Social isolation - Coursework Example

Social isolation 1. Four components: a. Symbols b. Values c. Language d. Norms Symbols are how a culture represents reality. An example of this is how, at one time in English history, overweight people were seen as more attractive because it represented a higher social status. Today, however, a slimmer body is a symbol for physical attractiveness. Values are a culture’s ideas of what is good, fair, right, and so on. Before the Industrial Revolution, European culture valued agriculture as the means toward economic prosperity. Over time, however, the culture reevaluated this and soon accepted industry as the way to raise living standards. Language is verbal and written representations of the world. There are numerous examples in which words’ connotations (cultural meanings) differ from their denotations (definition meanings). Eventually, these denotations collapse and give way to the culturally dominant ways of using the term (such as in “selfishness”). Norms are tacit rules and expectations for a culture. In America, it is customary to maintain direct eye contact when conversing. In Asia, it is out of politeness and respect that people look away. However, as cultures begin to merge, these norms begin to fade away and individuals must rethink their behaviors based on their specific context. 2. Sociology is, broadly, the study of society in general. It qualifies as a social science insofar as it applies empirical investigation and critical thinking to the development of a body of knowledge about human societies. 3. Technology refers to knowledge that people use to make a way of life in their surroundings. It is an agent of socialization because it shapes the way people interact with their environment. People inherit their culture, in an age of technology, through the technological medium—computers, television, and so on. In that sense, it is increasingly an agent of socialization. 4. Social isolation, by definition, reduces socialization because it alienates an individual from culture. When this happens, culture cannot be passed on from one generation to another. Communication is a necessary condition of socialization, and that factor is negatively impacted by social isolation. 5. The elements of culture are symbols, values, language, and norms. Perspectives may differ between cultures because interpretations of events tend to rely on these basic elements of culture. For instance, one can imagine an atheist interpreting a terrorist bombing as an objectionable event that is indescribable and totally against one’s beliefs. Meanwhile, a fundamentalist might describe the event as morally righteous and symbolic. 6. A value is a culturally based idea of what is good or fair; an example might be wealth and success. A norm, on the other hand, is a tacit rule or expectation that guides behavior; an example might be keeping personal space and not violating another’s space. Norms tend to guide behavior while values tend to guide emotional reactions to events. However, both are based on an ideal world orientation. 7. The Sociological Perspective is the study of social phenomena at a broad level. By adopting the Sociological Perspective, one is likely to benefit from informing one’s opinions of society with empirical research and critical thinking. Rather than relying on philosophy or values, one can achieve an objective view of social phenomena that transcends any one particular culture’s values, norms, and symbols. 8. Cooley and Mead wrote about the so-called “Looking Glass Self,” which says people are socialized in response to how others respond to them. In other words, people learn what society likes and rejects by the way people respond to an individual’s behaviors. Socialization occurs in that scenario when a person acts and others around them express evaluative judgments of that action. Popular kids, then, receive the popular approval of their peers. This theme about social acceptance seems to reflect the Looking Glass Self. Critical Thinking 1. Culture is the way of thinking, the way of acting, and the material objects that together form a people’s way of life. Instant gratification is a product of technology as an agent of socialization. Socialization is the lifelong social experience by which people develop their human potential and learn culture. Young people primarily learn their culture through technology, which is based on the appeal of receiving information instantly through the internet and mobile communication. Accordingly, it is no surprise that instant gratification is on the rise among young people: it is the “way of acting” in the above definition of culture. The “material objects” of this culture could also encompass the objects of technology—computers, phones, cars, etc.—that advance the transmission of culture in an instantly gratifying way. From my own experience, it seems that whenever a young person wants to know something about someone else, they can either discover that information through social networks or by instant communication. These tools represent a quick and easy method of discovering information; however, they are also unreliable sources of information. Thus, as one continues to see instant gratification on the rise, one will also see the continued rise of good information mixed precariously in with bad information, with limited independent ability to pick the two categories apart. Completion of a Scenario 1. Agent of socialization: Mass Media Stage of the Life Course: Childhood 2. It is important for one to conduct a literature review on this topic so that (a) one’s research does not needlessly repeat the findings of another researcher, and (b) one’s research has a useful place within the development of a body of knowledge about social phenomena. 3. Fast-food marketing toward children increases childhood obesity 4. The method of this research is controlled experiment. Children and their parents will be invited to the laboratory, put into conditions, shown either television advertisements for fast foods or a neutral control advertisement, and then asked about their food preferences. 5. I will interpret my results based on how children rated their preference for unhealthy food after watching either the fast food advertisement or the control advertisement. Children who see the commercials then rate higher preferences for fast food will be judged to have been influenced significantly by the advertisement. 6. Based on this hypothesis and an interpretation of the evidence, I will make recommendations about how to prevent childhood obesity by looking at the effects that marketing toward children has on them. I plan to publish these results in a sociology/psychology journal for a wide readership. Read More