Social structure plays an important part, as structure helps with the refinement of an individual’s identity through both rigid experiences such as culture and class or fluid choices such as religion and geographic location, yet before an individual is aware of the social structure that has been laid out for them through culture, class or status they have had social interaction from family or carers. Therefore shaping an individual’s identity through social interaction is more important than social structure for a person’s identity. “We will have no say whether our initial family is Christian, Buddhist, Jewish…. (Plummer 2010, p1) and in this one sentence we have the answer. An individual’s right of choice. Structure is just that, Structural; it’s something that is put in place to solidify an object. like building structures in construction, Social structure is a base for identity the same way as foundations are for a building, yet social interaction is like the design architect, yes they need to follow some structure otherwise their building will collapse, but with social interaction comes an individual’s unique identity and possibly an amazing looking building.
Some societies however don’t give people the freedom to choose, whether it is through oppression, lack of resources or conflict. The social structure for these people is very rigid and hard to change. North Koreans are denied most social freedoms, Somalia’s people live in war-torn areas yet these people still have individual identities regardless of how the nation state believes people should behave. They are shaped by social interaction. Whereas from almost day one of our lives, “we start to become aware of other people in this world” (Plumber 2010, p2) we are shaping ourselves on these people.
The Essay on Poverty And Social Structure
Although the United States is one of the richest countries in the world many of it's people sleep in the streets, dig through garbage cans to find food, and carry all that they own in this world on their backs or in shopping carts. These people are known as the homeless. Recently I had the opportunity of helping, and at the same time being educated by one of the members of this unfortunate group. ...
Before we are even aware that there is a greater world around us, we have the one point that shapes us and that is social interaction with family. Social interaction It is through social interaction that humans thrive. Without social interaction we may lose our identity. Murphy (Cited in Jenkins 2008, p76) states “Alienation from others is thus a deprivation of social being, for it is within our bonds that the self is forged and maintained”. Human beings are not born with an existing self-perceiving consciousness, but must learn through social interaction and bodily experience to for a self-concept”. (Back, L et al p97) A human child will begin to develop its identity from a very early age, and as they grow up they realise that they are unique and individual due to the interaction that the child receives from its parents. “An infant is not a being independent of its mother (or, presumably, other consistent carers)”. (Jenkins 2008, p77).
So if a child did not have any social interaction during its childhood years, you would most likely end up with a human such as Tarzan or “feral children”, such as Oksana Malaya who was brought up by dogs (Timsears69 2010) and only through social interaction was she able to be reintegrated into society. These people have no individual social identity. So whilst they may not have the culture or social class which makes up part of social structure they still have their status as a child or as a boy or girl but because they are no longer interacting with other individuals or society an identity cannot be developed.
The Term Paper on Erving Goffmans Contribution Into The Notion Of The Social Interaction
Erving Goffman's contribution into the notion of the social interaction The aim of the present paper is to look through the sociological notions provided by Goffman through his books, especially in relation to the social interaction. It is essential to critically evaluate the contribution which Goffman has made through his dramaturgical theory of social interaction and through the development of ...
Using the example of Amish society and Ferdinand Tonnies (1887-1988) term “Germeinschaft” which describes a village life, where everyone knows everyone else (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p85).
The Amish regard such things as brotherly love and they believe that when a husband works away from home, all aspects of life change – from the marital relationship to the care of the children. (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p86) Therefore it’s the social interaction that keeps these types of societies together.
Whilst they do rely heavily on structure such as Religion, Emile Durkheim’s (1893-1933) theory of mechanical solidarity suggests that as an agricultural society, that work together and perform similar tasks, they are united through social bonds (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p84) and it is this social interaction which is important in the shaping of their identity. Although social interaction formed from family shape our individual identities if we look at the negative external constructions of individual identity such as cases of foster children who have been abused by their birth parents and placed with carers.
