Deviance and Conformity

This article relates to the labeling theory. This article discusses how social interaction can corrupt people's minds. Like we have discussed in class, deviant acts are only deviant based on the reactions that society gives to those actions labeling them deviant. For example, this article brought up the Michael Jackson story when he held his baby over the balcoony. Some labeled him as a bad father being deviant because holding his baby over the balcony was dangerous, others lableded him as a good father for being proud of his child. Deviant acts are labeled differently based on the different reactions of society. Many things however are normal deviant violations that are labeled as alochol abuser or drug abuser. In this article it discusses how if a parent thinks that their child is hanging out with the wrong crowd, or the alochol and drug abusers, then they will prevent their child from hanging out with these poeple. At the same time these parents are also labeling the childrens friends as alochol abusers and drug abusers. These other children then get them deviant image of themselves in their heads. Now they are more likely to conform with others that fit into that group with the same lable. This is know as secondary deviance and is the begining of someone's deviant lifestyle. By identifying themselves with this deviant lable, they also relate that with a negative concept. So the child's friends may not have even been alochol or drug abusers, but just because they were labled that way they are more likely to identify themselves with that label and follow those trends to fit in with that group.

Connections that I can make to everyday life would be that I have seen many people act in deviant ways just to feel apart of a group. It is sad when you think you know someone and then they start not acting like themselves just so that they can "fit in." I also know many parents in the community that lable kids and many times the lables that they have set in their mind for certain people are wrong. A lot of parents can judge kids before they get to know them based on what they have heard which is not always true. This is sad because some relationships can end based off of false judgement.

Surviving in Poverty

1. Green Bay had a lot more residents living below the poverty line in 2007 compared to the whole state.

2. The majority of fmailies living in Green Bay falls into the "female with no husband" family type.

3. The age that is most affected in both Green Bay and the state of Wisconsin is 18-24 years.

I think that this might be because these are young people that are trying to make it on their own by going to school so they probably don't have a full time job or enough money to support themselves.

Socialization

Without society we are pretty much lost as individuals. Without society to conform to, we would have to find some other way of survival. If we didn't have society, we wouldn't be able to functions with others. We wouldn't be able to communicate and share our experiences with others, because that is was people do within a society. In a society the individuals all work together and that's how societies are possible.

Charles Cooley's "Looking Glass Self," deals with 3 main ideas. First is how one thinks they appear to others. Second is how one may think others are judging them about their appearance. And third is how one develops their own self image from their reflection and the judgement of others. George Herbert Mead's "Role Taking," mainly deals with the development of a child. When children play, they take the roles of important individuals in society. Children play being mothers, fathers, teachers, policemen and many more important roles in society. This helps them learn and they are able to "act" out someone else's role in society and see from their point of view.

In Genies case, the "Looking Glass Self" was missing in Genies life. She never really interacted with others so she never got a feel for how others thought of her "appearance," but we can imagine that she was neglected and felt very unimportant. She didn't know what she looked like because she was locked in a dark room her whole life. Genie never got to develop in Charles Cooley's theory. She was missing that huge part of her life which made it impossible for her to develop these traits that exist in a functioning society. With Mead's theory, Genie never interacted with anyone so she would have to interacting with other children. She was never exposed to the life in society and the many roles that are important. Genie never got to develop these traits that are important in the functioning of society. She wasn't able to put herself in the role of another, due to the fact that she never had a true role herself and was kept in isolation. These theories do show that we need them to be socialized in society, and without them we would fail.

After watching the movie i believe that nurture plays a huge role in someones life and how them will conform in society. I think that the love and compassion they are given as a child affects the type of person they grow up to be. The way that they are raised affects them socially. As shown in the movie, the way you are raised and the important qualities you lack growing up can greatly relate to how you function as an individual.

Blogging Assignment #1

I do believe that we need to draw a line between globalization and cultural relativism. I think that we should respect other cultures even if we don't agree with the way we live. I also think that we should try to take a step back and evaluate how much other countries are globalizing. This can be a good thing but it also can be bad. When these other countries are globalizing, the are losing apart of their individual culture and traditions that make their culture unique.

Some benefits to cultural lag might be that if some areas are behind in technology, then we will still be able to keep some of our morals without getting totally swept up into the newest technologies. We can still stay focused on our families instead of texting all the time.

The school is experiencing cultural lag in a few areas. Some students this year were given the opportunity to use the new net books which are like mini laptops. These are definitely the next step in advancing technology. There is cultural lag because most of the students at school still use the old computers. Many schools now let each student have their own personal net book, which in a way our entire school in experiencing cultural lag.