American Culture

Culture Shock- This applies to anyone that is surprised by the way another culture acts. This is very prominent in America where you can see people being judged for their culture. For example, Muslims in America are treated very differently simply because they are Muslim and this country has preconceived notions of what their culture really stands for. This leads to ethnocentrism or judging someone's culture based off of our culture's rules. In The Values Americans Live By by Kohl, he talks about how Americans value certain things that other cultures may not, or just not value as much. For example, Kohl talks about how Americans value time a lot. This can lead to some misunderstandings between someone of a different culture because they might not look at the idea of time the same way Americans do.

Material Culture- These are the things that a culture values that are tangible. In America for instance, money, clothes, and are all examples of material culture. It can be said that America as a country, worries too much about the material culture instead of the non-material culture. Some countries view the non-material to be much more important than the material.

Non-Material-  These are the non-tangible things like language, gestures, and norms. A lot of the conflict that develops between cultures is due to misunderstandings. In God Grew Tired of Us the lost boys are somewhat taken aback by the way Americans interact with one another. They say that in Sudan it is normal to just walk into someone's home when you need something, but in America, that is considered trespassing. As a result, some of the boys get in trouble with the police due to other misunderstandings between the two cultures. Even for things like traveling in large groups together, is considered threatening to people in America.

Effects of Living in America- As the lost boys continue to live in America, some of them start to adapt to a more American way of lifestyle like dressing differently and learning how to drive. Some of them even start to talk differently. One of the lost boys, in particular, John Bul Dau, has a problem with those who have assimilated because he feels they have lost their culture. Whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, it is hard to argue that it must have been easier for the boys who changed than it was for those who didn't. Simply because of how this country operates. By growing up in America, most of my own values and goals have been shaped by the culture. My dreams and aspirations are more fueled by ideas of wealth and power than they are by happiness and peace. After all, America runs on capitalism and you can't have capitalism without competition. For example, most of my academic career has been fueled by getting the higher score, not because I necessarily value the knowledge, but because everyone else is getting a high score and if you don't you will be judged. Thankfully I realized this pretty early and I can say that since I have noticed it, I have been enjoying school a lot more because I want to learn, not because I am trying to beat someone else. This is what people in America should really focus on in my opinion. Finding the thing thaty truly makes you happy should be a higher priority to people than getting what everyone else says will make them happy.

Race

Social Construction of Racism- Although the idea of race is one that is most commonly used to categorize people into different groups, it simply is not real. Humans all originate from the same place. Even though we can look externally different, biologically we are all relatively the same. The only real reason the idea of race was ever truly established was because of slavery. Whites could feel better about labeling those who they considered black or inferior. It was a way so that white people could morally not be responsible towards other races, simply because they didn't look exactly alike. The only real factor that decides what race a person is, is society. You could be a multicultural but if you have dark skin like you are labeled as black or African American, like Tiger woods for example. In "White Like Me" Tim Wise discusses how some people believe in the idea of becoming "colorblind" so that no one sees color and we are all equal. But Wise also addresses how this idea is simply not realistic, rather being color-conscious is what we should strive for. Not ignoring everyone's differences and acting like we are all the same, we should embrace those differences and acknowledge the struggles that many different people have to go through every day because they are not white.

Ingroups/Outgroups- These exist between white people and every other minority in America. It is unarguable that white people have a lot more opportunities than those who are not white. Even if those people were born in America, if they are not white, then they are already at a disadvantage when it comes to things like employment and law enforcement. A person of color is less likely to get a job that a white person is applying for, even if they are more qualified for the job than the white applicant. Now, this doesn't always happen and most likely the person is more qualified will be hired. However, the fact that it can still, and sometimes does happen, shines a light on white privilege.

