Chapter 21

Chapter 21

 The reason why the United States have a less developed railroad than that of Europe and Japan is because of the automobile innovation.  The automobile was built for the consumer and capitalism.  Railroads and automobiles were used to bring outside areas int mainstream America.  The reason why automobiles are more far advanced in the United States is because it took faster than the railroad.  Automobiles were eventually affordable to middle class Americans.    

One can assume that there are more a lot of people in Japan and Europe and not as much roadways as the United States and  with that being said transportation is limited. Not everyone in other countries can afford cars like how we can in the United States.  So in other countries like Europe and Japan people rely on the public transportation system of trains. 

I'd like to think I'm an optimist.  I think of it as if one person today educates themselves and helps educate another person and so on and so forth then that's progress. Slow progress but progress nonetheless and that will eventually help our ecosystem.  There are a ton of people making their own self sustaining gardens and houses and it's just a matter of time before others catch on.  I speak for myself when I say that I was naive and uneducated about these certain things that would help better our ecosystem that is so easy. I did have to take upon myself to become educated in things like hydroponics, and still learning about that, and going green and trying to build a self sustaining garden.  With that information and knowledge I'm trying to in turn teach my children about these things that will hopefully carry over from one generation to the next. And then hopefully my children can teach their friends who might teach their parents.  It's a never ending learning cycle, it just has to start from someone. So yes, I am an optimist and we can correct our bad habits and make good long lasting forever changes. 

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

It started with the first communities, they were constantly on the move because their food would run out. But then the first communities learned how to store their food, learning horticulture. With horticulture the land was able to support more people and with this other communities developed and became more diverse.  The only thing about horticulture is that it took a lot of labor to produce.  

The communities refined irrigation and invented plowing and use of animals for transportation and farming.  These advances created surplus and freed the people from agriculture.  The communities grew into cities.  

Rome was a large urban area with an estimated 500,000+ people, but it decreased when wars and plagues took the land and the people.  After the wars food surplus increased.  Each urban area was specialized and created institutions: churches, shops, marketplaces, and city halls.  

With the Industrial Revolution cities grew rapidly and eventually changed Western Europe and the United States.  Cities grew into centers of commerce and production but they were still places of poverty and disease.  This led to poverty, lack of adequate living space, poor garbage disposal and sewage.  Riot started to break and workers went on strike.  

Then there were Developing World countries that gave colonial control too the local governments of the colonies they had created.  Then came the squatters, they would settle along railroads, highways and banks of streams.  Squatters helped solve the problems of housing shortage and had access to jobs and services in the city.   The solution to the squatters were to put them in housing outside the central city but have them work, relocating them.  

In the United States we had the Industrial Revolution and people moved to the cities because the number of jobs were increasing that were nonagricultural.  

Slums are described as a place that is overcrowded  and parts of a place that is marked by poverty and poor living conditions, which lead to disease, sickness, and health hazards.  Some of us look at a certain type of person and automatically assume they must live or have been raised in the slums or the ghettos.  When we see women who have large families or tons of kids and perhaps even some elderly and addicts; we see them and put them into category simply on what we see and what we relate to what we've seen else where. 

The ghetto is described as an area where people are forced to live segregated.  A ghetto area traps minorities and puts into controls an area in which they live, to not populate the cities.  The ghetto is known for its violence, drug, young unwed mothers, and other social and economic problems.  There is a higher number of high school dropouts in ghetto areas.  A ghetto area can also be defined by a high crime rate and sadly to say but some even define it by the number of blacks or African Americans living in a certain area.   

Chapter 19

Chapter 19

If AIDS and cancer increased and decreased life expectancy I imagine it would change society in such a way where it could result in a good or bad way for the environment.  If the life expectancy for humans decreased there might be a chance for natural resources to recover from our over use. But there is also a downside to that, if there were such a drastic decrease in human life there might not be enough people to harvest or care for the natural resources and it might over grow and that might over populate the world.  A plus side to natural resources not being in short supply/high demand is that the cost would go down. There would be less starving people but more people with disease and cancer.  The people in society would have cleaner air to breathe if there were less humans polluting the air.  

