Barbarism prevailed over civilization in a series of events that resulted in the tragic death of Piggy when Roger released a boulder on him in William Golding’s novel Lord of the Flies. Although Roger was influenced by Jack to act savagely, his own actions warrant a first degree murder charge for the death of Piggy because of his willfulness, deliberation, and premeditation to hurt Piggy. Roger always had a destructive nature and a clear motive to kill. The Pyramid of Hate and the Stanford Prison Experiment further explain why Roger is guilty. Some argue that Roger was influenced and just wanted to have fun with games, but this is not true as evidence from the beginning of the book reveals his true self.
Support/Evidence:
Roger’s bad nature slowly got worse as time passed, and when the opportunity presented itself to cause severe destruction, he made use of it. Roger is introduced as “a slight, furtive boy whom no one knew, who kept to himself with an inner intensity of avoidance and secrecy” (22). Golding describes Roger with a dark tone isolated from everyone else which makes the reader wonder what dark secret Roger holds. Later on, it is clear that his secret is his destructive nature. One day as Roger is exiting the forest, he “led the way straight through the castles, kicking them over, burying the flowers, scattering the chosen stones … The three littluns paused in their game and looked up” (60). Golding presents vivid imagery to show how Roger intends to cause havoc, in this case destroying the littluns sandcastles, even in a time of peace. This is not the only time where Roger exerts this behavior; just after the sandcastle incident, Roger “gathered a handful of stones and began to throw them [at another boy]” (62). This is all for no reason and shows his willfulness to cause harm to anyone. Eventually, Roger’s demeanor turns from wanting to harm to his desire to kill. After a while, the boys start to attack another boy like the boy is a pig. Jack “had him [the boy] by the hair and was brandishing his knife. Behind him was Roger, fighting to get close” (114). As all of the fighting is happening, Golding chooses to describe Roger “fighting to get close” to show how Roger wants to deliver that final death strike. Although it was a group effort that got carried away in the killing, Godling sends a message that Roger desires to kill. Roger finally gets his moment to kill when he has the chance to release a boulder on Piggy. Previously, Roger came across the boulder and found out what it was for. A boy told him “The chief [Jack] said we got the challenge everyone” and showed Roger “a log that had been jammed under the topmost rock and another level under that … A full effort would send the rock thundering down to the neck of the land. Roger admired” (159). By Roger learning about and admiring the rocks capabilities, it shows that the group was planning on releasing the boulder. Jack had instructed everyone to eliminate any threats, and Roger wasn’t going to miss out on any opportunity. Finally, the time comes when Piggy is in reach of the boulder’s path. Roger “with a sense of delirious abandonment, leaned all his weight on the lever” (180), causing the boulder to fall and strike and kill Piggy. Roger clearly expressed deliberation as he leaned all his weight while also enjoying it. All in all, Roger expressed willfulness to kill Piggy with his nature to kill, premeditation when learning about the boulder, and deliberation when he delivered the final blow.
Similarly to evidence from the book, The Pyramid of Hate and the Stanford Prison Experiment also show that Roger is guilty of murdering Piggy. Roger and the other boys singled out Piggy for being fat from the beginning after barley meeting him, which caused Roger and the others to get annoyed at Piggy. According to The Pyramid of Hate, these small acts of prejudice can escalate, and in this case, become Roger’s motive to kill Piggy. The Stanford Prison Experiment was an experiment that divided two groups into prisoners and guards. The result was the guards taking the job very seriously and behaving in a destructively towards the prisoners. This relates to Roger went on pig hunts and took it seriously as well and shows that Roger’s destructive behavior is normal and no fluke. This means that Roger acted under his own conscious when he decided to kill Piggy.
Counters and Rebuttals:
Roger’s demeanor clearly shows that he is guilty of the murder of Piggy, but some skeptics still disagree. Some skeptics argue that Jack, not Roger, should be at fault since Jack heavily influenced Roger, however they don’t realize that it was still Roger’s actions and intent to kill. Also, Jack only influenced him when the boys split up, and numerous incidents such as the sandcastle one show that he was always bad natured before that. Jack only wants power, while Roger wants terror.
Although all the evidence points to Roger being a psychopath, some still argue that Roger is an innocent young boy. They state that Roger just wants to have fun with no intention to harm, as shown when he throws rocks at a boy while aiming to miss. They don’t realize that the reason he misses is not that he doesn’t want to cause harm. When he was throwing the rocks, his arm “was conditioned by a civilization” (62). He threw the rocks because the sense of civilization was still affecting him. If the did throw the rocks directly at the boy, he would have gotten in trouble back home. Later on in the book, when it is clear that civilization is not present, it is clear to Roger that he can do what he wants with no consequences.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, Roger showed willfulness, deliberation, and premeditation to hurt Piggy, which displays why he should be deemed guilty of first degree murder. His bad nature got the best of him, and an innocent boy paid the price. This relates to us, the readers, as it shows how a sense of civilization can disappear very quickly if there is no one to enforce any rules. The consequence of this is that terror can rise quickly if there is no outside force to prevent it.
My essay will be highlighting the conformity theory and how it negatively affects youth. Conformity theory is where a person changes their behaviour and or their beliefs in order to feel accepted by a social group, this can be displayed in 3 stages: compliance, identification, and internalisation. I will be focusing on how each stage of conformity has carried out negatively using examples such as a negative high school experience, the Stanford Prison Experiment and the Manson Family. These three components can be applied to adolescents need to change their attitudes because of social influences.
Stage 1: Compliance
Sowden, S., Koletsi, S., Lymberopoulos, E., Militaru, E., Catmur, C., & Bird, G. (2018). Quantifying compliance and acceptance through public and private social conformity. Consciousness and Cognition, 65, 359–367. (Found using PsycArticles)
This journal article discusses how compliance occurs when an individual conforms in public. A person in the compliance stage of the conformity theory will change their public beliefs by what they say or how they act, but in secret, will maintain their own private beliefs. This journal was written April 2018 but revised July 2018 making it the most current source; written by Sofia Koletsi, Eva Lymberopoulos, Elisabeta Militaru, and Caroline Catmur are apart of the Department of Psychology, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, UK. As well Sophie Sowden and Geoffrey Bird whom are both involved in the department of psychology in addition to social, genetic and developmental psychiatry centre, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience at King’s College London, UK. In the article the authors explain how acceptance occurs when a group’s influences is internalized (Sowden et al., 2018) and when exposure to outside attitudes and beliefs can alter the individual’s behaviours and beliefs in order to “fit in” with the group.
I chose this article because of its recent outlook on how the compliance stage and how it reflects with adolescents adjusting their behaviours in order to conform to a certain group would benefit my argument.
Stage 2: Identification
Falomir Pichastor, J. M., Gabarrot, F., & Mugny, G. (2009). Conformity and identity threat: The role of group identification. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.DBAAA33F&site=eds-live (Found using PyscArticles)
This article focuses on an experiment about the threat to ingroup identification. It talks about pro vs. anti- discriminatory ingroup norms against outside foreigners. Identification is normally the result of normative social influence. When a person changes their public behaviours, just like compliance stage, however they also change their private beliefs, but only when the group is present. The main author is Juan M. Falomir-Pichastor, the University of Geneva and can be reached at Juan.Falomir@unige.ch. The purpose of this experiment was to prove that group members do not conform blindly to group norms, rather they carefully follow the norms that are in agreement with their own personal motivations, beliefs and values. A better known example of the identification stage is The Stanford Prison Experiment, in 1971, the students took on their roles as abusive prison guards or as submissive prisoners in an experiment to understand the development of norms and the effects of roles, labels, and social expectations.
I chose this article because they had the same findings in their experiment as the Stanford Prison Experiment and provided an in depth view on the identification stage.