White Privilege- This is not really an idea really, rather it is an observation of how white people are able to maneuver in America. White people receive better treatment than any of their race in America. Whether it be applying for a job, or being pulled over by the police, white people have different interactions with theses things than other races do. In the White Privilege is Measurable article, it shows how the unemployment rate for black people is double what it is for white people and how a higher level of white kids attended low poverty schools than black kids attend. Being white myself, I experience white privilege every day even if I don't realize it. In the song White Privilege by Macklemore, he says "Cause we got the best deal, the music without the burden". He is talking about white rappers and how rap music really wouldn't have been a thing if it wasn't for black artists changing their hardship into art. As a result white rappers are to this day are making money off of something that they truly can never know about.

Implicit Racism- This is the kind of bias that isn't necessarily intentional by the person who exhibits it. It is most commonly a result of being raised in a country in which stereotypes are constantly present. A child who grows up around these stereotypes, even if they eventually decide they don't agree with, will forever be burned into that child's head. For example in Why Cops Shoot, it talks about how a lot of the shootings done by police are done by nervous cops who rush to judgments and make mistakes. It is those mistakes that put those nervous cops in bad situations where they feel forced to shoot. Why are they nervous though? It is because they have been raised in a country in which they are constantly reminded that black people are more dangerous, even when that is simply not true. Even though those cops are being discriminatory towards the black men that they shoot, it doesn't necessarily come from a place of hate, rather it comes from a place of false information.

Explicit Racism- This is the most commonly recognizable type of racism. It stems from hate, ignorance, and heartlessness. Throughout history, it has been this type of racism that is most prevalent. Things like Jim Crow Laws were created who feel that other races are inferior. Explicit racism is unlike implicit racism in that there even if we were to change how race is viewed throughout the world, there will still be people out there with hatred in their hearts.

Social Class

Social Classes contribute to most of the issues found within our country. Nobody wants to feel as they don't belong somewhere and that's exactly what social classes do. They separate us from one another. Whether it be financially, educationally, or socially, these classes create problems and solutions to problems that are not entirely fair. I would say that I am part of the middle class in America, however this wasn't always the case. My father used to be a manager at a car dealership and I was born into the upper class. My grandfather had his own business and raced horses for a living, so my family was well off. Eventually my father lost that job and my parents got a divorce so my mother and I moved into the upper middle class as well as my father. This is what's called intragenerational mobility, because my immediate family moved social classes within my lifetime. The benefits of being in the upper middle class are very impactful. I am able to go to one of the greatest high schools in the country and my future looks bright because of it. The access I have to certain colleges is very beneficial to the type of lifestyle I will be able to create for myself and eventually a family of my own. Other people in other classes like the working class or the working poor, don't have these same luxuries. While I was able to focus on school and my future, kids in these lower classes don't have that same mindset because they are focused on simply surviving. In the SPENT game, I had to worry about basic things like car payments and rent and I had to deny my kids benefits like a class field trip or buying a present for their friends birthday. They might have to get a job after school to provide for their family, instead of focusing on their school work. Or they simply might not have the access to a quality education because schools on lower classes tend to not do as well. This adds to the cycle that is social classes. Most likely whatever class a person is born into is the one they are going to stay in for the rest of their life. In the people like us documentary, Tammy had been poor for her entire life and no matter how hard she worked, she wasn't able to move social classes because she did not have access to the same financial opportunities that people in higher social classes have access to. In Tammy's case she was able to keep believing that one day she could make it, for others though is isn't always the case. Being constantly reminded by society that you are poor can be crippling to a person's mental health. This contributes to why crime is higher in lower social classes, because people have given up on themselves and their futures and feel they have no options left. When my group played monopoly the person that started off poor didn't really want to play because they felt it was a waist of time when they couldn't really do anything. It's this mentality that adds to the cycle of social classes because the less motivated a person is, the less likely they are to be successful and person can't possibly be expected to be motivated when it seems their life has no social meaning.