The cost of almost any kind of insurance might sky rocket and most of our money might be used towards medical expenses if it is  cancer and/or AIDS that disable the human race. Birth rates might decrease or it might sky rocket as well, but the birth defects might be greater as well. There might be a higher population of children born with disabilities and AIDS and/or cancer.  This might eventually cause the collapse of human kind. 

Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Collective behavior is spontaneous and non-regular behavior, and in response to a specific event, usually involving more than one person.  While institutionalized behavior consists of behavior that is regular and consistent; a pattern.  

An example of collective behavior is when a disaster hits and the way people respond.  Something unstructured and dependent on that specific event.  

An example of institutionalized behavior is when you go to church every Sunday, go to your classes for school, going to work (your job 9am-5pm).  

In college the students who gathered together are called a crowd, all of us who were there were there to learn.  We had the same common interest to learn and gain our degree.  The sport events or clubs that got together are conventional crowds. And a casual crowd could be given the example of those who will go and see the Honolulu Hale's city lights.  

Propaganda is the use of manipulation on the publics emotions to con them into accepting a particular view. And censorship is when the public is kept from certain information, or for example...when the Government puts an age on buying cigarettes, alcohol, buying porn, seeing X-rated movies.  Censorship is different from propaganda because censorship doesn't give false information, they just withhold certain bits of information completely.  An example of each is when I tell my son that the store ran out of Ninja Turtles, when in fact they did not but I told him this so that I do not have to buy him yet another toy and so that he is given a "good" enough reason that he will stop asking for it, propaganda.  And an example of censorship would be that the toy is too expensive but I do not tell him that I have a coupon for it making it cheaper...in the end I still don't want to buy him more toys ;0P   

Chapter 17

Chapter 17

It is because of the way pathological and statistical illnesses are defined and how the United States have created the norm that makes understanding what each illness is and how they are different. 

Statistical illnesses are defined by comparing ones results to the norm and if those results are outside the norm, which is set by the United States, then that individual is ill. The norms are set but are not necessarily the healthiest norms, it could be better than what it is now for optimal health.  Pathological illnesses are something that you can see with your eyes, whether it'd be through an xray, microscope or some other advanced technology or not.

Different societies have built ways to cope with illnesses. Society defines who is well or sick and how the illness itself is treated.  So it is important to differentiate the two kinds of illnesses to better prepare on how to deal with them. It's important to understand the two because in order for a society to survive and live on it needs healthy people...people who are healthy and alive.

In the Republic of China, people were suffering from malnutrition, poor sanitation and health because medical care was almost non-existent. There were very few doctors in China and they did not want to develop medicine like Western physicians so they combined the two, using Western medicine and traditional Chinese medicine (acupuncture and herbs). China is/was a communist country and the communist trained "barefoot doctors" to serve as health workers, who were not paid. These health workers, aka peasants, trained for 3-18 months and had to have have same political attitudes as other communists.  

In the underdeveloped nations use herbs and religion for healing.  There is a three year program that one must go through. The first year consists of ritual and ceremonies which include abstinence from sex and a ritual to contact their ancestors.  This first year to set those in the program apart from the rest of the community. The second year is about going through identifying and usage of herbs, observing the natural habitats of the herbs.  The third year is going through ceremonies and rituals and taking an oath of allegiance to the trainer and have a graduation ceremony, very similar to that of those physicians that graduate in the United States.  The use of herbs by those in third world countries were not only beneficial but also tradition and the ceremony done was a placebo effect for the patient.  

Chapter 15 & 16

Chapter 15

It's hard to say which type of government works best, because sometimes what the people "want" isn't always what's best for the people and sometimes what the people "need" they don't get if others who are in control are seeking to only benefit themselves. 

I believe it was in the late 1600's or early 1700's Europe (Denmark) was ruled by a King who had to go through his Court. The Court ultimately had the last say in what is to be approved or denied. Often times, they would deny things to benefit the people and approve the things to benefit those in the Court and those of high standing/position. So this type of system, totalitarianism only works in the right hands.

