Sociology

Before proceeding to a detailed discussion of my experience in breaking a social norm, there is a need to define and elaborate some of the types of social norms. Generally, social norms are accepted ways of thinking, feeling, behaving that people in a group agree on and endorse as right and proper. These social norms often take various forms. They can be institutionalized, thus becoming the standard rules of behavior in a society (e. g. law). They can also be manifest rules “that silently tells someone of the approved forms of behavior” (Light et al. , 1989).

Hence, it can be said that social norms comprised most of the conventional behaviors perceived in a given society (it is generally noted that social norms differ across societies – spatially and periodically). Nonetheless, social norms are enforced differently. There are social norms considered to be rigid in application; that is, all members of the society need to follow such rules. These social norms are called mores. Frequently, mores are transformed into laws, expected to be followed by all members of the society (violation is considered to be a threat to social organization).

There are also norms that are laxly enforced by members of the society. These are called folkways. Generally, folkways are the society’s web of cultural or spiritual rituals, traditions, and routines. Deviance (breaking a social norm is synonymous to deviance) is not considered a threat to social organization. Sanction for violating folkways or traditions is less severe than moral deviance. Breaking a Social Norm As part of the requirements in our sociology course, the professor asked us to break a social norm (without contributing physical or mental danger to other people).

A paper will be submitted detailing the specifics of the experience. Initially, I had this fear of social retribution for violating a social norm. Rather than thinking of the form of action I will take in breaking a social norm, I focused more on the consequences. However, since the professor assured us that we were only required to break a “soft” social norm, that is, a norm laxly enforced by the society, I felt relieved. I began enumerating the possible “soft” social norms I could remember. I remembered that wearing pajamas in movie theaters usually embarrasses many people.

Usually, you will hear people talking of your “fashion style. ” Other people usually gossip of the “strangeness” of the “person at his/her front” (a person wearing pajamas). However, as a student of sociology, I would never accept such assertions unless validated by experience or empirical research. Thus, for the first time, I became enthusiastic of my forthcoming experience. There were two things I considered before breaking a social norm: the color of the pajama I would be using and of course, the relative number of people in the theater. Usually, people going to movie theaters are embarrassed to see persons wearing yellow pajamas.

I really do not know the reason behind this observation. What I really cared is that it is possible that the people are reacting not on the appropriateness of wearing pajamas in movie theaters but on the color of the pajamas. Hence, I used a white pajama to eliminate this possibility. The relative number of people going to theater also poses another problem. If I chose a theater which is seldom visited by people, then I will not be able to fully substantiate my deviance. Because deviance is partially measure by the degree of disagreement by the deviant and the society (this is really hard to measure), number is a factor.

Hence, choosing the “right” movie theater (which is observed to be a frequent visiting place for many people) is a factor in executing the experience. I wore a white pajama that day. The movie theater was four blocks away from my residence. I decided to walk. It was about 4 o’clock in the afternoon. In the streets, I noticed that some people were staring at my pajamas. Some of them laughed; some threw a smile on me (most of the persons who laughed were men). It was clear to me that my pajama was causing the “disturbance” (or more appropriate, the social labeling of a deviant).

Then I entered the entrance door of the theater. I noticed that the guard was somehow reluctant to allow me to enter the movie theater. Because I bought a ticket, he had no choice but to allow me to enter the place. Upon entrance to the theater, I saw some persons staring at me. Definitely, they were thinking that my dress is not an appropriate one when going to movie theaters. After a few seconds, they fixed their eyes on the movie screen. Then, I began to walk in the stairs of the movie theater just to take note of the reactions of the people I passed by.

Some people were annoyed at the “inappropriateness” of my dress. I could trace it on the movements of their eyes. I knew that they were directing their view to my dress. Then, I settled on a seat located on the right side of the movie screen. I noticed that the person at my back was directing a laugh to his date. I guessed my dress was the cause. I felt a little distressed on the reactions of the people on my dress. Added to that, because I was the only one “wearing a strange dress”, I felt that I was the focus of attention (disregarding the fact that most of the people in the movie theater focused on the movie).

Then, I noticed that almost all people in the theater were back in their usual “business. ” The person at my back stopped from laughing. Most of the people fixed their eyes on the big screen. During the climax of the movie, I felt that everything was back in the normal. It seemed that that movie altered the focus of the people. Instead of fixing their eyes on my dress, they directed it to the movie screen. The movie screen (and the movie, of course) was a big help. When the movie was about to end, I noticed that some people were again fixing their eyes to my dress.

Some people passing by my seat just ignored me. I felt a little relieved having observed that many people were ignoring me. I felt a little surprise when one of the movie-goers asked me the reason for wearing a white pajama in the movie theater. I said that it was my custom in when going to movie theaters. The person threw a smile at me. I know the thing running in his mind. He was really struck to see a person wearing a white pajama in the movie theater. Breaking the social norm I chose was not really easy. I knew that people would perceive me as a deviant once I start breaking a norm.