Stage 3: Internalisation
Altman, R. (2015). Sympathy for the Devil: Charles Mansons Exploitation of … Retrieved October 18, 2019, from https://scholar.colorado.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2017&context=honr_theses. (Found using Google Search Engine)
This academic journal looks at the Mason family and how Charles Mason manipulate his followers to commit sinister acts by creating a “family” to fulfill his followers basic needs. Internalisation is the strongest form of conformity and is when an individual wants to be accepted so badly that they change their beliefs and adapt to an entirely different behavior. When an insecure and vulnerable person is trying to conform to a certain group they are likely to get taken advantage of and are easily taken in by low life personalities. Charles Masnon was a prime example of someone who would take advantage of vulnerable people. Manson was a cult leader in the 1960s’ whom is famous for preying on a vulnerable young people by becoming a crucial part of their identity and self esteem. He went on to create the “Manson Family”, a group of loyal followers who eventually committed murders of 7 people. Robin Altman, University of Colorado is the author of this academic paper and wrote the paper for his bachelor of arts in history with honours in april of 2015.
I chose to research and include the Manson Family in my theory of conformity paper because this cult showcased how conformity at its strongest form can function in such a negative way and in this case killing to satisfy the groups leader.
In order to understand the meaning and study of social psychology, it is crucial to identify the questions that social psychology seeks to answer. The ultimate goal of this discipline is to analyze how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. This study of our social interactions is a complex one; involving endless trails of concepts, theories, and studies that help better shape the subject itself. Myers notes within the text that we react differently because we all think differently, and with the help of social psychology we are better able to examine the reasons for this.
General psychology attempts to study the mind and its behaviors, focusing more on mental development and the habits of the human mind. This study of general psychology paves the way for every other subtopic, each of them diving deeper into more specific studies. Branching off of the main topic of psychology we see disciplines such as clinical psychology, criminal psychology, child psychology, etc. Each and every one is important and focuses on a different set of questions that people are interested in finding the answers to. Although all of these types of psychology fall under the same category, they differ in practice and study. Social psychology is unique because it takes the external factors of our world and helps link them to our behaviors and attitudes. Myers allows readers to gain insight on how the principles of social psychology are applicable in everyday life by explaining that “Social psychology has the potential to make visible the subtle influences that guide your thinking and acting.”(Myers, 2016) This real life applicability is unique to only some forms of psychology. In context but they differ due to the fact sociology deals more with specific groups within society, rather than the individual within society. The starting point for every category of psychology is different and they’ve all developed at different paces. By examining how we think and feel about ourselves and others, we are able to see why social psychology is so significant. The influence of our situations is in large part a reason for much of what we do. This idea is brought to light by disciplines such as social psychology and can help explain our actions and feelings as individuals in relation to our surroundings.
One major influence of any psychology is research. Research is vital to the process of studying social psychology as it seeks to take more large scale ideas of society and minimize them into different variables that are able to be observed or tested. The research aspect of this discipline is critical because although we can form theories, they can only be credible if backed by concrete evidence in research. There are many steps that precede research and this is where differing values come into play. One of these steps is the embrace of a research method, the research method determines the strategic plan of gathering information. Research methods allow social psychology to function properly and with organization. Our behavior as humans is often hard to observe within a worldly scope. In order to eliminate this difficulty, social psychologists narrow down the context of the behavior. Often times studies are done to detect the natural associations of our actions, seeing what type of behaviors occur organically and which do not. Other times the research is much more controlled and the environment of the study has more impact on the result. Myers quotes French scientist Jules Henri Poincaré as saying, “Science is built up with facts, as a house is with stones, but a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.”(Myers, 2016) This quote goes to show that the science of social psychology doesn’t mean much if there is an absence of research based facts and vice versa. Research often seeks to find how two different factors correlate, such as measuring levels of happiness in relation to exercise habits. By connecting the dots in social psychology we are more equipped to see how we relate with and are influenced by our environments. The different variables involved in research yield varying conclusions. For example, correlational research and experimental research seek to answer different questions and in doing so they involve different methods and factors. Myers defines correlational research as focusing more on the natural association of two or more factors. Experimental research pertaining more towards the manipulation one variable in order to measure its impact on another. Research, although very helpful, can raise questions of ethics among social psychologists. Things like random assignment assist in the output of accurate and unbiased research results by making the chances of exposure to a certain variable equal among the population. By manipulating a variable in research social psychologists can see how an alteration influences the experiment. Both types of research methods attempt to show how we as humans react to our subjective situations, often times contradicting popular beliefs about our self-awareness.
Looking more specifically into the lasting impact of research on social psychology, we are able to see first hand how experiments, like the ones conducted by Solomon Asch, leave lasting ideas on the subject. The conditions one is vulnerable to during research studies differ, but all conditions yield different findings. Solomon Asch, like many others, was attempting to answer the question of groups and how they socially influence our behavior. Group conformity is the idea that we alter our beliefs and actions in order to better fit in with the larger group at hand. This is not an uncommon idea and can be examined closely in everyday situations. Asch conducted a research study that aimed to identify the extent of which an individual could be pressured into conformity by a group. Myers informs readers that unlike Sherif’s darkened-room autokinetic experiments, Asch considered a less ambiguous reality than Sherif. (Myers, 2016) By creating a controlled experiment, Asch is able to view first hand how the common idea of a group with predisposed knowledge of the experiment, influences a single individual within that same group but lacking the knowledge of the circumstance.
The malpractice and distrust of physicians, Doctors, and clinical researchers has caused for uneasiness on both sides of the argument on medicine and clinical research. The topic of malpractice is not limited to practicing medicine, of course. Many researchers conduct experiments in order to attain the wealth of knowledge; however, this different path may not always dissuade them from any type of malpractice. There have been many studies that have been subject to different types of malpractice and unethical research on humans. Such studies have included the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, the Little Albert Experiment, and the Stanford Prison Experiment. The full ramifications of these experiments were not fully disclosed to the participants, along with the lack of unbiased consent being given; therefore, many of these participants were either injured, killed, or abused both physically and mentally during the experiments. Clinical research of high magnitude that involves human test subjects should be overseen by a type of health and wellness agency throughout the entire experiment, regardless of an increase in tax rate, to ensure their physical and emotional safety, along with making sure that they are aware of the risks that come with experimentation.
Medical malpractice is defined as any act or omission by a medical professional that deviates from the accepted medical standard of care, where the act of negligence is usually the main cause of malpractice.[footnoteRef:0] Over the past 30 years, medical malpractice has become one of the most difficult healthcare issues in the United States since medical malpractice premiums total more than $5 billion each year.[footnoteRef:1] For cases to be considered as medical malpractice, these three characteristics must be examined: violations of standard care, injuries caused by negligence, and injuries that resulted in significant damages.[footnoteRef:2] A violation of standard care can stem from a patient having the belief that their personal health care professional did not deliver care that was consistent with the certain medical standards that are upheld by the law.[footnoteRef:3] A patient’s claim for negligence from a healthcare professional is not enough for the majority of medical malpractice lawsuits to be filed; therefore, the patient must be able to provide evidence of injury that was caused from the negligence of the professional in order to have a favorable chance of success.[footnoteRef:4] The negative aspect of a patient wanting to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against their health care provider are the significant amount of damages that accrue. Medical malpractice lawsuits are commonly known to be very expensive, and in most cases, the costs of filing and going through the case will eventually become more costly than the total amount of the recovery itself.[footnoteRef:5] This is why the patient must provide enough evidence of how their injury resulted in significant damages that outweigh the cost of the case (disability, loss of income, medical bills, etc).[footnoteRef:6] Medical malpractice was prominent in the era where researchers abused their participants in the experiments by exploiting them to dangers that satisfy the characteristics, since it was done onto underserved populations who did not know that they were going to be abused during experimentation. [0: ] [1: ] [2: ] [3: ] [4: ] [5: ] [6: ]
Although having to report the entirety of the experiment to a health and wellness agency, such as a revised form of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) would enforce research requiring human test subjects to be ethical, additional funding would need to be provided in order to have these types of agencies in place. Therefore, this would ultimately cause for an increase in tax rate for U.S citizens, thus contradicting these health and wellness agencies overseeing research experiments. Having health and wellness agencies in order to ensure that researchers are staying within ethical standards does not come without a price. The agencies could either be government-funded or private, funded by an outside party. These private agencies would have to become accredited by the state in order to supervise research experiments. While the main motive of these private groups would be to fund research they believe in, they would have to ensure that the research stays ethical by taking on the same role as a government-funded agency; however, these outside parties must avoid providing input into the experiment since it would cause a bias to negatively affect the experiment. If they choose to not avoid bias, then they may feel obligated to withdraw their funding, which would cause for the researchers of the experiment to look for another private agency that would provide both funding and an ethical policy that the researchers must abide to. Essentially, if an experiment is being funded by a private agency, they cannot work or review any of the experiments being conducted since it would prove that a bias has been formed.
