My Social Location in This World Taking Sociology my sophomore year of college has helped me to open my mind and to learn many things that I never knew. Let’s start by talking a little about what Sociology really means, the true definition of Sociology is that it’s the systematic study of human society, culture, and relationships on a group level (Andersen et al., 4). With that being said, think about the major questions that we tend to ask about our social world, like, why do we have problems such as racism, what motivates people to have social status and respect, and are men and women really that different from each other. These questions listed about are exceedingly important to life as a human, and they are studied on a broader level in …show more content…
the field of sociology. In this essay, I will be examining how my social class and ability have shaped my life for the better and for the worse. The most influential aspect of my life thus far has been my social class. Social class is defined as a group of people of similar status that commonly share comparable levels of power and wealth (Andersen et al., 74). I grew up with my step dad being a Chief of Police and my mom being a customer service rep with Jim Trenary Ford. Due to me having managerial experience in the past, it has ultimately helped me with landing a job as an Operations Manager at Two Men and a Truck. This job is perfect for me at the moment because I will gain more experience as a manager and learn more about logistics which will help me learn more about the field that I want to go into. This goes perfect with my degree because I’m going to school for Business Administration and I hope after I complete my Associates degree I can start at a business as a General Manager. The relationships between social class and general well-being are persistent and troublesome. I say this because even in the twenty first century life looked unbelievably different for groups belonging to the middle and upper social classes compared to the lower social classes. Not only are opportunities different for the upper and middle class, but gender relations and different ages differ as well, a fact that was as visible in the twentieth century as it is today. Another important trait of social class on experience or well-being is the case of health.
One of the major issues between social classes in the United States is that the distances between the upper and lower class our massive. However, people in each social class level tend to have different associated health levels. Individuals in the lowest social class are at a greater risk of dying and are sicker throughout their lives, individuals in the middle class are healthy, but they are not as healthy as the upper class (Andersen et al., 353). These social class positions affect health in a variety of different ways. It affects health due to some people not having access to healthy foods or recreational opportunities that ones in other classes may have. Also, it negatively affects health by increasing ones risk to exposure of environmental toxins, work related hazards, and dangerous neighborhoods. All of these factors increase the risks of catching illnesses or even …show more content…
dying. Another influential aspect of my life has been the education and the teacher’s I have had through elementary school to now. I’ve had very helpful teachers in the past that have helped me with my assignments and were lenient with me to make sure I understood everything that was going on. However, I'd have to say that the professors at SCC have been nothing more than exceptional and have been better than any teachers that I had through grade school. They were very kind and generous to me and helped me with any questions that I’ve asked. Honestly, all the professors and instructors I have had at SCC have been better than every teacher I’ve had in high school partly because they care about you succeeding in the real world. There is one more topic that I would like to talk about in this essay and that is ability.
Ability is defined as a general word for power which enables one to do things well. This topic is a huge advantage for me and also an exceedingly huge disadvantage for me. I’d like to talk first about the advantages it has had for me, like my ability to play nearly any sport I try and compete in. I can play any sport I put my mind to and have been called a natural athlete in my past by my athletic friends, but I regret it every day by not using my natural talent towards becoming a college athlete. My biggest disadvantage would have to be my ability to not be able to take constructive criticism or the ability to hold down a relationship. These are what I would consider my biggest flaws and are the main reason why I spiraled into major depression. I can’t take constructive criticism without my body shutting down and me becoming more depressed even if the person is just trying to give me helpful advice. This flaw has resulted in me quitting jobs and not showing up to classes because I merely shut down and can’t focus on anything for the reminder of the
day. The next flaw is my ability to hold down a relationship and that is the main reason why I spiraled into major depression. I was already depressed while my girlfriend and I were together, but after we broke up it just completely and utterly destroyed me and it put me in the darkest place I’ve ever been. I didn’t know how to get myself out of the dark hole I was in and none of my friends or family understood how to help me get out of the predicament I was dealing with or even took it seriously. No one takes depression seriously until it is too late and that is the biggest problem that people with mental health issues are dealing with the most today. Family, friends, and even strangers treat me like I am equal or even above them. Even though in the past I always had a positive upbeat attitude around people, it didn’t mean that I was happy. That’s the one thing about me, I can put up a shell and act like I’m fine, but deep inside I was suffering. However, now that I have gotten the help that I needed and have received the support from the people that love me I can honestly say that I’m doing better. The main thing that I would like to say is that you don’t know what someone is going through and that is why you should always use the “Grandma Rule”. The Grandma Rule merely means that you should treat everyone the same way that you would treat your own loving grandmother. In conclusion, my identity as a white, Christian man has helped me with many opportunities in my life. I have been given opportunities in this life that many people probably have not or will never receive in their lifetime. I say this because living in the United States as a white man gives you many opportunities with jobs, education, and even getting out of trouble. I know that’s an awful statement to say, but through the years you can see that it has been proven true. That’s why we the people need to open the eyes of America’s citizens, so we can all revise these problems together and make America an admirably organized, and well-developed country.