As for democracy, people being able to govern themselves is only as good as the information they educate themselves with. They know what they want but perhaps not what they need, and what they need may be based off an uneducated decision. Sometimes it is based on the fact that people in certain areas are not being given the ability to be educated about certain things regarding politics or their benefits and sometimes some people are too lazy and make an uneducated decision that in turn affects everyone else. 

For me, if the people are made aware of and educated on the matters of politics and their benefits then the people would be able to govern themselves knowing exactly what they "need" and to get a little of what they "want." And if in a totalitarian system, those who govern and choose for the people did so honestly and with main concern for those they are governing over then perhaps that kind of system too would work.  But what we lack for both are honest and educated people.

To me, the types of abuses that stem from PACs and lobbies are pretty self evident. Those PACs organizations with deep pockets and whatever politician wants that money is in some way persuaded by that PAC and what they stand for. PACs will support whoever will fight with them in their cause and sometimes I see that politicians change their point of views and what they believe in to get that $$$.  So certain politicians morals and values are eventually changed so that they might get their seat.  As for lobbies, it seems those with the most money tend to abuse the system for their own benefits (shocker o_O), whether it'd be trying to work around it or prolonging the inevitable so in the meantime something else can be cooked up and make more $$$. Lobbies aren't all bad, just like PACs aren't all bad too; but there are those always seeking to abuse the system for their own benefits while seeking others who will help them in their corrupt cause. 

Chapter 16

One obvious disadvantage for higher taxes, like that of Sweden, is simply those who collect a paycheck would collect less. An advantage for higher taxes is also obvious, that we would have more money to allocate to programs in dire need of it. America is running out of funds for government funded programs and most of them we need and should not go without. The one I can think of at the top of my head is the snap or welfare. I truly feel that if we had enough money for this program then the ability to get snap and welfare might not be as easy as it is now. Parameters could be set in place that would cost more because we need an extra body and time put into a new process. In the beginning I do believe that it would cost more but in the long run this sort of thing would help the State and Governments budget increase and another plus for this is that we could weed out those that shouldn't be on snap or welfare; thus saving even more money.  

Another thing that I have heard and read about is that maternity leave for mothers is 1 year and you get paid maternity leave as well. But Sweden finds that the first year for a child is the most crucial and to have a mother be there for her child and to teach her child is best kind of support that a child could receive (of course from a capable mother). I believe that the Sweden government is able to do this partly due to the higher taxes that working individual must pay. 

I feel that raising the taxes for America would be a good idea but it would be in vain if there were no changes to the programs and no set parameters for these programs. The programs themselves will have to change and in the way that one would be able to get into or something from those Government assisted programs. I believe it could work just like it does for Sweden, but we must look at the WHOLE picture and not the just $$$ amount, or the bottom line. 

I feel that with any amount of welfare assistance, the Government and the State should be more concerned about helping those who need DURING their time of need; not as an alternative to not working. The Government and the State should focus more on helping individuals through this rough time but also help them and aide them in finding another job or a way out of just getting buy and living off Government and State assistance. After a while the amount should lessen to serve as a little motivation that after a certain said amount of time you need to get off your butt and do something with your life. I can understand if there was something physically/mentally stopping an individual from doing so, but then that individual would need to be referred to another department to be examined or get assistance for different reasons and to eventually help this individual get back on their feet and help to diagnose the problem, if there is one. 

An advantage for China's development into a socialist system is that China has grown into their successful industries quickly. China has since made great advancements in their services to education and health care. Schools were opened and those teaching well getting trained properly; one great importance is that the Chinese language was being simplified. The teachings in schools had changed to love and assistance and contributing to the good of society. Although China's society isn't like the United States and to "our" standards, it still has come a long way from the poor nation it once was. Chinese still go without a lot of things that us Americans have but they have learned to love and appreciate what they have and can simply do without all the fancies of America. 

