Week Six

         

   “Born to be bad” is a controversial topic. Can people really have a criminal future coming to them from birth? Henry Lucas Lee was a serial killer that committed thousands of murders during his life time. He raped, strangled, stabbed and brutalized all these people, with joy. He felt nothing at all while killing these people, except maybe accomplished. He even said that the favorite time of his life was when he was killing his mother. Many would say this guy was born to be bad, he had no hope, that is until you take a look at his past. Growing up his mom was a prostitute, he was abused at home, left unconscious for days, left alone in a hospital, taught how to have sex with animals, beaten by his teachers, and bullied at school. He lacked the four socialization agents which include, family, friends, media and school. Family is an important socialization agent because even with having trouble at school, a child’s family is never supposed to leave them behind, they are always supposed to have help when they get home. It is important to feel belonging and to nurture and love unconditionally. Friends are important for socialization because they offer a second outlet, people to hang out with where you can’t get in trouble for getting certain things off your chest. They are there to share common interests and be good company when needed. School is good for education and to teach interaction with new people, people of authority, people older or younger and people of the opposite gender. It offers teachers, that can give another safe adult to talk to if a parent is not present. The media can give an easy way to communicate, and share opinions as well as being exposed to lots of other viewpoints. He had no proper outlet and no way out of his awful environment. His life time of killings was a lashing out of anger from his past, Henry was never given the chance to be good, his upbringing made sure he suffered and consequently the lives of thousands.

A role is a behavior expected of someone with a particular status. For example, a mother is expected to be nurturing. A role set is the number of roles attached to a single set. Role conflict is the incompatibility among roles corresponding to two or more statuses. For example, one might be forced to turn down a promotion in order to keep their role as a nurturing and present parent. Role strain is the incompatibility among roles corresponding to a single status. 

Week Seven

Deviance is the recognized violation of cultural norms. An example of deviance would be crime, which is the violation of a society’s formally enacted criminal law. Deviance affirms cultural values, clarifies moral boundaries, promotes social unity, encourages social change, and open lines of communication. The labeling of deviance is different depending on where you are in the world. For

example, in the United States, drinking is illegal until you are 21 while in a lot of other countries it is much lower, or perhaps a set age is nonexistent. In Colorado, marijuana usage is completely legal, although in other states such as Wisconsin, using or carrying marijuana would result in being labeled as deviant and having to serve prison time or a large fine.

Our actions whether legal or not, can be labeled deviant depending on the reaction we evoke from other citizens. For example, a child taking a candy bar from a store without the parents noticing is technically theft, and the action is labeled deviant but others who view the situation only see an innocent child that doesn’t know better. Social class, or where you fit in society has a huge effect on what actions may label you deviant. For example, a white collar crime, crime committed by people of high social position in the course of their occupations, have a much greater chance of being ruled not guilty, while a person struggling with poverty that robs a gas station will without debt be convicted and sent to prison.

The Merton Strain theory groups people based on their level of acceptance, or conformity to our cultural goals and institutionalized means. Those who want to be successful culturally, such as having a nice house, money and more than enough for their kids but do not have the accepted ways to do it, or was not given the opportunity to be successful may turn to unconventional means such as crime. These folks are grouped under innovation. The people that cannot reach cultural goals but still want to be respected in society by adhering to institutionalized means fall under the ritualism category. Those who reject both cultural goals and institutionalized means are the retreatism and usually are drug addicts or those who want nothing to do with our society. Rebellion comes when people want an alternative to our society, want something better. 

Week Eight

        

    Labeling theory says that deviance lies in people’s reaction to a person’s behavior, not in the behavior itself. Stigma is a form of secondary deviance that marks the start of a deviant career by acquiring a stigma; a powerful negative label that greatly changes a person’s self-concept and social identity. A primary deviant act provokes a slight reaction while secondary deviance is the process of a deviant identity, integrating it into conceptions of self, potentially affecting the individual long term. Secondary deviance is what can cause a person to think of themselves as a rebel, or criminal. Once this mindset is confirmed by others labeling the person as so, they can become really dangerous. All morals and values can be thrown out the window for this new identity. For example, a teenager doing bad in their high school classes, might be continually punished for having bad grades, leading to teachers and other authorities to believe this kid is a trouble maker. Since this teenager is being treated like he’s the worst kid in school, when he is only having trouble in class, he/she will begin to believe they are actually deviant. Since grades aren’t working out and teachers and advisors already view him as trouble, why not start to cause trouble? Why not cheat on tests, or take other kids homework, or become a bully to the “nerds?”

