Social Construction

 

An example of a social construction is California Institute of the Arts. This school was rumored to be originally built with dual purposes in case the art school did not succeed. Making the building a school or hospital depends on the roles people within society act out inside those walls. The meaning put behind the building is socially created through our interactions.

Microsociology

 Microsociology studies face to face and small group interactions. These men are sitting and talking inside a cigar bar, this is one example of many face to face interactions that we participate in and that go on around us everyday. All of these small exchanges affect the larger constructions of society.

Sociological Perspective

Without reading these books about sociology I don't know how one would educate themselves on the sociological perspective. We commonly see ourselves as independent,  our feeling and things we go through in life are also seen as independent acts, but learning the sociological perspective gives a more unified idea to our existence. It is not just one person loosing their job or dealing with crime there others experiencing similar situations. Viewing society has a whole allows for patterns to emerge and we understand more about the people within our society.

A Beginner's Mind

A beginner's mind reminds me of a child asking why? A child has no preconceptions and see things in a new way which is needed according to McGrane's ideas behind achieving a sociological perspective.

Culture Shock

Culture shock occurs whenever someone enters into a new social environment. An American in China is a great example of that, there is a different dominant religion, the food is made differently, and gestures may be taken in another context depending on their cultural views.

Quantitative Research

Quantitative research is easily turned into numbers making it very simple to acquire knowledge fast. Surveys are an example of a quick way to get information. This photograph is of a survey conducted by the school board to get an idea of how the parents felt about the education being provided by their school.

Literature Review

Experimenters conduct literature review to acquire knowledge about a subject before any actual experiments are done, this increases the chance of success in the new experiment. People can look at these previously published information at a library or on the internet.

Hypothesis

This is an example of a hypothesis. It sates a potential relationship between the two variables, drinking coffee and exam scores.

Independent Variable

The independent variable, within the experiment conducted for the hypothesis stated earlier, is the coffee participants will drink while studying and drinking before the examination. One would look for changes the independent variable, or coffee, will make on the exam scores and compare to others who did not drink the coffee.  

Dependent Variable

 The dependent variable, within the experiment conducted for the hypothesis stated earlier, is the scores the participants receive on the tests. One would look for changes in the dependent variable caused by the independent variable.

Material Culture

Ford is apart of America's material culture. Cars are a vital part of our commuting form place to place. Ford is an American brand and for some it holds a certain sense of patriotism in owning an American made car.

Symbolic Culture

The American flag is a symbolic element of our culture. It represents the American and the American way of life icluding its ideals, values and pride. When viewing our flag in other countries it can symbolize intrusion.

Gesture

Gestures are used commonly everyday, a quick wave to the neighbor, a smile passing by someone, or the hand gestures used during road rage. These gestures carry a message for others that is meaningful, body movement or facial expressions can leave a person feeling happy or sad, the gesture is what determines that.

Signs

Signs tell us how to drive, where to go and what is being sold among other things. We need signs in our culture to quickly give people information. This traffic signal uses red, yellow and green lights in order to let people know when to drive safely. They do not actually read stop, slow down, and go but the symbols are taught in our culture to represent those ideas.

Language

Language is the most important aspect of culture because it allows for communication. There is a clear that language enables communication but is also helps shape our thoughts and how we perceive things. These are Spanish lessons on a record to help a someone who want to understand another culture. Learning Spanish opens the idea of everything being either masculine or feminine and proves language can change how we see things.   

Culture

Culture is in every aspect of life for a group of people. Sushi is a part of the material culture Japan partakes in and perhaps apart of the symbolic as well, since the art of being a sushi chef is held in high regard within Japanese culture. Culture is inter-generational and is passed down from family to family.

Subculture

Skateboarders are a subculture because they have a separate way of life, concentrating on a sport but is not against society it just breaks off into a different lifestyle.

Socialization

Socialization starts at an early age, some say even before birth because we choose gender specific names for our babies. This picture is of a mother teaching her child to eat sitting correctly in his chair and using utensils. We need to be learn social norms, values, beliefs, in order to move on to different stages of life and be successful.

Play Stage

Aiden is going through the play stage within the development of the self. The play stage is playing pretend and taking on the role of one significant other. For example, when a little girl plays mommy to her baby dolls or in this photo where Aiden is playing the cashier he saw at the grocery store.

Dramaturgy

A hairdresser is someone who performs haircuts on people as well has presents themselves professionally while in the work place. Goffman's dramaturgy approach says people act out roles and perform impression management. People follow social norms in order to avoid a negative view of themselves to be on display. 

Family

Family is the most important agent of socialization. It teaches basic values and norms like how to talk and walk and prepares us for the other three agents. All of the agents of socialization are responsible for producing our "self".

Schools

Schools are one of the four agents of socialization and provide education for children. Besides academics, elementary schools teach a hidden curriculum children need to learn in order to become productive members of society.  

Peers

Peers are one of the four agents of socialization. These peers are at the age were peers almost become  more important that family. Socialization within peer groups increases with the longer people attend school and peer groups allows people to learn different things than they learn at home.

Achieved Status

An achieved status is one you must work for or have appointed to you. This picture is of a cosmetology license, this license may not have needed a college degree but there is formal training involved to receive the status of a licensed hairdresser.