A disadvantage is that there are still some who do not support this change for China and outwardly express themselves badly to those that do.  As being an individual who does show the support to an ever changing socialist system China must be rather difficult to deal day in and day out with those that do not share the same ideas and values as yourself. I would imagine that is the hardest part, emotionally dealing with those who's ideas are so radically different from your own and especially if those are your own family who are from the older generation and are not willing to change and grow for the better of China.  

Chapter 13 & 14

I do identify myself as a Christian and with this being said, there are certain standards that I follow and that I set for myself. Some of them which are just in trying to be a good person and others to be a good Christian. I try to lead by a good example for people I meet and may not even meet, and for me most importantly my family (my children).  I try to be nice to others and I try to mindful of others feelings, thats the way I was raised (in a Christian household) and the way I choose to be. I choose to identify myself as a Christian (among other things) and I thus (try to) behave like one.

For others who believe in different religions they behave accordingly to their beliefs. For example, those who follow Judaism eat kosher foods have pray and study daily.  Male children are circumcised on the eighth day after being born.  When Jewish boys become of age they go through a bar mitzvah that signifies the coming into manhood. Those who believe in Judaism and practice it show it in their behavior and their everyday lives.

Muslims believe in a God as well, and just like Christians, their God is perceived the one and only God.  Muslims believe that women are to be subordinate to their husbands and their husbands may have more than one wife.  With that said, Muslim men are able to divorce their wives by a simple pronouncement and dowry repayment.  Women seem to have less rights and less ability to do the things that men are able and allowed to do.  Women don't have a fair chance at education, work, or money.  For someone outside the Muslim religion it seems that women are treated unfairly, of course majority for this feeling is because I was raised differently under a different religion. If I was brought up under the Muslim religion I am sure that I would have no problem submitting to men and having less money and ability to get a higher education. I am by no means saying that how they are treated is wrong or that they shouldn't subject themselves to that kind of treatment, if that's the way they were raised and they don't mind it then to each his own.  So specifically the Muslim women have a more subjective behavior to men than do other women of different religion.

Hinduism and Buddhism have similar beliefs, in the sense that when one dies the soul/spirit will be moved into another form, reincarnation.  This specific belief affects the way one lives their current life, in your current life you do good and abide by the rules of the religion in order to be put into a better or equal form of your current. An example of this could be, if in your current life you're a bad person and don't abide by the rules of the religion your next form of life may be as a roach.

I attended a public high school for freshmen and sophomore years of high school and then a private school for my junior and senior year of high school.  I believe that it truly depends on the student themselves, if they fit right in with a public or private school setting. My class size at the public school I attended was very large, my graduating class was probably some where around 300+ students, while the private school I later attended only had 23 people in our entire senior graduating class. The one-on-one attention is much better at a private school, even without tutoring you get more attention (student-teacher ratio). With a public school I feel (and saw for myself) that teachers were stretched out thin over a lot of students, with a lot of the students having a serious lack of interest in school. I know there's something to be said about the teen years as well, but it was hard for me to get by in the public school system and I honestly wasn't going to graduate on time either. I made the decision to switch schools, public to private, and was lucky that my family could afford it.  The private school I switched too had a whole different set of standards and they consisted of me taking a bunch of extra classes; and because it was a private religious school I had to also take religion courses in order to pass and graduate. I was making up for credits I didn't have and ones I needed as if I went to public school. But even with that heavy school load, sports, music, work and disabilities I graduated on time with great grades.  I tend to see that a lot of times, students that come from families that don't have a lot of money go to public schools, while those that can afford it go to private school. But in my school there were a mixture of students, ones that came from a lot of wealth, to those that simply only had enough to get by.  My private school consisted of different races and ethnicities and different religions, but all there for one purpose...to learn and get a great education.  So having gone to both public and private school, I have to say for this individual, myself, the private school system is what worked for me. But of course on the other hand you have my husband who went to a public school (that isn't the greatest now) and went to school with folded folder paper and a pencil in his large pockets of his cargo pants, sometimes would skip out on a class or two, but senior year had all extra curricular activities and graded with a 3.4 GPA. So again, it depends on the individual student themselves.