Deviance

Social Norms- These are actions, thoughts, or beliefs that have been established and for the most part accepted within a society. There are 2 kinds of social norms; mores and folkways. Mores are a set of moral customs that are developed through generally accepted practices within a society. In a way, they are stricter than folkways because they mold what a person considers to be moral and ethical behavior. For example, certain religions have social mores where it is accepted that a couple will wait until marriage before engaging in certain acts. A more that exists within my household is that swearing at an adult is considered unacceptable. Folkways stem from organized casual interactions and we engage in them to fulfill our daily needs. It is such a routine that it is more common to be engaging in one unconsciously. For example, at my house, all the doors stay open. If your bedroom door isn't open, then it is implied that you are hiding something from the rest of the family.

Deviance- A deviant person is one who goes against the social norms. Being that each society is different and ever changing, deviance is a matter of perspective. In America, deviance is most commonly linked to social classes. In the Saints and Roughnecks reading, the roughnecks are the ones labeled as deviant while the Saints are let off pretty easily because of their pre-existing label of "good kids". The Saints were actually more deviant than the Roughnecks because they were going against their societies norms more than the Roughnecks were. The Roughnecks acted the same way that most people in their neighborhood reacted. They live in a lower class environment and so deviance is commonly placed on the less fortunate. Whereas the Saints were raised in a better social class and taught right from wrong, but still acted defiantly. Once the Roughnecks were labeled as deviants, everyone looks at them as such, The Saints were labeled as good students, so every situation they find themselves in, that is how they are perceived. These labels are dangerous because they lead to stigmas which follow people around for the rest of their lives. No matter how much the Roughneck kids change, they will always be seen as a person that was deviant. Although what the Saints and Roughnecks were doing was negative deviance, there is such a thing as positive deviance. Positive deviance is when a group or person goes against social norms to find a solution to a problem. I cannot personally recall a time that I have been positively deviant, but that doesn't mean that I never have done something deviant. It could be that I just didn't realize it was deviant at the time and so now I can't associate it with being deviant, whether it be positively or negatively.

Criminal Justice System- In 30 days in jail, Morgan Spurlock is exposed to how the CJS really works, and the cycle that exists within this system. When a person is put in jail, it can mold them into a criminal, even if they weren't before. People put in jail could also need another kind of professional help that jail doesn't offer, like someone detoxing from a drug addiction like Travis was in the video. A social construction is created through this cycle because if a person has been to jail and served time, then they are forever labeled as a criminal even if they are only a one-time offender. The fact that society views them as criminals is simply a construct because not all people that make a mistake are criminals or deviants.

Gender

Over time society has decided that masculinity and femininity, are not only things that exist, but that it is abnormal for them to coexist within one person. You can either be masculine or feminine. Sure we acknowledge that a man can have some feminine qualities and that a woman could have masculine qualities, but it is rare for society to then not look at those people and make a judgment on whether that person is gay or straight.

In reality, nothing is made masculine or made feminine. Society makes a judgment based off of what it is, as to if it is masculine or feminine. In doing so society has created two boxes and everyone is expecting to either fit in one or the other. If a person is born a boy then they are expected to be in the masculine box. If a person is born a girl then they are expected to be in the feminine box. If either a guy or a girl is caught outside their respective box, possibly reaching towards the other, then they are harassed by society until they return to their "appropriate" box. When in actuality, there is no "appropriate" box. It is impossible to think that every guy is going to be the exact same or every girl is going to be exactly the same. I have known many guys throughout my lifetime who don't like sports, which society has generally attributed to be a masculine thing, and I have known girls who do. What ends up happening when society sees a man acting feminine or a woman acting masculine, they make the judgment person is a homosexual. Whether or not the person actually ends up being gay or lesbian is irrelevant when society judges them for it based off of a social construction such as masculinity and femininity.  