Group

This group of film crew workers are all working with a common goal and collaborating together. These interactions define a group of people.

Aggregate

An example of an aggregate are people on a bus, they are physically close to each other but emotionally distant. Bus riders often do not speak to one another and do not find themselves making connections.

Primary Group

These are pictures of my primary group consisting of friends and family. Primary groups shape who we are and the relationship within these groups matter to us. The people in these groups often see each other and care for one another and have deep bonds.

Secondary Group

Baseball and other team sports are apart of a secondary group people can be apart of. Secondary groups are something one would want to be apart of and can be only short term relationships. Socialization occurs within these secondary groups as well.

Dyad

A dyad is a group of two people. It is the smallest group and most intense because there is only two, making it very unstable.

Deviance

This is a picture from a stores surveillance cameras. The store has posted pictures of the people who have stolen from the store. The deviant act is circled, with arrows pointing to it and the amounts of money owed is clear for everyone to see. The stores negative reaction to stealing makes these acts deviant.

Physical Stigma

A wheelchair is needed for some people who are physically disabled. This impairment is a physical stigma, the visible aspect of this stigma allows for the devaluing of the person to happen immediately in social interactions.

Moral Stigma

 

  An example of a social attribute in a moral stigma is alcoholism. The picture is of an Alateen book for children who have to deal with the moral stigma of having parents that are substance abusers. Other moral stigmas occur with convicted felons.

Passing

Passing is a hard capture because most people's stigmatizing information is a social attribute not one visible to the eye. This is someone convicted of a DUI, no one has to know this information about her unless one saw her blowing into the breathalyzer to start her car.

Criminal Justice System

The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriffs Station is apart of Los Angeles's criminal justice system. Within this social institution people are taken into custody and booked for their crimes.

Social Class

I chose to show social class through society's housing. One form of housing within the lower class is a trailer inside a trailer park whereas a common house within the upper class would be a multi-roomed home inside a gated community. The social stratification within social class are so apparent in the housing we acquire. Wealth, power, and prestige all determine where one resides.

Upper Class

When traveling, the upper classes of America would be able to afford to stay in a lavish hotel suite. The upper class consists of 1% of the United States population.

Middle Class

"White-collar" workers are found in the middle classes of America. My picture is of an orthopedic surgeon's consultation room. These jobs require college education and can have ranging incomes.

Working Class

The lower-middle, working class consists of people working "blue-collar" jobs such as a postman, police officer, or construction worker. These are usually manual labor positions that can be obtained with little education.

Lower Class

In contrast to where the upper class stay when traveling, the working poor or lower classes of America would probably stay in a cheaper motel like this one or sleep in their cars. Most of the poor have been found to be less educated, but today the median income has dropped and even young college graduates are finding it hard to find jobs to make a living.

Minority Group

Latin Americans are considered a minority group because even though there is a large influx of Latin Americans they are still denied the same access to power and resources as other white Americans. Women are a minority group to men, they are denied the same power and resources that men receive.

Symbolic Ethnicity

Symbolic ethnicity occurs during specific ethnic occasions. For example when everyone celebrates Cinco de Mayo and partakes in the fun, but on a regular basis would not want to identify with Mexican heritage.

Racism

This is an image captured from a Facebook post to show how racism is still common in America. I am embarrassed to see peers act in this manner and was baffled by the amount of similar comments made in response to the racist remark. Racism changes with different cultures but the same concept of one race being superior to another applies.

Racial Assimilation

Racial assimilation is shown here with an Indonesian woman and her Welsh husband. The marriage between the minority group of Indonesians and the majority group of whites are apart of the 4.3% of interracial couples in America.

Race

The distinction between races is a social construction based on what we see as biological differences. My friend here is Japanese and ethnically identifies with her Japanese culture, but just looking at her allows one categorize her as Asian based on her biological facial traits.

Sex

Sex is what humans are born with biologically, the definition only refers to female and male sexes but I chose to show one symbol with a broader rage of sexes. Were all familiar with the symbols for male and female but not as much with the trans-gender symbol shown in the upper left side of the picture. There are also people born inter-sexed or hermaphroditic that should be considered within the sexes.

Gender

The painting of toenails is considered a behavioral trait, based on gender, that is recognized as a conventional act. These are are not biologically created roles these are learned roles we are socialized with from birth. Other physical and personality traits are also considered normal and create gender norms.

Feminism

Gender inequality is still present today. Feminists fight for the social, political, and economic equality of the sexes. The question "are you a feminist?" was posed in class and no one raised their hand, after reading the actual definition and putting aside the negative stigmas that go along with feminism, led more students to identify with the ideals behind feminism. Our biological sex should not determine our status, rights, or social roles within society.

Constructionist

The constructionist approach to sex and gender allow for the interactions within society to help shape the way we see gender. For example a restroom sign for facilities outside the home; we all know men and women are capable of using the same toilet but public restrooms are often separated by sex. The constructionist approach also allows room for people that do not identify with only the male and female sex.

Sexual Orientation

Sexual orientation is hard to categorize. The majority of people identify as either heterosexual, bisexual, gay, or lesbian but others find it hard to completely identify with one. My image is of two same sex couples, opposite sex couples and an either sex couple.