Chapter 11 & 12

Chapter 11 & 12

Age norms for teens and early twenty I would say would consist of trying new things and discovering the world, almost in a naive sense. At these ages you are primarily concerned with things involving only oneself, self centered. As a teen I didn't always listen to my parents and I had to try things out for myself no matter how much it would hurt me later, I wanted to make my own mistakes and learn "my" way. My mothers motto when I was a teen and even a young adult was "been there, done that." If only I had really listened I would've saved myself so much heartache and unnecessary hardship. When I was a teen I tried things like smoking cigarets and pot to drinking and sneaking out.  Then when I was in my twenties I had gotten all those things out of my system and I would remember in the back of my mind e things my mother told me and d experiences that I had discovered and I had learned from them. I was growing up. When you're younger your idea of how things are and work in the world are so innocent and naive, then as you get into the teens and twenties it's naive and self centered, then as you get older you tend to me more experienced in life (gaining more experiences we get older and learning from others mistakes rather making our own). We value what other people have experienced more than just trying to fit in.

When the younger generation think about getting old they think about possible ailments and problems they'll encounter and some even dread getting old so much so they'd rather just live a full life (hard or go home) in the young adult lives and then have no desire to live to get any older. I think a lot of people have issues with not only dying but dying or being alone. I have seen first hand from my grandmother that when my grandfather passed she was lonely, but who wouldn't be when you've had a spouse for 50+ years? It's only natural.  But after a while so got back out there end started hanging out with her friends more often and making a ton of new ones. I took her to a group that have lost loved ones and they're now her close friends she sees once a week. Instead of depending on the spouse or loved one they have lost they depend on one another. Sure not the same way of course but when my grandmother or someone doesn't show up they immediately try to get a hold of one another. They have a system and it works. They have get together and parties, it's not how I would party but it's according to age. For myself, I have so many ailments and things that generally happen to older people that I am not worried about getting older and being physically disabled. I am working on myself now and taking care of it now so that I won't have to worry as much when I get older. I am more aware of myself now that I was in my teens or twenties.

I feel as though divorces should be harder to get but only in the sense that more steps are put into place to get one.  In Hawaii during a divorce if children are involved then you have to attend a mediation, then a class where both parents go with the children and then at last a hearing/court date for the final say regarding custody.  Marriage isn't something that should be taken lightly and it seems as though a lot of the younger generation don't hold it sacred.  My brother married a young girl, they got married a year after she graduated high school. She didn't have a chance to go through her fun phase of carelessness and she had to be a mom, a wife, and still grow up. She wanted to do all these things that she would've been able to do if she didn't have a child and some things even married. She always said she wanted to be independent and didn't want anyone's help but she always had it, she never turned it down. She always blamed others instead of holding herself accountable. No two people are perfect but I understand that it takes two to make any relationship work.  To get a divorce because of "irreconcilable differences" is not a reason at all, it is an excuse. I do believe that people should try different things to make their marriage work and thus allowing people to see that marriage is not something you simply do for fun. At the same time I do feel that depending on the marriage conditions and if children are involved it may call for a quick and easy process.  For myself, my biological father and mother got a divorce and it was because after I was born he "decided" that he wasn't ready and didn't want to be a father so they got a divorce. For a child to stay in kind of situation I believe it warrants a quick and swift divorce, that and he was a cheater >:0( I strongly believe that children are our future and we need to raise them in such a way where our investment in our children will show as the fruit of our labor. If we are to have a happy future we must invest in our future, our children. So in an ugly marriage where there is children involved we must act quickly, but if it something that can be managed and worked on then pele must give it a try. Even though people say they tried I feel that there maybe something that wasn't tried yet and a look from a different pair of eyes or hearing it from someone else can make that difference.  

Chapter 9 & 10

Chapter 9 & 10

A racial group is defined by peoples distinguished physical features and characteristics. As humans we have defined ourselves by our physical features and Carolus Linneaus has helped with that. A botanist, Linneaus classified plants and animals later doing the same to human species. In the mid 1600's the Caucasian mans fear brought about laws against Caucasian marrying a minority. 