Although it was a “soft” social norm, the propensity of a general reaction from people would surely be manifested in their covert behavior; that is, their “silent” disagreement over the inappropriateness of my dress would surely result to gossip and laughter. These general reactions though were proven (through my experience) to be momentarily. These reactions were the result of initial discomfort or uneasiness to some people going in the movie theater. Gender difference with regard to the intensity of reaction was significant. Most of the people who laughed at my dress were men.

Since the norm I broke was a “soft” one, I did not experience any harsh moral sanction. The reason lies on the nature of the norm itself. The norm is part of the routine activities of the people (that going to movie theaters with pajamas is not appropriate), hence does not constitute any moral evaluation. Thus, the sanctions (gossip and laughter) that were directed to me by some of the movie goers were correlated to the type of social norm I broke. Personally, I would really like to repeat this experience (not for experience’s sake) for empirical validation.

Empirical validation is usually effective when multiple points of experiences are examined. In this case, repetition serves as factual and theoretical validation of some elements of social deviance. References Light, Donald. (1989). Sociology. NY: McGraw-Hill Companies. Social Norms. (2007). Retrieved on October 27, 2007 from http://72. 14. 253. 104/search? q=cache:eMCHZe0mVroJ:www. buec. udel. edu/kimt/Leading%2520People/10. 11%2520Social%2520Norm%2520%26%2520Communication. ppt+definition+of+a+social+norm&hl=tl&ct=clnk&cd=2&gl=ph&client=firefox-a.

Introduction

In the following I will assess a research article ‘No place called home: the causes and social consequences of the UK housing ‘bubble’’ by Bone and O’Reilly (2010).A short summary of the article will be included. The article will then be discussed in terms of a model from Burawoy’s typography, identifying which model seems to best fit the research paper, and pointing out the features of that model in terms of the paper. The model selected will be evaluated in terms of practising sociology, with reference to wider literature. Finally, the conclusion will summarise the reasons why the model selected is the best to explain the research paper.

Bone and O’Reilly’s paper looks at the ‘housing bubble’ in the UK, the phenomenon which saw house prices increase significantly between 1995 and 2007 (OECD 2011). Rather than the usual economic perspective, they take a sociological approach, looking at the impact of rising prices and the consequent lack of affordability of housing on society overall. They carry out an extensive analysis of a range of primary and secondary data from numerous sources. They suggest that if house prices are out of the reach of most people, the “bedrock of stable individual family and community life” (Bone and O’Reilly 2010, p. 231) is upturned. The issue is a social problem, rather than a social phenomenon, as more people are unable to afford decent quality housing, demand for social housing increases, people in low standard accommodation also increases (Riley 2005).

Some suggest that gender is a key explanatory variable for analysing the housing bubble: not only are the financial institutions responsible for the rise in prices male-dominated, the impact of the bursting bubble is disproportionally felt by women (Walby 2009). Another analysis is driven by class; from a Marxist perspective the construction worker, a member of the working class, is exploited throughout the lifecycle of the property by banks and other financial institutions (Lund 2011).

Within the UK, government policy regarding housing provision seems to be largely in tune with a “neo-classical economic orthodoxy” (Bone and O’Reilly 2010, p. 232), which translates 19th century laissez faire policies into contemporary language, and which assumes that the free market in housing is the most efficient and fair system for allocating homes. However, the free market approach has never, it has been claimed, resulted in adequate provision of housing which is affordable for low income groups (Leckie 2003), and the impact of housing ‘bubbles’ such as the one discussed by Bone and O’Reilly (2010) have a number of negative social consequences. There is a need to investigate the nature of these consequences and the impact of the housing bubble upon society as a whole.

Burawoy’s Model and the Paper

Burawoy wants to make sociology more relevant to a wider audience (Nichol 2007). He distinguishes four dimensions: professional, policy, public and critical (Quah 2005). These dimensions can be seen as a matrix created by two answers to each of two questions about the discipline: “knowledge for whom?” and “knowledge for what?” (Buraway 2005, p. 269). The two possible types of knowledge (instrumental and reflexive), and the two possible types of audience (academic and non-academic) define the four types of sociology. The type which seems to most closely fit the paper discussed is public sociology, although it also has elements of the other types. Burawoy himself suggests that distinctions between the types are blurred (Nichol 2007). Public sociology is characterised by reflexive, rather than instrumental knowledge, and is written for a non-academic audience. Reflexive knowledge looks at the “value premises of society as well as our profession” (Burawoy 2005, p. 269), with instrumental knowledge having a problem-solving nature and lack of questioning of the parameters which constrain it. Burawoy also suggests that public sociology is characterised by communicative models of knowledge, consensus models of truth, legitimacy models of relevance, designated public models of accountability, public dialogue models of politics, and faddishness as a pathology. Public sociology, further, can be either ‘traditional’ or ‘organic’. Traditional public sociology occurs when sociologist’s work simply happens to make its way into the public realm. Organic public sociology occurs where the sociologist works closely with the public (Burawoy 2005).

