SOC201 Final Assignment: Micro - Sociological Analysis
Final Assignment Information - Take Home Exam
Take Home Final Exam Information Sheet
The micro-sociological approach examined in this course aims to provide an analytic framework applicable to a wide range of “real life” situations, ranging from our mundane routines to the more exceptional and unusual situations and forms of social interaction. We’ve examined the SI model from the elementary features of human consciousness, to ‘self” and situated identity, all they way up to features of the social order typically examined from a macro-sociological perspective.
For this final assignment you will be required to apply what you have learned during the course to an actual ‘real life’ case. Specifically, you will be asked to find a recent news story that you will use as the basis for micro-sociological analysis, perform an analysis on the ‘case’ you have selected and submit your analysis in the form of a brief essay,
Your choice of topic should be limited to one (or more) of the themes that we’ve looked in in the applied units of the course, namely gender, race/ethnicity, age and youth, or deviance. For example, you may want to focus on former juvenile offenders who have completed a rehabilitation program, and focus on what this experience has meant in terms of their self-concepts, social interactions, and personal accounts. You might, alternately, want to focus on how female dramatic performers manage ‘age’ in an industry that places a great deal of emphasis on youth.
The ideal place to start is by looking through recent news stories, and select one of the these as the “case’ you are going to analyze. You may want to do a bit of digging to see if the same story has been covered by different news sources. You may also want to select a story that includes self-descriptions, personal accounts, or large sections where the person or persons involved get to tell their own stories. Some of the concepts you may (emphasis on MAY) want to focus on would include personal accounts related to identity, features of unique or novel social situations that influence social interactions and situated self, the management of problematic identities, or how different social elements converge to produce social order.
FORMAT: The assignment should be presented in essay form and be 6-8 double spaced pages in length. Be sure to properly reference and cite all sources (consult an on-line style guide if you are unsure how to cite specific source material).
SOC201-Final: Micro-Sociological Analysis
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SOC201-Final: Micro-Sociological Analysis
Introduction
In the recent days, BBC News has captured several conversations of people which depict racism on the normal interactions. The trend has shot higher since the United Kingdom passed the move to pull out of the European Union. It is reported that in the Month of July only, over 3236 cases of racism crime were reported to police posts in England, Northern Ireland, and Wales. After the 23rd June Ballot decision, hate crimes have risen by 57% as reported by police. There are over 6000 hate crimes reported in the months of June and July. Some of the hate crimes captured are presented below.
"Why are you still here?" a customer asked Lithuanian-born Alma Milaseviciute, 31, as she stood at the counter of the cheese shop where she works in Ludlow, Shropshire. "Good luck on your way back," another sneered. "Get out of my country," yelled a man at Esmat Jeraj, 26, after swearing at her. He'd spotted her wearing a hijab as she walked to work in Whitechapel, east London. Jeraj was born and raised in the UK(Kelly, 2016).
"You speak English, don't you?†a woman in her 60s asked Brazilian-born Danilo Venticinque, 30, at a Southampton bus stop when she overheard him talking to his Mexican wife in Spanish. "Can you understand what I'm saying? This is our country. We are leaving the EU. We will stop having so many people like you over here."
Each of these incidents took place in the referendum on European Union membership. All three victims are at pains to acknowledge the perpetrators represent a minority of Britons and that most people in the UK would be horrified by this behavior. Prominent Leave campaigners have also strongly condemned the abusive and bigoted behavior of this kind (Kelly, 2016).
Micro-Sociological Analysis
This scenario presents a social problem that is racism. To analyze it properly, it is essential to consider the symbolic interaction theory. Symbolic interactionism theory provides a basic theoretical foundation from which social scientists can base when analyzing interactions among groups of people and individuals (Charmaz, 2014). The theory builds on the principle that the meaning the individuals draw from and attribute to the world that surrounds them is a social construction generated from day-to-day social interactions (Charmaz, 2014). The theory focuses on how people use and interpret effects as symbols to sustain a conversation with one another, how they create and sustain a self that they present to the world as well as the self they create to themselves. It also focuses on how people develop and sustain the reality that they claim to be true (Charmaz, 2014).
Fundamental aspects of social interaction that surrounds human beings can best be understood through social interaction. In this case, we apply symbolic interactionist lens. Racism has no biological basis at all hence it is a social construct whose function is derived from the perceptions that people believe to be true of other people they encounter in the interactions (Adler, 2013). The perceptions emanate from the picture created by them and what they look like from that graphical reflection. People employ the socially constructed meanings of ethnicity or racism in certain ways; to determine whom to interact with, the formula of interaction and also helps to determine the meanings of the symbols of communication such as words by those people (Adler, 2013).
One of the most useful theories that can be applied to analyze the interactions depicted in our case study would be Blumer (1969) symbolic interactionism. The rationale for choosing this theory is the fact that it has the applicability in practical life situations and can, therefore, be used to develop an understanding of human beings in practical interaction in the environment (Rock, 2014). This theory is based on the three main assumptions; meaning, language and thought. These principles can be used to draw conclusions about personal self at micro-sociological analysis.
In the first tenet, meaning, Blumer contemplates that people act towards other people and effects based on the meanings accorded to those people or effects. Blumer's theory embraces the meaning to be the core determinant of human behavior (Rock, 2014). The second tenet (language) is believed to be a mode by which people negotiate the first tenet (meaning) through symbols. People determine to mean in actions of speech with one another. The last tenet (thought) transforms individual interpretation of the symbols used in the process of interaction (Alston, 2014). The thought is a mental process that involves internalized conversation which requires different angles of view. These three tenets of symbolic interactionist theory help in framing the "self."
To apply the three tenets of the Blumer's theory in the scenarios provided in the case study. First, the following utterances are considered; “Why are you still here?" "Good luck on your way back,""Get out of my country,"(Rock, 2014)
To begin with, Blumer holds a view that people act towards other people effects based on the meaning they interpret for them. In this scenario, Britons encounter a customer who is apparently identified by race as a Lithuanian (Erikson, 2014). The physical appearance of the client regarding the face outlook, skin complexion and color and hair are the symbols that inform the Britons of the race of the customer. The Britons also appear to confer the customer an immigrant status which has prompted the first person to ask the customer "Why are you still here?" and the second one tells "Good luck...