Social Conflict Theory On Deviance example essay topic

Socialization Test #21. Social interaction is absolutely necessary for one to develop a sense of self and of oneness. Our sense of self is not an inherited or instinctual realization. Rather it is a co-developed understanding of ourselves and those around us. We can't solely develop an understanding of who we truly are any easier than we could examine the features of our face w / o the use of a mirror. Social interaction is that mirror for us.

Its allows us to see inside of ourselves based on the interactions we have with others like us, or society as a whole. It allows us to make a sort of measuring stick to see where we stand in life. To develop a sense of who and where we are. Social interaction is the dominant creating feature in the way we view ourselves as humans and as members of society. Without social interaction we would never begin to be able to live at the mental capabilities that we have now. A good example of this I believe is to compare two dogs raised in different habitats.

The first dog will be an example of our society, it will be raised by a loving family who provides it with attention similar in itself to our own social interaction. The second will be left to raise itself in a kennel or what have you. The first dog, dog A, will learn things such as its own name. When you call to dog A using its name it will respond to you where as the second dog, dog B, will not.

Eventually you might get the second dog to come to you or to respond, but it wouldn't care what you said, it would simply respond to the noise it hears. Dog A however would respond to its name and its name alone. This demonstrates how the constant interaction between two beings helps to develop one's sense of self. 2. Education plays a major part in our socialization by providing acting as a social institution. By this I mean it is a place from which we draw interaction that stimulates us to further develop as social beings.

Schools provide a uniform behavioral learning pattern in relating to socialization that is not found within different families. This helps the children achieve a social 'common ground' with which to base their relationships and interactions amongst each other. While the schools prepare us for our eventual roles in the adult world it also teaches us a 'hidden curriculum'. This hidden curriculum refers to things such as manners and social ideals. It teaches the idea that to get ahead in life one needs to work hard. That nothing is gotten for free, and that cheaters never prosper.

These are often rules that stick by us throughout our entire life and end up governing most of our decisions and reactions in any given situation. The schools also help develop a place for children to assess their own self-image. It allows them to be in close contact with others their age and developmental stage. Such interaction allows the children to be able to compare themselves with the collective group and find out what makes them different than the rest. This is a key step in the development of one's self image. I believe that the teachings of the school far better assist the society than the individual being.

For it is the society who benefits from the cohesion of the collective mind. It is the society who is based upon that cohesion, for without it the world would be a solemn place overrun with the ' everyone for themselves' attitude. Cooperation and standard ideals are what keep our society moving and evolving in its current form. Without those things being taught on a common level our way of life would be drastically different and far inferior to what it is today. 3.

Cultural relativity explains how one practice may seem totally foreign and unbelievable to one group but make absolute total sense to another. It is the defining difference between two societies. In India for example the cow is a sacred animal and is allowed to roam free foraging on crops and other vegetation. Meanwhile the people in India are starving to death. To most people the thought would be to slay the cattle for food and to protect the crops to prevent starvation. But to the Indians the cow is a sacred animal who is adorned all the rights of a god.

These protection of these animals can often lead to death to those who protect them. The elimination of these creatures would so affect the ways of life for these people that they would probably never be able to recover. Unfortunately with such differing positions on beliefs and practices we often run into an issue known as ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is the belief that one's ethnic beliefs and ideals are the only possible 'right' beliefs and ideals. It is a close minded existence in which cooperation across ethnic divides is often impossible to achieve due to the inability or unwillingness to understand the other's point of view. 4.

Language is defined as a typed of shared knowledge and is further defined as a symbol. Some other symbols include sounds, gestures, or objects. Symbols are socially constructed. Individually constructed symbols aren't understood by everyone and therefore fail to be able to be defined as symbols. Symbols are defined as language (written, spoken, or unspoken) that evoke similar meanings amongst different people. Under this definition it is hard to imagine one coming up with a symbol that would be universally understood.

This is typically a societal creation. Since the entire society would at least understand it. Now not all symbols are universal between different regions of the world. For instance America's 'V for victory's symbol is the the equivalent of the middle finger in Australia. Items such as the confederate flag can even mean different things amongst people in the same area due to personal experiences and the way they were raised. Many people view the confederate flag as a symbol of oppression and ignorance, others view it as a symbol of pride and heritage.

5. Biological, psychological, and even some sociological theories believe that a fatal flaw in certain people is the reason for their deviance. These theories argue that the individual has no choice but to be different. Biological explanations focus on physiognomy, phrenology, somatology, genetic anomalies, and brain malfunctions. Psychological theories focus on psychopaths, oedipal conflicts, and psychosexual trauma. The sociological theory focuses on differing objective social and economic conditions.

