Verified Document

Sociology Chapter Review This Report Essay

However, sociology texts and summaries seem to leave out the idea that some actions, thought patterns and mindsets that are cultural and/or societal in nature make little to no logical or basic sense in the grand scheme of things. However, perhaps a covering of that dynamic would be too prone to bias and what not for a textbook like this (Giddens, 2011). Chapter Three

The third chapter of the Giddens text is a very good read because it focuses on something that is a common thread to us all, that being socializing with other people including family and non-family as well as general life course and aging. This is something that everyone needs to know but, maddeningly enough, a lot of people fail to grasp completely, if at all. However, one kvetch about this chapter is a fairly casual summary of life course, how important it is and what actions can truly throw one's life off-kilter is not covered nearly as much in depth as it should be. This is not to say that the book should be a motivational book or proselytize to its reader. However, there are a lot of people making decisions that are clearly bad for their future such as having kids too early, having kids out of wedlock or not finishing high school and that vein of thought is not really covered all that well given that it's clear that such actions are highly destructive and counterproductive to a solid and promising future. I guess Giddens was trying to avoid controversial statements and/or appearances of bias but clearly stating facts is not bias. it's not that hard to leave race and gender out of the discussion while still making the point (Giddens, 2011).

Another thing is that the book's third chapter is perhaps not modern or inclusive enough of real-world situations...

They really should be mentioned in this chapter or at least covered more in-depth than they are. The heavy (some say over-use) of the internet for social circle creation and fostering, cyber-bullying, online dating, the introduction of technology to children and so forth are all modern issues and/or problems that should be covered at great length when speaking about socialization and so forth. There are entirely too many people that live their lives too much or entirely online and it's not healthy. Again, maybe Giddens' intent was to focus more on summarizing the terms and the common theories but if one truly wants to make a different with sociology, and that is the stated purposes of the social science professionals more often than not, then the persons making the statements and summarizing what's going on need to make more profound statements. This is possible without "stepping in it" from a controversy perspective (Giddens, 2011).
Conclusion

All in all, the text being reviewed in part in this report is quite good but it's scaled a little higher than it should be given the likely audience that the book would or should have. This is not to say the book is bad because that is certainly not the case. However, between the lack of proper modern context as well as how this book is a tad too advanced, it should probably be scaled down a bit with a better explanation of the topics involved and how they can be easily applied to society through the use of examples and more focus on explanation rather than just skipping to the next topic (Giddens, 2011).

References

Giddens, a. (2011). Essentials of sociology (3rd ed.). New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton.

Sources used in this document:
References

Giddens, a. (2011). Essentials of sociology (3rd ed.). New York, N.Y.: W.W. Norton.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Sociology Portfolio the Social Experience Evolves Around
Words: 3723 Length: 14 Document Type: Essay

Sociology Portfolio The social experience evolves around different dimensions that influence people's everyday experiences and realities in life. Inherent in every event, interaction, individual, and even tangible material/artifact are reflective of a specific kind of social order. Everything is social, and using this premise, this Sociology Portfolio provides a survey of literature and relevant material that illustrate the role that social experience plays in the development of current and essential issues

Sociology Family Violence Unfortunately, in
Words: 1025 Length: 3 Document Type: Term Paper

Of course, most couples enter into a marriage or relationship because they love each other, but how does that love turn to violence, and why do people stay in abusive relationships? What triggers the violence is certainly one question, but what keeps the other there is entirely another. Also, there is another aspect to family violence that is hard to understand or accept. In the case of child abuse,

Sociology / Panethnicity Asian-American Panethnicity -- by
Words: 2271 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Sociology / Panethnicity Asian-American Panethnicity -- by Yen Le Espiritu What issue is at stake and what is the author's point-of-view? Before addressing the intellectual question that the author is pursuing in this book, there are some important preliminary concepts that are important to report about this book. There are positions the author takes, points-of-view he sets out to explain, in order to set up the main problems discussed in the book. For example,

Sociology Family Relations: The Role
Words: 2581 Length: 8 Document Type: Thesis

In 2003, Brodzinsky, Patterson, and Vaziri conducted a study of applicants for adoption at various licensed adoption agencies. Some two-thirds of these agencies reported application from potential gay and lesbian parents. Agencies that focused on placing special needs children generally reported more favorable attitudes toward gay and lesbian applicants. The message appears to be that where care of individuals is given first priority, the actual abilities and nature of individuals

Sociology of Crime Primarily Using
Words: 3045 Length: 11 Document Type: Term Paper

FIGHT AGAINST TERRORISM A similar crime was witnessed on September 11, 2001. The United States of America saw the sad death of thousands of innocent people just because some people wanted to acquire their goals. This followed an economic crisis and many innocent civilians faced unnecessary loss of jobs. The political environment has ever since been changing constantly and the United States went into war against Afghanistan. After Afghanistan there was

Social Work Clinical Practice Sociology
Words: 2530 Length: 8 Document Type: Chapter

SOCIOLOGY Sociology: Social Work Clinical PracticePart 1Answer to Prompt 1Since the client is a young adult aging out of foster care, he is unaware of how they would respond to him when they would get to know he belongs to a foster home. Also, he is worried about employment opportunities in the outer world since he has learned that there are not many bright chances for young adults like him

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now