Social Location Paper

In his often cited essay, “The Formation of In-Groups,” Gordon Allport offers his theory on how the groups with which one identifies directly influence the development of one’s individual identity. An “in-group” is a group where members share common traits such as societal status, religion, values or sexual orientation. All the members are alike in some way and that similarity unites them as a group. Allport suggests that one belongs to many in-groups throughout his or her lifetime. Individuals are born into some in-groups, such as one’s family, race or socio-economic level; this Allport terms as an “ascribed status”. People also obtain “achieved status” in a group such as one’s circle

The sociological perspective examines the hidden reasons for one’s actions and identities that people have. It stressed how they are influenced by their society and most of all their social location. Social location predetermines all aspects of one’s life and there are rules that come with social location, and with rules come social control mechanisms and social stratification that keep people in line. With social location also come institutions that provide roles which form one’s identity. In the movie, “Good Will Hunting,” the main character Will Hunting is a young deviant what grows up in a rough neighbourhood and has the intellect of a genius. Role theory and other concepts from the sociological

Growing up, almost every parent will tell you, “you can be anything you set your mind to!” or “the possibilities are endless”. But from an early childhood my parents were creating an opportunity structure for my life. Through my 20 years, how I was taught, the places I went to, the people I interacted with and the implications of society and societal norms followed me. As with many other families, my parents focused on setting me up for the best possible future. But little did they know, they were contributing to a society where some people are allotted more privileges and opportunities than others. I will attempt to deconstruct this complex social construction by looking at gender, social class, family influences, race, and socialization; which will be discussed in greater detail further along. When analyzing sociological concepts like gender, social class, and race sociologists use a “sociological lens”. Using a sociological lens will allow me to take the experiences I had and look at them on a broader cultural level. Ultimately sociologists use sociological lenses to better understand how personal experiences not only impact 1 person but how they can be applied in a broader context, allowing individuals to relate to others in society who may have had similar experiences.

I thought cities had more diversity, more poverty, and low income household than suburb areas and this was supported by the above data. I learned that the increase of wealth and income in a small community hinders the rest of community where middle and low income families live. The ability to live in a “good” neighborhood is linked to income. Income can be one of the factors that determine how a region can be segregated. Even in the city, the income of the household separates the lower income families from the higher income families. High income families tend to live together and low income families tend to live in the same

Perspective and social location are different for every single person, even siblings do not agree on everything, and see many situations in different ways. This is because each person has a perspective partially shaped by their social location and partially shaped by how they interpret their social location. Social location can blind people about issues that are happening in their country but not in their community, it can change one’s perspective and outlook on many topics, it can play a key role in how people perceive the world and others around them, and it can also give people resources to help other. In this paper, I will demonstrate this by examining the effects that growing up in my social location had on me, and by analyzing Elisabeth T. Vasko’s book: Beyond Apathy: A Theology for Bystanders. Not all communities have the same problems or issues,

two most common stereotypes; the “wealthy” and the “ghetto”. When thinking of a wealthy neighborhood, images of large homes and expensive cars come to mind. On the other hand, the word “ghetto” conjures up images of boarded windows and over- grown lawns. Clearly these stereotypes are not always true, but the idea remains the same. The neighborhood you live in automatically places you in certain categories, re- gardless of whether or not you belong in them. “As the cliché goes, you can tell a lot about a person by their shoes—you can tell even more about them based on where they've chosen to call home.” An article by Megan Koester titled

Social location can be defined in numerous ways due to the aspects that influence it. Predominantly, it is a person’s place in the world based off of race, religion, sexuality, gender, etc. All the factors that influence a person’s social location not only tell their standing or place in the world, but how they were raised, who they are looking forward to becoming, and how they will fare in the future. A person’s beliefs weigh heavily into social location more than other factors later in life. Early on, it tends to be the unchangeable features such as gender and race that weigh down.

When I begin to think about social location I instantly think about where I’m from, and where I was raised. Social location means much more than that. It is your race, age, sex, social class, religion, sexual orientation, and so much more. Social location varies from person to person and everyone plays their own role in their social location lifestyle.

Three words that make up social location would be; gender, race, and social class. Through some personal experiences, various races are considered more privileged than I, because of the social class they have compared to me. My friend is Latina and regardless of her race she is more privileged than me

One’s location chooses their friends, culture, mindset, leisure activities, and job, therefore deciding who they are as a person. Location determines perspective by providing a set of experiences that determine one’s values and ideals. These ideals then determine how one goes about their life, and in doing so makes them the same person as their ancestors decades and centuries ago. Living in the same town as family members creates the same life as they have by creating the same life

Teenage pregnancy and parenthood are often seen as strictly negative and problematic, with the moral panic surrounding them only growing as media and government play a role in perpetuating these ideas of negativity surrounding them. Though it is a contentious issue, what are often ignored are the underlying causes of the social phenomena that are teenage pregnancy and parenthood. The experiences of poverty and social exclusion by many pregnant teens and teen parents have not been proven to be more severe than what these young people were experiencing before, so it brings into question the validity of the moral panic as well as the aims of programs meant to decrease teen pregnancy and parenthood. Looking at teen pregnancy and parenthood, first

A social location that has affected my life is education. I chose education because I have always struggled with it throughout my middle school years. I was having tough time focusing in school. I was that child that never got awarded for anything. Instead I was always sitting at the principal’s office having meetings with teachers and my parents. Math and English weren’t my subjects I always a struggled with both, because I only grew up knowing one language which was Spanish, and Math I was never good with numbers. For not knowing good English I would get bullied and made fun of all the time. That I made me give up on school. By the time I was in sophomore in high school I was transferred to a charter school, because I need help with all the

As time progresses, people have felt separated from the real world. The real world doesn’t give some a chance to present themselves. They are looked at based on their ethnicity, race, surroundings, etc. They are judged based on these features and it just makes them feel like they don’t belong anywhere and that nobody accepts their presence. There are people, including myself, that have experience with the feeling of displacement. The poem, “On the Amtrak from Boston to New York City” by Sherman Alexie, the Dis/Location (Fort Tryon) dance performance and my own “out of place” experience all connects to why social disapproval is a highly discussed topic.

Social Location / pg.3: The group memberships that people have because of their location in history and society

From the time I was born, I was given certain characteristics that follow through my life which creates limits on opportunities that I can obtain. Every person has a unique way of expressing themselves because no one grew up exactly the same. I wouldn’t have my own identity if I didn’t carry morals and beliefs I had while growing up. I also gained characteristics that represent me from the society we live in today. Thinking of the daily tasks I partake in and how I do them in a certain way makes me wonder why I do it. Sociological imagination determines how individuals in society differ from one another based on their historical or social circumstances. This essay will define sociological imagination, and how race, religion, and gender