            Retrospective labeling is when someone re-interprets someone else’s past. Projective labeling

is predicting someone’s future by using their deviant identity. These terms come into play with first impressions and specifically when people with a criminal record try to get a job. Interviewers will see their criminal past and either judge them for what they’ve done or be fearful that their past will predict their future, meaning that they will become deviant again if given the chance.

The Hirschi Control Theory has four main principles. Attachment, meaning your family and friends. Opportunity, meaning the amount of money you have, the school you go to, and the people you know. Involvement, is the time and energy put in to social activities. Finally, belief, is the conventional morality and religion you practice. 

Week Eleven

Family is a social institution found in all societies that unite people to cooperative groups to oversee the bearing and raising of children. (28% of children in the United States live in single   parent units. 88% of those homes are headed by women) Cohabitation is the term for couples living together before marriage. (40% will marry eventually) There are a million gay and lesbian couples in America that are raising children. Although gay marriage and the right to raise children is still a controversial topic in America many are proving their homes are just as adequate if not much better than straight homes. Gay marriage is someone’s choice and it is also their choice

if they want children. Just because gay marriage is a sin in a certain religion does not mean you can force others to follow the rules of your specific opinions. America is the land of freedom, so it should be the freedom of every citizen living here who they decide to love and how they decide to live their life.

 Endogamy is the marriage between people of the same social category. Exogamy is the marriage between two people of different social categories. Marriages like this can be arranged to affirm alliances between nations and encourage cultural diffusion. Polygamy is marrying 3 or more people. Types of polygamy are polygyny and polyandry. Polygyny is the marriage of one male to multiple women. This is common in Islamic nations and among the incredibly rich and powerful like King Solomon who was known to have around 700 wives. Polyandry is the practice of one female marrying multiple men. Although rare, it allows men to share work, so more time can be spent with children.

Week Twelve

This week people started to present their projects which included, military spending and gun control. Military spending was presented as a much needed expense to keep the United States status high and powerful. Our budget allows us to have more nuclear weapons then other nations and be ready for war at any area of the world. The money is needed for secretive special ops missions such as drug wars and rescue missions. The issue with the amount of spending was the fact that so much of it goes undocumented and with the United States struggling with so many other issues such as poverty, and hunger that money could do a lot of good. We also discussed gun control, and whether or not we need more of it. The United States leads the world in gun related deaths by population. We also have the least amount of regulation. Other countries require training, and safe keeping as well as a complete background check, while here all you need is the second amendment and you’re set. The rate of suicide by gun was also discussed. It is true

that the U.S.A leads the world in suicide by gun, some may argue that increasing gun control will not help this problem because someone that is suicidal will do it one way or another. The rebuttal to that comment is the fact that a gun is deadly, right away. If one did not have easy access to firearms, a different method is much easier to treat in a hospital to possibly save someone’s life. The majority of people that attempt suicide and are rescued do not ever try it again and are thankful they survived. 

            Another topic we talked about this week was religion. 90% of Americans claim a religion. 55.7% claim protestant, and 30% make up catholic, Jewish or other. Typically, Episcopalians are members of a high social class, Catholic members being middle class and Lutheran being the lower class. Secularization is the historical decline in importance of the supernatural and the sacred. The debate of the Westboro Baptist church protesting at the funeral of a fallen soldier brought up the first amendment right of freedom of speech, that even though technically they can protest, it is sickening that people would even think to do that. These people believe gays will go to hell and that god hates them but will never protest a divorce even though in the bible both are technically a sin. And in the bible, it is clearly stated to love ones neighbor no matter what, but for some reason people seem to overlook that part.

Thank You For Reading!!!!

Abagail Geving

Sociology

E-portfolio

Semester of fall 2016

Sociology Portfolio

Sociology is one of the social sciences which applies scientific methods to study human society.

The study of sociology expands knowledge of how culture, religion, and societal norms play into our everyday lives.