Response Paper #6

Response Paper #6

                Growing up with a single Mother, I never was aware of my “social status.”  It was never about the things we had or what we did.  Respect was always the most important thing though – to respect your name and those around you were always number one.  I feel that because of that, there always was a sense of false consciousness in my mind.  I believed that I was on a level that I really wasn’t, or I was just completely unaware that there even were “levels.”  I know that my Mom worked hard for everything we had and all of the special things we did, so I never really knew how hard she did work for that.  I have become aware of this and what my class position would be in society.   As I get older and do more for myself, and as I am on my own now, you really begin to realize how hard you do have to work to obtain and maintain a certain level in society.

            My Uncle and Aunt always had more money and I watched them spoil my cousin.  They knew how hard my Mom worked growing up as we did not have a second income, so they tried their best to do special things for us on holidays or during the years.  Because of this, now that I am older I realize that I have experienced things that are tremendous and that not everyone gets to see or do.  As I talk to more people in my every day life, I realize that as much as my Mom struggled, we were still in a very privileged position. 

            The area that I grew up in is one of the richest in the country.  To see these huge homes around my town was and is still such an amazing thing to me.  I grew up in a townhouse, so to see people affording such huge homes is out of my mind; I always ask, “What do people do to afford this?”  I will never understand it, even to this day.  When I was a child, because of our area, I had friends and people I knew who grew up in huge homes.   Now that I am older, I have completely gotten a sense of what that means and how it really affects people.  On the other end of the spectrum though, when visiting other cities you see homeless people around and it is quite an affecting scene.  For me to be able to see all different statuses of life, it has completely been gratifying and eye-opening.  It has made me aware of where I stand in the social hierarchy, where others stand, and how it really affects people.

            As I looked at the chapter, I noticed a chart revealing the percentage of wealth, and I thought about what is happening today in regards to the 99% versus the 1%.   This may be a little off in the topic of class position, but I think that more people are waking up to the idea that wealth is completely distributed off beam in our country.  Because of how the wealth is in our country is distributed now, more people are falling to lower and lower class positions when they more than likely would not have been that way.  People are struggling more so and class position standards are getting steeper and steeper.  The number of people in poverty is rising, more people are losing their jobs and homes, and people cannot make up for lost funds when there are no jobs available.   It seems to be a never-ending and vicious cycle right now.

            To be unaware of social status is probably one of the best things a person can do for themselves.  To enjoy life, respect yourself and others, and live life honorably is the probably the only thing that can bring people pure joy in life.  When people worry too much about what they have and whatnot, that is when the struggle and stress sets in.  I think that’s why I have always been ok with where I come from and where I am going.

Response Paper #5

Response Paper #5

            Formal and informal mechanisms of social control are evident everywhere, especially at work and school.  Formal mechanisms are ones that are definitively written down, such as laws, rules, etc. They are clearly defined rules on what you can and cannot do.   Informal mechanisms are not literally written down rules, but they are to be known by everyone.  An example of this would be “wash your hands before and after every meal.”  It is not an official law, but people know that it should be done.  Formal and informal mechanisms maintain social control by controlling how people behave, telling what people should and should not do, and establishing what is “normal” or not within a society. 

            Deviance is any behavior that strays from the social norms.  Deviance is a product of the social system, not the individual, because of how we are taught what is right and wrong.  We are taught to confirm and act obediently within society.  This is how the formal and informal mechanisms are put to use.  Also, deviance goes hand in hand with stigmas within our society.  People who might have acted a certain way in their youth, yet no longer acts that way may still be labeled by their deviance. People often carry the label of being a “deviant” with them if they have broken a law in the past.  If you pick your nose in public though, you are still committing a deviant act, and are therefore a deviant.  The perception of what a deviant is greatly differs.  It’s unfair in these two cases that deviants still carry a label and are viewed in a negative aspect.

Social control is the techniques and strategies used to prevent deviant behavior in a society.  Social control is enforced in many different ways.  The most common being the police and enforcing laws.  Laws keep people in line in a society by clearly defining what people can and cannot do.  We know as citizens that if we do something we know we should not, then we will be punished; we can be arrested and go to jail.  Sanctions are penalties and rewards that come because of behaviors that are displayed.  If one acts a certain way then they will either receive a penalty of reward.  Between social control and sanctions, we know what we must do to keep going from day to day without any problems.

I feel that social control is not so needed at Kean University.  Although you will see officers and officials riding around and a rule book for our school, I don’t think there is much going on that needs an element of social control.  Of course things happen, but for the most part everyone I see is either just trying to get to class on time, figure out where they are going, or in general just heading somewhere.  I have experienced that most people at Kean do work and take night classes here.  I feel that at my work though, we have some sense of control.  Although in my position I don’t have too much I have to do with reporting, but as always there are the big bosses that have to keep everyone in line.  As employees, we know what we can/cannot wear, do, etc.  It is structured so everyone does their job and stays in line.

Overall, the way that deviance is viewed in our society is getting out of control.  In the current time of our society kids are automatically labeled as deviant if they act out even once.  Kids are put on medicines to control their behavior and whatnot.  Deviance is looked at so negatively and seriously, when the technical meaning is not always such a harsh act.  People are kept “in line” and following the main culture.  There is no escaping the control and no getting away with any “deviance.” 

Response #4 - Correctly this time

Kiersten, Chelsea & I met at the STEM building.  We discussed that we agree with the interactionist theory the most in regards to media.  Smaller groups are impacted and spread to larger groups.  More often then not, you hear people say, "I heard this on tv" or "I read this in the paper today."