Bone and O’Reilly’s paper reports the results of an ongoing survey into the social consequences of the recent increase inUKhouse prices. The survey includes a number of data sources including media and academic texts, internet housing forums and case histories. The rationale for carrying out the research is to show that “secure and affordable housing” is “an essential foundation of stable and cohesive societies” (Bone and O’Reilly 2010, p. 231) through an analysis of the various data sources. There are a number of key findings. Bone and O’Reilly suggest that the causes of boom are not, as has been argued, increased demand and lack of supply: rather, the banking and financial industries have played a key part in creating the rise in prices, together with the ‘buy-to-let’ movement and property developers, supported by the UK government. The social consequences of the boom have been severe, with houses seen as an investment rather than a place to live. A large number of people have been priced out of the housing market. This has led to feelings of disenfranchisement, depression and anger. Family life has been undermined, as well as the community life. Areas deteriorate physically, and people delay having families. There are also inconsistencies between government policy on housing and their wider objectives. The authors conclude that the housing boom has benefited investors at the expense of communities. Government policies around housing have a high social and moral cost. Cheaper housing, particularly for those on a low income and young families, is needed in order to restore social equilibrium, cohesiveness and fairness.

The methodology used in the research is a mixture of secondary research, drawing upon published sources, and primary research, carrying out case studies amongst those affected by the housing boom. Although there is some detail about information sources, the authors do not explicitly discuss or attempt to justify this methodology, nor discuss any possible shortfalls in collecting the data.

The conclusion suggests that the author’s hope for change as a result of the research. By offering a perspective other than an economic one on the housing price boom, they seem to want to challenge current public policy on house prices, on social, economic and moral grounds,. Their paper is a call to change policy in order to act in the long-term interests of the public overall, rather than in the interests of a small, powerful minority. It is not clear who funded the research, as the authors do not discuss it, but given the critical stance it is unlikely it is funded by government.

The model chosen as most appropriate to this paper is ‘public sociology’. The features which characterise this model are:

• Reflexive knowledge
• Non-academic audience
• Communicative mode of knowing
• Consensual model of truth
• Relevance model of legitimacy
• Designated public models of accountability
• Public dialogue models of politics
• Pathology – faddishness
• Either ‘traditional’ or ‘organic’.

The paper demonstrates reflexive, rather than instrumental knowledge.It does not just collect views of the people interviewed or summarise the data collected about the housing market, but rather uses the data gathered to support the idea that public policy on housing needs to be revised. For example figures regarding house prices and mortgage lending are used to support the idea that “excessive and risky” lending was taking place (Bone and O’Reilly 2010, p. 236).

Although the paper appears in an academic journal, the British Journal of Sociology, which suggests the primary audience is academic, the language used in the article is straightforward and can be understood without specialist knowledge. This suggests the article is also targeted at a non-academic audience, and hence can have a life beyond the constraints of the academic world.

The mode of knowledge featured in the paper is clearly not theoretical, and theoretical concepts are barely discussed. Nor is it foundational, associated with critical sociology and questioning the theoretical tenets of the discipline. Rather, it has elements of ‘concrete’ knowledge, associated with policy sociology, as it deals with specifics, but more predominantly features ‘communicative’ knowledge, knowing as sharing and disseminating information. The discussion of the ‘buy-to-let’ phenomena, for example, does not merely state facts about buy-to-let, but aims to communicate a message about the destabilisation of the market.

In regards to the mode of truth assumed by the article, a consensual model, in which the sociologist aims to work with the public to achieve agreement about the world, is used. For example the authors use examples from case studies to draw a conclusion about the extent to which society has disenfranchised the young and less well-off.

In terms of legitimacy, the paper primarily utilises the relevance model associated with public sociology, in that the argument aims to be relevant to the current housing situation and the best interests of the majority. However, it also tries to put across a moral vision, which Burawoy associates with critical sociology, by suggesting that there is a moral imperative to provide good quality housing to all, and to some extent displays the pragmatism associated with policy sociology, in that the authors justify their conclusions on economic grounds as well as social and moral.

The accountability of the authors is c that of the ‘designated publics’ of the public sociology model: their aim is to suggest improvements in the good of the wider public and society as a whole, rather than looking to their academic peers, paying clients or intellectuals.

In terms of policy, Bone and O’Reilly’s paper displays elements of three of the four of Burawoy’s models. They are concerned with professional self-interest, but there is also an element of policy intervention, associated with policy sociology. For example, their conclusions include suggestions for UK government regarding the need to address the housing crisis. While they do not explicitly articulate the ‘internal debate’ associated with critical sociology, their paper is intended to stimulate a wider debate. Finally, the paper also fits into the ‘designated publics’ model of public sociology, as they want to inform a more general audience in addition to government.