Having the private agencies take a step back in their direct involvement of experimentation is one tough aspect, but actually finding a private agency to fund an experiment where they cannot even put the slightest bit of input is even tougher. Besides the point of trying to attain either a government or private agency to oversee these research experiments, maybe the researchers do need to “stretch the limits” of their research in order to attain the wealth of knowledge necessary to make an impact on the medical community. While the increase in tax rate would be a problem that would not suit well with U.S citizens, having ethical research matters more. The cons of an increase in tax dollars do not outweigh the health and wellness of humans. If there is still a pushback, identifying certain non-profit organizations that simply believe in the research should able to fund the research along with making sure that the researchers stay within their ethical boundaries by instilling their own form of an IRB and looking after the board. In essence, the lives and well-being of any human along with maintaining one’s rights trump any increase in monetary value whatsoever.
The value of trust is emphasized highly in this world since it enables reassurance in one another. The African-Americans that participated in the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male were lied to about their present illness and were even deceived to participate in experimentation so that physicians and other researchers could be led on the path of finding a cure to syphilis for as cheap as possible.[footnoteRef:7] This caused for the African-Americans that participated to experience physical distress throughout the entirety of the experiment. The way the United States Public Health Service conducted the Tuskegee Study started the era of suspicion and distrust in physicians.[footnoteRef:8] When a series of sampling showed that 35% of the black population were infected with syphilis, the United States Public Health Service started a program that would diagnose and treat 10,000 African Americans with the disease; however, funding for this program was scarce, with only about 1,400 African-Americans receiving any type of treatment.[footnoteRef:9] The same organization that started on this project ended up taking a proposal that would involve the deception of their human test subjects, where the nature of their illness would not be known.[footnoteRef:10] When the research with syphilis first was conducted, racism was still a major issue. Initially, these researchers believed that blacks tolerated syphilis better and were less harmed by it than whites with no predetermined evidence to support this opinion.[footnoteRef:11] This widely held opinion with no factual evidence shows how a bias was initiated before experimentation, and how this group of innocent African-Americans was majorly harmed, proving as to why this study was unethical. This project was under no other supervision, as there were no other precautions to follow from an outside source. Instead, they performed this type of research on an underserved minority population at their own will. Overhead supervision from another agency keeping “tabs” on the research being performed could have prevented any type of malpractice on this underserved group. About 10 years after the study had started, Penicillin became readily available in order to cure the syphilis, but this treatment was not considered since the researchers did not want to skew the results of the experiment.[footnoteRef:12] This study has done nothing but provide a lack of trust between the African-American and medical community. Even today, there are still some African-Americans that do not like going to see their physician since they believe that they will not receive proper treatment and care. [7: ] [8: ] [9: ] [10: ] [11: ] [12: ]
Emotional distress can sometimes become more harmful than physical distress since psychological impairment can last a lifetime. Related to the subject of psychology, classical conditioning is a method where one learns through association by having two stimuli that are interlinked together in order to produce a newly learned response.[footnoteRef:13] John Watson was a renowned psychologist who began to use classical conditioning as a research tool that became necessary for psychological research experiments.[footnoteRef:14] The goal of Watson’s experiment was to instill a type of conditioned response in a child in order to develop a fear or phobia towards an outside stimulus.[footnoteRef:15] The method that this experiment stated it would undergo would not become approved for study in today’s world; however, this experiment took place in the 1920s, where experiments were not being screened for ethical purposes as they are today.[footnoteRef:16] Little Albert’s mother was an employee at the hospital where the research was going to be conducted.[footnoteRef:17] This allowed for representatives of the research experiment to consult with her about having her son participate due to the convenience of having him on site, along with the fact that Albert was known to be an unemotional child who rarely cried.[footnoteRef:18] The researchers were impressed by Albert’s ability to experience “relatively little harm” during the entire experiment; however, this decision backfired.[footnoteRef:19] Albert’s mother was reluctant of letting him participate until the representatives coerced her into making him into a participant.[footnoteRef:20] The amount of money that Albert’s mother would be receiving for having him participate along with the fear of losing her job swayed her into agreeing. The experiment required for Albert, who was 11-months old at the time, to become conditioned to fear a white laboratory rat.[footnoteRef:21] While instilling a certain phobia in a child was already harmful enough, the researchers of the experiment did not consider the life-altering effects that Albert would have after the experiment had been completed. The main criticism for this experiment stems from the fact that Watson failed to decondition Albert to the white laboratory rat when he originally planned to do so in order to further aid his research to show that a conditioned stimulus could eventually be removed if necessary.[footnoteRef:22] Instead, Albert left the experiment with a harmful phobia that he did not have before he began to participate in the experiment. The fact that Watson and his fellow researchers did not even attempt to abolish Albert’s phobia shows that they were negligent of the phobia that they caused Albert to develop. This experiment was not ethical to begin with since the main objective of the experiment was to instill emotional distress in a child that could impair the child for the rest of his/her life. Supervision from an agency would have never allowed for this type of research to be conducted, especially on a young child. The experiment on Albert has now caused for more caution on research involving any type of neurological experimentation, thus furthering the stigma around mental health disorders such as PTSD and anxiety. [13: ] [14: ] [15: ] [16: ] [17: ] [18: ] [19: ] [20: ] [21: ] [22: ]
Newly gained power must not be abused so that there may be a sense of balance and peace between people. Unfortunately, this was not the case in the Stanford Prison Experiment. The participants in this experiment included college males, who ended up experiencing both physical and emotional distress throughout the experiment. This is a famous experiment that had the initial motive of showing how powerful social situations can cause for young men to behave in a vicious manner.[footnoteRef:23] The experiment required for normal college males to become divided into two random groups: the prisoner group or the guard group.[footnoteRef:24] An ex-con named Carlos Prescott was even consulted by the research group in order to gain a realistic perspective of what the prison system was actually like.[footnoteRef:25] This was done to make sure that the male students participating felt as if they were apart of the prison system themselves. The overall goal of this experiment was to demonstrate the evil that good people can be pressured into committing onto other good people, due to their new sense of power and the amount of damage they can cause with it.[footnoteRef:26] This experiment took a turn for the worst, as the intended two-week study only lasted all of six days since the majority of the men participating began to behave in a pathological manner.[footnoteRef:27] The prisoners felt completely powerless and were abused by the guards in the experiment, which goes to show that the attitudes of people change when given power. This experiment was unethical from the start since verbal and physical abuse became utilized by the participants, who were still young and impressionable. While this experiment may have not been long-lasting, it still counts as a very abusive experiment under harsh conditions since it subjected the prisoners to a traumatic experience for seemingly no reason. A huge risk in the experiment was the violence of all the participants involved, due to the very abusive nature of the experiment. A superior health and wellness agency overseeing the experiment from start to finish would have immediately shut this project down simply due to the abusive nature the participants took on. [23: ] [24: ] [25: ] [26: ] [27: ]
All three of these experiments involving negligence from those conducting the experiments can be attributed to the lack of overhead supervision from a health and wellness agency, that work in tandem with an institution’s IRB if the research were to be conducted at an academic facility. The three research experiments discussed each should have utilized a type of health and wellness agency in order to oversee the research, regardless of whether it was government or privately funded. Specific laws set in place would have prevented discrimination and the abuse of an underserved population in the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male. Even in today’s research era, any type of clinical research involving test subjects with the same disease being tested should be subject to approval from the state in order to prevent any future harm onto these groups. As for the Little Albert and Stanford Prison Experiment, laws and regulations in place at the time would have prevented the acts of the both monetary and persuasive coercion, which may include both instilling a threat along with the use of “blackmail.”
Overall, maintaining the health and wellness of these patients is crucial in order to prevent traumatic experiences. The researchers that ran the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male, the Little Albert experiment, and the Stanford Prison Experiment all violated the rights of the patients involved in both physical and emotional aspects, while not ensuring that they were aware of the risks that came along with participating. The inclusion of the agencies would have protected each of the participants, and kept the researchers honest. Each of these experiments exposed them to trauma, which proved to be unethical. In conclusion, high magnitude clinical research studies involving human test subjects should be approved and overseen by a governing agency throughout the entirety of the experiment in order to meet ethical standards that satisfy confidentiality, protection, and consent.
