Unit 4 Blog Post

What are some times you can remember where you learned the norms, values, beliefs, and skills you needed to be a functioning member of society?

One of the more recent times I had to abide by a previously unknown norm of society was when I was learning how to drive. For whatever reason, in my home state of New Jersey, they decided to allocate pretty much just the last day of Drivers Ed to explain Right of Way; which if you drive, is pretty much the most important thing to know. Well there I was approaching a stop light to make a left. I turned my blinker on, wondered why the car a little distance away wasn’t slowing down, and then totally cut him off. Luckily it didn’t result in an accident, and luckily my dad was in the car to tell me how stupid I was, but it was simply a norm that I had not abided by, and it could have cost me my life!

The second time I learned a norm of society is a bit abstract, and was when I was much younger. I remember I was in the mall with my Mom and we had passed one of the fountains that people throw coins into. Thinking it my best plot yet, I reached into the shallow pool when nobody was looking and snatched up at least five quarters (picked and chosen carefully) and held them in my hand. A short walk later, excited by my find, I showed my sister who rather frustratingly told me to put the coins back into the fountain. She then told my Mom, who was more mad than frustrated, who then marched me back to the fountain and watched me throw the coins back in. It was a lesson to the degree of don’t steal from charity, and it was a lesson I learned.

Think about the three theoretical perspectives discussed in Unit 4 (Symbolic Interactionism, Functionalism, Conflict Theory) and their views on socialization; which of the three do you most identify with and why?

I sort of reject conflict theory and accept functionalism more than anything else. I do believe that all parts of society serve a function, and more than anything else, I tend to be unbiased about it. I wholly accept that even some negative aspects of functionalism, protest and social unrest, serve a purpose in a our society: to keep us free and on our toes. Perhaps a Marxist view of rich business owners exploiting their workers labor is one that is partially rooted in fact, but I reject that this conflict between the worker being “exploited” is one that is of any meaningful significance in the big picture, mainly because it seems to me that the so called exploitation only exists in extremely limited circumstances. Functionalism seemingly best identifies with me because I view a rich business owner as being necessary in society. Without the large amounts of capital they provide, the free will of many would not be able to be realized. Indeed, the wealth of few — in this country at least — does not often impede on the free will of the average income citizen.