Symbolic Interactionism

Symbolic Interactionism

When you think of symbolic interactionism you can kind of get an idea of what it is just by the name. Symbolic goes to symbol and we think of symbols as representing something. This theory takes a look at how people relate certain meanings to objects, events, and behaviors. The men behind this theory are George Herbert Mead (1863-1931) and Charles Horton Cooley (1864-1929.) A way that they use to describe this theory is attaching a meaning to things. 

We have so many symbols that we can relate to. Mom, dad, aunt, uncle, grandma, grandpa, brother, sister. These are just a few of many. These are just some way to describe people. But what about objects?  A ring symbolizes marriage when worn on the left ring finger. But there are many others. When a baby is being born, the parents represent having a boy in blue and having a girl in the color pink. We recognize these things and assume their meaning. We see wet floor signs and know that it means the floor is wet and you should not walk there. Snow flakes represent cold and fire represents hot. They can be little things like that or big things.
What do you think about when you think about America? Well I think about our flag, the Fourth of July, and Fireworks. This is how I symbolize America. If I were to symbolize Egypt, I would think of pyramids, egyptians, and cats. 

You can think of a symbol for almost anything! It's just they way we look at stuff!

"Symbolic Interactionism." Youtube. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
http://www.youtube.com

"What Is Symbolic Interaction Theory?" About.com Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
http://sociology.about.com/od/Sociological-Theory/a/Symbolic-Interaction-Theory.htm

Education as a Social Institution

Education as a Social Institution

Education is very important as a social institution. Sociologist find it a very interesting thing to look at and study. Education includes teaching formerly earned knowledge to others, such as reading and writing. But it also teaches many important things like morals, ethics, and values. This all prepare students for the real world. Showing them where they belong, socialization. 

There are two different ways we can begin to look at education in a social institution, micro-level and macro-level. At the micro-level, sociologists are looking at how being in school impacts the student on an individual level. At the macro-level, sociologists look how politics, economics, and culture impacts the variations of the students. 

Each of the three theories we have been discussing all have their different views on education in a social institution. 

The Functionalist view of it says that education is way that children first socialize and prepare for the outside world. This isn't only done by teaching the "basic knowledge" for school but also for teaching about morals, ethics, culture, and more. They also believe that education teaches an occupational training. The functionalist theory believes that education provides social order. By requiring that children must attend school by law, it keeps them off the streets and keep them out of stuff they aren't supposed to be doing.

The symbolic theory focuses on the schooling and how the outcomes of those interactions turn out to be. Teachers and students can have interactions and expectations of each other. The teacher expects the student to show up for class, do homework, be respectful. The teacher thinks a black student is less likely to do well on a test and white student to do better. This can cause the teacher to actually "encourage" the black student to not do well on a test. This is called the teacher expectancy effect. 

Conflict theory thinks that education is not equally fair. They don't think everyone is getting the same education because of race, gender, or class. They believe that education produces the inequalities between people in our society. It is also believed that education can lead to discrimination. An employer requires certain educational status credentials that apply to the job. It discriminates certain people within our society. 

How Education Has Impacted Me

I see people in their "groups." The people they normally hang out with. I've seen those people succeed and I've seen some people not take the right path and do some things that they shouldn't. I've seen this happening by them picking who they want to sit by in the lunch room on the first day of school.
I used to be with the "wrong people" but eventually i separated myself from that and hung around a better crowd. I heard others in school talk about my friends in a bad way, And I didn't want that to happen to me so I changed. I conformed to fit in with every one else

"What Is the Sociology of Education?" About.com Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Oct. 2015. http://sociology.about.com/od/Disciplines/a/Sociology-Of-Education.htm 

Conflict Theory as a Song

Conflict Theory

Conflict Theory can be defined as "A theory propounded for Karl Marx that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity." So I would describe it as society competing and changing to get scarce resources. Conflict theory can be viewed as a "bad" thing. Or possibly even dangerous. Because people do what they can to be labeled in the upper class.
The richer people benefit from the poor. The poor work in the factories, doing all the hard labor. While the rich sit in the office as a CEO or something. They may have stress and other things to do that seem difficult but it isn't manual labor.

Ain't No Rest for the Wicked

I see this song as describing the conflict theory rather well. He meets people that are just trying to get by in our society by any means. He pretty much asks them "Why are you doing what you're doing right now?" And they give him a pretty solid answer.
In the first set of lyrics that I labeled as "1.", our "narrator" is talking about how he was just walking down the street and what we would assume to be a prostitute came up to him and offered him her services. We can go down to section 2. and she continues. She said that if he pays her that she will give him a good night. Then after all is said and done, she will go. But he stops and asks her, "You seem like such a sweet lady so why do you do this?" Her response is goes into part 3. which is the chorus for the song. Which we will refer back to. She is just trying to get by. She says there ain't no rest for the wicked. She has to pay bills and she has mouths to feed. She would go about another job if she could but she can't. And she is going to keep doing this until she she closes her eyes for good. So until she dies.
In part 4. and 5. we deal with another person. This man is a robber. The robber just wants the money. Not to harm anyone. But if the narrator tries anything or tries to cause a scene, he will shoot him. So he could give him the money and be completely fine or he could get killed. It's the narrators choice basically. So he asks the robber, "What made you want to live this kind of life?" The robber is then brought back to the chorus. 

