Application Paper
I have learnt about individual and society, and came to know that everyday feelings, activities, actions, and thoughts of an individual are a result of complex interaction between many social forces and characteristics of an individual at personal level. Sociological imagination is a capability of considering influence of social forces on personal lives of individuals. There are three major types of rules in every society, which are norms, values, and mores. Rules can be in the written form, or they can be just known. However, people individuals who break unwritten rules are called deviants, while those who are involved in breaking written rules are known as criminals. From my personal experience, I observed that people who are not getting their needs fulfilled adopt deviant behavior, such as a poor person who is unable to get employment become thief in order to fulfill his needs and needs of his family.
Individuals who perform well in the society are given rewards and positive sanctions; for example, police is given rewards for finding criminals. Individuals who break law are punished, and are badly treated by other the law as well as by other people, which represents negative sanctions. Further, I have also learnt that citizens have right to education, right of enjoying freedom of assembly, freedom of expression, freedom of religion, the right to vote, and right to vote after attaining the age of majority. Freedom of assembly comprises of the independence from retrospective criminal law as no punishment can be given without criminal law. The right of freedom of expression includes the right to marriage, and to make family. The right to fair trial comprises of freedom from discrimination. Consumers also have rights, and their rights include the right to get defect free products, and product of satisfactory quality. Humans living in the society have the right to life, freedom from degraded treatment, freedom from torture, right to liberty, freedom from slavery, freedom from forced labor, right to ensure a fair trial.
Furthermore, I come to know that sociologists conduct research by selecting a topic, defining the problem, reviewing the literature, formulating hypothesis, selecting a research method, and collecting the data. There are six research methods or research designs in sociology for sociologists, and these methods include surveys, secondary analysis, documents, experiments, unobtrusive measures, and participant observation. Additionally, major dialectic process of society comprises of three steps, which are objectivation, externalization, and internalization. Externalization is rapidly introducing human beings into the world, in the mental and physical activity of individuals. Objectivation is achievement by product of mental and physical activity. Internalization comprises of appropriation of reality again by modifying objective world’s structures into subjective consciousness.
Religion is, however, a human enterprise with the help of which sacred cosmos is formed or established. In the social world, institutions, identities, and roles are present as objectively real phenomenon, and this world is production of humans. For example, family is an institution in which roles of people are defined. In my family, male members are holding dominating position, and uncles, fathers, and husbands are regarded as model for conduct at individual level. I have learnt that socialization is a process in which new generation is guided to lead their lives according to society’s institutional programs. Socialization can be considered as a learning process psychologically. The success of socialization is, however, is dependent on the equilibrium between society’s objective world and individual’s subjective world. I came to know that wages are determined by antagonistic efforts of worker and capitalist, and in this effort capitalists are considered are victorious. I have also observed same in the organizations in which employers are playing the role of capitalist, they are giving low wages to workers. Workers are not getting salaries in accordance with their work. I have also observed that with the decrease in society’s wealth, workers have to suffer. The workers have to make effort in order to find work, and also they have to make efforts for ensuring physical means of subsistence.
Further, I learnt that Race, gender, and class inequality play their role, and exert negative influence on normal functioning of the society. The United States is still facing inequality in races, gender, and class. From my personal experience, I observed that while giving jobs there are some nationalities, which are preferred. It is also evident from news and online media that still there is inequality of races, gender, and class in many societies. In such societies, particularly in the United States, citizenship is used in order to draw boundaries so that people who have right to freedom, protection, and entitled to respect can be distinguished from people who do not have such facilities. For example, one of my Pakistani friends visited the United States in order to seek higher education, but he was not allowed to move freely in the country because of nationality. Further, labor helps in placing individuals in economic order. In America, labor and citizenship are closely associated with each other, and the status of citizenship is connected with the status of labor, which is bringing inequality in the society.
