We've covered a lot of issues this semester in our sociology class. A lot of the topics that we discussed are issues that are very prevalent in today's society. There are two topics that I think will become continue to be debated and shown all over the news for several years to come. The first is same-sex marriage and the second is our economy and what it makes people do.
Over the past decade the issue of same-sex marriage has become a major topic not only in politics but in sociology as well. I mentioned in one of my previous blog entries about how it is becoming more accepted as my generation starts to take control of the world and let their beliefs known. I have no doubt that it will become more accepted in the world as the years go on. Studies are already being done about how it effects a family and also how it effects a child raised in that environment. It will continue to remain prevalent in today's society and I feel like at some point it will become a social norm. The people who participate in same-sex marriages will no longer be considered "deviants".
The other issue emerging just in the past few years is our economy. The dramatic roller coaster that is the global economy has sent people through twists and turns. It has left too many people jobless, possibly homeless, and sometimes with no way to provide for their families. I think that if the economy continues to take a turn for the worse it will start to effect our crime rates. People will do anything to provide for the ones they love, even if it means killing their neighbor; it's just human nature. It will be interesting how the economy effects the people of the world. Hopefully it will turn around before anything too crazy happens.
Overall I feel like same-sex marriage and the economy are the two biggest emerging issues in sociology. I feel like out of all the things that we covered in class over the semester these two will remain the most prevalent in years to come. They affect so much on a broad scale and yet as a general topic are still a big deal in the world. They will remain in politics and on the mind of sociologists everywhere for many more years to come.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
References
I left all of the hyperlinks on there so you can use them to check out my references. I know that you're noy supposed to on a research paper but since they're online I figured it would be okay.
Deviance and Crime:
Causes of crime. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://law.jrank.org/pages/12004/Causes-Crime.html
Fire work picture:
I’m not sure how to do APA citations for a picture.
FreeAdvice Staff. (2011). What is a crime?. Retrieved from http://criminal-law.freeadvice.com/criminal-law/criminal-law/crime_law.htm
Sperling, B. (2004, March 30). America's best and worst cities for crime. Retrieved from http://www.bestplaces.net/docs/studies/crime1.aspx
Gender
Advameg, Inc. (2011). Gender roles. Retrieved from http://www.faqs.org/health/topics/8/Gender-roles.html
Carlson, D. (2002, February 19). Acceptance of homosexuality: A youth movement. Retrieved from http://www.gallup.com/poll/5341/acceptance-homosexuality-youth-movement.aspx
Familiy and Religion
Mcfarlane, S. (Producer) (1999). Family guy: Leathal weapons (s3:7) [Web]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LdljoPda7R0&feature=related
Berman, J. (2010, September 2010). What makes a family? children, say many americans . Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/WN/defines-family-children-americans-survey/story?id=11644693
Hartford Institute for Religion Research. (n.d.). Does the modern american family have enough time for church? . Retrieved from http://hirr.hartsem.edu/research/quick_question2.html
The Pew Forum. (2010). Report 1: Religious affilation. Retrieved from http://religions.pewforum.org/reports
Deviance and Crime
Did you know that for cities with more than 500,000 people Nassau-Suffolk, New York has the best crime rate in the country while Tuscon, Arizona has the worst (Sperling, 2004)? Just a fun fact. It makes me happy to live in a state that doesn't have a lot of crime. But what is crime? “A crime is any act or omission that violates a law which results in a punishment (FreeAdvice Staff, 2011).” The funny thing about crime in the world is that if you’re in a different country they may not see a crime here in the United States as a crime in their country. You could even go state to state and have a different law. A good example of this is the sale of fireworks. In New Jersey you can’t buy them but if you go across the Delaware River with your New Jersey license and you can buy just about any fireworks you want from a vendor in Pennsylvania. Shooting fireworks on the 4th of July is an American tradition but if you don’t shoot them it’s not a crime. This is called Deviance.
Deviance according to our book is “behavior that is recognized as violating expected rules and norms.” Staying on the topic of fireworks, you’d technically be a deviant if you didn’t ever shoot or watch fireworks on the 4th of July and you’re a citizen of the United States.
There are a lot of reasons why sociologists think people become deviants or commit crimes. There have been studies since ancient times on why people do the things they do. After all isn’t that what sociology is all about, study of people and culture. An article that I found gives a good understanding of why.
“Reasons for committing a crime include greed, anger, jealously, revenge, or pride. Some people decide to commit a crime and carefully plan everything in advance to increase gain and decrease risk. These people are making choices about their behavior; some even consider a life of crime better than a regular job—believing crime brings in greater rewards, admiration, and excitement—at least until they are caught. Others get an adrenaline rush when successfully carrying out a dangerous crime. Others commit crimes on impulse, out of rage or fear
(Causes of crime, nd). ”
Another reason that sociologist talk about a lot is when a group of deviants get together they form a social bond. They create their own culture where people fit in with each other. At this point are they considered deviants? What do you think?
http://law.jrank.org/pages/12004/Causes-Crime.html Causes of Crime - Explaining Crime, Physical Abnormalities, Psychological Disorders, Social And Economic Factors, Broken Windows, Income And Education
Fire work picture:
What is a crime?
