America the Free...by locking people up!

This week in Sociology, we learned about life in prison and how deviant "authorities" are to criminals. We read a story called "Courtroom 302" which follows the guidelines of the Cook County Jailhouse, and this story particularly interested me because I have heard a lot of stories about the atrocious prison but never really looked deeply into it. It talks about the ways life is in there and how the prisoners get treated inside. They treat the prisoners like pests and not human beings. They constantly yell at them and torture them, as if they weren't deprived of their whole selves completely. America deals with criminals so poorly, that thinking if they throw them all into jail will solve the problem. It's as if they're throwing all their junk in a small closet and then when they open it, it just flies at them and they don't know what to do. They confine them into a small area, deprive necessary nutrients, ignore their medical needs, and take away all of their self-dignity. They claim that it's what they'll "need" to heal; that they'll learn their lesson. Truth is, it's the complete opposite of that. Prisoners that go into jail and get out, are most likely to head back into there. Another big issue with the prisons in America, is how overcrowded they get and reach the capacity level. In California, they have the second largest federal system in the U.S., they hold over 200% their designated capacity and 75% of the prisoners come back after they get bailed. In a film that we saw in class, "30 Days in Jail," it shows how some prisoners have to sleep on the floors with just a small mat that's looks like a piece of cloth. They treat these prisoners like caged animals.

Ew You're Picking Your Nose!

What? No I didn't! I was just scratching the side of my nose! On an episode of Seinfield, they showed an example of defiance. The main character was driving his car and his girlfriend at the time was driving her car next to his. At a red light, he scratched the right side of his nose, and to the girl, it looked as if he was picking his nose. Deviance is all dependent on time, place and perception. It's also different depending on each person or culture. Someone might think that theft is going against norms and some people might find it acceptable or normal. Deviance is any behavior that violates social norms. Deviance can be criminal or non-criminal. An assignment that we had to do in class related to doing an act of positive deviance to society. I wrote a letter to my English as my random act of kindness. It was against norms of society because no one really expects a student to show such appreciation to their teacher. I was being deviant when I dis this. Doing these acts of kindness shows that just something little could make someone smile all day. Also in class, we read a sorry called "Saints and Roughnecks." It shows how society is deviant towards people by their appearance and not what they do. The Saints are. Group of boys that are from upper-middle class families and do really good in school by having a B average and are on the schools "good" side. The Roughnecks are a group of boys that are from a lower class and constantly get in trouble at school and do not have a good reputation with society. The Saints are involved in almost the same activities as the Roughnecks after school, such as drinking alcohol and stealing and destroying public property. But society for not perceive the Saints as those kind of "bad" people because of their social status and reputation. "In seeking happiness for others, you find it for yourself." Anonymous

The Growing Man Metaphor.

I am making this blog up from a couple weeks ago as well. This week we learned about nature vs. nurture. This debate is dependent on whether or not the way the environment affects the way we behave or the way that we were raised by. Nature is made up of our genetic make-up and our hard-wired behavior. The nature theory takes things  a step further to say that maybe our intelligence and personality are also engraved in our DNA. Nurture is the behavior influenced by our environment. I believe that we are more influenced by nurture than nature, not only because a ton of researchers have proven it, but because I have experienced by myself. For example, when I was young, and I was a pet-fanatic, I would have a ton of hamsters. the hamsters I paid more attention too and cared more for, were the ones that were nice and happy with life. But the ones that I wouldn't pay much attention too, would bite me whenever I tried to pick them up or poop on me, etc. We also learned in class the "growing man metaphor." The idea is that to go from being a baby ruled by emotions, instincts and training to being a fully human adult, we need other people. Without other people, we would not be able to become fully conscious and aware adults in the future. 

Socialization Agents.

I am making this post up for the one I missed a while ago. Throughout everyones life, every human is shaped by the world in which they live in. This process is called Socialization, but this week in class we learned about the different agents of socialization. The definition of an agent of socialization is a group or people that influence the behaviors of an individual by making them think or act a certain way. Some examples of agents of socialization is your family, friends, religion, or even your gender. I would think that your family is the most important agent of socialization. Our family teaches us the core way to act towards things and determines peoples attitudes towards religion and ways of thinking. For example, my family has taught me to be a Catholic and reinforced it by taking me to church from a young age. I also think that education is an important agent of socialization. It teaches us from a young age particular skills and certain values in society by teaching us the greater function of society.

Does she really look like that?

This week in sociology, we learned more in depth about how the media affects females And males. The media is a huge part of everyones live nd we rarely realize how much it actually impacts our decisions. We are bombarded with about 2,000 ads every day, and a good percentage of this ads are perceiving each gender negatively. For example, they make women seem vulnerable and weak against men. Also making them be seen as they way society wants them to be seen like the "perfect" woman. The media manipulates models on Photoshop, constantly changing every inch of their body; changing their body size, lengthening their necks and legs, making eyes bigger, hair fuller, perfect complexion and so much more words cannot describe. When women see these photos, they look at themselves as ugly, fat and not what society expects them be like. They develop mental problems, become self-conscious and develop eating disorders. A personal example is when I realized how weirdly "perfect" these women were on television, and how much I wanted to look like them. I dyed my hair, wanted to be as skinny and thin like them, but I realized that I could never be like that, and no one ever will look like that. Everyone is beautiful in their own way and should not compare themselves to the fake women on ads, because they don't even look like that.