Wilkinson, R. G., & Marmot, M. G. (2003). Social determinants of health: The solid facts.
Significant health inequalities exist between different social classes. Moreover, lower social classes consistently describe their health as poorer in comparison to higher social classes [1]. Marmot’s central theory is that “the relationship between social circumstances and health is a graded one: the higher a person’s social position, the better his or her health” [2].
...an, P., Egerter, S., & Williams, D. R. (2011). The social determinants of health: coming
Socio-economic class or socio-economic status (SES) may refer to mixture of various factors such as poverty, occupation and environment. It is a way of measuring the standard and quality of life of individuals and families in society using social and economic factors that affect health and wellbeing ( Giddens and Sutton, 2013). Cockerham (2007 p75) argues: ‘Social class or socioeconomic status (SES) is the strongest predictor of health, disease causation and longevity in medical sociology.’ Research in the 1990s, (Drever and Whitehead, 1997) found out that people in higher SES are generally healthier, and live longer than those in lower SES.
Several studies support and show that ‘working class’ people from western societies have higher morbidity and mortality rates in contrast to people from other classes. According to Halleröd and Gustafsson (2011), the concept of ‘class’ is defined as “an individual’s position on the labour market… which determine their ability to consume goods and services such as health care”. In order from the highest class to the lowest, the common four classes within western societies include the upper class, middle class, working class and the lower class. According to Lantz et al. (2010), an individual’s socioeconomic class is described as “social and economic factors that influence the positions/roles individuals hold within the structure of society, and as measured by education, income, occupational status, and/or wealth”. Underlying factors that influence occupational status such as income and educational attainment make it possible to distinguish people between socioeconomic classes within contemporary western societies.
In learning today it is important to look deeper into things, and see why they happen. Sociology is an important way in finding out how things affect people and make them who they are today. Even though sociology is a fairly new study there are many aspects that form together to create it. Some important aspects of sociology are the sociological imagination and social location. These are important in studying the relationships between societies, groups of people, and individuals.
Before I started taking the course of sociology I wasn’t really expecting to learn anything, it was just supposed to be an easy online class. However, that was not the case. It challenged my mind. I started to see sociology all around me, starting with family, then friends, and how I see things overall in general. The fact that we have an everyday life in which there are patterns in ways of living is what sets a platform for a sociological breakdown and for being a part in what we do. A better way of understanding ourselves. We use sociology in many ways every day. One central and important study of sociology is the study of everyday social life. Everyday life and sociology are definitely two different words and situations, but they tend to hold a close relationship. While sociology is the study of the human interaction, everyday life consists of everyday human interaction. Everyday life is filled by human beings interacting with one another, ideas, and emotions. Sociology studies the interactions with all of these and shows how mere interaction resulted in things such as ideas. For an example, race and ethnicity are important concepts in the field of sociology and are ones that are studied a great deal. Race plays a large role in everyday human interactions and sociologists want to study how, why, and what the outcomes are of these interactions. Current sociological theories focus mainly on how there are many different factors in our everyday items of life, like movies. We were assigned a final to write a review for a movie in sociological form. The movie that was on the list that also happened to be one of my favorite movies, Toy Story. When we were assigned the assignment, I never thought about how in-depth it was with sociol...