Susan Guillory Phipps was affected by the one-drop rule, when she went to get her birth certificate she noticed her race was checked off "Black" instead of "White". Phipps went to Supreme Court only to find out 11 generations before there was found to be a Black slave included in her family tree.  So no matter Phipps' social identity, she was identified as "Black". Phipps social identity remained "White" because of how society saw her. Social definition overrules biological definition, society sees physician traits of a "White" person then they associate that individual as a "White" person. A good example of this would be when we see a "wangsta,"a white person acting like a "Black" gangster. Society sees this individual as "White" even though that individual socially sees himself as a "Black" gangster.

I believe that racial identity is based on all three factors: biological, legal and social. They all play some sort of role in defining ones racial identity.  When defining different species biologically, you are defining by physical characteristics.  Defining by characteristics has lead to legal factors coming from the fear of the "White" man. When a new race came into town they were threatened and so they created a divide and an unfairness to the minority group. Slavery, the one-drop rule, and Caucasians cannot marry a "Black"person are a few legal factors. I believe this assisted segregation between races and racism. 

When defining ourselves in society as either masculine or feminine it starts off in our sex, our anatomy, chromosomes and hormones. I was born with female parts and my husband was born with male parts; X and Y chromosomes.  What society expects from a man or a woman, gender roles, is how we act gender wise, social status. An example for this is how my gender role as a wife is to make food for my husband and as a wife take care of he children's needs  and making sure they are cared for and nurtured. And how society expects us to be is how we generally act, feminine as a wife and mother versus masculine. We also associate a stay at home dad who takes care of the kids as a mother would or household chores like wife would as maybe being feminine in comparison to a man who works outside the home, seeing him as more masculine being the breadwinner. And our sex, being born as a man or woman, identifying ourselves into these roles that our society expects us to be.

A consequence caused by gender inequality is marital problems or even divorce and depression for women.  A lot of women feel, and speaking from experience, that the work load in the household isn't equal.When my husband and I first got married I was pregnant right away and eventually had early leave due to my pregnancy. So my in-laws would come over and bring dinner for us and when I had our son they would come more frequently. One night my mother-in-law told me, why don't you have dinner for your husband when he comes home? How come it's not already made and ready for him? I looked at her and thought boy are you nuts?! For one, I will not treat my husband as the prince/king like you did when he lived with you, taking care of a newborn as a first time mom was crazy enough for me doing other household chores and what I was physically limited to. And second, in my household that I grew up in, my dad always cooked unless it was a certain dish that my mom then made, a specialty. So we grew up so very differently and my husband agrees that it's supposed to be shared equally, and for the most part it is. Sometimes he forgets himself and complains and we have a talk and he mentions that I'm not pulling my share and he brings up cooking, bathing the children, helping with homework, laundry, cleaning the house and etc. I have to remind him that I too have a full time job now and we both are the same kind of busy after when we get home. Whoever the kids ask for is whoever is on kiddy duty.  I suffer from depression and it used to come from the home and my marriage and how not only my husband but how my mother-in-law insisted how I had to be for her son. I've heard from friends that get divorced over this sort of thing, and depending what speaks to a person it could put such a heavy enough strain on ones marriage and it will just snap and break apart. 

Chapter 8

Social stratification in America is a ranking system that has influences to different aspects of our life: where we live, education, jobs, what we eat, voting and who we marry.  And there are other things that are affecting by our rank in society.  An example of dysfunction cause by social stratification would be how American so strives to abolish inequality but in reality there is inequality every where but of course it is not addressed like it should because the rich are rich and most times stay rich.  The rich have access to more and better things while the poor don't.

