Identity, Mead, and Cooley

Identity, Mead, and Cooley

The social theory of self is used to explain social processes on human life in the form of socialization influence as well the development of self. Mead, in his work, conceptualizes the individual mind as one of the essential aspects of the social process.   He presented this case using self and the mind on how they affect the social process.  According to Mead, the process is characterized by the I and Me where me represents an individual’s social self, whereas I am the response to me in the form of attitudes of others. Besides, the I, as used by Mead in this theory  express the overall understanding of the generalized other. In understanding the concept of I and me, Mead proves it by illustrating that the community dictates the individual consciousness. One has to participate in different social activities and make use of the experiences gained in becoming self-conscious.

On the other hand, Cooley’s on The Looking-Glass emphasizes the fact the person’s self grows as a result of social interaction and perception of others. In other words, this theory embodies itself on the fact that people shapes themselves based on what others around them perceive, which forces them to conform to those activities. According to Cooley, suggest that self-concept cannot be built when one is a state of solitude but preferably within a given social setting. In other, both the society and the individual are a coherent and unified phenomenon which complement the other. He provides this theory with three assumptions; individuals imagine how to appear in a social situation, individual believes in the judgment that will be made by others, and one develops given feelings about given response and perception made by others.

In both theories, the experiences are built on society; Mead’s theory believes that the experiences an individual has are a full reflection of society. According to him, the experiences within the community helps in shaping oneself.  He focuses on how one responds to a different aspect of expertise in the community. He uses I and me in bringing out the relationship between the experiences portrayed by the community and how I reciprocate the entire events. Similarly, when relating my personal experience to mead theory, they resonate clearly. I remember very well how my community beliefs have shaped my character; there are things  I  had to do since I find my parents and the community at large doing the same. It is indeed true that I and me are real in shaping one character.

Cooley’s theory emphasizes the community, and he believes that a person’s self grows as a result of interaction between him and society. In other words, the experiences one encounters in society helps in shaping the self. According to this theory by Cooley, an individual and the society are inseparable and complement each other. One of the experiences I have had in life, which I believe resonates well with Cooley’s theory, is how I have grown to be myself and responsible out of what the community says about me. For instance, if the community praised me, I felt pleased.  ‘You did a good job that what we want others to emulate’ this statement I remembered how it aroused my feelings towards doing good things that will impress the society I live in. similarly, if the commend was terrible, it also affected the feeling by forcing me to work towards the direction the community perceives to be right.

In both cases, I believe their reaction was accurate, especially on shaping the character of oneself. In both cases, they put the community as a significant factor. There must be an interaction between the individuals in terms of their attitudes and behaviors. One’s experiences with society play a critical role in shaping the self. To me, that is accurate since we spent most of our time within the community set up. In my experiences, I might say at some point; I had to force myself to behave in a given manner, especially when the comments I received were negative. For instance, when I could not attend church service, it became clear to the community that I was wrong, and the recommended I change,  even though I complied by inside me I felt I forced myself to please them. Similarly, during an event that took place in my neighborhood, I participated fully in the planning not because it was a community but because I wanted to please my parents, who had insisted I do it. Even though I received though the community was happy and made them keep checking on, I felt I faked though it came out clearly that it helped me change the self in the long run.

Question #2: Gaining an Acquired Taste (Module 9)

Becker’s theory is instrumental in how he explains the aspect of one becoming a marijuana user. According to his theory, an individual becomes a marijuana user only by being socialized into the activity. He argued that one could not just wake up and become the user; the environment in which one lives plays a critical role in one being socialized to marijuana. Similarly, he places his argument of one enjoying doing the activity as one the factor that contributes to becoming a marijuana user, especially when the activity comes with some sort of pleasure. According to Becker, these two aspects are responsible for one becoming a marijuana user.

Becker goes in ahead in his theory by given the patterns under which marijuana use becomes socialized. First,the person in question has to learn to smoke the drug correctly. By doing this, they will be able to detect the most pleasurable part of using marijuana. The second step, according to Becker’s theory, is learning to recognize the effects of using drugs as well as connecting them with drug use. And individual can only become the marijuana user if he understands what it entails using them. Last pattern involves the person in question enjoying the sensation. Without persons finding the reasons and sensations behind the drug, then it will be difficult for him to be socialized.

Several symptoms have been put forward by different scholars on how one becomes high. According to Becker’s theory, one experiences an increased heart rate or heartbeat per minute, which illustrates the rate at which the blood in the blood vessels is flowing. This is a total difference when one has not used marijuana. Another symptom of being high involves hallucination in which the individual under the influence of marijuana perceives objects around him to be not there at all. Lastly, according to backer’s theory, the individual under the influence of marijuana, when they are high, they experience severe anxiety over some issues. They are always eager to doing something like going out without any further delay.

Use marijuana develops in an individual with given varying usage. According to Becker’s theory, in the beginning, the taste keeps on varying, and at times the use feels it hard to bear it.  However, the frequent usage of marijuana changes the perception as the tastes become part of the body of the user; in other words, it becomes acquired into the body system. Though the smells of the drug are diverse, and one cannot tell. Still, the most evident smell of marijuana that makes it different is the citrus to which most of the marijuana users say is the more appealing taste that lives no anticipating for more.

The naming of the newly learned process is an important aspect of regulating marijuana use. When these cases are assigned meaning, it becomes easier to alert those who are not socialized into using marijuana in taking the precaution. Similarly, it helps in guiding to already users in the best ways to abandon marijuana without having effects, thereby reducing and preventing them from the impact associated with marijuana use.

Learning about marijuana is important to others as it equips them with knowledge of both the advantages and disadvantages of the use of marijuana. This helps in guiding them on the best decision they need to make regarding the use of this drug. The knowledge acquired cuts across the spectrum, giving the learners the essential and background information about marijuana, especially on the side effects, which helps in controlling the socialization process.

Alcohol and moldy cheese are some of the acquired tastes I have been socialized to. Even though at the beginning, it was difficult to endure their tastes, peer pressure made me be part of this product. I have been using them, and it has been an excellent moment whenever I use them. The first time I was introduced to alcohol, I was even unable to swallow the single sip, its taste was horrible. However, under the influence of my peers, whom they enjoyed every aspect and moment they had about alcohol made me endure the tastes, and it eventually became socialized into me.  I have learned to appreciate the process since it has enabled me to understand why people have always associated with the use of alcohol and moldy cheese given the fact that It has kept me keeping up with my longtime friends.