A leader is someone that is able to effectively communicate with people in a way that inspires and motivates them (Ward, 2020). A leader must be personable for those to follow their lead and provide them with an example of how to hold ones themselves accountable for their individual work (Ward, 2020). My leader of choice is the Vice President of Health Services for Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio. She is very persuasive when it comes to getting others to do what is needed to keep the organization moving in the right direction. She has great communication skills and is willing to do what it takes to get the job done. She does not mind jumping in to help others learn and develop. She provides a personable and compassionate approach to the mission of the organization. She has held different roles within the organization, she has been with Planned Parenthood for over 25 years. She is very educated not only with her degrees, but within different departments of the organization. She does have subordinates that she is responsible for that hold different positions in different departments that help keep her informed of how things are going. These four to five subordinates cover the entire organization. From the time I have known her within the organization is she was the Director of Business Operations, and a few years ago she became the VP of Health Services.
Her positive attributes are empowerment, integrity, decision making skills, good communication skills, inspire others and confidence. She has every quality of a good leader; she can communicate well with all departments through different chains of communication. She gives us the tools that empower us as leaders under her to make good decisions and able to keep the business operational. She is trustworthy and shows integrity in all that she does. When it comes to working in a reproductive health care world that you have those that are for you and against you, you must be one tough cookie, and that she is. She has good decision-making skills, because she is always looking for ways to get new services off the ground. She is committed to the mission and driven to the work no matter what stacks up against her. When we had to do lay offs she was the one making tough decisions to do so and she stood in front of each one of those individuals and had these tough conversations, she did not leave this for someone else to communicate. She holds herself with the upmost confidence and uses her compassion to inspire others. She is highly respected and well liked. Overall, what makes her an ethical leader is her confidence, integrity, and her compassion for the mission. She is supportive of all employees and is without judgment.
How she models ethical leadership behavior to others is by jumping in and helping when things get tough. She does not leave hard work for us to deal with alone, she is always front and center. When it comes to meetings, she is always present and always providing her well educated opinions and decisions. She allows us to make our own decisions and if we do something that is wrong or incorrect, she can talk about it and turn things around opposed to accusing ill intentions. She trusts her leaders to lead without micromanaging them. I do try to follow in her footsteps to model positive, ethical leadership. How I would model positive ethical leadership is to lead by example. Do not do anything that I would not allow my team to do when it comes to their job. I back them up 100%, however, if they are wrong about something I have them fix the issue and learn from it. I have learned that as a leader it is okay to make a mistake, just admit and move on. I have learned that confidence goes a long way when providing feedback to an employee. I have learned that without compassion for the mission it is hard to do this work everyday with confidence and grace.
The three most important qualities in a leader that models positive, ethical leadership behavior is fairness, respect and leads by example. The reason that I feel these are the most important qualities to have are because of employees wants in needs in a career is someone that is fair, someone they can trust and respect them. A leader that leads by example encourages and inspires others to do what is right within the organization. Employees look up to that leader and want to be like them as they become more invested in the organization. This leads employees to want to do more for the organization and lead them to grow and develop into different roles.
References
Ward, S. (2020, 09 17). What is Leadership? Retrieved from The Balance Small Business: https://www.thebalancesmb.com/leadership-definition-2948275
This essay seeks to gather a more comprehensive perspective on how an individual could execute their peers and faculty in a mass school shooting. Focusing on the school shooting that took place in the town of Blacksburg, at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, on the 16th of April, 2007 (Virginia Tech Review Panel 2009). This academic piece will examine sociological and psychological attributes to gain some understanding as to why the shooter killed 32 fellow students. Followed by, a brief discussion on the damaging psychological effects it has on victims and the aim to recapture peace in American society. Investigating the tragedy of school shootings can be synthesized from various disciplines, while conducting academic studies in Sociology and Psychology and viewing all the available literature on crime and peace it became evident that this was the best avenue to approach. Although we will never know for certain Cho’s motivation behind this mass murder. It is human nature to ask “Why?” this horrendous crime happened? Tim Kaine, Governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia, organized the (Virginia Tech Review Panel 2009) this is used as a guide throughout ensuring all information used is correct.
(Costello 2010) Explains Hirschi’s 1969 theory of social control is comprised of four social bonds (1) attachment, (2) commitment, (3) involvement, and (4) beliefs. When the concreate of one or more of these four bonds crumbles we are more likely to subject ourselves to deviant and criminal acts. The first means of addressing this complex issue is Hirschi’s attachment bond. Attachment in psychology is a deep emotional bond that links people together. (Ainsworth, 1973). Mass shooters have no attachment to others, especially before and during the shootings. With a tendency to suppress their frustration and rage over an extended period before the incident. Show no remorse for human life and the terror they cause, fundamentally rationalizing their actions (Giddens 2011). In April 2007, Seung-Hui Cho, murdered 32 innocent victims, wounding 17 others, becoming the most malicious and devastating school shooting in US history (Virginia Tech Review Panel 2009). Using two semi-automatic pistols Cho fired recklessly into a large crowded area with no concern about who was killed or injured, showing clear psychological signs of intermittent explosive disorder and ineffective conflict resolution. In aiming to comprehend the complex and twisted logic behind Cho’s horrific outburst, could it be at one point or another was his attachment tarnished?
Thus, shifting the sociological analysis to an individual’s socialization. Firstly this stems from family, as (Berger and Luckmann 2011) discuss primary socialization is the first social group an individual inherits as a child, subsequently becoming a member of society. Following secondary socialization, which broadens the individual “into new sectors of the objective world of his society” (Berger and Luckamann 2011 p.120). For example, Cho entered his English studies at Virginia Tech. Cho sent a proposal to a publisher with high ambitions. Which was then “rejected”. The Perpetrator was also accused of stalking two female students and was diagnosed with extreme anxiety disorder, mutism, and manic depressive disorder (Virginia Tech Review Panel 2009). Therefore, further tarnishing his secondary experience. As a consequence of his stalking through the process of Frank Tannenbaum’s labeling theory, society identifies Cho as a deviant. (Giddens and Sutton 2017). At further analysis is it evident that this flows into (Lemert 1972) explanation of social acts, how once a person commits a primary deviant act violating norms they inherit a deviant social role. In marginalizing deviant behavior an individual ultimately initiates secondary deviance, as they accept the deviant label as their master status consequently overriding their self-identity. Therefore leading to more deviant behavior. For Cho, this secondary deviant act ended in mass devastation. It is clear that Cho’s negative experience involving his undergraduate social group was expressed through the barrel of his guns’. Once more, this proves the argument that the shooter’s attachment towards his peers was non-existent and at some point damaged.
Looking through another avenue of sociology (Taylor et al 1973) drew on Marxist theory, disputing that deviance is knowingly selected and often political. Arguing against the idea of deviance being caused by, labeling, anomie and social disorganization, and biological reasoning. (Taylor et al 1973) expresses that one becomes deviant because of the inequalities of the capitalist system. Cho initially shot and murdered 2 victims in a female dormitory. After this violent act, Cho returned to his room, rearming and mailed a parcel to the NBC News containing, documents, 29 pictures of himself holding various weapons, and a digital video exclaiming: “You just loved crucifying me” “You loved inducing cancer in my head, terrorizing my heart and ripping my soul all the time” (Hauser 2007). Showing major signs of psychological damage, erratic aggression, and impulse control disorder. The perpetrator criticized materialism, fortune, and the privilege of others. Did Cho justify his criminal behavior through left realism as a form of rebellion? (Giddens 2017) Lived in a capitalistic society he felt economically excluded as he couldn’t afford what others could in this school. He stated in his video “You had everything you wanted. Your Mercedes wasn’t enough. Your vodka and cognac wasn’t enough. Your trust fund wasn’t enough. All your debaucheries weren’t enough.” (Hauser 2007). Even though graduation was just a couple of weeks away and Cho would fundamentally begin earning his own money, but all he had on his mind was vengeance.
