Essay Sample on Sociology: An Analysis of Social LIfe

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Posted on January 24, 2008

Society has different norms and cultures; it varies from one community to the other based on their practices and beliefs (Hess, 1988). Its standards dictate how people act, speak and think. It molds an individual on how he becomes in his future life. His individuality is the mirror of his society. What he is; is exactly what his society is all about. A person who belongs to a conservative society will bear and possess a traditional attitude also. His way of thinking always has something to do with his community. He always makes consideration of how and what people think about him. People who belong to a certain community or group are expected to behave and think according to what the social practices are. A female teenager, for example, is said to be at home before 9 o’clock in the evening, she must not see roaming around alone at night.

Eldest siblings are considered as role models, she/he must behave accurately that her/his younger sisters/brothers will look up to and be subject to follow. A man must marry first his girlfriend before doing any sexual encounter. A Female must be married first before she lives together with her man and has children. Doing so will make them deviant to society. An individual must maintain her/his good image in accordance with society’s standard where she/he belongs, to avoid being labeled as deviators by society and to protect society’s image as a whole. Such practices are passed from one generation to the other. It is rooted from older age and passed through their children up to their great-grandchildren. The believed practices and norms existed as the society existed, and people came in to adapt and adjust to his community. Being an unmarried pregnant teenager is taboo and considered deviant to society. A teenager is expected to be in school, finish college, have a degree, get a job, and get married before she bears a child. Teenagers at a young age are likely to engage in things, which are very dependent on their parents. They are less expected to do stuff like what the adult does, like involving the opposite sex. Thus, becoming unmarried pregnant at an early age is an issue for society. It’s an implication that society’s norm is not well implemented to its occupants. Teenager personalities and family backgrounds will then be put into question. Society begins to map out what kind of family the teenager has. If she is rise properly according to society’s standard because the said taboo won’t take place if she properly cares and if the norms were properly inculcated to teenager’s mind. Being a deviant, society begins to label the individual.

Stereotyping will arise like, expecting the child of an unmarried pregnant teenager to be reminiscent of what her/his mother is, that the child will bring no good to society but shame. The child will be labeled as the fruit of sin and more likely to become pregnant without marriage too in her teenage life. Deviant behavior brings a greater impact to society because society plays a vital role in an individual’s way of living, thinking, and behavior. Thus, every individual is obligated to behave and follow what society expects. One must consider what other people say before saying or doing anything. She/he is also expected to ask the elders’ opinion before deciding to do something to avoid taboos and being deviant to society as a whole. Every student will find it interesting to write a sociology essay example about these issues.

Sociology is a new science that focuses on the totality of social life, the context of behavior, and the group level of real and social facts. An individual is part and parcel of society. Social integration refers to the degree to which a person is part and parcel of a larger group. Marriage, family, kinship, etc. reflect social integration. Social integration reflects an individual’s conduct and life. It binds one person to another person. In generally speaking, the word “society” means the members of a society in a group of persons rather than the social relationships of the persons. Society is a complex one. It is found that from traditional, barbaric society to modern society, each society is formed by the combination of several social institutions. Marriage, a family, educational, economic, political, religious institutions, are the basic social institutions in society. Now some more such as school, peer groups, workplace, and the state are influencing the individual personality. These basic social institutions govern the social movements of human beings. They control human beings. The term socialization is used by sociologists, social psychologists, and educationalists to refer to the process of learning one’s culture and how to live within it. For the individual, it provides the resources necessary for acting and participating in their society.

A family is a basic kinship unit, in its minimal form, consisting of a wife, husband, and children. In its widest sense, it refers to all relatives living together or recognized as a social unit, including adopted persons. It is an association. It is an institution. Therefore, it is often called a “Basic Social Institution” because its important functions of procreation and socialization are found in some form in all the societies in the world. It is found in every society and at every stage since human civilization started. The members of each family shall obey certain social regulations. These regulations cannot be broken so easily. The members of the family obey these social regulations with ease and free consent. The man learns basic social norms and values in his childhood. A family is the basic social institution having social control, social change. Educational institutions are regarded as social institutions. Education at school helps as a bridge between childhood and youth. A child learns the duties, rights, moral obligations along with other co-students in his school. The concept of socialization and learning are so intimately related that they are inseparable from the concept of education. A Peer group is a section of people who have a common identity based on such characteristics as similar social status, interests, age, or ethnic group.

For Socialization-related learning processes and perception of workplace adaptation, emotions also contribute meaningfully. Gender, job satisfaction, anger, and curiosity all proved to be positive, independent predictors of socialization-related learning and workplace adaptation. One of the independent predictors is anxiety, but age, race, formal orientation, employee status, and rapidly changing workplace were not regarded as significant predictors. Job satisfaction was confirmed to be not only a result of socialization but also an important factor in the socialization process itself. The state is a people organized by law within a definite territory. The state itself is an ideal person, intangible, invisible, immutable. The individual has no rights against the state. The state is a sovereign, and it lays down a system of imperatives. If any person disobeys the imperative of the state, which takes the form of laws, he can be punished. The state has coercive power. It is a monopoly in nature. The state is a repressive agency. Whereas society has no such coercive power. Of course, Society can also make its own rules which regulate social behavior, but they are not imperatives. They are simply rules of conduct. The influence is up to a large extent by the factors mentioned above so that the good impact will create the best society.
The importance of sociology science is huge, and it becomes very important from day to day. Modern tendencies show rapid and sometimes unexpected changes in the behavior of individuals in the group or community. We have already provided a few examples of stereotypes. They are oftentimes taken with enmity by my youngsters. They do not like to follow the labels and rules of society. They have a great need for freedom and change. They want to establish their mainstreams.

Sociology helps to keep the track of those changes and new needs inside society. Indeed, freedom should be given to all. If a person differs from social norms, it does not mean it is something bad or wrong. The deviation from the social norm should be allowed until it breaks the law and harms the health and lives of other people. Accordingly, such “rebels” should be allowed to behave as they want.

In the meanwhile, those individuals ought to understand possible complications for them. They will not be accepted by the majority. They will be “labeled” according to their new positions and worldviews. It’s a serious challenge, and sociology tries to figure out how to settle things smoothly and make everyone happy and free. A sociology essay sample about these issues will be interesting for all teens who face them.

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