestyle for many families and individuals.  In other words, consumerism has become a way of life for most people because of the constant technological advancements of today.  As consumerism has grown immensely, it has become a very controversial topic; some people feel as if it has corrupted the world, and others feel as if it has improved it.  However, with all the hardships and issues in the world today, it is safe to assume that consumerism is the underlying problem.  Consumerism has affected the world negatively by creating a social hierarchy that is ranked by possessions, causing environmental deterioration, and causing a loss of integrity.

Western societies raise, surround and teach its people to have materialistic values and consume excessively. From a young age, children are exposed to and surrounded by the materialistic values of everyone around them, including in their own homes. They see that everyone has tvs, cars, landlines, cell phones, tablets, laptops, I-pods, closets filled with clothing and shoes. They watch and listen as people brag about having the latest trends and as whole new wardrobes are bought for the new year of school or a new outfit that is ‘definitely needed for an upcoming party’. These values are practically drilled into their psyches constantly as everywhere they go, everywhere they look various forms of advertisement work to persuade them to go shopping, causing social modelling (Kasser, T., Ryan, R. M., Couchman, C. E., & Sheldon, K. M., 2004), (Keeley, J., 2010).