I have been blessed with being able to go to public school but graduate from a private school, go to community college (for other than financial reasons) as well as Hawaii Pacific University, private college. I have been able to have these educations because of my family having the financial ability to do so but also because my husband works for Hawaii Pacific University so we get the tuition waiver which helps tremendously.  My husband still has to work in order for us to get the tuition waiver, and it would be different if we were rich and able to just afford it without having to work; but it is also different for those who have to take out loans in order to pay for their education at the full price. So both quality and my husband striving for a better job and education has helped us get better quality education.

Chapter 6 & 7

Just like values in chapter 4, socialization is a lifelong process through which people are taught and where they learn about society.  All throughout out lives we learn socialization at every level: individual, interpersonal, group, organizational and institutional. Socializing helps shape who we are, our skills and values and beliefs and what we gauge is right and wrong.

The great nature versus nurture debate, in which people are arguing if our behaviors are learnt biologically or through socialization.  Role-taking (Mead) is a process in which we are concerned about how others will act.   Charles Cooley describes the process of the looking-glass self in which it is the "I" versus "me".  When using "I" you are simply seeing yourself as only one person.  The "me" represents the part of oneself that sees themselves as an object and is concerned with societies expectations.  Kohlber's stages of moral development stuck out to me because my children are young and these are different stages that I would be looking at.  In the first stage, pre-conventional, a child acts according to what is expected from him/her, what they learned as right and wrong, Second stage, conventional stage is where children see what they learned as right and wrong and compare is to what is socially acceptable (or cool with their friends of the week).  Lastly there is the post-conventional stage where children/people are concerned with others more than the law.

Sigmund Freud believed that there were three elements that made the personality: id, ego and superego.   When we're born we develop our id (inborn drives) (i.e.: communicating through crying when baby is hungry).  The ego's job is to prevent the id and the superego from becoming dominant. The superego is our conscience, it is not inherent it is learned through social interactions.  Family is considered the primary of socialization and also determines the child's social class.  Families also teach the child values that they will hold for the rest of their lives.  Schools are another place where children interact and socialize.  Schools set expectations for children to test their achievements through competition, to self-descipline, to cooperate with others, and obey rules.  Peer groups are very influential to young people.  They spend more time together outside school as well. Religion can also be a very influential part on a child's life, learning what is right and wrong and acceptable.  The mass media also influences children in numerous ways, through shows and ads.  Some researchers believe that mass media shapes not only what we think but how we think.

The section of the chapter on socialization of gender roles was a bit difficult for me, only because I treat my son and daughter the same. I try my best not to be boys are more active and can do more for themselves and girls are dainty and just supposed to be cute.  I grew up with my father telling me that he didn't want his daughter riding a dirt bike or doing BMX because I'm a girl and I'm not supposed to. I always told myself that I wouldn't do that to my kids.

Deviance is a variation from the norm or social expectations.  The opposite of deviance is conformity.  Durkheim even stated that deviance is a normal part of society.  It helps define limits of social tolerance, defining how much you can violate something without going over the boundaries of the social norms.  I think that deviance is socially defined because societies create what the norms and expectations are.  There is only so much deviance a society will allow, so really the society is trying to conform its members.  

Chapter 4 & 5

Culture is defined as a group of people who share the same heritage, ideas, values, beliefs, knowledge, norms, customs, and technology; the most important being language and values.  Language is essential for human interaction and we have taken it for granted.  There are similarities between different languages from all over the world that indicate some universal part.  Values are learned at an early stage in life from family, friends, and media.  Values teach us what is proper and improper, what is right and what is wrong versus norms which are rules of conduct. 

From chapter 4, I'd like to answer one of the questions that it ask at the end of this chapter: the significance or accuracy of the statement, "Societies with different languages actually see or perceive the world differently." My boss is really into Hawaiian culture and language, in fact he teaches it at night school and he occasionally goes over a few things here and there as they come up in our discussions. He always mentions how the Hawaiians have different meanings in their language and how they speak of different things. For one, to me (Japanese-American) thinks of a computer as just an electronic that process things for us and makes our lives a little easier, something of convenience.  While for Hawaiians they take literal meanings, computer is something that thinks and processes, stress on the thinking part.  Lolo uila literally meaning electric brain or kamepiula which would be the Americanized version of computer.