In the United States, gun-related violence has dramatically amplified to an alarming rate. The atmosphere in any school is based around a safe environment for students and staff. When shootings occur that sense of security essentially becomes obsolete. Using the aid of both disciplines a ‘more enriched view of the issue, or topic at hand’ (Richards 1996, p125) could be formulated. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the main psychological effects a student, teacher, or parent may face after a mass shooting. In particular, school plays a vital role in one’s psychological development. An overwhelming sense of depression, fear, inability to fulfill academic standards, grief, decline in trust, anxiety, loss of control, and nightmares are just some of the issues survivors can face (Keller 2019). With the overwhelming trauma and devastation shooters cause, an element of peace still prevails. “A Peace Plan for a Safer America” plans to stop this deadly epidemic of gun violence and rally for justice disregarding the American societal belief that guns can solve their problems. (March for Our Lives 2018). By examining the psychological impacts gun violence has on society this peace plan is a step in the right direction. The university rallied together forming prayer groups, and candlelight vigils where thousands gathered standing to honor the victims. Hundreds of volunteers filled the campus offering services to anyone affected. Governor Tim Kaine, President George Bush, University President Charles Steger, and many more addressed the world sharing their grief and offering peace among those affected. (Virginia Tech Review Panel 2009).
The real reason behind why this tragic and violent attack happened will never be truly known. However, by examining this through a theoretical interpretation an academic assumption could be conveyed, by using an interdisciplinary method of analysis looking at sociological theories, and their psychological attributes. Since the 1764 Pontiac Rebellion School Massacre was the earliest known school shooting in US history, school shootings are still a colossal issue in American society (Dixon 2005). Interpretations as to why the perpetrators carried out these attacks can aid in spotting red flags in other potential shooters. Interdisciplinary research requires looking at a complex issue from various viewpoints. Despite the fact this malicious and violent attack psychologically and physically damaged so many, an element of peace still shined through as Americans united from government agencies to volunteers to support the survivors and mourn the loss of life. “The world cannot be changed rationally unless it is interpreted adequately” (Corson, 1991, p. 223).
Reference List:
Ainsworth, M, D. S. (1973). The development of infant-mother attachment. Review of child development research (Vol. 3) Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Becker, H. S (1963) Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance. New York: Free Press.
Corson, D., (1991). Bhaskar’s critical realism and educational knowledge. British Journal of Sociology of Education. 12(2):223-241.
Costello, B.C., (2010) Encyclopedia of Criminological Theory, SAGE Publications, Inc. [online], available: https://study.sagepub.com/system/files/Hirschi%2C_Travis_-_Social_Control_Theory.pdf [accessed 12 Nov 2019].
Creswell, J. W. (2005). Educational research: Planning, conducting, and evaluating quantitative and qualitative research (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.
Dixon, D. (2005). Never come to peace again: Pontiac’s uprising and the fate of the British Empire in North America. Norman: University of Oklahoma Press.
Giddens, A. (2011) Sociology 6th edition, Malden: Polity Press.
Giddens, A. and Sutton, P. W. (2017) Sociology 8th edition, Malden: Polity Press.
Hauser, C. (2007) ‘Gunman Sent Photos, Video and Writings to NBC´ The New York Times, 18 April, available: https://www.nytimes.com/2007/04/18/us/18cnd-virginia.html?module=ArrowsNav&contentCollection=U.S.&action=keypress®ion=FixedLeft&pgtype=article [accessed 13 Nov 2019].
Hirschi, T. (1969). Causes of delinquency. Berkeley: University of California Press
Keller, J. (2019) ‘The psychological aftermath of surviving school shootings’ Pacific Standard [25 March], available: https://psmag.com/education/the-psychological-aftermath-of-surviving-school-shootings [accessed: 9th Nov 2019]
Lemert, E. (1972) Human Deviance, Social Problems, and Social Control. Englewood Cliff, NJ: Prentice Hall.
March for our lives (2018) ‘Peace Plan for a Safer America’, Overview [online], available: https://marchforourlives.com/peace-plan/ [accessed 11 Nov 2019].
Richards, D. G. (1996) ‘The Meaning and Relevance of Synthesis in Interdisciplinary Studies’, The Journal of Gen Ed, 45:114-28.
Taylor, I., Walton, P. and Young, J. (1973). The New Criminology: For a Social Theory of Deviance. International library of sociology: Routledge.
Virginia Tech Review Panel (2009) Mass Shootings at Virginia Tech Addendum to the Report of the Review Panel, Arlington: TriData Division, System Planning Corporation, available: https://web.archive.org/web/20131015082946/http://www.governor.virginia.gov/TempContent/techPanelReport-docs/VT_Addendum_12-2-2009.pdf [accessed 11 Nov 2019].
There are about sixty-nine million McDonald’s customers served each day. Many people don’t notice their social movements and interactions. Everyone uses them and carefully judges and analyzes other people. I went to a local McDonald’s and analyzed the location, their clothing options, and how they interacted with one another. With the information at McDonald’s, I will present a Sociological Observation.
The physical setting of the McDonald’s was very clean during my time there they wiped the seats and tables and swept and mopped the floor. Due to the fact, that McDonald’s is a fast food restaurant key objects are cash registers, tables, seats, and public restrooms. The mood of the McDonald’s was very calm and serene because there tended to be fewer customers in the afternoon around 5-10 pm. A mores is employees have to follow are being polite and having great customer service. Showing teamwork, respect, accountability, integrity, and innovation. According to McDonald’s website, “Workers should have ethical, truthful, and dependable and reflect through standards of business conduct.” In this particular McDonald’s the 3’s rule is enforced no shirt no shoes no service. During my stay, I saw a worker getting in trouble for violating the rules for talking to customers for non-related reasons to his job.
Most often customers just ordered their food and had limited interactions with the employees. Workers would interact more when there were no customers. During the observation, a total of 12 dyads, 3 single, a group of 4 men, and one family. customers showed up. Which meant most people came in with some other companion. Out of those groups, only 2 stayed to eat. People stayed no longer than 15 minutes. People tend to be louder when they are not alone. For example, a group of 4 men seemed to be louder than a man who came in by himself. Most often people interacted more with their group than with others because they knew themselves personally. (Chapter 5: Groups within society) Another observation was kids usually order more when their parents are present rather than alone. Two friends came in and knew what they were going to buy with the money they had. On the other hand, the children in the family took their time to decide what they were going to order. Customers mainly dressed very casually. Employees wore a uniform. (Chapter 2: Material culture)
Ascribed statuses are siblings, mother, father, male, and female. Examples of achieved statuses at McDonald’s are customers, cashiers, and managers. (Chapter 4: components of social structure) A cashier’s role is to take people’s orders and make sure the customer is satisfied. A customer’s role is to purchase an item. A manager’s role is to manage the worker’s tasks and avoid chaos. All of these statuses are at this location because it is a fast-food restaurant. People at McDonald’s are part of an aggregate group. There are other types of groups a family, for instance, would be a primary group. (Chapter 5: Groups within society) The leader of the McDonald’s workers is the manager and they are an instrumental leader and the style would be authoritarian. What I learned by observing McDonald’s sociologically is lots of people are afraid to break their comfort zones and stay within the boundaries they know of and why workers and customers act due to social and cultural norms.
To summarize, I observed customers and employees to give a sociological observation. Many different people visit McDonald’s every day. They all have a common factor the way they dress, how they interact, statuses, and roles. And most of it is influenced by social and cultural norms. “People act to the outside the way they feel on the inside.”- Tracy McMillan
Understanding the dynamic nature of human personality has become a complex issue in the contemporary society owing to numerous factors such as nature, genetic makeup, and the social environment that control and influence individual’s behavior. Sociologists argue that human behavior, besides being influenced by the environment, is also controlled by certain aspects such as culture and common life events.
In agreement, Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2010) point out that understanding the complex nature of human behavior requires appreciating certain concepts such as human development, cultural competency, and human diversity.
The analysis in this paper explores human behavior in terms of both ecosystem and systems theories, and it denotes that gaining knowledge on human development and their experiences throughout their life period is important towards understanding their behavior. The paper also examines the behavior of the young adulthood population and how it relates to the social environment.
Young adulthood population
The young adulthood stage in development is one of the most challenging periods in life since individuals in this stage undergo myriad of both psychological and physical changes. Choi and Hey (2011) point out that in this stage, both growth and decline takes place.