In terms of the associated pathology, the closest seems to be ‘dogmatism’, associated with critical sociology, rather than the ‘faddishness’ associated with public sociology. Occasionally the authors seem to state their case rather than clearly prove or argue it from the evidence they give. For example, in the section discussing buy-to-let and the private rented market, the authors could have considered whether it is possible to change the market typical of the UK to one more akin to the German one, rather than dismissing it as an option.

Finally, in terms of the ‘traditional’ and ‘organic’ dichotomy, the paper seems closer to the ‘organic’ type of public sociology, as the authors sought the views of the public through forums and case studies to actively engage with a wide range of opinions.

Evaluation of the model

There are a number of advantages and disadvantages to the ‘public sociology’ model of practicing sociology.

Public sociology offers a way for sociology to provide value to society in general and the public. In addition, by becoming aware of the complexities of the outside world, sociologists can improve their practice and the discipline as a whole (Nyden et al 2011). While the benefits offered to the discipline are not obvious from Bone and O’Reilly’s paper, it is a clear attempt to contribute something to public debate about housing.

In terms of critiques of the model, many concern the relationship between professional and public sociology. It has been suggested, for example, that there is no need to identify a unique type of sociology, but that professional sociology, for example, could extend its public face (Nichols 2007). Some also suggest that professional sociologists already take on public roles (Goldberg and van den Berg 2009). Goldberg and van den Berg (2009) also argue that the hegemony of professional sociologists depicted by Burawoy does not, in fact, exist. Holmwood (2007) suggests that Burawoy’s argument depends on seeing the sociologist as at once citizen and scientist, and that this in turn undermines the value of sociology as professional practice and also of the notion of public sociology in its entirety by compromising the professionally neutral stance. Others have also suggested that the partisan nature of public sociology is a problem: it has been said that public sociology has an ideological leaning towards Marxism, and could be seen as a way to reinvent left-wing approaches for contemporary society (Nichols 2007).From a different viewpoint, Jeffries claims that there is also little information about how Burawoy’s ideas can be interpreted into the education of sociologists (Jeffries 2009).

While these criticisms seem valid, the debate about the relationship between the professional sociologist and the public sociologist hardly touches upon the research paper in question. However, the issue of neutrality or bias to one viewpoint is a feature of the paper, which seems to reject market capitalism in favour of a left-leaning, egalitarian focus.

Conclusion

The above has used one of four types distinguished by Burawoy (2005) to characterise types of sociology. The model selected as most appropriate was that of ‘public’ sociology, which seems the closest fit to the paper by Bone and O’Reilly (2005), as it attempts to apply sociological perspectives to a matter of wider public concern: the negative impact of the recent house price ‘bubble’. Although the paper is written in an accessible way, and makes clear points regarding the causes and outcomes of the bubble, and also recommends addressing the issue of housing for economic, social and moral reasons, it also has elements in common with other of Burawoy’s categories.

References

1. Bone, J and O’Reilly, K (2010) ‘No place called home: the causes and social consequences of the UKhousing ‘bubble’’, The British Journal of Sociology, 61:2, 231-253.
2. Burawoy, M (2005). ‘2004 American sociological association presidential address: For public sociology’, British Journal of Sociology, 56:2, 259-294.
3. Goldberg, A and van den Berg, A (2009) ‘What Do Public Sociologists DoA Critique of Burawoy’, Canadian Journal of Sociology, 34:3
4. Holmwood, J (2007) ‘Sociology as Public Discourse and Professional Practice: A Critique of Michael Burawoy’, Sociological Theory, 25:1, 46-66.
5. Jeffries, V (2009) Handbook of public sociology, Rowman & Littlefield.
6. Leckie, S (2003) National perspectives on housing rights, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers,The Hague,Netherlands
7. Lund, B (2011) Understanding Housing Policy, The Policy Press,Bristol.
8. Nichols, L T (2007) Public sociology: the contemporary debate, Transaction Publishers,New BrunswickNJ.
9. Nyden, G and Hossfeld, L (2011) Public Sociology: Research, Action, and Change, Pine Forge Press, 2011 / Sage,London.
10. OECD (2011) OECD Economic Surveys: United Kingdom 2011, OECDPublishing,UK
11. Quah, S R (2005) ‘Four sociologies, multiple roles’, The British Journal of Sociology, 56:3.
12. Riley, G (2011) Housing Market Economics, Tutor2u Limited,UK
13. Walby, S (2009) ‘Gender and the Financial Crisis’, [online] (cited 27th July 2011), available from http://www.lancs.ac.uk/fass/doc_library/sociology/Gender_and_financial_crisis_Sylvia_Walby.pdf

When Ehsan Alipour designed his “SmartIron” for a class project at Stanford, the idea of “smart” products had yet to be popularized. Apple wouldn’t release the first iPhone for another two years and touch technology was just emerging. At first thought, an iron may seem like an unambitious choice for a project, but 11 years later, Alipour has built an entire company upon his school project and expanded his product line to over 2 dozen more “re-inventions.”

