Sociological Analysis Of The Finest Hours

In chapter 4 of The Sociologically Examined Life, Michael Schwalbe discusses “Relationships, Groups, and Interdependence.” This chapter covers several topics in-depth of relationships and why we categorize things the way we do.

The film, “The Breakfast Club”, demonstrates the sociological topics such as socialization, culture, stereotypes, education, family, deviance, socio-economic status, and cliques. Five students have somehow ended up in Saturday detention for a total of nine hours. These individuals have nothing in common. As high school students, they are each stereotyped differently and placed into cliques. Claire is the princess, Andrew is the athlete, Brian is the brain, John is the criminal, and Allison is the basket case.

In the movie One Who Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, we see many different examples of the sociological effect that a controlled environment can have on different individuals. The movie follows Jack Nicholson's character McMurphy. McMurphy is a convicted convict who pleaded insanity to avoid serving his sentence out in jail, hoping to ride it out in a mental hospital. The movie follows him and his struggle with the cruel hospital staff. McMurphy is upset by the treatment of the patients seeing how controlled they are, all forced to be the same. He seems to notice the damaging effects it has on everyone in there. He exploits the staff and the patients numerous times to try to give the patients a taste of freedom and show them how things should be. Basically fighting for their rights. Slowly he started to get institutionalized as well, fighting till the end, in a final attempt at giving the patient's a taste of freedom, Murphy's closest friend in the hospital commits suicide because of the threats Nurse Ratched made towards him for having sexual intercourse with a woman. Murphy lashed out in rage and tried to kill her. He was stopped and punished

The article I have chosen is (J. Scott Carter, 2016). This journal article was written the Sociological Inquiry by J. Scott Carter of University of Central Florida, and Mamadi Corra, of East Carolina University, in November 1, 2016. This article was influenced by all the recent police shooting such as Michael Brown, Walter Scott, Freddy Gray and many more. These shootings brought about racial tension. This article examines how the beliefs about race and racial inequality influence whites’ attitudes toward the use of force by the police. Information and data was gathers on whites’ attitudes toward the use of force by the police from 1986 to 2012. J. Scott Carter and Mamadi Corra did research for the purpose of reassessing the impact of racial resentment on whites’ support for the police to use

The ever unending topic of gender equality in the workplace and life in general is one that is uneasy to analyze. The essay “The men we carry in our minds” by Scott Russell Sanders not only hit on inequality, it also makes a major point of showing how the upbringing of an individual really impact their point of view. Depending on how we grew up or how we were raised, we all see to this matter differently.

As seen in a study titled, Change in Stereotypes of Fathers, 1950-2050 it is comprehensible that males had a lot of pressure to act in a powerful manor. The study states, “...manhood depends on a man’s actions—it must be continuously earned and defended through public acts of strength, valor, and aggression.” In order for a male to be associated with manhood, they had to build a facade of how they should act, and displayed it in a public manner in order for society to view him as a “man.” Seen once again throygh the novel, A Widow for One Year, Ruth has constructed an image of what a man should be like or how he should act, the males in her life do fulfill the stereotypes that are created. As seen through Scott Sanders, Ted Cole’s squash opponent, the role of a male assisting a female in the “heavy work” is fulfilled, “When they arrived at the house, Scott helped Ruth carry her bags into the front hall” (Irving 265).

“Screws fall out, the world is an imperfect place.” –The Breakfast Club. This quote captures the theme of the movie of a flawed society in which cliques override human nature. The Breakfast Club is a timeless movie as it shows a social hierarchy, human intuition, and the inevitable imperfections of life that will always live on our world.

“Poor and restricted are our opportunities in this life, narrow our horizon, our best work for the most imperfect…”. That was how life was for the majority of the population during the Gilded Age. They worked an extensive amount of hours and lived in undesirable living conditions. The wealthy led a lifestyle completely different than that of the working class. They lived in luxurious homes and purchased only top quality items. These were known as the Haves and the Have Nots. This is still something that is seen today. All in all, the Gilded Age was a time where there was a noticeable difference between both socioeconomic groups.

My reaction is a crisis. I had a difficult time writing about the sociological imagination, especially my personal experience. Sociological imagination goes into depth about our social issues and our personal experience. This had me dig a little deeper and to think outside the box. I had to research differences and similar between my bullying and others bullying. Sociological imagination gets me out of human mindset and think outside of my mind. It allows me to think out of every day routines and think as a different person. I had to open my eyes to see the bigger issues in our world. What the difference between today’s society and society from hundreds of years ago. I had to search the web and read how society was different from our

“Sociological Imagination,” by Charles Wright Mills is a book about the linkage of an individual’s biography to public issues and world history. Mills creates a concept that allows one to view where their presence is in society. The whole point is to evaluate the larger things that lead one to where they are now. Using the correlation between society and yourself allows one to view your issues as society’s issues. Education is among these issues that can be traced as a social issue. Moreover, my education achievements can be traced back before I was born.

So, what is a sociological imagination? It is to look at a personal act/issue and see how this effects the world around us (society). It is looking at the bigger picture and not just accepting the black and white of an act/issue but to question the grey areas too. C.Wright.Mills (1959) who was the pioneer in considering the sociological imagination defined it as “the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society.”

I recently saw the film, 42, and I found many connections with our Sociology of Sport class. First and foremost, the movie was about the baseball legend, Jackie Robinson. Jack broke the baseball color barrier and was the first African American player allowed in Major League Baseball. He played for the Brooklyn Dodgers beginning in 1947. Jack was a strong, talented player, but he also had a mind of his own. He played with an attitude that would be taunting to other players. When he made it to the Montreal Royals in 1946, he had to quickly get rid of this taunting, smart attitude. He was the only black player in a time of hatred and prejudice in the United States. Although he

Sociologists use many different theoretical perspectives to study the behavior of people in society. According to Macionis, sociology uses both a micro-level and macro-levels to look at both the big picture and the smallest details (p.17). There are three major analytical models in sociology that include functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction. Both functionalism and conflict theory are macro-level and symbolic interaction is micro-level (Macionis, P.19). Each one looks at society in a different way and can in this paper I will analyze the movie “The Breakfast Club” using these perspectives.

This essay will be discussing the extent to which social class and poverty affects health and illness. Firstly, what is social class? Each person’s perception of social class can be different; is social class defined by a person’s accent, the area they live in, or something as simple as their income? Project Britain describes social class as “The grouping of people by occupations and lifestyle”. (Cress, 2014). To find social class Sociologists group people according to common factors, they compare people and various criteria can be conveniently used to place people in social groups or classes. Next we ask the question what determines a person’s health, the NHS defines health as “Physical and mental, it is the absence of disease”. (NHS 2017).

Exercising: Exercising is not only beneficial for the individual engaging in it, but for the whole society. Exercising is scientifically proven to lower disease and improve happiness. When a society is more happy they engage in more positive behavior. A society that is more engaged will more likely advocate for justice and the well being of others.