As such, this population is offered with an opportunity to typically move from their parents’ homes and either begin a career, get employed, marry and raise a family or contribute to the development of society.
Besides, the young adulthood period as Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2010) describe it is a time when an individual is at his or her prime of life. A person at this age is both psychologically and physically in good health, has vast experience and wisdom in variety of areas in life, and may have a stable career in place.
Scholars argue that pinpointing the age and exact time that defines young or middle adulthood is a difficult task posed by determining the transition period into adulthood.
Gore et al. (2011) posit that different societies have diverse ways of determining adulthood that include the ability to vote which is allowed at some specified age or to drink alcoholic beverages which is a prerequisite only for adults who are from the age of 21 (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
In the US for instance, the issue of adulthood is further complicated by social factors like health, homelessness, promotions and taking over public positions like senator or president where an individual must either be thirty or thirty-five years respectively.
However, from the perspective of the psychological theory of human development by Erik Erikson, the young adulthood population ranges from the ages of 20-40 since it is at this time that these individuals work towards attaining concrete and realistic goals as well as to work and begin a family life (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
The development of a young adult population
Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2010) indicate that the development of the young adult population is an interesting process that is seen physically with the development of muscular strength between the ages of 25 and 30 years.
However, this begins to decline after the age of 30 and affects the speed with which they perform their tasks. Other areas of interest are their sight and hearing that are normally sharp at the age of 20 onward, but at the age of 45 begins to decline.
In terms of health, individuals in the young adult population are considered to be enjoying the most excellent health during their development (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). This is due to the fact that they are very active and engage in many healthy activities. However, they are faced with numerous risk factors such as cancer or HIV/AIDS depending on life choices and lifestyles they adopt.
Sociologically, their development is affected by certain factors such as lack of employment, poverty and homelessness. These elements deny some of them resources that they need to survive and attain their goals in life.
Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2010) argue that due to economical difficulties, these populations have been greatly affected by lack of basic needs and employment opportunities making some of them to delay or completely fail to make contributions in the society of even marry and raise families.
Cancer and homelessness as major issues affecting this population and influencing their behavior
Cancer
Statistics indicate that in the US, the number of young adults diagnosed with cancer each year is approximately 70,000 (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010). The rate of diagnosis of cancer among individuals of ages 15-40 in many nations in the world is almost eight times that of individuals under the age of fifteen.
In his publication, Song and Ling (2011) point out that cancer among the young adult population has been a distressing issue that has posed threat towards maintaining good health and achieving their goals in life. As a terminal infection, cancer is known to affect the body cells adversely.
The prevalence of cancer in this population and especially breast cancer has been of great concern to both the general population and health authorities in many nations of the world.
Figure 1: A graph representing the population of young adults with cancer
Zastrow and Kirst-Ashman (2010) argues that cancer is the major killer disease among the young adult population of ages 20-39 years. The social, economic, and personal costs associated with the diagnosis and treatment of this disease is rather high.
Besides, the impact that cancer has on the development of a person in this stage and the realization of goals in life is devastating. Among many young people, individuals who are at risk vary depending on the type of cancer. Some types of cancers can be found in both young and older adults.
For instance, skin cancer affects all age groups. However, the risk is greater in older people, those who have been diagnosed with melanoma or may depend on the medical history of their families, those who are immune-suppressed, light-skinned individuals, and those who are exposed to ultraviolet radiations (UVR) (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
Figure 2: A graph representing population of young adults and the types of cancer affecting them
However, the absolute risk of developing breast cancer is lower in young adult women than in old women. Song and Ling (2011) point out that the older an individual grows, the higher the chances of developing breast cancer.
Homelessness
The problem of homelessness among the young adult population has indeed become a complex issue in society today and has caused individuals and families great grief as individuals exposed to it are likely to engage in criminal activities, substance abuse other related things common among the homeless. In the article Freidenberg (2011) argues that the number of homeless young population in the world today is growing at an alarming rate.
He attributes it to lack of affordable housing, natural disasters, housing problems, abuse and unemployment among other issues. In agreement, studies indicate that most of the homeless individuals in the streets blame their condition to high cost of housing, poor health conditions, addiction and lack of income (Zastrow & kirst-Ashman, 2010).
Routines
To begin with, Thornton, Ryckman and Gold (2011) use social adaptation approach to argue that long exposure of young adult population to homelessness due to inability of the government or concerned bodies to intervene for them and provide assistance is likely to lead the young adult population into developing particular routines such as involvement in criminal activities and other related evils.
The state of homelessness and acceptance of their state may also deny them the ability to work harder and attain their objectives in life. Instead, this acceptance may make them develop a routine that is common among the homeless of living and eating from the streets.
They further argue that the environment in which a homeless young adult person live can greatly affect there general health and wellness in the sense that it undermines their self-esteem as it causes a decline in their physical appearances (Thornton, Ryckman and Gold, 2011).
Subsistent strategies
Besides routine, Freidenberg (2011) points out that the young adult populations faced with homeless may involve themselves in substance abuse as survival strategies and means of comfort and acceptance of their situation.
Basing this argument on ecological systems theory, Bronfenbrenner indicates that due to the nature of difficulties posed by being homeless, destitute individuals have developed learning strategies of coping with and surviving homelessness (Freidenberg, 2011).
Living in a stressful environment and the need to cope with its difficulties pushes them to substances use. For instance, substance abuse as a strategy to adapt to lack of job and homelessness has become one of the modes with which the young adult individuals indicate acceptance of their state (Thornton, Ryckman and Gold, 2011).
Role of family and response to selected conditions
Sociological perspectives
The way individuals and families view issues happening in the social world largely depends on the different perspectives provided by theories in sociology. However, studies indicate that most families are unaware of or simply neglect their role of motivating and supporting the young adult population (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
A set of designed principles and interrelated propositions can provide perspectives on a particular phenomenon give answers to questions and help families to understand issues affecting the young adult individuals as well as the society they are living in.
Families of the young adult population should assist them to be able to comfortably cope with issues that affect them socially and overcome hurdles and crises common in their stage of development.
Barry and Piazza (2011) point out that since many life crises occur and affect individuals in the midlife periods, parents, relatives, friends and the society should provide advice, guidance and answers to this population for purposes of encouraging and motivating them.
On matters relating to health issues like cancer and its epidemiology among the young adult population, terms such as functional and dysfunctional are frequently applied their effects with the latter referring to issues disrupting the stability of the society.
Choi and Hey (2011) point out that health issues like cancer and menopause and their effects in terms of injury and mortality among young people greatly affect the development of this population.
Inasmuch as health issues can be termed as dysfunctional aspects, they may also contribute to social stability. In this sense, health injuries and mortality can be functional aspects that contribute to increased social cohesion and creation of awareness.
Furthermore, Marx uses the conflicting perspective to elaborate more on economic inequalities and competing values and interest in the society. From his perspective, it is evident that young adult people, especially the female population who are in terrible afflictions due to breast cancer may feel a sense of meaninglessness, alienation or powerlessness due to their illnesses or poor conditions (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
Organizations and groups that impact on these populations
Borrowing from the perspective of the structural-functionalist theory by Talcott Parsons, organizations and groups in the society today play a significant role in creating social balance, a state of equilibrium, harmony and various interconnecting aspects of the society (Barry& Piazza, 2011).
Among individuals in the young adult population, different social institutions such as religious groups, families, political groups and economic societies play key roles of empowering them and providing them with education where they gain knowledge and skills to help them advance in the society.
Economically, the government also plays a role in creating job opportunities for them. This, in turn, enhances their purchasing power and provides them with income and other related resources to attain their goals in life.
Emile Durkheim, influenced by the philosophies of Comte, Rousseau and Voltaire, argues in his functionalistic theory that the behavior of individuals and their necessities are determined by social configurations. Indeed, from social cohesion and social exclusion perspective, issues like poverty and illness may deny the young adult population the chance to get social acceptance they need.
Without adequate resources to support this population and jobs to sustain them, they may end up being homeless or sick and may, therefore, end up being excluded. Fettes and Aarons (2011) point out that there is need for governments to develop social policies whose goals will be to ensure survival to everyone by availing necessary resources in this competitive society.