Within a social structure there are different parts that make it up: status, ascribed and achieved status, social roles, groups, organizations, and institutions. When we think of status we think of someone who hold a high title or high prestige, but it could be anyone doing anything.  For example I am a student, mother, wife, daughter, granddaughter, etc., I do not hold a high title or someone of great accomplished importance. I have achieved status, things that I have earned and have strived for. I don't have ascribed status, things that were just handed to me; I do not have a huge trust and will not inherit a big company with a huge name attached to it. There are different roles that we play, the way we are expected to behave. A mother expected role is different than that of a father. Social groups interact with one another and there are five different types of social interactions: exchange, cooperation, competition, conflict and coercion.  When people interact they do with expectations of a reward and in a group the people in it share a common goal and strive for that goal together, there are and will always be where someone doesn't agree with what the other person is doing and this creates tension, coercion is when you want to use force or violence to control others. There are non-social groups that share things in common but do not talk or sometimes even know that they belong to this group (i.e.: red heads, they share the same color hair but all the red heads may never met one another).  Limited social groups are those who have limited time together but still share some/a common interest.  Social groups require: interaction, sense of belonging/members, shared interests, and structure.  Primary and secondary groups differ in such a way that one involves face-to-face interaction and the secondary group still has face-to-face interactions but are more formal.

Discussion: What is meant by the statement, "Society is socially structured?"  I think it simply means what the book has already to obviously stated for us.  Each and every single one of us holds some kind of status, whether the president of a fortune 500 company or the data entry clerk at a small company and within that status we either are given that status as a birth right or we have strived for and earned it.  Social roles is something that helps define us and helps give us structure.  Different people hold different expectations of each other. Then it is broken down into prescribed roles or role perception.  Prescribed roles are those that society itself suggests is right and what/how we should do what we do.

Chapters 1, 2, & 3

Sorry for the late post. I was doing this on my phone and thought it posted...haven't done this before.

For me I believe trying to understand people is one of the foundation stones for our society and the development of  relationships within our society. 

It is sad that most times we look at people based off how we were raised and how we were/are treated, our own experiences.  We tend to be biased and in some waiys discriminate against those that are different. I was raised to out yourself in someone elses shoes before attempting to judge someone. For cultural reasons, look at other cultures and customs before thinking something is strange. I've found when I did that,  most times I'd have a new found understanding amd respect.   It's good to know that the way I was raised can reflect positively on my sociology class.

I feel that when reading about the different theories, I pull more towards the Socialist Feminism. I believe that women and men should have the same opportunities and fair chances. I am well aware that men are usually physically stronger than women and would have better success at a physically demanding job but I also believe that the ability to try is still lacking in our society.

Another theory that stuck out to me was Structual Functional Theory. I have 2 young kids and often think about if I had to raise them as a single mom, there are a lot of single parent households and I have a hard enough time as a dad and mom team I couldn't imagine doing it alone. With that kind of wondering I also think about the cons of having 2 kids in a single parent family.  I also try to think of solutions for a single parent household, I'm by no means anticipating this happening to me...I just think about the things I see and consider myself blessed.  But going back to the topic at hand, ths functional alternative seems like a good fix.

The research methods of sociology are very similar to that of other sciences and also statistics. I felt this chapter was seld explanitory. But I wanted to discuss the beginning of chapter 3. I don't feel as if I'm a troubled person or child (past tense). I have a tattoo and had piercings and in fact, peirced my tongue myself once and repeirced it 2x's after that. I have since taken it out because during my first pregnancy the metal taste was horrid...but also that I promised myself when I had kids I would take it out. I see the way my friends kids react to weird peircings. My peircings were purely for the enjoyment of pain. I have a high threshold for pain and I found it soothing to deal with the pain that way rather than emotionally. It was a temporary fix,  which is maybe why I did it so many times.  But all this doesn't mean that I am a bad person, child, or mother.  So to say that tattoos or body peircings are a sign of deviance is biased and offensive.  They are sometimes true, but not always.