When I first began this course, I had many questions about what to expect. I was wondering how sociology was different from and similar to other disciplines. I started learning how to define sociology almost immediately and I developed a better understanding of how sociological concepts can be observed easily within our society. I learned that sociological concepts and theories are readily on display in almost every setting. Upon opening the textbook, I learned that sociology is the study of human behavior and relationships. Sociological theories are ever present and if you can observe people with a degree of understanding, you are likely to see these concepts at work. Human beings are social by nature and there is much to be learned about the interactions between them.
Sociology subject matter is diverse, ranging from crime to religion from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture, and from social stability to radical change in whole societies.
Cockerham (p.94) explains how racial inequalities in the United States can effect a person 's health. Some ethnicities such as Asians, are known for having great health and life expectancies, where as African Americans may experience many health issues and have shorter life spans. White Americans and Black Americans life span are different because African Americans are known for having disadvantages with health issues such as AIDS, cancer, and heart disease.
the ability to adapt to change and flexibility. My strengths has gotten me through many life challenges, I am a determined person, my curiosity keeps me seeking and my flexibility allows me to blend in when needed and keeps the stress low. Bethel University. (2014) pg. 2,3
In conclusion, none of my weaknesses are unchangeable and I can always work on and change these habits to become a better individual. Just like everybody else I make mistakes and through my mistakes and I have learned great lessons and wisdom to live by.
To Quote Anthony Giddens: "Sociology is the study of human social life, groups and societies. It is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, having as its subject matter our own behaviour as social beings. The scope of sociology is extremely wide, ranging from the analysis of passing encounters between individuals in the street up to the investigation of world-wide social processes“(1989). Gidden’s statement describes sociology as a study that helps us understand our own behaviour as human beings in a social word. Sociologist study everything from the interaction between people in the street to the interaction between different countries. Sociologists aim to study how societies have changed over, how societies are structured and organized, the norms of society. It’s also important to understand that not all sociologists agree with each other, Sociologists often debate with one another to prove/disprove certain theories and concepts. By studying Sociology is it helps us analyze social conflicts on a micro and macro scope. Through a macro level, we can study large-scale social organization and large social categories it also examinees social processes and patterns society as a whole. We can analyze individuals much deeper on a micro level. This way we study a human by face-to face interactions. Its important as humans to understand the way our society came together and the reasons to how elements work and function together. Sociology gives us a deeper
I believe that at this stage in life, mental health is reaching the peak of development. As we go through life, we constantly change our state of mental health, but I believe that adolescents are at a point where they form who they are and who they will be as an adult. We try to learn to filter the person who other people think we are in order to truly discover what type of person we are. A strength of mine is that I am generally a responsible person and know how to make good decisions, which I think is mainly from my parents and how I was raised. A weakness that I have is that I don’t like trying new things very often if at all, but this behavior restricts me from learning what my interests are. Once, I was invited to go rafting with some friends and I was quick to reject the invitation and because of this, I will never know if I enjoy rafting or not.
One of the most critically important things in life is to remain healthy. Whether if it's mentally, emotionally or physically. There are few elements we can do to maintain or live a healthy lifestyles. Exercising for an hour, consuming nutritious food with three or four cups of vegetables per day, drinking eight cups of water, and living a stress free life. These factors can expand life expectancy if followed strictly. In today's society, health is definitely something we take for granted. Access to fast food places, having a sedentary lifestyle, the use of tobacco products can result to poor health. Also, it is evident to say that having a low socioeconomic class can be detrimental to a person's health. Low socioeconomic class are less likely to have access to nutritious food, cleaner neighborhoods and are less likely to seek preventative care which can lead to chronic diseases and even death. When our health is impaired, most of us