Masculinity is the ideology of men having to think and act a certain way in order for them to be a proper man. For example, growing up in my life I have rarely seen my father cry. When something sad happens I am more likely to see my mother cry than my father. This is most likely due to the idea that men cannot show their emotions because if they do, then they are less of a man. In fact, the only real emotion a man is supposed to show is anger or aggression. In the Kimmel reading, he talks about how a man is truly judged by his willingness to get into a fight. A man is expected to be willing to drop everything and defend his honor by engaging in physical contact with another man, mainly to show his dominance. I could account more times in my life of my father being angry than I could of him being sad. He has told me that it was just the way he was raised and that he learned from watching his father. This doesn't mean that my father has never felt sad, or any man has never felt sad, it is just normally accepted that men don't show that emotion. If a man did happen to show sadness, their society could look at them and think that they are acting feminine. Sadness isn't a feminine reaction, rather it is a human one.

Femininity is seen as the weaker of the two. If you saw two people, one being physically strong and angry and the other being not as physically strong and they were crying, generally society would look at the crying one has feminine. It is partially due to this way of thinking that a guy or girl, who shows any form of emotion is looked at as weak. In the like a girl commercial when people were asked to do things like a girl, they responded with an over exaggerated response. It is assumed that all girls are always showing their emotions in every single movement they make. This leads to society labeling someone who shows their emotions as being feminine because it has become generally accepted by our culture that a "true" girl shows their emotions and a "true" guy doesn't. 

There is no such thing as a true guy or girl though because every single person is different and has been raised differently. If a boy or girl was raised in a more open household he might be more common to show his emotions than per say a boy or girl that was raised in a household where showing their emotions was frowned upon. In the end no matter how a guy or girl acts should be accepted by their society, not because they are acting masculine or feminine, but because they are acting like their true selves.   

Post #2

Social Construction of Reality: This is when society impacts on how something is viewed. The example I like to use is how earbuds have taken on an entirely new meaning in today's society. Earbuds were made so that people could listen to music without disrupting the environment around them. However now if a person has both headphones in, then they don't want to talk to anybody and they are removing themselves from the situation they are in. This is a Social Construction of Reality because earbuds inherently have no meaning, but our society has given them one.

Macro Sociology: Is the study of how large groups of individuals impact an individual. For example, a macro group would be high school students. Now I as individual feels the need to go to college because most high school students go to college. Of course, I also would like to get a higher education, but the idea of me going to college was in everyone's mind because it is generally excepted that I would go to college.

Micro-Sociology: This is the study of how smaller groups impact an individual. For instance, my family would be a micro group. In my family, it is expected of my to go to college because both of my parents didn't, so it's expected of me to do what they couldn't.

Research Methods: The two types of research most commonly used in sociology are qualitative and quantitative studies. Qualitative data is gathered mostly through nonnumerical methods like free response questions and just by observing the people you are surrounded by. Quantitative is data collected through numbers and statistics. In "Gang Leader for a Day" the main character starts out by asking the Black Kings gang questions that are quantitative. They didn't allow for the people he was interviewing to answer or even want to answer because they all were multiple choice questions. He later realizes that if he is going to discover anything about those people that he would have to change his approach. He then stops asking them questions and simply hangs out around them. This is qualitative research at it's finest. He was able to really learn about the guys he was with because they were able to be themselves without becoming a number.

Ingroups/Outgroups: An ingroup is a group that you are a part of. For instance, I am part of my group of friends. I feel comfortable around them because I am a part of that group. On the other hand, though there are outgroups. Outgroups are groups that you aren't a part of and since you aren't a part of that group, it becomes easier to judge people who are from that group. After learning the idea I started to keep a look out for anytime I made a judgment about an outgroup. Then one day during lunch I noticed myself making a joke with my friends about these kids that took our lunch table. Even though my friends and I sit there every day, that still isn't a good enough reason for me to start making assumptions about this group. It was just easy for me to do so because I wasn't in that group and the group I was in were making those assumptions.

