Structure and Agency on Human Thought - Essay Example

Running Head: Identity Identity of Part A The concept of structure and agency on human thoughtand behavior is one of the vital areas of social scientific theory. In this area of study, "agency" denotes to the capacity of an individual human to act and think independently and to draw their own free choices. On the other hand, the term structure is refers to components such as customs, social class, ethnicity, religion, gender and so forth. According to Levine a researcher in this area, agency is a human action. Furthermore, it is necessary that an agent should be a human although not all agents are human beings. The word agency in this context refers that 'agency is directly tied to social structures' in so far as they interact and produce society together. Obviously, Agents have complete knowledge of their society and this mutual information that therein produces structures. The everyday ordinary life of an agent leads is simply a part of reproduction in society. The important thing is here that Levine theory primary refers "Ontologiclal" security in the trust. In contrast, Agency, apart from reproduction of society can also lead to the transformation of society. According to Levine a good way to explain this concept is "reflexive monitoring of actions". Reflexive monitoring looks at the skill to look at actions to estimate their effectiveness in achieving their aims. However, if agents can replicate structure through action, they can also transform it. However, according to Levine "in terms of identity formation and maintenance, two key issues pertain to (a) the relevance of the concepts of structure and agency for understanding identity, and (b) the extent to which identity is conceptualized as having an "inner" versus "outer" origin. The first issue involves assumptions regarding individual causality, or personal responsibility; the sociological equivalent of which lies in the notions of reflexivity and agency. It is quite true that this issue has long been ignored in sociology, but as noted, the issue is currently being discussed by late modernists in terms of the structure-agency debate (i.e., how much individuals exercise control independent of social structure versus how much social structure determines individual behavior". (Levine, 2002, pg, 54+) Structural Influence on Identity (A) Gender Base Structural Influence on Identity The benefits of receiving ample parental support and, conversely, the costs of receiving poor parental support during childhood may be the most powerful within "same-sex parent-child dyads". The important point is to note here is that the daughter-mother relationship is central in most women's lives. Certianly, this relationship between mother and daughter is a key influence in the identity formation and the long-term psychosocial adjustment of daughter. Similarly, the son-father relationship has significant influence on the development psychosocial, morality, behaviour and so on. Furthermore, the relationship between father and son influences everything in a man's life, in what he sees himself and in what way he sees all other people. Thus, the amount of support a child receives within this same-sex dyad would be a important determinant of psychosocial and moral values development an individual's life course. "When taken together, this review suggests that although receiving early parental support may be an important predictor of mental and physical health outcomes in later life, the impact of early parental support can be fully appreciated only by identifying the social structural factors that are most closely associated with receiving poor support in early life and understanding how associations between levels of support received during childhood. However, moral and behavior status vary according to following factors. 1. Does the amount of early parental support reported vary by gender of the parent, gender of the child, or racial or socioeconomic status 2. Is the moral of women and men differentially associated with early support provided by their mothers or fathers ( Shaw, et.al, 2003, pg,20+) (B)Student Teacher Sturctual Influene on Identity The relationsnip between the teacher and student is also inflence on identity of a person. In this context, teachers play a fundametal role in delveloping the identity of a student. Most psychosocolgist have agreed on the fact that after parnets one would greatly influence from the role of a teacher with respect of his or her morral, chracter, social ethics etc, and all these characteristics play a significant role in developing one's identity. (C)Husband-Wife Sturctual Inflence on Identity Psychologically speaking, husband wife relationship is also influence on both individuals identity. To a certain extent both individual have their own beliefs and thoughts both have their own choices and individual characteristics. As they share own thoughts with other this process influence a lot in terms of restructuring their personal identities. Part B As discussed above "agency" denotes to the capacity of an individual human to act and think independently and to draw their own free choices. With respect of this, the term identity of an individual is still somehow remained unauthorized in social science. Certainly, identity in itself belongs to the various meanings attached to oneself and others. Moreover, it locates the relationship of an individual in different contexts when evaluating one's structural behavior class. In this regard, within social identity theory, identity refers to a focus on the commonalities among people within a group and differences among people. "Individual differences in personality may be described at three different levels. Level I consists of those broad, de contextualized, and relatively non conditional constructs called "traits," which provide a dispositional signature for personality description. No description of a person is adequate without trait attributions, but trait attributions themselves yield little beyond a "psychology of the stranger." At Level II (called "personal concerns"), personality descriptions invoke personal strivings, life tasks, defense mechanisms, coping strategies, domain-specific skills and values, and a wide assortment of other motivational, developmental, or strategic constructs that are contextualized in time, place, or role. While dispositional traits and personal concerns appear to have near-universal applicability. Level III presents frameworks and constructs that may be uniquely relevant to adulthood only, and perhaps only within modern societies that put a premium on the individuation of the self. Thus, in contemporary Western societies, a full description of personality commonly requires a consideration of the extent to which a human life expresses unity and purpose, which are the hallmarks of identity. Identity in adulthood is an inner story of the self that integrates the reconstructed past, perceived present, and anticipated future to provide a life with unity, purpose, and meaning. At Level III, psychologists may explore the person's identity as an internalized and evolving life story. Each of the three levels has its own geography and requires its own indigenous nomenclatures, taxonomies, theories, frameworks, and laws". (McAdams, 1995, 365+) Thus, in the view of above quotation, existing social structural elements within a particular family have direct interact on one's own individual life. Especially, when discussing about a fostering child perspective. An individual has its own choice, knowledge, and way of thinking. When simulating old school of thoughts a conflict of thoughts may evoke due to discrimination between old and modern thinking capabilities. In this regard, researchers found that emotional support receives from parents/guardians during childhood may have long term or short term structural identity influcnes. Obviously, receiving poor levels of parental support during childhood contributes to poor moral outcomes and has certain negative effects on identity. In this regard, children who receive low levels of parental support during childhood regarding moral values, personal ethics, socioeconomic factors, and personality concepts are more likely to indulge themselves in unetical social actions. Conclusion At last, a person has dual nature active and passive, a subject of expreiences and an agent. The above study demonstrated the interactions of agency and structural influences contradict some positions and views.However, dualistic treatments of structure and agency may become problematic. References Benjamin A. Shaw, Berit Ingersoll-Dayton, Neal Krause, (2003), Journal Article, Social structural influences on emotional support from parents early in life and adult health status, (page number20+) Dan P. McAdams, (1995), Journal of Personality, What Do We Know When We Know a Person, Volume 63 Issue 3 Page 365 Levine Charles G., (2002), Identity Formation, Agency, and Culture: A Social Psychological Synthesis, (Page Number, 54+), Mahwah, NJ Press Steven Hitlin , (Jun., 2003), Social Psychology Quarterly, Special Issue: Social Identity: Sociological and Social Psychological Perspectives, Vol. 66, No. 2, Read More