Sociology 3011
Guide for Essay I: Life Situation Description
Our individual "life worlds" are composed of many "situations"
determined by our membership in different groups: family, social class,
racial and ethnic groupings, sex and gender, occupation. Our motivation,
treatment and behavior in those situations is influenced if not determined
by a large number of social influences. Those forces interact with and even
mold our personalities. For example, Randall Collins feels that perhaps
the most important motivation for human behavior is the wish we all have
to avoid being told what to do by someone else. He believes the major part
of human behavior can be thus explained.
Some of the behavior in life situations is unacceptable or destructive.
For example, I may beat my spouse; you may smoke or drink heavily; he may
remain in a job that is degrading for him; she may be paid half as much
as he for equivalent labor; they may be living at a disadvantage because
of their ethnic background. Persons and groups in such life situations can
change them, sometimes independently but usually with the help of others.
There are ways to empower oneself. The first step toward such empowerment
is, of course, a critical awareness of both the social forces and the personal
behavior working to maintain the situation.
In Essay I, you describe the situation you believe should be changed.
You tell us what is going on. It may be very close to you, but if you write
in the third person, you may feel freer to share it with others. Each situation
can be described through mapping it. Who are the actors involved?
What is the context of their behavior--the family, the workplace, the university
? What is the history of the situation--how did it develop? What
are the consequences of the behavior |