Generalizations and Stereotypes: Generalizations are beneficial to society. As long as they are based on facts and evidence collected through thoughtful studies then they can really help researchers make assumptions about certain groups of people that could explain their behavior. Generalizations can be risky, however. There is a very fine line between generalizations and stereotypes. A stereotype is an assumption made about a person or certain group of people that isn't supported factually and is just an ignorant idea. Stereotypes can stem from generalizations because someone could look at a person and see a factual generalization about them and then make the connection that because they are part of this generalization then that means they are so on and so forth. For example, you could have a generalization that is supported by factual evidence like, most Stevenson students are middle to upper middle class. The stereotype would be to look at an individual and say because they go to Stevenson then that means they are wealthy. This is not the case because you cannot make an assumption about an individual just because they are associated with a certain group.

Qualitative vs. Quantitative

In the study done by Chapman University, they set out to support the claim the death from terrorist attacks is scarier than deaths from guns. In order to support this claim, the University did a quantitative study of fears where the asked 1,500 Americans what they feared most. The results were pretty surprising in my opinion as 41% said that they feared terrorist attacks. Now that alone isn't very shocking seeing as how America has had to go through such attacks as 9/11. However when you look at the numbers and find that the only fear Americans have towards guns, is the fear that the government will take them away. 38.5%  said they fear gun control the most, even though guns are 3,210 times more likely to kill them than terrorist attacks. In order to explain these numbers, Chapman University turned to a qualitative study in which they observed what contributed to this fear. They came up with that the coverage by the media has a huge impact on the way the public views terrorism. They talk about how the wide blanket coverage of the 9/11 attacks seared an image of terrorism into the public's mind. Compared to the mass and individual shootings that get little to no coverage. I think that the quantitative information gathered helped the University support their claim that deaths from terrorist attacks are scarier than deaths from guns. The overwhelming response of the public of what they are afraid of clearly supports their claim.

I find the results of this study to be concerning, but not surprising. I like to think that I am a pretty up to date person. I watch the news a lot and like to stay informed by reading articles. The most talked about thing in the news has always been terrorism since I have been able to keep up with the news. Even though shootings happen more often, especially in Chicago, people still fear terrorism more. I don't agree that deaths from terrorist attacks are scarier than deaths from guns because being the high school student that I am, it is hard to ignore what seems to be regularly scheduled school shootings. In our day in age, with the technology and information that we have, it is easier to protect against a terrorist attack. Mostly because after 9/11, America really cracked down on National Security. When it comes to shootings, however, they are more personalized. Most of the time they don't have to do with someone doing it on behalf of a cause, but rather doing it because they have reached their breaking point. My personal opinion is that deaths from guns are scarier than deaths from terrorist attacks because they are so much more deaths from guns than there are deaths from terrorist attacks.

Question: What factors contribute to the course that a student chooses to take at Stevenson High School?

5 Quantitative Questions:
1) How many college prep courses have you selected?
2) How many accelerated courses have you selected?
3) How many AP course have you selected?
4) Are you involved in any outside of school activities? (sports, clubs, volunteering, etc.)
5) How important is academics to you? answer choices- unimportant, somewhat important, neutral, important, very important.

3 Qualitative Strategies:
1) Observe the way my friends handle their school work. Whether it be that they really care about getting work done on time, or the put it off to the last minute, or even not doing it at all.
2) Observe how the students parents react to their performance in school.
3) Ask the student what they plan on doing in their future and if they even have a plan?

The study would mainly focus on the factors that contribute to a student selecting courses at Stevenson. It is interesting to think about why a student picks the courses that they do. Are they interested in a certain field? Or are they simply picking whatever class they think would be easiest? The quantitative questions that we have presented would help us get an idea of the courses that the majority of students select. From there, we can turn to our qualitative questions to try and figure out why that student picked those courses. The combination of both quantitative and qualitative research should be able to let us inside a students mind and really find an answer to the question, Why did you pick that course?  