Building a physical product is different than an app or SaaS platform where you don’t hold physical inventory or have to worry about shipments and manufacturing. Still, there are things you can learn from Oliso that apply to any industry.

1. Big Successes Sometimes Come in Odd Packages

At a time when inventions like The Cloud and GPS were budding, Ehsan chose to reinvent an everyday appliance people have relied upon for the past 130 years. After a century of irons sitting upright, Ehsan laid his iron sideways and added touch-activated legs for a school project. This more stable design keeps the metal face of the iron towards the board and away from you. Says Ehsan, “I always thought there was a better way to do things (and if it’s fun too, even better) and I am never satisfied with the status quo.” Once the iron was distributed, it gained a whirl of popularity, sold incredible amounts of units and made Oliso into a popular home product company.

2. Know What Motivates You

The SmartIron may have started as a fun design project, but it was how users engaged with his invention that captured Alipour. This is what other founders should really focus on. User experience and understanding how your customer behaves when engaging with your product should always be your motivation to continue building.

3. Focus on Your Community

After the success of the SmartIron, Ehsan did not stop creating. He says that Oliso is “people-focused and has an ongoing dialogue with various communities that use [their] products heavily. People and their needs drive the next invention or reinvention.” When Ehsan thought about his own kitchen, he was struck with a realization: “Our ancestors used to stoke a fire to bake bread in their oven before ovens had thermostats. And essentially that is what your stovetop still is today.”

Listening to the community is the difference between a success and failure for a brand – especially one that is so heavily used in daily life.

4. Build a Team You Can Rely On

Behind every successful founder is a great team. Oliso is no different. Ehsan’s wife, Shann, is his biggest supporter and partner. Balancing a business and marriage can be complicated. Ehsan and Shann consider themselves fortunate enough to have found a balance that motivates and inspires them. What advice do they have? “Don’t take yourself too seriously (‘I’m the CEO’ does not work with your wife),” Ehsan jokes. “A little comic relief is important to fit into everyday.”

Co- founders are not much different than a marriage either. When you are equally invested in a company’s success, the importance of relationships gets stronger. Make sure your team is not only full of your biggest supporters but also people who can challenge you and provide differing opinions.

American football as we know it originated from rugby played in Britain in the mid-19th century. The person who Americans consider the “Father of American Football” is Walter Camp. Professional football can be traced back to 1982, when there was a $500 contract for the Allegheny Athletic Association and the Pittsburgh Athletic Club to play a game against each other. Originally football was primarily a sport of the Midwestern industrial towns in the United State.

In 1902, the American Professional Football Association was formed and two years later the National Football League. The competition was fierce between the two leagues, which led the two leagues to merge. Football eventually became national. When the two leagues merged is when the Super Bowl was formed. This is the most viewed event in the United States on a yearly basis. Football has grown for many years now and now has 32 teams. According to the Scarborough Research data, the NFL fans mirror the general United States population in many areas including age, race and income.

There are a few discrepancies which include that men account for 49% of the general population, however the account for 58% of the NFL fans versus women who account for 51% of the general population but only account for $35-50K, in which they account for 19% of the fan base for the NFL. The report also states that there are more NFL fans that are married than non-married. The age group with the highest attendance whether on television or at the actual games is 35-44 years old. The Scarborough Report has a tremendous amount of statistics regarding NFL fans.

The list goes from what they like to eat or drink to how many kids live in the household. I was very amazed by the information that was researched. In the society today, football affects almost every household. The impact of football has grown over the last few decades. The number of channels on the television in which sports can be watched has had a massive effect on the society. There are now channels just for specific sports and these channels only show that particular sport on that channel, all day. Football is a very physical sport. Youth like to see the physical part of the sport and they use the sports players as their role models.

They all want to have muscles like the football players and be tough like the football players and of course they want to play football as well. The impact of football has both negative and positive factors. I found an article on the wives of the coaches of football. It was very interesting. In the article it states that in 1989, a group of women who were married to football coaches met at the American Football Coaches Association convention in Nashville, Tennessee (Tucker, 2001) and decided to form a support group. Evidently, they were feeling a little let out of the loop.

For many men, football allows for violence and male bonding (Nelson, 1994), however, for women, football often means competing for men’s attention, or worrying about boyfriends, husbands or sons on the field. Within this article it also talks about how the spheres changed because men were known to leave the home and go outside to work and women stayed inside and were domesticated. Football is for men and it classifies them as performers and heroes, however women are classified as watchers and admirers. This article overall is showing the differences in men and women in regards to football.

There were a lot of different opinions by different people who had heard about the organization of the American Football Coaches’ Wives Association. How this group puts together recipe books and visits the sick children in the hospital was a great asset to the group but they still don’t get the recognition that the football players get. This was a very tougher paper for me to write due to the fact that even though I like football, I have never looked at it in any other way than occasional entertainment. I am not a die-hard fan who watches the sport every chance that I get.