In using structural-functionalist perspective to relate the theories of Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim on social pathology and social disorganization, it is imperative to point out that human behavior or patterns of action are greatly influenced by the environment in which he or she lives in (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010
Consequences of diversity, discrimination, and oppression of these groups
All forms of social injustices, as well as diversity, massively impacts negatively on the lives of the young adult population and this may lead to them adopting certain characteristics or behaviors that may impact on the whole society.
According to Gore et al. (2011), due to lack of social justice, individuals in the young adult stage who are homeless are normally marginalized as underclass people, and are thus made to form part of the fringe in the society.
This kind of exclusion has likely effects of depression on marginalized individuals. One of the most common faces of depression exhibited by the young adult homeless individuals is acceptance. Many homeless individuals accept their helplessness and in their depression, adopt certain behaviors that relate to their condition and need for survival.
Revelers for social work
David Howe indicates in his theory of social works that in dealing with the issues affecting society, there is need to identify the problem and provide an effective solution depending on the level of the problem. Among individuals in the young adult population, empowerment is an important factor in eradicating social problems that impact on their behavior (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
In addition, empowerment in health promotion by health organizations will enable these populations, individuals or groups to mobilize resources, both material and human, and use them to protect and promote their health.
In order to curb health issues like AIDS and cancer, health activists and health workers should work together in ensuring that the public policies affecting health are shaped through supporting access to the political processes, facilitate skills development and provide access to information on health.
Moreover, there is need for the government and health care centers to ensure equity in health provision among populations. Distribution of resources and opportunities in a nation should be guided by peoples’ needs. Achieving greater equity in health within and between populations and countries is a strategy which according to WHO, works so well in achieving health for every person (Zastrow & Kirst-Ashman, 2010).
Conclusion
To sum up, the discussion in this paper was based on the thesis statement “understanding the dynamic nature of human personality has today become a complex issue owing to the numerous factors such as nature, genetic makeup and the social environment that control and influence a person’s behavior”.
From the analysis, it is evident that human behavior may be controlled by events happening within the social environment. Young adults are faced with numerous life crises that greatly and negatively impact on their development.
References
Barry, A. & Piazza, A. (2011). Should Exercise Be Promoted as an Effective Intervention Strategy to Off-Set Excessive College Student Drinking? Journal of American College Health, 59(3), 139-140.
Choi, S. & Hey, J. (2011). Joint inference of population assignment and demographic history. Genetics, 189(2), 561-577.
Fettes, D. & Aarons, G. (2011). Smoking behavior of US youths: A comparison between child welfare system and community populations. American Journal of Public Health, 101(12), 2342-2348.
Freidenberg, J. (2011). Researching global spaces ethnographically: queries on methods for the study of virtual populations. Human Organization, 70(3), 265- 278.
Gore et al. (2011). Global burden of disease in young people aged 10-24 years: a systematic analysis. The Lancet, 377(9783), 2093-2102.
Song, A. & Ling, P. (2011). Social smoking among young adults: investigation of intentions and attempts to quit. American Journal of Public Health, 101(7), 1291- 1296.
Thornton, B., Ryckman, R. & Gold, J. (2011). Competitive orientations and the type a behavior pattern. Psychology, 2(5), 411-415.
Zastrow, C. & Kirst-Ashman K. (2010). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. New York: Cengage Learning.
For over a hundred years, scientists have tried to come up with plausible explanations for how human behaviors develop and persist. Two of the most convincing explanations given are nature and nurture. According to the nature view, behaviors are developed from the biological makeup of an individual.
On the other hand, the nurture view asserts that behaviors are developed and persist according to the upbringing and the environment the individual grows up in (Hurley 48). The two views are highly debated due to several reasons. To begin with, the level of control that a human being has over his life differs depending on the view used. Nature suggests that we are victims of fate since our behavior is guided by biology (Hurley 48).
In contrast to this, nurture asserts that we control our fate since behavior is developed though upbringing. In addition to this, the two views have differing perspectives on who should be blamed for poor behavior exhibited by a person. Nature demonstrates that we are a product of our biology and as such poor behavior can be blamed on poor genes. Supporters of the nurture view blame an individual’s poor behavior on his/her upbringing.
In my opinion, it would not be possible to answer the question of nature and nurture definitively. A definitive answer would require scientists to agree on one of the views. However, this has not been the case and through the 20th century, none of the views has been a clear favorite in academic circles. Scientists and scholars have continued to be split on the issue.
In spite of intensive research on the subject, scientists are still in disagreement over which view is more plausible. Keltner and James note that scientists have continued to be either biologically inclined of dynamically inclined (88).
In addition to this, none of the views apply consistently in all cases. Studies on identical twins brought up in different environments have repeatedly shown that individuals can develop different behaviors in spite of having close genetic makeup.
At the same time, other studies have shown that some mental conditions are inherited from parents. Keltner and James reveal that some mental disorders such as schizophrenia are genetic with 85% of individuals inheriting the condition from parents (89). This suggests that genes contribute to the behavior of a person. These conflicting results suggest that it would be impossible to definitively answer the question of nature and nurture.
While I believe that it is impossible to provide an absolute answer to the question of nature vs. nature, my opinion is that nurture has more power to affect personal life. According to the nurture view, a person’s upbringing or his influences in life determine his behavioral outcomes. Factors such as growing up in a safe environment surrounded by nurturing parents increase the chances of good outcomes in the life of the person.
Hurley reveals that an individual born to bad parents but raised by good ones is likely to grow up to demonstrate positive values (50). This shows that nurture has more power to affect a person’s life even when the biology is not in his favor. In addition to this, the nurture view suggests that a person can take action to create the personality he/she wants.
Gwin documents that in spite of the strong influence of genetics on the personality and behavior of a person, there is greater room for environmental influences on the person’s personality (97). For these reasons, I believe that nurture is the more powerful force in a person’s life.
Works Cited
Gwin, Carol. “Nature vs. Nurture: the role of family in compulsive buying.” Marketing Management Journal 15.1 (2005): 95-107. Web. 28 Jul. 2014.
Keltner, Norman and James Christopher. “Nature vs. Nurture: Two Brothers with Schizophrenia.” Perspectives in Psychiatric Care 37.3 (2001): 88-94. Web. 28 Jul. 2014.
System theory is a field of science that deals with the study of nature, society, and science. It can also be used to analyze and describe any group of objects that work to come up with a result. It can be done to an organization or society so that the learner can come up with results that can be used to have a trace of the origin and the growth of such society in terms of culture. The system is composed of interacting groups of activities that one has to carry out to benefit society.
This theory has an emphasis on the cultural issues of people living in a certain area and the implications that are related to these cultures from one generation to the next. The organization and its environment relationship are complex and independent in that one have to consider the relationship that exists in an organization like the society and the surrounding environment like the climatic changes and other factors in the environment and the effects they have on people. (Seifert, 1995)
This theory as an area of study developed following the world wars from the works of Ludwig, V, and others in the 1950s which was from the Macy conferences. The assumptions that developed from the western science that is the publishment of the online for the general systems theory that was from the Greek thought with Plato and Aristotle to that of Newton’s Principia have had a high influence on the areas of the social to hard sciences were the original theorists had found implications to make advances on the systems. They dealt with areas of complexity, self-organization, the connection, and the adaptive systems which were related to these organizations.
The systems view was based on the ideas such as the relationship among the elements in the society like if the study was based on people then they had a study on how the people have an impact on the functioning of the society; the systems whether electrical, biological, or the social have common patterns, behavior, and the properties that the concerned have to understand in the field where one is taking the study and they used to develop a research on the behaviors of the elements to have a closer unity of science.
This is because science and the environment are closely related as science can not exist in a vacuum and that the philosophy, methodology, and applications of this system are concerned with society. In 1956 there was the establishment of the society for general systems research that was later renamed the international society for systems science and this research was greatly affected by the wars that had impacts on the systems theory.