Next we go to part 6. So our narrator is home and his day is coming to an end. He turns to the news on the TV and sees a preacher getting arrest. He was taking money from the church. The preacher put the money in his own private account. Our narrator was very confused and shocked. But then he says "We all seek out to satisfy those thrills." So he is shocked but then he thinks about it and says that 'Well we are all just trying to get by and get ahold of the money. Because we all want to be on top of the social ladder. We are all trying for that.' He says we are all the same. All wanting to be higher in the social class system.
So our narrator goes back to the chorus. All of those people are going against what the law says and do what they want. They are all trying to get money. They are doing the things that they do to get them out of that lower class system. In this song you don't really see the rich people benefiting from poor people. But you see what poor people will do in order to get by.

Lyrics: 

1. I was walkin' down the street
When out the corner of my eye
I saw a pretty little thing approaching me
She said, "I never seen a man
Who looked so all alone
Oh could you use a little company?

2. And if you pay the right price
Your evening will be nice
And you can go and send me on my way."
I said, "You're such a sweet young thing
Why you do this to yourself?"
She looked at me and this is what she said

THE CHORUS
3. Oh, there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
I got bills to pay
I got mouths to feed
And ain't nothing in this world for free
No I can't slow down
I can't hold back
Though you know I wish I could
No there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good

4. Not even 15 minutes later
I'm still walkin' down the street
When I saw the shadow of a man creep out of sight
And then he swept up from behind
He put a gun up to my head
He made it clear he wasn't lookin' for a fight

5. He said give me all you got
I want your money not your life
But if you try to make a move I won't think twice
I told him you can have my cash
But first you know I gotta ask
What made you wanna live this kind of life?
He said

Go back to 3. THE CHORUS 

6. Well now a couple hours passed
And I was sitting in my house
The day was winding down and coming to an end
So I turned to the TV
And flipped it over to the news
And what I saw I almost couldn't comprehend

7. I saw a preacher man in cuffs
He'd taken money from the church
He'd stuff his bank account with righteous dollar bills
But even still I can't say much
Because I know we're all the same
Oh yes we all seek out to satisfy those thrills

8. You know there ain't no rest for the wicked
Money don't grow on trees
We got bills to pay
We got mouths to feed
And ain't nothing in this world for free
No we can't slow down
We can't hold back
Though you know we wish we could
No there ain't no rest for the wicked
Until we close our eyes for good

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conflict-theory.asp?adtest=term_page_v14_v2
"Conflict Theory Definition | Investopedia." Investopedia. Investopedia, 10 July 2013. Web. 07 Oct. 2015

Movies Through a Sociological Lens

The Maze Runner

The Maze Runner has may ways that it can be looked at and ways that we can apply sociology aspects to it. I am kinda just going off our first blog. Tying it into a family in a way. Just looking at them as a society.  First, we need a little background information on the the book and movie. The movie is based off the book, but I have read the book and watched the movie so my view on it may be a mixture of both. 

The book starts out with Thomas, the main character, he comes up from this box into what they called the Glade. The Glade is just a big open area with grass and now their community. Around the Glade is this giant wall that surrounds the entire Glade. The people of the Glade, the Gladers, are used to 1 new person coming up from the box once a month, every month. So Thomas does not seem any different yet.  Outside the Glade is the maze. Where they think they can figure out how to escape. But they've been looking in this maze for over 2 years, they know the pattern of the maze but don't know how to use the sequence of the maze to get out. Inside the maze are Grievers. Grievers are nasty creatures that live in the maze and only come out at night. If you get stung by one of these Grievers you will experience an agonizingly painful sickness that the Gladers call the Changing. When you experience the Changing, nothing is the same after. You remember little bits of the outside world but not it all. Thomas knows nothing about himself or the outside world so he is very confused. 

While in this community, Thomas learns that there are only boys. They have weird slang terms for each other, they have jobs, they have a kitchen and cafeteria, they have animals, a farm, a set cycle of they way they do things, order, a council called the Keepers, a leader, a rebel that wants to overthrow the leader, and many more things that we can look at for their society. 

The Gladers use weird slang terms such as klunk, shank, greebie or greenbean, and good that. These are just a few of their terms that they all learn to use. Klunk is a slang for poop or crap. A shank is like a friend or fellow person. Greenie or greenbean is a slang for the person who is the newest from the box. They are called this until a new person comes up from the box. And good that is used when they agree with another person. 

They have different types of jobs around the Glade. Such as the builders, the sloppers who are the lowest job rank and have all the dirty work, the baggers who are guards, the cook, track-hoes who are doctors, med-jacks who are the doctors, the slicers who work in the slaughter house, and the runners who map and study the maze. They all have their job. Once they come out of the box they start looking for where they will fit in the community.
In the kitchen and cafeteria, they get fed pretty well and regularly. Each week the box sends up new supplies, such as food, weapons, and other things for them to survive.
The Gladers know what to expect and when to expect it. They have all been taught the same things from the people who have been there longer. Like Alby, he was the first one in the maze. So he started everything in this society and it grew. They have their set rules and laws. The Gladers have to do their part, never hurt another Glader because they have to trust each other, and never go in the maze unless you're a runner.
They live with what they have and they somehow made a functioning society. But when something goes wrong they have to try and adapt to those situations.

This is a picture from the map room. It is where they made a model from the actual maze in order to help get them out. The runners leave every day in the morning and come back before sunset before the doors close. Because if you're still in the maze and the doors close then you are very likely to get killed by a Griever. This is why they have the rule, never go out into the maze.









"The Glade." The Maze Runner Wiki. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2015. http://mazerunner.wikia.com/wiki/The_Glade