Didrik Wold

Soc 101

How does the Sociological Perspective help us to critically

assess the truth of commonly held assumptions?

The Sociological Perspective helps us critically assess the truth of commonly held assumptions by giving us some insight as to how society effects the individual and vice versa. It is often taken for granted that society has much impact on a person because we live in such an individualistic culture. Individualism is valued very highly and as such it is usually considered a bad thing if you are being influenced by outside sources to any extent. Of course it is impossible to not be influenced by outside sources but it is possible to learn about how and why these things effect you and to be aware of what is happening so that you can still make some conscious decision as to what you want out of your life.

Societal norms can be found everywhere from birth to death in this world. With norms come these assumptions that we want to learn to critique. Starting immediately at birth we find that certain expectations are placed on newborns. That the males should be one way the females another way. Even before they have opened their eyes their parents have begun to plan out what sort of toys the infant will play with and how it will dress. Even the way that infants are described is radically different based on their sex. Although there is little or no physical difference between females and males from birth up until puberty, society would have you believe otherwise and tries it's very best to convince you of this. Since it is easy to believe what society says people instill these same ideas on their children from a very young age and it becomes a quick and powerful self-fulfilling prophecy. The children are destined from birth to play into a certain societal role that was all but predetermined for them.

Social perceptions of newborns is only the beginning though. This sort of social bias continues through every person's life. It is something that must be dealt with and the more a person understands about his society and how societies in general effect and reflect their people, the better that person will be able to function as a productive member of the aforementioned society. Socialization is a never ending process that starts when a person is born and ends only when that person either dies or isolates themselves completely from any form of society.

Early childhood is most likely where society will have the largest impact on a person. As a child everything must be learned for the first time and the brain is very ready to accept anything thrown at it. What sort of conditions and exposure to the world a child has almost completely defines what sort of person that child becomes and how they react to situations. This has been shown again and again. By the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis we learn that the world is defined through our language and symbols. If you tell a child that the color we have called "red" is in fact called "green" then that child will honestly and truly believe that. He or she will have no reference point to say that the color in question is anything but green. Once the child grows older and encounters more people somebody is of course bound to try and correct the child and re-teach (or re-socialize) him or her. But if no people are there to contradict the child's perception then that perception is in fact truth. This over-simplified example holds true for more complex ideas as well. As a result of childhood being the initial socialization it is the strongest and the most important. It is the most important because the things that are learned at this time are also the hardest to break away from. If there is any mistake it can be very difficult to repair. A child in an abusive household may always carry that trend towards violence throughout his or her life. A child never allowed to properly express his or herself will most likely have trouble expressing themselves for the rest of their lives. These things learned in childhood through adolescence and into early adulthood are what we come to accept as common sense and obvious truths.

The nature of the things learned in the socialization process is that they are supposed to be the norm. They are designed to not be contradicted. Because most people in a society conform to a good percentage of these ideas they are not often critiqued and are generally accepted as, "The way things are." The Sociological Perspective is what allows us to re-examine the things that have been forced into our heads and to decide for ourselves whether they really are true or not.

An example of this could be as follows. Imagine a teenage girl standing in front of a full-length mirror. She turns to one side and then to the other, observing herself in the mirror. She immediately begins to notice things that she knows are "wrong" or "dislikable." Her lips are a little too thin. Her hips are a little too wide. Her breasts not quite large enough. These are all characteristics that she has been taught to look for. Day after day she is bombarded with images telling her what is the "right" way for a girl to look. She sees that all the other girls worry about the same things and so she just assumes that this is the way it is supposed to be and that it is right. If she were to apply the Sociological Perspective to her problem she would probably begin to see that things are not quite what they seem. This image that is being presented is unrealistic. The image is there to raise profits on everything from dieting aids to makeup supplies. If she were to critically analyze her situation she would be able to be more content with her body and perhaps concentrate on eating healthier or exercising more. Instead of worrying about fitting into a certain size pants.

There are an uncountable number of these sorts of assumptions. Everything that we think we know is realistically just an assumption. They are all simply things that we were taught at one point and nobody has contradicted as of yet. What's dangerous is if assumptions are never challenged. Imagine if nobody bothered to say something to the effect that blacks aren't inferior to whites. Or that women aren't inferior to men. In their respective times those where considered facts. It was considered a scientific fact that black people were inferior in every way to whites. Then somebody spoke up and convinced enough other people that this was nonsense and a terrible wrong doing was prevented from continuing. Only by understanding how society instills these ideas and values can we analyze them and make an intelligent decision as to whether they are valid or not. Without these skills the human race would not advance. A people can not continue thinking the exact same way and progress.

While this is not an attempt to make people put forth extra effort to think differently than everybody else, it is a suggestion to take the time to analyze why you believe what you do. It is very important to be certain you are thinking and acting in a logical manner and that you are not doing so based upon false assumptions given to you by society. Society often has ulterior motives and as such it's ideas cannot be blindly accepted.

Take for instance a man contemplating suicide. He has just been fired from his job. As a result his wife has left him and taken his four year old son with her. The mortgage payments are due and his car is going to be repossessed if he can't find money for those payments as well. Everything seems to be going wrong for him. But how wrong are they really? If he were to analyze his situation with the Sociological Perspective in mind he might see that although he has been fired from his job this in fact gives him some freedom. He now can find a new place to work with new people and new ideas. A fresh perspective can be beneficial. Or he could perhaps look into a new line of work. There are various other options as well. The main reason this seems such a blow is that society says that in order to be accepted people should work. His wife leaving him can also be tied into this same idea. Society has told her that she needs to have a husband that can support the family and has a good and stable income. In reality there is a good chance that they would have been able to find another way to deal with their problems and probably could have continued living together without much trouble. His immense value on owning an automobile can also be traced to societal norms. Society says that we should own cars. It is a symbol of the accomplishment of a person. A person is often judged by their car. If he were to re-examine the situation he could see that riding the bus would be a reasonable alternative. So this man is prepared to end his life because he has not met society's standards. If her were just to look at his situation from a different perspective he could see that things are not so bad as they seem "in the heat of the moment" and that suicide was an uncalled for act.

So again we see that what society says is good or right may not necessarily be so. It is always good to re-analyze the situation. The Sociological Perspective allows us to use the intricate connections that is woven throughout society to get a clearer picture of what is really going on. Things are generally not just what they seem. There is usually some other force in play as well.

The economy is another good example of things not being quite what they seem and that the Sociological Perspective can help to clear up. Everybody is always talking about the economy. The economy is what rules this country. If the economy is doing poorly then the people are doing poorly and the country is as well. If the economy is doing well then the country is doing well and so are the people. Or are they? The more money we spend the better off the economy is. That is a pretty widely accepted truth. The Sociological Perspective would ask why and how this money is being spent and what are the ramifications on society and on individuals. People are reporting a decrease in general happiness yet the economy is up. How is this so? Well if you take into the account that people are working more to earn more money to buy more things to keep the economy going. They're simply spending more time at work than with their families and are all obsessed with material things that may or may not be attainable. This very prevalent emphasis on material wealth is of course some fabrication of companies that sell products or services. Material wealth is not necessary for happiness. People are generally happier if they can spend time together.

These are just a few examples of how important it is to take a new perspective on situations in life. The Sociological Perspective provides a very unique and helpful tool towards gaining a better understanding of people and larger society. Many tragic events could very well have been avoided if the people involved took the time to re-think what they were doing and the reasons for their actions. We must stress to people how extremely vital it is to be able to critically analyze their surroundings and to be cautious when simply accepting any idea because society says so.