Durkheim’s Concept of Social Integration

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Summary

The procedure by which outsiders or minorities are integrated into the social structure of the host community is known as social integration. According to Durkheim, people’s decisions, conventions, beliefs, and values constitute a collective opinion or a shared viewpoint and acting in the world (Follert, 2019). Collective understanding draws people together and fosters social inclusion. Durkheim’s main goal was to examine how modern cultures might maintain social cohesion once the family structure and church relations were replaced by modern economic ties.

Durkheim believed that society had a powerful impact on society. People’s norms, opinions, as well as values constitute a collective psyche or a shared way of reasoning and functioning in societal structure (Follert, 2019). Individuals are linked together via communal consciousness, which fosters assimilation. Durkheim considered the idea of community as important to explaining the existence of society: it develops and maintains social bonds. At the same time, people generate collective consciousness via their activities and interactions. Society is a social product generated by people’s actions that exert repressive social institutions on those people (Follert, 2019). Durkheim maintained that humans become aware of everyone as social creatures via communal consciousness, not merely animals.

Cultural cohesion, economic cooperation, and identification unification are the three major characteristics of foreigners’ experiences in the community that welcomes them. A greater social cohesion adds to a smaller social gap across groups and more uniform beliefs and behaviors. It brings together different ethnic groups, regardless of language, race, creed, and others, without compromising one’s identity. It allows for equal access to all aspects of communal life and removes segregation.

In my culture, social groupings may affect a person’s attitudes in various ways. To begin, social control has been formed by urging my friends, family, and other community members to adhere to and observe societal standards, both formally and informally. Adherence is the act of aligning one’s attitudes, ideas, and actions to the standards of a community. Second, improved social cohesion has helped my neighbors feel more connected to the neighborhood while reducing conflict. Third, social integration among older persons has been linked to improved personal health, a decreased chance of death, and a higher standard of living. Though it is ideal for everyone to be various cultural and social connections, many older persons have challenges.

In a larger sense, the social control concept describes underlying social control mechanisms. It contends that relations, obligations, beliefs, and convictions induce conformity—that if decent guidelines are integrated and persons are linked to grander collections of individuals, they would freely contain aberrant conduct. This perspective implies that internal processes of control, such as a person’s integrity, personality, and sanities about moral and immoral, effectively reduce the risk of deviating from societal standards. This contradicts external ways of management, in which people comply since an officer of the law (such as the state) confronts them with punishment if they do not. Furthermore, this theory has the potential to aid in the reduction of deviance in our community. It assumes that all options are bound by social relationships and contractual agreements between entities (Follert, 2019). Those who want to disobey the law in our areas are, therefore, constantly reminded of the necessity of social structure, which, if not respected, would most probably result in serious repercussions.

The Interpretive Theory of Social Action by Weber

Weber’s Interpretive Theory of Social Action examines the relationship between human conduct and reaction and action, or cause and effect, as it happens primarily in the social context. The theory applies sociological concepts to describe how individuals’ reactions to various social acts fluctuate depending on the effect and character of the reactions. According to Picciotto (2021), the four categories of social actions are important for understanding how participants react to social acts. Emotional activity, value-rational intervention, conventional action, and instrumental-rational response are social acts.

Activities that rely on the traditional approach occur whenever a tradition or practice puts together the aims and the methods of action. The customary action is something that most people may encounter at some point in their life (Picciotto, 2021). These actions are based on a defined set of rules that function as moral needs on the actor’s judgment, and therefore they relate to my life since my tradition requires that a person marry or get married. Born and raised, I was always aware that my culture required one to marry or be married, but I never challenged this standard because it was constantly present.

The second type of action is emotional action, also known as effective action and classified as an emotional or intuitive activity (Picciotto, 2021). For example, when someone dies, the initial instinct is to weep because of the emotions, which helps a person cope with their predicament. According to my observations, when confronted with a difficult scenario, most people weep, an instinctive reaction to spontaneous action. The third type of conduct is value-rational action, which says that people do things to feel better (Picciotto, 2021). One may also do something to lead them to believe they have done something nice for someone, such as donate or volunteer, and this is something I enjoy doing myself.

I believe that when you help someone else, something wonderful will come to you as well. I perceive it as a responsibility that I must fulfill, and when I fail to do so, I feel awful. The instrumental-rational action is the fourth component. These are acts motivated by a desire to achieve goals by weighing the advantages and drawbacks of the process. It comprises going above and above to acquire that dream job or automobile (McLeod & Chaffee, 2017). My brother, for example, has always been fascinated by power electronics and everything he does is directed toward this objective. He even foregoes time with friends to strive for his professional advancement.

