Norms, sanctions, status, roles, culture and subculture

Norms, sanctions, status, roles, culture and subculture

Norms, sanctions, status, roles, culture and subculture, are among the   fundamental sociological concepts that hold the society together and form the basis on which the society is anchored. From a sociological perspective, norms are social understandings that are informal and which determine and govern the behavior of people within a given society.  Therefore, the importance of norms is that they shape the behavior of people in the society. Therefore, if an individual behavior defies the norms, this is perceived to be a disruption in the society, and it draws the attention of the members of the society.  Personally, social norms largely determine the manner in which I carry myself and how I treat other people. Correspondently, sanctions in sociology are a mechanism that is used for social control, and they can either be positive or negative.  Sanctions play a central role in regulating conducts and behaviors of people to ensure that they conform to the social norms.  They are rather organized, and they follow recognized traditional and procedures.  On the other hand, social status is the coherent competence, respect, and reverence that is given to people and groups in a given social setting.  Social status is important in the society as they help in social stratification and give people a sense of belonging. It brings about honor and prestige in the society.

Social status is closely related to the role in sociology as role defines the social status of an individual. Notably, role in a sociological perspective is the expected behavior of a particular who has a certain social status or who occupies a given position in the society.  Roles are important in that they help in providing a means of placing an identifying the individual in a society.  Finally, culture is the epicenter of society, and without culture, there will be no a society. In other words, a culture is a tool that assembles all the codes that define a society and determines the path and characterization of the society.   

The five social institutions evaluated above have a significance in my life,  my family and the society at large. For instance, norms determine the manner in which I relate with the members of my family and the respect I accord to them. On the other hand, sanctions help to bring behavioral sanity to me, my family and the society by giving consequences of failures to follow the social norms. On the other hand, status plays a central in determining the position that each member of my family occupies and the respect accorded. For instance, my father has a higher social status than any other member of the family, and this determines the respect he accorded by the family. By having stratified social status, the roles we play in the family also vary. For instance, my father is the breadwinner, and he must play this role for him to maintain his social status in the family. Culture largely determines how we do things within the confine of our family. Culture acts as an external force that determines how things are done within the family.

Question 2

By definition, socialization is a concept through which social norms and ideologies are learned and internalized in a given social system. It is a social concept that involves both learning and teaching. Therefore, it is an approach through which cultural and social continuity are attained. It is a kind of social experience that helps people to learn about their culture, and it is a lifetime process that influences the beliefs,  behavior, and action of people. In most cases, socialization results in the development of morals which are the intended and desirable outcomes of the process and thus the concept provide a partial explanation of human behaviors and beliefs.

Agencies of socialization are the institutions that help or facilitate socialization. In the modern society,  various agencies can be derived. The most basic and most influential agency is the family.  The family is the basic agency because the process of socialization begins at the family level.  Family members are among the most intimate people for an individual thus they largely determine how people behave and interact with people. Peer group is the second agency of socialization and which is also very influential. Every individual young or old have their peer who they actively socialize and share ideas. The third agency is the media. In the recent times,  the use of media as a tool of socialization has increased and has greatly changed the manner in which people socialize. There has been an increase in the use of social media as an agent of socialization, and this has come with its own share of pros and cons in socialization.

A detailed analysis of socialization indicates that there is a different type of socialization. The most basic is the primary socialization which occurs when an individual learns about th values and norms of a given society which further informs their behavior. On the hand, secondary socialization is the more enhanced type of socialization where an individual learns the appropriate behavior to display within a given group of people. Correspondently,  Development socialization involves a learning process which focuses on developing individual social skills.

Symbolic interactionist perspective is a theory that views the basic construct of the society as the product of socialization and everyday social interaction of people. The approach also focuses on the manner in which people use the symbol in their everyday interactions and how this interactions shape the behavior of individuals in the society. It insists that human beings should be taken and understood as a social person who think and who can be able to define their actions and behaviors.

Socialization and Symbolic interactionist perspective directly influence my life in that they largely determine the manner in which in communicate and how I develop behavior. The concepts inform on various social institutions that influence my behavior and how I can be able to scoop positive behavior and attributes from them.  The concept that I believe is the most important in the society is socialization as it forms the basic fabric for the formation of a society. Without interaction, a society is doomed and meant to fail. Socialization creates the norms in the society and informs on the manner in which people behave.

Question 3

Max Weber as a philosopher explores in detail power, authority and bureaucracy. He defines power as the accrued capabilities of an individual, group or organization to exercise will over another person, group or organization. Therefore, power has the capabilities of shaping larger dynamics in the society including governments,  social groups, and professional organizations.  For example, a country which is politically and economically stable is powerful. As a result, the country can use this power to support the progress of other countries or sieze the control of others. For instance, in 2002, the United States used its power to enter Iraq and end the regime of Saddam Hussein. Recently, the country has used power by use of sanctions on North Korea to deter its nuclear weapon development.

On the other hand, Weber describes authority as socially approved or legitimate use of power. It is the notion of approval that separate authority form power as power can be exerted by the use of violence and force while authority can only be implemented through acceptance and approval by the subordinates. For instance, the government has authority over the citizens, but it cannot use this authority to harm the public.

Similarly, Weber defines bureaucracy as a system where crucial system where the affairs of the government are run by a group of people who are elected. It a complex kind of system that utilizes both power and authority for the good of the society. Weber insisted that use of bureaucracy is the most rational and effective way of organizing human activities and eliminate inefficiency.

When a  bureaucracy fails it results in Dysfunctions of bureaucracy which is characterized by elements such as lack of effective communication,  goal displacement, incompetence and lack of empowerment. It results in the rigid interpretation of rules which affects the functioning of a given social group. I have been affected by the characteristics of dysfunctions of bureaucracy where the government has used its authority wrongly resulting in my suffering and suffering of other people in the country.