The theorists had researched all the elements in the fields of sciences and therefore they related the information that they received with the principles of organisms so that they could get a clear background that was related to their research. The social structure is the relationship between different groups in the society that have an emphasis on the roles, functions, and meanings of these structures. (Mark, 2006)
The social structures can be divided into microstructure which is the patterns of relations in the most basic elements of social life and has no structural division of their own like the people have roles that are supposed to be performed by each group that is the male and female have their work to do and the macrostructure is whereby the pattern of relations of the objects have their structure in that they can further be subdivided into minor groups and all have their functions to perform like the political positions that have several posts. The social system theory has its emphasis on the society that is on basis of the people and how they relate to the society in making it better and also the effects that are caused by these people in the society. (Mendez, 2004)
Society needs to be shaped and also shape the people to be able to live in it and thus there are cultures that people have to follow so that they can have a part in that particular group this is because people with different cultures have to conflict as they have different views and thus their actions will be different. Such people feel that their culture is the best compared to that of the other people and therefore conflict has to result. That is why people with different beliefs can not live together because they have nothing in common.
The incarceration rates in America were high and mainly done to the African American men were by the men had to face all the risks of been imprisoned been innocent and also received poor education. The African American men faced all dangers related to the human race this is because in terms of education they received the poorest type of education that could not help them in any field that is in competing for the best jobs in that country. Therefore these men could only work in the low-ranked jobs that had no insurance cover from the government. (Martinez, 2005)
In the government, they had no representative meaning that they had no rights to cover them to live free like the whites this is because there was a gap that existed between the whites and these blacks. They had no selection on the best schools as the whites had their schools that had qualified teachers but for the blacks, the teachers were not qualified. There has been slavery were the black was forced to work for the whites and such people have to do the work in regardless of whether you are able or not.
Due to a lack of a culture of their own then these people were forced to take the culture of the whites and live their own therefore such people had to learn these cultures to limit the available discrimination but the men had to face the challenges because they were not allowed to have their own culture. The blacks were not allowed to vote and therefore they had no right of having someone to represent them in government and because of this then many blacks mainly young men were accused of theft and other crimes and therefore they had to face the law that was set by the whites.
These whites felt that the blacks were many and therefore due to the jobs that they performed of low levels and income been low then they were not able to feed that population and thus they had to search for better means of survival. The law enforcement agencies employed the whites who were ready to victimize the blacks because they were seen to be misplaced as no law that could enable a black to live peacefully. The blacks had no right to interact with the whites in any field and thus they were discriminated against as they could do things that could be of benefit to themselves meaning that because the education was not of quality then the outcome of their activities was of low value. Even the most educated blacks were ranked in the same field as the uneducated because they were not allowed to enter the best fields.
The property and the violent crimes were mainly on the blacks because they could not defend themselves and thus they were detained been innocent and the government did not have any feeling for these blacks so all the mistreatments that were done to them were allowed in the country. Due to poverty and despair then most of the blacks became the street gangs as they had no other way of survival but to get from the whites and therefore the crime rate was high in the African American communities.
The offenses were mainly carried out by the men as they were the providers for their families. The local law enforcement and the justice agencies had little diversity and the cultural differences between the blacks and the whites officers had large misunderstanding and misreading of the behaviors that led to conflict and physical violence. The blacks had no officers like the police and thus they had to face the mistreatment that resulted from these officers as their cultures were different. The rates of homicide and other violence among the Africans were greater but they were ranked with the disadvantaged whites and therefore they faced the same punishment. (Ford, 2002)
The African Americans are the targets of racial profiling and negative stereotyping and therefore they had to face acts like that of being slaves because they were viewed differently from the whites and thus this race was of no use in that country. Thus the blacks received death sentences just due to petty crimes and also they had longer sentences as compared to the whites that were less affected as they were in their homeland.
The poor urban communities that are mainly African Americans experienced health and social problems in the country this is because they had no rights that they could use to have a claim. There were problems such as drug trafficking, crime, violence, lack of opportunities and this led to problems like getting infectious diseases, the collapse of their community, and the capacity, and thus the blacks had no other way of survival. The blacks had to find a way of surviving and have their cultures been kept as they felt it hard to follow the culture that was of the whites and thus they had to find their way through.
Therefore the issues of discrimination and lack of proper living for the blacks led to the problems in the country such as theft and the payment for these people because they were Africans had to be detained and also everything was done to them like the education and also the health care of the blacks was different from that of the whites in that the whites had their hospitals that were cheaper than that of the blacks and this discriminated them because they were not able to pay for their treatment and therefore many died of infections.
The population of men that was taken to prison was higher than that of women this is because the men were the providers and the only people who could work. The impact to the community after the imprisonment of these people is that there was high poverty where their families were affected due to lack of basic needs like lack of food and clothing and also shelter therefore the cases of street children in that country raised as the children decided to find a way of survival. (Hughes, 1995)
Their women were at high risk of been engaged in bad practices so that they could get money to support their families like prostitution were by they went out to the officers because they were seen to be desperate and in return, they were in danger of getting infectious diseases like HIV. Therefore these women had no other way of survival as they had nobody to provide for them and they were raped by the officers as there was no law that could cover them or men to defend and therefore the officers took the advantage of misusing these women.
The community was affected because the families had to fly to find refuge and the structure of that society had to change as there were no people to carry out their roles so that they can have a better living. These men were taken to prison as they were seen to be the most dangerous people in that country. This is because they demanded the desire to change meaning that the whites had to follow the human roles to all regardless of whether one is a black or a white. Therefore they had to be detained so that their families could collapse and also do away with that community.
The whites saw that these men in their increase would demand their rights this is because if the population is high then they could force the government to allow them to vote and do other things just like the whites and this could lead to the blacks having the freedom to do any job in the country and have their rights respected and therefore the whites had to eliminate this by taking the young men to prison and some be detained and others face the death sentence depending on the offense that one has done. After these men were detained then a fear grew that their children would learn the new culture and therefore lead to changes been enforced in the society this could lead to the collapse of that community as that generation will no longer follow the cultures that are from their home country. ( Benjamin, 2006)
This could give way to the whites to force whatever they desired to the African Americans as they have already left their beliefs and the structure of that community had to change as the people have adopted something different from what existed. These men had no option rather accept the law that was set to them this is because going contrary to it then they had to face the law as the government had no place for the African Americans.
Those men who survived had no time for their families and therefore the families had to suffer all the consequences this is because the person might have been affected due to been taken in prison either mentally or physically and therefore find it hard to carry out the activities that he performed before. The African Americans had to accept the new cultures if they required peace and have chance to carry out their activities this is because the whites made sure that these blacks had no chance to practice their freedom and therefore most of the social structures of these blacks had to change according to the desired standard of the whites.
The theory of social system could be applied in the real world where the people need to accept changes so that they can be fit in the changing world this is because the world is always getting changes and therefore people have to change according to the changes that are happening. This will enable them to make their cultures according to the changes so that the future generations would have something to depend on. This theory enables the people to know the cultures that will shape them positively and stay in that society. (Aretha, 2005)
The African American men faced all the dangers of been taken to prison where some were killed and those who survived were not able to make developments in the community. The whites-only wanted to make sure they weaken the blacks so that they could mistreat them without them complaining. Their communities were affected because is the young men who were affected and they are the only ones who were able to work and provide for the community. Thus the blacks remained been the minority group in that country.
Reference:
Aretha, F (2005). Responding to prisoner reentry, recidivism, and incarceration of inmates of color. Texas Tech University. Journal of black studies, vol. 35, pp, 633-649.
Benjamin, T (2006). A voice from the pipeline, the social construction of the academic achievement among young African American males involved in the criminal justice system. M.A, state university, New York.
Ford, E (2002). Black metropolis, African American urban narrative in the twentieth century. Harvard University.
Hughes, M (1995). Breaking the cycle of destructive behaviors, facilitating positive developmental change in African and Latino- American males, 18-28. Brandies University, the Florence Heller graduate school for advanced studies in social welfare.
Martinez, A (2005). Criminalizing the drug user, arrests, HIV risk, and implications for public health and sociology. California University, San Francisco.
Mark, T (2006). Race, ethnicity, citizenship and prison violence. Department of criminology and criminal justice, university of Missouri- st. Louis.
Mendez, J (2004). Personal narratives of several long term incarcerated African American men on the meaning of fatherhood. New York University.
Seifert, M (1995). The relationship of role problems, work trauma, cynicism, social support, and spiritual support to the physical and mental health, work performance, and the absenteeism of correctional officers. University of Maryland Baltimore County.
