¶ … Elijah Anderson's "The Code of the Streets," he introduces the idea that violence, aggression, stealing, and other socially deviant behaviors are not perceived as infractions of rules, but rather conforming to a different standard, a different set of rules. (Anderson, p. 154) Anderson does an adequate job of setting forth his ideas, along with providing sufficient evidence to support them. However, it is Anderson's detailed description of "decent" and "street" families that were most insightful. (Anderson, p. 154-157) He takes on the touchy subject of inner-city family life, which is often overlooked, and describes in vivid detail the stark differences that poor black families, coexisting within the same inner-city community, are faced with culturally. (Anderson, p.154-157) He misinterprets street families, however, when he proclaims that these mothers do love their children. (Anderson, p. 157) By calling it love, Anderson belittles the physical, and emotional abuse these children are exposed to, at the hands of the parental figures in their lives. Street code or not, no child should face abuse,...
As Anderson points out, most street families appear on the surface to be decent families. (Anderson, p. 157) The appearance of having "calm, respectful children" is often what the mother wants most, more than happy children. (Anderson, p. 157) Her desire for such a family is often so strong that she is "quick to beat her children...if they defy her law." (Anderson, p. 157) Anderson concludes that this abusive behavior is often perceived as acceptable behavior within the inner-citinner city the disapproval from the wider society as a whole. (Anderson, p. 157)
Culture is a relative concept because cultural norms only make sense within the context of a specific worldview and location. Language, gestures, and other cultural signifiers are meaningless in and of themselves. However, it is so easy to take our own cultural ideas for granted; we assume that our concepts of culture are 'the norm.' For example, in America, it was considered shocking during World War II when Japanese kamikaze
This is not hubris or the idea that the author of this response is any "better" than that of Giddens. 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
(Frazer 8) to this end she develops the categories of "affirmation" and "transformation." In understanding Frazer's view it is imperative to bear in mind that older regimes of theory cannot achieve the synthesis that she is looking for and that new and more creative modes of political and social theory are necessary. In essence what Fraser suggests is that in order to overcome this antimony between redistribution and recognition and
There is some suggestion on observation that many students of the dominant norm on campus do not engage in activities that might help Asian or other minority students feel as though they were members of a unique family or society with no racial or cultural boundaries. Rather, there is much in the way of stereotypical behaviors observed among the subtype population and the larger student body (Anderson & Taylor,
Sociology: Changing Societies in a Diverse World (Fourth Edition) George J. Bryjak & Michael P. Soroka Chapter One Summary of Key Concepts Sociology is the field of study which seeks to "describe, explain, and predict human social patterns" from a scientific perspective. And though Sociology is part of the social sciences (such as psychology and anthropology), it is quite set apart from the other disciplines in social science; that is because it emphasizes
Sociology Symbolic-interactionism is a dynamic theory of society that emphasizes process and change over institution and structure. In Symbolic Interactionism, Joel Charon describes the theory and applies it to a more general study of sociology. In Terrorism and the Politics of Fear, David Altheide applies various theories of sociology including symbolic-interactionism toward understanding how a society collectively agrees upon fear-based symbols and messages. In Chapter 11, "Society," Joel M. Charon defines society
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