Post #1

Over the last few weeks of my life, I have had to look at some of the relationships that I have in my life. No relationship is as important to me as the one between my best friend and me. It had become apparent to me that they had been somewhat distant over the last couple of weeks. We weren't talking as much in person and never really seemed to hang out outside of school.  It was then that I had to become mindful of what my friend was going through in order for me to truly understand. They had been going through some personal issues that they didn't really feel like talking about. Here I was thinking it was all about me when in reality, my best friend was struggling. I don't completely blame myself for believing that is was about me. It seemed like every time we were with a group of people, I was the one that my friend chose to ignore. This made me somewhat upset seeing as how we are supposed to be best friends. I realized that the reason I was so upset is because the society I had surrounded myself with was leaving me out. I thought that because my friend wasn't talking to me meant that they were mad at me. When in reality this was just a social construct. Just because my friend wasn't talking doesn't mean that they were mad, it just meant that they didn't feel like talking. It's now that I am being mindful that I can realize that not talking is just an action my friend chose because they didn't want to. My friend would always wear their earbuds whenever we were at lunch. I took this to mean that they didn't really feel like talking. Earbuds Headphones are something that in today's society can hold a lot of meaning. If someone has their headphones out, it usually means that they want to listen to you. If they have both earbuds in, people around them generally know to stay away because that person doesn't feel like talking. While there is no denying that's what earbuds can be used for, it could also simply be the person trying to concentrate on what they are doing.

In a way, my friend was trying to help themselves the best way they knew how by distancing themselves. It's hard to argue against this plan of action when it is known to work. In "The Outliers" by Malcolm Gladwell, it talks about how a small village was able to thrive with little to no problems. One of the reasons talked about how the town was isolated, disconnected from the outside world. As a result, the town didn't have to deal with any stresses coming from the outside world. I truly believe this is what my friend was trying to accomplish. They felt that they already had enough going on in their life to where they didn't want to carry anyone else's problems. 

Even though I can look back and say that my friend had their own reasons for being distant, I can't ignore how it impacted me. I became pretty aggravated and seemed to have a really short fuse, especially with my mom. Sure my mom always does stuff to annoy me, but now I was already upset so it couldn't have ended well. We would get into some arguments and she would always say the same thing "You're the child and I am the adult".  This was always something that would get me angry growing up because it is out of my control. Whatever problem I may be having is completely dismissed simply because I am younger. It seems like that is the only role my mother wants me to have, to be the child in our relationship. It frustrates me because it goes against the idea of Functionalism in that everyone is supposed to have a role and mine is one that I am not satisfied with. This goes along with the reading we did about the teen-parent conflict. My mother makes me more upset by reminding me that the only role I serve is to be the child. This also goes along with Conflict Theory, in how my mother can always win the argument by bringing up the rules that she created that simply because she is the adult means that I am wrong.

Sociological Imagination

The biggest influences in my life have to be my parents and my health. Throughout my life I have had a heap of different illnesses that have either kept me out of school. During middle school I couldn't attend the 8th grade and in order to keep up with my other classmates, I had to make up most of the 8th grade over that summer. During this time is when, I believe, my parents really started make an impact on who I am today. No matter how frustrated they were with my health they never once gave me the impression that it was hopeless. To say I wanted to quit is an understatement, but they wouldn't let me. They had always taught me this growing up, however being an only child meant they spoiled me quite a bit. It wasn't until my health was bad that I really had to earn what I wanted. My health also led to me discovering many key interests that I still have to this day. Being inside and sick all the time meant that the only real constant in my life was T.V./Movies. I probably watched over 100 movies during that time. It wasn't until after I was better however that I discovered how much of an impact they had made on myself. I am the type of person who quotes movies randomly just because something will trigger a memory of that movie. It was during this time that I also discovered basketball. Whether it be watching old games, new games, sports talk shows about basketball, really anything basketball really drew my interests. It was in basketball that I truly believed I found my inspiration and drive to not be sick anymore. Around the time I started to get into basketball was the same time Derrick Rose was coming back from 2 season ending injuries. His drive was a real wake up call to me that when the chips are down, you can still get back up, as long a you are willing to work for it. My favorite memories are after my recovery, playing basketball with my friends and not having to worry about anything else. The biggest thing that I want to take away from this class is the ability to truly understand why certain people make certain decisions, and what influenced them to get to that point.