Dorothy Lee Social Structure

This essay argues that John Stuart Mill's On Liberty presents a strong case for individuality of citizens, challenging the role of paternalism through autonomous social progress and utilitarian values. On the other hand, it is shown that Mill's arguments against public regulations are very narrow, and his own ideas frequently adhere to paternalism, thus creating a weak defence against state control politics.

(1) Respect for persons: “Treating persons as autonomous agents and protecting those with diminished autonomy”. (Individuals with lessen autonomy are entitled to protection).

I also discuss my family’s adaptation to these values, norms and beliefs along with my own individual cultural sense of identity. Lastly, this paper reflects the impact of my role and ethical responsibilities as a social worker, especially in relation to working with the Hmong family in the book The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

It is commonly taught in textbooks or shown in the media that colonial mothers are always taking part in childcare, but in reality the “modern working women” (1) spends more time taking care of their children. During the hours that modern women are not working, they are usually taking care of the children and doing household work to manage the household, in which the “traditional family” seems more fitting in categorizing the modern family, rather than the colonial family. The colonial women did not have to worry about taking care of the children, because they usually gave the task of caring for the children to the servants or older siblings. Moreover, the traditional family are usually perceived as a family where the husband and wife are role models of a loving, caring, and supportive relationship for their children. This leads the children to act in the same positive way with others by observing the relationship between their parents. Interestingly, the “traditional” families in the past were not traditional, as women and children were advised to be obedient to their husbands, otherwise they would be abused and

Individualism in today’s society is the “belief that each person is unique, special, and a ‘basic unit of nature’.” The individualism concept puts an

Over the length of this course, we have discussed several aspects of politics. We have studied citizenship and obligations to society as a citizen, justice and what it means to us as individuals, and how to go about enacting change within a community and around the world. Some of the most important topics from this class included the characteristics, duties, and obligations of rulers of government. In addition to the concept of rulers, we also studied the notion of authority and the moral and metaphysical implications of authority to individuals ' autonomy. Within each concept of study, we read works from many authors with conflicting ontologies, constructed from their differing views on human nature.

The boundary of the Yakama Nation Reservation is considered home to different culturally diverse populations. Parenting skills and teaching can vary dramatically from each of those unique households. The diverse populations come with varying levels of what is considered appropriate child rearing practices. “Child abuse intakes are increasing due to families from Mexico coming here to the US and the standards are different” (Ruiz, 2015). Pilar Ruiz is a Social Worker at Children’s Administration assigned to the Child Protective Services. Families migrate to the area and they carry different perspectives on parenting and may not understand the expectations of Washington State and Child Abuse Laws. It is not only migrant families that need additional support. Families that have been here for many years have traditional practices that may cross the line when it comes to child abuse and neglect. These families that are located in this area need the additional support of increasing family bonds, healthy parenting, life skills, bonding, and reducing violence and substance abuse.

According to MacIntyre (2007), the basic features of civic humanism are derived from the rise of the large-scale state and decline of the polis. This process has had immense consequences for the conceptual relation between morals and politics. The setting of the moral life is altered to become assessments of men often ruled from far off, living isolated lives in politically powerless communities. (MacIntyre, 2007. 96). It becomes imperative to encourage fellow citizens using words for them to perform actions that are

In her novel, Bad Indians: A Tribal Memoir, Deborah A. Miranda theorizes that the underlying patronage of her father’s violent behavior arises from the original acts of violence carried out by the Spanish Catholic Church during the era of missionization in California. The structure of her novel plays an essential role in the development of her theory, and allows her to further generalize it to encompass the entire human population. “In this beautiful and devastating book, part tribal history, part lyric and intimate memoir, Deborah A. Miranda tells stories of her Ohlone Costanoan Esselen family as well as the experience of California Indians as a whole through oral histories, newspaper clippings, anthropological recordings, personal reflections, and poems.” Patching together every individual source to create the story of a culture as a whole, Miranda facilitates the task of conceptualizing how Societal Process Theory could play into the domestic violence she experiences growing up as the daughter of a California Indian.

In “Individual Autonomy and Social Structure”, Dorothy Lee discusses different types of cultures within a given society. Lee states that “the principle of personal autonomy is supported by the cultural framework.”(Lee, 5). Lee examines the differences between the individual autonomy of non-western societies and the autonomy of western societies in order to better the society we live in. The reading gave Lee’s point of view on how different societies deal with their conflicts. The conflict between the social structure in western society and individual autonomy is the key social problem that Lee is addressing. Individual autonomy is understood by one’s capacity to decide for them self, to be one’s own person, and the ability to determine their own actions. Individual autonomy is a large principle in western society, as individuals are free to make their own decisions, without being restricted by societies norms. In the article, Lee describes that personal autonomy can lead to lawlessness and chaos in our western culture. Dorothy Lee talks about individual autonomy and the social structure in western culture, and how it is very difficult to comply these two areas in order for them to work in accordance to one another.

“Nisa: The Life and Words of a !Kung Woman,” written by Marjorie Shostak; is a culturally shocking and extremely touching book about a woman who had gone through many struggles and horrific tragedies in her life. This book also emphasizes the perspective of most of the women in the society. There are many striking issues in this book that the people of the !Kung tribe go through. Marjorie Shostak, an anthropologist, has written this book and studied the !Kung tribe for two years. Shostak had spent her two years interviewing the women in the society. She was very eager to learn more about how women’s roles differed from our own here in the United States. She knew that the !Kung were one of the

In Meredith Small’s article Our Babies, Ourselves she focuses on people’s social and psychological development through examining the different cultural aspects of raising a child. During this process she compares the American perspective of treating babies, to those of the Gusii and the Dutch. Throughout her examination many points are made that I believe can give the reader’s a valuable understanding of the impact of different means of parenthood on a child’s future development.

The articulation of disjuncture between received ideology and social experience, the assertion of political rights to autonomy and

Individuality is a very important principle depicted across the world. Individuality benefits society because of it allows freedom and happiness for every individual. What if a person’s rights were restricted and an individual cannot express any of his or her ideas? This is a common trend in totalitarian governments and it affects an individual significantly. Both the “Unknown Citizen” by W.H Auden and 1984 by George Orwell, both works depict the respective happiness of one man to reflect the dangers of a totalitarian society however literature suggests a person’s worth is more determined by his character rather than government statistics.

In The Politics of Friendship, Jacques Derrida boldly declares: “no deconstruction without democracy, no democracy without deconstruction.” Accordingly, this democracy to come could not exist without some semblance of freedom. This deconstructive form of freedom is certainly not an individual freedom to do as one pleases, nor is it simply freedom from constraint. The freedom which constitutes deconstruction is aporetic in nature, thus making it difficult (or rather impossible) to give a straightforward definition. However, this lack of a definition for freedom is not a problem for Derrida. In fact, the undefinable nature of freedom is the condition for its existence. If a full definition of freedom were to be given, its ability to thrive would be crushed. However, this does not mean that discussions regarding the nature of freedom are without meaning. In discussing what freedom could be, what freedom could mean, one can better understand how to maximize freedom in both societies and our individual lives. To recognize the tension that lies within the word freedom is to better understand what its existence could actually entail.