Even though that child could be placed into a totally different social structure, that initial trauma caused by negative interaction will have shaped the identity of the child. They almost always stereotype the gender of their abuser as someone to distrust. The child will identify themselves as a victim and often play on that when growing up to justify any wrongdoings and in worst case scenarios they will take on the same role and become abusers themselves. Seghorn et al. cited in Kluft, R 1990, p113 ) “found extremely high rates of sexual and physical abuse in the childhood histories of incarcerated rapists and child molesters. ” This is not just for foster children but other victims of negative social interaction such as rape victims who suffer dissociative identity disorder (Croft 2012), racial discrimination or children who are bullied at school. Social Structure Whilst Social interaction is the more important aspect in shaping individual identity there is still an element of shaping through social structure. Both microsociology and macrosociology make vital contributions to our understanding of human behaviour. ” (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p99).
The Essay on Social Children Brazil Population
Nowadays, conflict, discrimination and violence have more than shaped the histories of our countries. Too many people are dyeing because of disagreements and fights over religious, ethnical and political ideologies. Examples range from ethnical ideologies in Bosnia, Rwanda, Nigeria and India, to religious clashes in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Brazil is the home to 182 million. The infant mortality ...
“People learn their behaviours and attitudes because of their location in the social structure (whether they are privileged, deprived or in between) and they act accordingly. ” (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p77) However not all structure is absolute and the individual does not need to remain within these structures, and if possible, they can change.
There are many factors that make up social structure such as “culture, social class, social status, roles, groups and social institutions. ” (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p77) and each can shape an individual but they are fluid and can change depending on an individual’s choice. Culture refers to “a group’s language, beliefs, values, behaviours and even gestures. Culture also includes the material objects that a group uses” (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p77).
Now cultures are developed over decades if not centuries and can be fairly rigid.
But what of a female Asian child born in Australia? Do they consider themselves Asian or Australian? Cultural status is only relevant if it is to be maintained. Take a first generation Australian child born to parents from overseas, whether it is Asia, Africa or South America. The shaping of that child’s life will not be by the culture of the county they are in; they will be shaped by their parents and relatives who interact with them. Their parents may have had some of their individual identity shaped by culture as structure plays a part in life later on.
They will imprint their beliefs and values onto their child but it will not be the culture of the child’s country that initially shapes their identity instead it is the social interaction between the child and family. Social class “according to Weber, a large group of people who rank close to one another in wealth; according to Marx, one of two groups: capitalists, who own the means of production, or workers, who sell their labour” (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p78).
Yet class is only ascribed at birth and for some people this assignment of class is a motivator for change. Marx’s theory is too broad and now (post industrial revolution) out-dated. Erik Wright (1985) modified Marx’s theory so that now workers can occupy “contradictory class locations” and workers can become capitalists. (Henslin, JM, et al 2011, p232-233).
The Essay on The Concept Of Identity In "About A Boy" By Nick Hornby
Identity, as Oxford Dictionary defines, is simply who someone is. This definition opens up the concept of identity to many interpretations, an example of which is shown through the novel, “About A Boy” by Nick Hornby. The novel is essentially about a man and a boy helping each other find their own identities. Will, is a 36 year old man who is unwilling to settle down in life, while ...
It could be said that this is structure shaping identity, as the individual feels the need to escape poverty, but it is more likely an individual’s social interaction that leads to want of change. Conclusion.
Both macrosociology and microsociology play an important role in the development of social identity. However it is the social interaction in microsociology between a child and its family, and even the social community, during the child’s early years that is the most important factor when shaping social identity. References: Back, L. , Bennett, A. , Edles, L. ,Gibson, M. , Inglis, D. ,Jacobs, R. , Woodward, I 2012, Cultural Sociology: An Introduction, Wiley. Croft, H 2012, Healthy place, America’s Mental Health Channel, viewed 29th March 2013, <http://www. ealthyplace. com/abuse/rape/effects-of-rape-psychological-and-physical-effects-of-rape/>. Henslin, JM, Possamai, A, and Possamai-Indesedy 2011 Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach, Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest. Jenkins, R 2008 Social Identity, 3rd ed. Taylor & Francis, Hoboken. Kluft, R 1990 Incest-related Syndromes of Adult Psychopathology, American Psychiatric Publishing, Inc, Arlington. Plumber, K 2010 Sociology, the basics, Taylor & Francis, Hoboken. timsears69