Weber’s Legitimate Domination

Weber distinguishes three sorts of legitimate domination: conventional, persuasive, and constitutional or logical. These three styles of domination do not represent the entire spectrum of domination, but they demonstrate how some people may wield authority over others. Legal power is founded on norms that are implemented administratively and judicially in line with well-established concepts. The people in charge of enforcing the regulations are chosen or elected through legal processes. For example, in my community, people listen to and obey those in charge since they are their delegates in government. Traditional authority is founded on the belief that power is legitimate since it has always been. People in positions of power typically love it because they acquired it. In my community, these customary leaders are respected, and whenever people have issues related to traditions, they would seek their counsel. Charismatic authority is founded on the charm of the leadership, which demonstrates that he has the right to govern by magical powers, predictions, heroism, and other means. My people recognize these persons’ right to lead due to their distinct characteristics (charisma) and dedication to our community.

Gender Inequality and Women’s Economic Independence According to Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Charlotte Perkins Gilman is well recognized for her divisive views on women’s economic dependence. Her viewpoint was distinct at the time since it was based on a conviction in the impact of socioeconomic factors on what seemed to be psychological stressors, for instance, marriage. Instead of advocating for woman’s liberation, Gilman claimed that the skewed stratification resulted in disfigured human beings. Gilman contends that the female gender lives freely, and they must not be financially reliant on males. Gilman campaigned for the acknowledgment and development of professionals of domestic labor and the understanding and support of women who work outside the home as a strategy to achieve socio-economic equality for women. She emphasizes convincing proof that equality in gender could encourage economic advancement.

Accessibility to job opportunities, as well as education potentials for women, reduces the possibility of impoverishment among families. Additionally, when resources are in the hands of the female gender, there are numerous beneficial impacts on productive capacity and skills within the home. As a result, economic growth benefits the female gender since it enhances gender equality by allowing for increased female labor-force participation. Women’s intrahousehold negotiating power grows when they have a separate income source. Greater cultural and ideological respect is conferred by chance to build human capital.

Women have experienced a lack of economic freedom throughout the United States’ history, much alone the world, which has driven them to become economically dependent on their dads or spouses. According to Charlotte Perkins Gilman, women’s paucity of economic independence is linked to gender inequity (Karima & Boutouchent, 2020). My high school teacher, arts, passionately encouraged female pupils to pursue artistic careers. He reasoned that sciences are a far more demanding subject, meaning that it is more suited to men, whereas arts need more precision and painstaking labor, implying that it is better suited to women. Finally, the disparity in prominence and room for advancement between the two areas leads to unequal prospects for better economic steadiness. The female-dominated field of arts is lagging behind the sciences.

I have seen how gender socialization discourages women from pursuing profitable employment in male-dominated sectors. Men rule the economic sector, whether it is the accounting or executive roles. My older sister had an interview with an auto parts company a few years ago. Every individual in the sector was a guy, and the recruiter even inquired if she could contribute any fresh ideas to the organization as a woman. He made it appear as if the organization had no female employees, and the inquiry was discriminative. This comment made her feel inferior to males, changing her profession. In Gilman’s Marxist focus, girls are socialized to be distinct from boys from an early age. Women and males have biological distinctions, and women are more likely to play subordinate roles within families (Isaksson, 2020). One of my friend’s mother has lost her economic freedom, and she had to leave her job to give her son the care he requires.

I have discovered that women now have more options for fighting gender discrimination. Despite these advancements in freedom, I believe Gilman’s theory is still useful in describing the social world since gender discrimination exists. It can affect a woman’s economic independence, even if it is not as overt. With that said, Gilman’s theory will remain to be valuable because it aids in identifying the causes of gender bias that the authority must address if our societies are to achieve true gender equality.

Georg Simmel’s Version of Social Interaction

Every day, numerous social exchanges take place between people worldwide. Even though most people discount the importance of their connections with others, sociologist George Simmel’s research tries to describe social interactions’ nature and particular aspects (Mambrol, 2017). Each social interaction, according to Simmel, can be divided into three areas: form, content, and social types. A memorable social contact from my life occurred when my peers and I participated in a soccer game, with the winning team advancing to the national level. The engagement took the form of a partnership, and the essence was the chance to gain both honors and recognition. According to Simmel, such interest, aim, or motive of an encounter is content. Friends, adversaries, and acquaintances made up the social kinds on the squad, but when it was competing time, we all became teammates.

The objective of social forms is to define the purpose that leads to varied responses when people interact with one another. When people inquire about how I’m doing with my academics, I use this as a simple greeting to improve the relationship. Various social forms will influence people’s interactions. Identifying the many types of social engagement is an important social interaction ability. On the other hand, social types are concerned with people’s first impressions or personalities, which influence how they interact with others. For instance, many people describe me as an outgoing person, and therefore they find it easy to interact with me.

Simmel argued that distance could drive people to associate or engage differently. According to him, a stranger is someone you are unfamiliar but with whom you have no connection (Papilloud, 2018). For example, when I hang out with my best buddy, we disclose all of their secrets and what has happened in their everyday lives. When I meet someone for the first time in class, on the other hand, they never discuss their personal lives together. Simmel was interested in how people interact in society. In other terms, he examined individual relationships and considered how they related to society in everyday life. The formation of society is based on the association of people’s interactions.