Scarborough Research Examines NFL Fan Demos, QSR (2009, September) Preferences, http://www. sportsbusinessdaily. com/Daily/Issues/2009/09/Issue-12/The-Back-Of-The-Book/Scarborough-Research-Examines-NFL-Fan-Demos-QSR-Preferences. aspx Tucker, Diana, A Gender Drama in American Football Culture: The Case of the Coach’s Wife. , (2001) Football Studies, vol. 4 no. 2 http://www. la84foundation. org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/2001/FS0402g. pdf Nelson, M. B. (1994). The stronger women get, the more men love football: Sexism and the American culture of sports. New York: Avon.

Outline the main sociological explanations of poverty in western societies. Which of these explanations do you think is most useful? Give reasons for your answer.

Introduction

Sociologists and research have agreed that the world “POVERTY” doesn’t have a fix definition or fix measure, which can apply or be acceptable to everyone. According to (thinkquest.org) website debates that “some people describe poverty as a lack of essential items, such as food, clothing, water and shelter needed for proper living”, while UN’s world summit on social development, the ‘Copenhagen Declaration’ described poverty as “…a condition characterised by severe deprivation of basic human needs, including food, safe drinking water, sanitation facilities, health, shelter, education and information”.

There is no doubt that many questions will be thought according to both definitions, for example, why people have a house, can effort food to eat everyday and have TV in their living room, still classified themselves as in poverty category why people have one job or two and straggle to have enough money to live onObviously, the answer of those questions can show that there is not a specific definition of poverty, it depends of the lack of something which a person needs or the situation and the views of a person giving the definition.

However, Sociologists and researchers have come up with two different approaches to explain poverty which is absolute poverty and relative poverty. What it means to be poor is an important question for sociologists to deeply look at. In this essay, it will discuss the main sociological explanation of poverty, which is firstly absolute poverty and secondly relative poverty .In that way, it will be easier to clarify the sort of poverty in different situation. Also, this topic will take in consideration western societies for example (UK, U.S, etc…) to explain those approaches. Finally, it will look at which of those approaches can be useful to most of people to understand poverty.

An absolute poverty can be defined as the minimum required sustaining life’ (Collins Educational, 1997) or ‘an absolute standard means one defined by reference to the actual needs of the poor and not by reference to expenditure of those who are not poor. A family is poor if it cannot afford to eat’ (Keith Joseph, 1979).The best way to understand the concept of absolute poverty also sometimes know as subsistence poverty, in western societies, is to measure how many people in a country are to be called poor, for instance the amount of income someone needs in order to buy necessities, or the income of the person who has the twentieth lowest income if the population was hundred. Absolute poverty can only proceed and understand in comparison of income.

Taking an example of UK, according to reported that over five million people live in “absolute poverty”, that it is because their incomes don’t cover all necessity their need to live. It is easy to measure the absolute poverty, while comparing individual incomes but it is impossible to search for an objective measure of absolute poverty. For instance, to calculate exactly how much income each person need to be keep out of absolute poverty while things got up each year. People try to fund jobs but because they have no experience, they have to live on benefit, in that condition they have to try to live on their level, like buying cheapest things their found and many times unhealthily. Bradshaw argue that “The living standards of families on social benefit, particularly those on the ordinary rate of benefit, is harsh: the food is short on calories and even that is only achieved with the most determined of self-control in purchasing only the cheapest items and avoiding all waste”.

Furthermore, sociologists have discovered that absolute poverty in western societies; can also be explain looking the concept of underclass, which is defined according to W.G.Runciman as “those beneath the working classes”.Runciman’s definition, means those who live on benefits paid by the state, are unable to participate in the market at all, for example teenage pregnancy, permanent unemployment, crime, drug ect….Sociologists have agreed to point the term Behavioural when explaining absolute poverty in underclass debate. A behavioural explanation consists of kind of people behaviour different in society. For example people don’t want to work at all or instant to buy what their need to survive with the money the state give to them, they use the money to buy drugs, alcohol ect…After all, researchers and sociologists agreed that absolute poverty still have a big place in western societies.

The second approach which is relative poverty can be defined as ‘the lack of resources in comparison with other members of a given society’ (social.jrank.org).In the Townsend’s book “Poverty in the united kingdom” explained the concept of the relative poverty in many ways. This essay will try to outline one of example given. Townsend argued that “any preliminary outline of available evidence about poverty must include evidence about inequality”. Talking about inequality, many researches have agreed with Townsend that inequality is one of the main types of explanations of relative poverty in western societies. Inequality can be on health, income, household or wealth. For instance, inequality on incomes can be explain in two ways.

First, a weekly or monthly income of each person received on his wage in the country and then, income can also be explain as a support from the government for those don’t have a job, unable to work for different reasons or are not reaching the average income in the country. In UK, for example, the income is not the same; some people can receive ?200 per week, while others can receive 400 per week for their wages, which make a UK in relative poverty because if the wages are not equal, that means buying needs, are not equal as well. “In 2008/09, 13.5 million people in the UK were living in households below the 60% low-income threshold after deducting housing costs. This is around a fifth (20%) of the population”.