The main criticism of people believing in these theories is their lack of blame for the society itself. These theories are often referred to as those-kinds-of-people theories. They believe that the deviant has acquired some sort of predisposition causing his deviant ce. The reason they do so is simple. It all originates from most people's definition of deviance being that of something that violates social norms. People don't question the norms of society they tend to find fault in those who defy them instead of the norms themselves.

These norms and ideals hold a sacredness that is indelible so therefore they can't possibly be the problem at hand, it has to be those who deviate from those said standards, norms, and ideals. 6. I firmly believe that deviance is relative. Its relative to location, its relative to time, its relative to religion, and its relative to sex even. Howard Becker said that 'it is not the act itself, but the reaction to the act, that make something deviant'. Obviously a culture that is used to certain things is going to have different values that will thereby determine their reaction to certain reactions.

One good point I came across recently to describe this is from a PC gaming magazine in which they were talking with a game designer about his game. His game contained both violence and mild nudity. He made the point that he was most likely going to have to make two separate versions of the game for the American and the European consumers. The Europeans were are much looser on nudity than the Americans, but are much stricter on violence in the games. This perfectly illustrates that Europe views slight nudity lightly but has staunch beliefs against the violence. Violence in video games in their country is obviously deemed deviant as per their standing disregard for it.

Whereas in America we view portrayals of violence less deviant than we do nudity. 7. The labeling theory for explaining deviance is based on reputations and labels applied to people and how they behave accordingly. It focuses on 3 main steps to explain our deviance.

In the first step we commit our first deviant act, referred to as the primary deviance. If we are labeled according to the deviant act in step #1 then in step #2 people begin to expect us to act according to our new label. In step #3 we react to the aforementioned step and commit our second deviant act based upon people's expectations of our own behavior. This explanation combines both the deviant act doers as well as those who apply the labels to them. Therefore it centers around the larger social structure and doesn't just blame those who are committing the deviant acts since the labeler's are guilty as well. The problem is that this doesn't explain the reasoning behind the primary deviance and only realistically applies to those who are labeled.

If you commit a deviant act and aren't labeled accordingly yet commit a second deviant act then this doesn't explain why. It also ignores basic social problems as a reason for social deviance. 8. The social conflict theory on deviance is based on the separation of power, rewards, and resources between social classes. According to believers of this theory the idea that the law is a social institution that impartially promotes its ideals amongst the society is a myth. This myth is supposedly promoted b the capitalist class of society.

The idea is that powerful interest groups can get laws passed favoring themselves and thereby upset the balance of power in their favor. A just and upright system of laws is a paramount in any modern society. Most laws such as murder and robbery are formed through a consensus amongst the public. The cause for laws and subsequent punishment for the acts are indiscriminate. They cross all boundaries of class and social separation. However not all laws are this indiscriminate.

Some laws are stemmed from those aforementioned special interest groups flexing their muscles on our judicial system and creating laws that protect them while harming others. Many of these laws target people such as the poor, immigrants, and minorities. Conflict theorists understandably focus on political and corporate crime. Since they believe that all conflict stems from the separation of power and resources they focus on those with the most power and resources. In our world these people seem to be able to bend the law and make law in areas it can't be bent. They impose their regulations and beliefs unto society in area such as homosexuality, gambling, and prostitution.

The laws concerning these acts all stem from the ideals of the powerful and their personal beliefs. 9. Ideological social control is the attempt to keep people believing in the ruling ideology instead of any competing ideology. It also is used to keep members of society willingly conforming to the laws of the society. Also it is used to get people to understand the distribution of power amongst the powerful and the weak. There are 6 primary agents of ideological social control: family, education, religion, sport, media, and government.

Ideological social control is implemented through at least 3 different methods. The first method is the socialization of the youth. The youth are taught the pros of individualism, competition, and respect for authority. They are taught these things at home, school, and through religion and media.

Essentially the subjects are told what should and should not be done. The second method occurs through attacks on the dominant ideology by people in authority. The third method relates to propaganda methods used by political authorities. They tell us what actions need to be taken in certain situations. The reason this method is so successful is that the norms of society are internalized and therefore the desire to do well is left up to the individual.

They force themselves to behave within the norms rather than having others actively constrain them within the norms. 10. Direct social control is the attempt to punish or neutralize organizations or individuals who don't conform to society's norms. The four groups most often targeted by this are the poor, mentally ill, criminals, and political dissidents. The three main agents of control are social welfare, science and medicine, and the government. Under social welfare the idea is to level off the distribution of the haves and the have nots by providing governmental assistance.

It also serves as a deterrent to riots in instances of high unemployment and widespread poverty. This program doesn't really punish anyone its more of a neutralizer. Public assistance is directly related to the jobless rate. So long as the jobless rate is low so too will the amount of financial aid supplied by the government.

Should the rate change though and the public become outraged then the government would hike the amount of assistance in order to deter such things as riots, acts of terrorism, or social movements directed at change.