America's Best and Worst Cities for Crime
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Gender
Gender
Flashback to the 1950s: You have a normal suburban family, 2 kids, a husband, and a wife. The husband goes to work 9-5 Monday through Friday, and the wife stays home and cooks and cleans the house. The kids go to school and come back and the mom makes them do their homework.
Fast forward to our decade with the same family. The husband still works 9-5 and the kids still go to school. Now though the wife is able to go to work and provide for her family just as much as the husband is. Over time we have seen the opportunities for women grow exponentially. No they’re still not completely equal to men but they are much closer than before.
No woman still don’t make as much as men but a lot of the times it seems that women still run the house hold. Especially in the media. Think about the shows and movies that you see on TV. “Men might "wear the pants" but women are the ones who tell them which pair to put on (Hogg, 2007).”
Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/205447#ixzz1eYqig3Tf
Read more: http://digitaljournal.com/article/205447#ixzz1eYqig3Tf
Gender is defined by our book as the socially learned expectations and behaviors associated with members of each sex. Over the centuries the roles of genders have changed just like I mentioned above. But where do these expectations come from?
“The first and one of the strongest influences on a person's perceived gender role is his or her parents. Parents are our first teachers--not only of such basic skills as talking and walking, but also of attitudes and behavior. Some parents still hold traditional definitions of maleness and femaleness and what kind of activities are appropriate for each (Advameg, Inc, 2011).”
Another big one that I’ve noticed is from the media. Commercials are pictured in commercials to be super well girly. Men are pictured as the stereotype to like sports, drink beer, and go hunting/fishing. It makes us, the viewers, seem like that’s how we need to be so we fit our lives to make sure we fit into those stereotypes.
As our generation becomes older and more and more of us become parents there has been a change in the way we push our gender socialization onto our kids. The individualism that defines our generation is more or less letting our kids decide what they want to be. Whether or not a boy wants to be a “sissy” or a girl wants to be a “tom boy” is irrelevant because of the fact that our generation is much more accepting of homosexual tendencies than that of our parents or even generations before them (Carlson, 2002). I’m not saying its everyday for the LGBT community is a walk in the park but it’s much better than it used to be.
This article from the Gallop Poll helps back me up.
Gallup Poll
Family and Religion
Familes And Religion
Throughout my years before college, when I went to school and actually lived at home, I never realized how important my family would be. Since I’ve moved away from home it seems like I just took them for granted. I love my family, or should I say families. My family isn’t like a traditional “Leave it to Beaver” family. To be perfectly honest we have the swagger of a Family Guy family. There’s drama, there’s ALWAYS craziness but at the end of the day we’re there for each other.
(Macfarlane, 1999)
Here’s a video of what many American’s say is a normal family.
My definition of a family isn’t your traditional dictionary definition: the basic unit in society traditionally consisting of two parents rearing their children; also : any of various social units differing from but regarded as equivalent to the traditional family. My family is what some would call “broken” I’d consider it more like expanded. I come from a family where my parents were divorced and have now remarried. So I have double what the traditional family would have. So here’s my definition: Any group of people who will help you through your ups and downs in life and still love you at the end of the day. I love my families, all of them. My crazy Italian one, my family from the south, my family in Idaho, and my family at Phi Delta Theta.
I found it quite odd that family and religion were mixed together in one chapter. I felt like it was a big enough topic that it could have its own chapter. On the other hand, I’ve found that many families (for a lack of better word) transfer their religions on to their children. I’ve gotten my religious beliefs from my family and the culture of where I live. In the United States at least it’s starting to seem like religion is becoming less and less of a major factor in our lives (Hartford Institute for Religion Research, nd). Does the Modern American Family have enough time for Church?
We’re teaching our generation to become individuals so they have chosen not to have a religion. Not having a religion is becoming the new culture.
References
Family Guy video:
ABC News article:
Does the Modern American Family have enough time for Church?
Article about US citizens and Religion:
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Homepage
Hello everyone! My name is Ryan Sprta and I'm a sophomore at the University of Idaho. I'm an Air Force Cadet in the ROTC program here at the school. You may be asking yourself why the blog is called "Sociology from Flyby". Well that's the call sign that my peers in ROTC have given me. Being in the Air Force is one of my favorite things about being at this University and going to school. Something that I’ve learned as I’ve grown up is how important it is to thank those who have served in our military. Socialization is something that we’ve learned in our Soc 101 class and it’s pretty easy to see that my family has influenced me a lot in my life.
Coming into the year I wasn’t really interested in sociology and to be honest I’m still really not. I took the class to get the credits and graduate. What I didn’t realize though was how much goes into the subject itself. What the class has done is give me a new view of how people live their lives and act the ways that they do. I get to learn about different cultures while sitting right in front of my screen and read all of your posts.
At times I find myself questioning what I do. Is it right? Who determines whether or not it is? Why do you think it is and I don’t? And that’s just a few questions of what sociology has made me ask within the short span of half a semester. It’s crazy to see how many different beliefs there are in the world.
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