That shows most of the population in UK live in relative poverty because of the inequality incomes. Also in UK, there is income support from the government to help families, old people or others, in order to get on level on basic standard of living. But the income they receive, are not all equal. For example ,a family with 2 adults and 2 children will not received the same amount of income with a single person, the inequality of those incomes explain also that in the UK incomes are very greatly varied. In the side of USA, inequalities still the main issue which cause the country to live on poverty. ‘The average amount by which poor people’s incomes fell below the poverty line was greater in 2004 than any other year since recordkeeping the poor fell below the poverty line was $7,775 per family in 2004’.

For example, in USA, a singer mum with 2 children, working full-time, would make $10,712 before taxes that will make a wage of $4,355 which is completely below the poverty threshold set by the federal government.

It is difficult to compare poverty levels in different countries specially in western societies because most of them are capitalist countries, but doesn’t means all of them relative poverty reign .Relative poverty is measured and explained in western societies according to average income of the country. If the income is not equal, that means health, household, wealth, will not be equal as well. For instant, people can get any treatments they need when their income reached the average level of the country while others in low level or low income can not effort it.

In conclusion, even if poverty is defined in different ways, sociologists and researches have come up to one key point which is ‘a family is poor if it cannot afford to eat’ (Keith Joseph, 1979). Basically, if a family cannot manage to buy food, the family is automatically in poverty category. Poverty should also be defined in absolute poverty, because according to the definition given above, if a person is listed in absolute poverty, it cannot effort the basic necessities. When a person cannot get food or basic needs, that person is poor and in absolute poverty.

In other hand, when defined poverty in relative poverty approach, which is measured by comparing incomes from someone to others, it doesn’t clearly describe poverty, because the people in question have all the basic necessities to live a healthy lifestyle but not the luxury .some people will always earn more than the others.

To explain poverty in western societies, absolute poverty should be used to measure or define poverty instant of relative poverty. By comparing incomes, countries should used relative poverty instant of absolute poverty.

Introduction

This essay will examine my personal self development in relation to self-awareness and listening skills. Personal development refers to a set of activities that one can engage in for the purpose of enhancing self knowledge and identity. It involves talent and potential development, building of human capital as well as employability, improving the quality of life, and last but not least, playing a role towards the realization of aspirations and dreams. The idea of personal development is not only limited to self development, but also entails formal and informal activities meant to develop others, as well. For instance, counseling, teaching, guiding, mentoring, coaching and managing, for instance, just as required of a mental healthcare practitioner.

Body

Before, while working as a mental healthcare practitioner, I came to realize that, I had the desire to attend to others, but was really poor at listening. I felt like most people I was attending to were not really sure of what they actually wanted and that, I knew better what they were in need of. Because I had trouble being patient enough to listen, I often never got to understand what they were talking about. The problem with this experience was that I never really got to provide sufficient solutions to most problems that were relayed to me. After realizing this challenge and making an effort to start listening better, I have realized how easy it can be to communicate and understand others much better. Consequently, I have been able to be of much help in my endeavors anywhere and at anytime. Given a chance again probably as a healthcare practitioner, I know I can be able to build rapport with my fellow colleagues, bosses and even the clients.

Self awareness is a fundamental factor at the core of this broad and significant pursuit. Widening one’s self awareness involves discovering new truths about an individual. Self awareness can be described as a circle whereby everything within and without the circle is the self. Those things that exist within the circle are the things that one’s current level of self awareness allows one to consciously comprehend (Johns, 2005). As a person’s circle of self awareness expands, not only is he or she consciously aware of a greater portion of him or herself, but also the borders of his or her awareness have enlarged in such a way that, his or her self awareness borders upon a widened area of future discovery and development. The more doors an individual opens, the more he or she realizes there are to be opened. Personal development starts at a point of self awareness. In fact, it may as well be the ultimate end (Johns, 2005).

As I have come to learn, self awareness is quite important. The views we hold concerning the daily happenings of the world and even of our personal lives hugely determines for an individual the state of the world he or she is living in as well as his/her being. Therefore, one important lesson which can be learnt in life is the significance of the things we focus on. When a person thinks about failure, he or she will definitely find reasons to certainly succumb to it. When you think about health and well-being, you will essentially make the important decision of doing everything within your reach that will lead to better health and well-being (Johns, 2005).

At a personal level, the idea of personal development involves activities such as improving self knowledge and awareness, building identity, developing strengths, spiritual development, enhancing potential, improving health, fulfilling aspirations, enhancing lifestyles, improving wealth, improving social abilities, and building human capital (Johns, 2005). In my pursuit of personal development, I have come to notice that, any kind of development whether personal, economic, geological, political or organizational, demands a framework to be able to know whether change has in reality occurred. For the case of personal development, a person frequently operates as the principal judge of improvement. Corroboration of objective improvement requires an assessment which has to be carried out using a standard criterion (Johns, 2005). These frameworks comprise of benchmarks or goals that define the strategies, end-points or plans for achieving goals, appraisals and evaluation of progress, levels that describe milestones, and finally a feedback mechanism that provides information on developments.