W.E.B. Du Bois – Race, Racism, and Effects of Both

Race is an unsolidified concept used to cluster people according to several ancestral backgrounds and social identity factors. At the same time, racism can be seen as an organized system that categorizes and positions racial and marginal groups into social orders (Buzas, 2020). Thus, cultural groups are allocated disparity values and have differential access to authority, chances, and possessions, causing a disadvantage for some people and an advantage for others. Therefore, this essay will discuss how racialized society impacts people’s lives and examples of racism.

Racialization is a main contributing factor at the beginning of diseases. It is also liable for accumulating disparities in physical and mental well-being among indigenous and people of color (Chowdhury et al., 2022). For example, Jack, a Latino friend of mine, applied for a job as quality assurance in a white-dominated company. He was later invited for an interview, and after the interview, the employer told him he had all the qualifications and requirements they needed for the post, but he was sorry because they could not hire him. Jack came to learn later the organization had settled on a white person with far fewer qualifications and experience. Jack felt rejected and hopeless, and because of stress, he turned to alcohol and smoking.

Stressful familiarities with discrimination which is unfair treatment of a person’s color or ethnic features, are most common among black people. This has been related to worse physical and psychological well-being. Therefore, this type of discrimination can partly contribute to racial differences in health. Modifiable behaviors built on risk issues, such as smoking and the use of alcohol, have been linked with higher cancer among affected people. Racism may create or vitiate several psychological health situations, such as anxiety, anxiety, the abuse of drugs, suicidal considerations, and post-traumatic stress disorders. Therefore, this may occur in several ways (Boynton-Jarrett et al., 2021). For instance, stressful signs can directly result from racist events such as hate speech.

Prejudice is generalized opinions that people pertain to certain groups comprising races and cultures. These generalities may be positive or negative, but whichever way, they have the potential to cause harm. For example, people categorize Asian American people as self-confident, polite, and prosperous (Williams et al., 2021). However, this stereotype can prevent medical specialists from detecting signs of alcohol addiction in Asians, which does not match their assumptions for this group. This might cause it to be harder for Asian American persons to get treatment for drug abuse disorders. Prejudice can also affect how health experts approach treating certain situations in persons of color. For example, Africans are most likely to go through harsh or forcible mental treatment than Europeans because they perceive that Black individuals are dangerous, so they are subjected to treatment that looks like punishment instead of therapy.

Oppression contains a group of people overwhelming another for their benefit. This can be deliberate or systemically owed to rules that support the majority. Steffanie, a cousin of mine, worked for this organization, and the majority were male. Whenever they had meetings and discussions, The female in the room could raise ideas expecting positive debate. Instead, they were seen as less important and incorrect compared to those of their male colleagues. These demoralized the female workers, and they felt not welcomed in such forums, and a number of them resigned. The most obvious methods of oppression comprise persecution, enslavement, and viciousness that aims at people of color. However, several delicate and general forms of oppression impact people’s daily lives (Wilson, 2019). For instance, racist jokes or insults could make people of different colors feel uneasy, nervous, or not safe. Ultimately, this can be so extensive that it may also strengthen negative theories that people of color may have adopted about themselves, referred to as internalized oppression.

References

Boynton-Jarrett, R., Raj, A., & Inwards-Breland, D. (2021). Structural integrity: Recognizing, measuring, and addressing systemic racism and its health impacts. Eclinical medicine, 36, 100921. Web.

Buzas, Z. (2020). Racism and anti-racism in the liberal international order. SSRN Electronic Journal. Web.

Follert, M. (2019). Contractual thought and Durkheim’s theory of the social: A reappraisal.Journal of Classical Sociology, 20(3), 167-190. Web.

Isaksson, A. (2020). Classical sociology through the lens of gendered experiences. Web.

Karima, A., & Boutouchent, F. (2020). economic independence and female autonomy in selected short stories by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Web.

Mambrol, N. (2017). The Sociology of Georg Simmel. Web.

McLeod, J. M., & Chaffee, S. R. (2017). The construction of social reality. In the social influence processes (pp. 50-99). Routledge.

Papilloud, C. (2018). Georg Simmel and relational sociology. Web.

Picciotto, R. (2021). Evaluation as a social practice: Disenchantment, rationalities and ethics.Evaluation and Program Planning, 87, 101927. Web.

Roy‐Chowdhury, S., & Clarke, G. (2022). Impacts of racism and systemic responses.Journal of Family Therapy, 44(1), 1-4. Web.

Williams, T., Walker, T., & Wyatt, W. (2021). Conceptualizing racism through a systemic trauma lens: Impacts on black college students. Journal of Psychotherapy Integration. Web.

Wilson, S. (2019). Racism is real. Racism is complicated. Racism is real complicated. Family Medicine, 51(1), 8-10. Web.

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