If there were one word to describe the lessons learned from this course, it would be context. Sociology could be called the study of different perspectives of various cultures. Therefore the discipline rests on the self-evident premise that there are differences in perspectives that affect social hierarchy and interaction.
Context in a culture remains constant, but person context in a culture varies from culture. A remote tribe on a pacific rim island does not have the same context as me at the same age and gender.
It is difficult to contrast this to previous idea, since my ideas of social phenomenon were not forcefully articulated prior to taking this course. My perspective was much narrower. One thing I could say in this regard is that before this course I did not take into affect cultural context. I used to think of poor people as being poor because of decisions that they had made. This course has caused me to see that there is a viscous cycle of economic and cultural patterns that cause people to be confined to a poverty trap. The solutions to generational poverty are just that—generational. As Urban Adventures puts it, “Generational Poverty is defined as having been in poverty for at least two generations” (Urban Adventures, 2014). This is different from situational poverty which in which a person or family of means loses those means.
I learned that while human beings have differences, the things we have in common on stronger than those that divide us. It gives me hope that the more we learn and understand about each other the better we will be in a better position to address the problems human face in the future.
Reference
"Understanding Generational Poverty."Facts About Poverty. N.p., n.d. Web. 9 Apr. 2014. <http://www.urbanventures.org/about-us/facts-about-poverty.html>.
