Sociology In America

In Time is a film set in the future that I believe best represents the theme of class. Counting down minutes is taken to a whole new level in this futuristic film. Disease is nonexistent and the only concern in which the population faces is what to do with their time. Humans are engineered to stop ageing at twenty-five and our given just a year longer to live, unless they work for extra time. The main character Will Salas is accused of murder and also of stealing extra time from those he’s murdered. In short Will must find a way to prove his innocence and take down the retched system that the oppressed hate so much. The film aired the 28th of October 2011, and stared actor/musician Justin Timberlake.

Sociology is all about society and how we as humans interact with one another in our environment. Every person is different, and every person comes from different backgrounds, and the different environments and the different ways people are raised pretty much determines how their life will turn out. Social forces that have shaped my life are family, education, gender, and the media,

American culture has been referred to as a “melting pot.” Different cultures have added their own distinct aspects to society, making America a diverse country. Despite the plethora of cultures, certain norms, mores, and folkways are evident in American society. These ideas are vital to the function and stability of America. They provide guidelines for what is acceptable and not. In virtually every society, there are people who engage in deviant behavior and do not abide by the values that the rest of society follows. Theorists have debated if people are socialized into acting this way and if it is a social or personal problem. The sociological study of culture focuses on norms, mores, and folkways.

After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits among people; it is also a science about factors in a person’s life and how these factors culminate responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it studies; for, even the slightest change of a person’s daily experience can have an insurmountable impact on attitude, personal growth, family

Symbolic Interaction focuses on a micro view of society. It focuses on a small scale perspective of interaction between individuals. Imagine you`re with a friend instead of looking at large scale structures like education or law, since we are looking at the small scale symbolic interaction explains the individual in a society and their interactions with others and through that it can explain social order and change.

According to Durkheim, Social fact or social phenomenon are the main subject matter of sociology. He said in one of his pieces that social fact must be studied distinct from the biological and psychological phenomenon. Social order is the trend of behavior being used to exercise power over another person. It has become rules and regulations that have been set up by some authorities to be obeyed by another group of people who are being undermined in a society, it is a situation that oppressed people and limits them from their liberties. When people go through these situations they cannot function the way they are supposed to function because they are limited by their freedom. These social orders are not only laws but rather certain norms created by the authority to put a whole race into a situation where they are very far from freedom of speech, movement, and knowledge. African Americans are an example of a race that has been through discrimination at workplaces, schools, community etc. They are one race which has been a label or put in a class where the situation will never permit you to climb the ladder of success. Although you might have all the certification, qualification, the best schools, etc. but the fact that you came from the poor class or the lower class, it becomes very difficult for the Caucasian people to give you the opportunity you deserve, because of this, the citizens of American have been grouped into different classes which are upper, middle, working,

Routinization is the way people go about doing something. It’s a method to organize chaos and when practiced it accomplishes the goal quickly and effectively. There are different methods used, but ultimately routinization produces the desired result.

Sociology and sociological thinking are a vital part of society, and through examining both society and individuals, sociology is able to make changes to areas such as policies, and attitudes that may have usually negatively affected them, and instead gained a positive result through the careful research, and applied knowledge.

I choose the symbolic interactionism for my theoretical perspective. From sociological perspective, symbolic interactionism most concerned with the face-to-face interaction between members of society. Symbolic interaction reminds us that culture is a human creation.

It is a safe assumption that most Americans do not think in sociological perspectives but using the social imagination and the three main sociological perspectives one can explain how society thinks as a whole. A given society might not be able to put a name to their outlook on society but the sociologist can. With that in mind we can consider the disbelief in global warming and see a shift from a more Functionalist perspective to a postmodern perspective and infuse Marx’s conflict theory in order to makes some sense of why an alarming amount of Americans take stances as these. The scientific community has an over whelming consensus on this issue of the causes of global warming but yet many Americans see it as hoax. This is very perplexing

On November 18, 1978 what has been called the largest mass suicide in modern history occurred in Jonestown, Guyana where 909 members of The Peoples Temple died. Jim Jones was the leader of the Peoples Temple Church and religious movement. The church was looked highly upon by many back in the 1950-1970’s. All races and backgrounds were brought together as one in his congregation. Religion serves as a sanctuary from the harshness of everyday life and oppression by the powerful. Most of Jones’s followers lived lives that they were dissatisfied with and they felt as if the movement gave them a purpose. Many of his followers believed that Jim brought more opportunities into their lives and allowed them to change for

their socialization and upbringing, and base their reactions to others and society off of those meanings. Personally, I think that this theory has the most impact in our society (The USA) because we tend to base our ways of thinking on what we learn, experience, and are raised upon. This could be a disadvantage or advantage depending on how you virtually view things. You could be raised from a broken home and have more appreciation for certain things because of your experiences as a child. Or you could take everything for granted and completely have no care for others because you were spoiled your whole life. These are stereotypical examples of course but these are ways to show how symbolic interactionism is used.

Symbolic interactionist is a micro level of social analysis, it is concerned with individual experiences and the wider society. As well as not focusing on the core structures or support the general theory of society like the functionalist does.

Pierre Bourdieu once said, “The function of sociology, as of every science, is to reveal that which is hidden.” Many people do not truly understand what sociology deals with, or what other human beings have to deal with in their everyday lives. Things like your gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status are all big factors in your life and how you grow up. It affects your behavior, what you think of others, and many more things. My socioeconomic status, gender, religion, and the place where I grew up have all been major factors in my life.

Since beginning this course in sociology, my worldview has undeniably changed. Sociology is a subject matter that is implemented into our every day lives. There is no way of escaping social settings within our society. Whether it is in large groups or small groups it is always a beneficial standpoint to have. It allows one to look at these situations with more objectivity, rather than always being passive towards the world’s effects.