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Mass media and its impact on social values
Social learning theory in current practice
Social learning theory in current practice
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How does society shape our personal values? Society shapes our values by the roles in which we play. It has positioned itself to determine what is moral or ethical. Because our culture has a dominant belief, it forces the majority or the mainstream to accept what is or is not moral or ethical. We often find that our perceptions are dictated by the mainstream; therefore, our thoughts are influenced by what others do. Since the nuclear family is the original role model in society, they are foreseen as having the most influential roles; they are responsible for raising young men and women to understand and model what is believed to be moral and ethical. With such responsibility parents especially are crucified for the outcome of their children; if children are raised with good moral and ethical standards, they are considered honorable in society with a partial credit given to society itself; however, if they are sociopaths, immoral and unethical, the parents receive ridicule for their parenting style. We recognized that social learning play a significant role in adapting, and since it is the biggest influence in our society, it dictates and evaluates what is important to our personal values. If our personal values allow us to be adaptive, it presents the capability for us to desire change. People have to be accepting to change because of the different contexts that are included in our personal values. In addition, society also looks at other institutions such as the educational system and the media. For example, society uses the influences of the media to help glorify what should be valued as moral or immoral. The younger generation per se, is heavily persuaded by the media; if children do not have a lucid set of personal ... ... middle of paper ... ... for a family who thought they had no way out of their current situation, but this simple act of kindness changed their perceptions of life. They became extremely motivated to help other people in need. Shortly after, Oprah did a follow-up with one of the contestants and learned that he now has an organization that is dedicated to helping people in need. One person’s compassion can have a major impact on society; by conducting a simple act of kindness or saying a kind word, it can change the context for one individual and can therefore change the contexts for others. Works Cited Diana B. Herniques, “Madoff is Sentenced to 150 years for Ponzi Scheme” June 29, 2009 New York Times, Http://nytimes.com2009/06/30/business/30madoff.html; accessed 9.6.11 Vincent Ryan Ruggiero, Thinking Critically About Ethical Issues, 9th Edition, McGraw Hill 2012 Chapter 2