Poor communication is an inexorable cause of stress (Moss, 2008). One area of communication where most people are worst at is listening. It is through the significant impact of personal development that an individual can grow and improve his or her relationships, wealth, happiness, health, and careers. According to Burnand (1997), listening and attending are by far the most vital aspects of being aneffective healthcare professional. Most times, I feel I am obliged to talk and do only a little listening. Over-talking on the part of healthcare professionals is normally considered to be less productive (Burnand, 1997). I will develop in my listening skills so that I can be of help to other people. It is important to understand the difference between attending and listening to a person. Attending generally involves ,a true direction of focus on the other person you are communicating with. It requires one to consciously pay attention of what the person is actually saying and what he or she is trying to communicate. Listening, on the other hand, is the process of hearing the other person you are communicating with. It requires an individual to not only note what the other person is saying, but also the other many, aspects of communication (Burnand, 1997).

Before, I never used to have the capacity to consciously choose the perspectives I took. Most of my thoughts, which I may consider as being stealthy behavior, had been rolling with life, becoming influenced by events around me, the media, as well as my peers. This made me feel like I gave up my power as a human being to come up with my world the way I possibly see it. In other words, it felt like I was using my own power against myself to make myself feel absolutely powerless. It was impossible to develop and grow myself with a lack of self awareness Johns, (2005).

After, making enough efforts to get myself into a point of self awareness with improved listening skills, I have been able to maintain a high level of self awareness by keeping my attention focused on everything going on around me. It is true to say that human beings are complex and diverse Elearn Limited, (2005). To develop , I have been able to develop an understanding of myself based on a number of self awareness areas for example personality, habits, emotions, values, and needs. Through, a personal study of myself it has been evident to me that, personal needs, and values can not be changed based on what I have been able to learn about myself. However, an understanding of my personality has enabled me to discover those areas where I can flourish, and avoid situations that are likely to cause unwarranted stress to my life. For instance, I have come to acknowledge the fact that I am an introvert.

It is essential for each person to acknowledge and focus on personal values. My current priority has been to build my relationship with God. It has been very hard personally for me to keep sight of this priority on a day-to-day basis. During a normal busy day, I face so many challenges and arising opportunities that my list of “things to be done” often exceeds the time available for me to do them. Because of this reason, before, a lot of times I used to find myself spending much time on activities of lower priority since only few of these things are related to what I value most. Currently, I can get myself to focus enough attention on my values, and as a result, I am always much more likely to realize those things I consider most important.

Habits can be described as those behaviors that one routinely and frequently automatically repeats (Elearn Limited, 2005). I have realized that, I always have the urge to develop habits that would enable me to interact effectively with other people, especially while executing my duties as a mental health practitioner. Before, in while attending to my patients, I never used to often consult enough before making important decisions. This habit interfered with my ability to build the commitment of the people around me towards the decisions I make. I have since come to learn that, there are a number of psychological needs that fuels a person’s behaviors, Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Personally, I have been able to understand how certain needs in my life affect my interpersonal relationships. After making this realization, today, I am able to know which needs actually influences my behaviors most.

Looking at my life, I am always in a high need for status. I am very much attracted to high-status occupations, and desperately in need for high-status positions in high status organizations. This is one of the reasons why I found myself joining the( medical )industry. I always have the desire to be shown respect, and get privileges that most people of a lower status are not able to acquire. For this reason, many times, I find myself fighting for things that other groups of people consider inconsequential, for example spacious rooms and fancy things. It is evident to me that needs cause motivations. When they are not fulfilled they causelot of frustrations, unease, stress and conflict.

Emotional self awareness is a topic that causes much excitement to me because of its impacts (Pavlina, 2008). It also happens to be one of the components of emotional intelligence. Being in a state whereby you are able to understand your own feelings, the things that trigger them, as well as how they impact on your thoughts together with your actions on a daily basis can be considered to be emotional self awareness. Before, while starting my career as a mental healthcare worker, I realized that, at first I was very much enthusiastic. Slowly I started losing the motivation and the excitement faded.

Before, the question that lingered on my mind most was whether I could be able to get the excitement once again. To answer this question I managed to seek the services of a counselor who informed me that, before I can be able to answer that question I needed to understand the internal processes that are concerned with getting excited. For sure this sounds quite easier than it actually is. She gave me another perspective of looking at the matter i.e. associating the internal processes that are concerned with getting excited in my work place.

Most patients are aggressive, restless and irritable on admission, this makes me feel like nursing stable patients only, however I become excited when patients are mentally stable and on their way home.

Similarly, an individual with high standards of emotional self awareness is better informed about the internal processes involved with emotional experiences and, therefore, has a better control over them (Pavlina, 2008). People can develop interests towards their jobs by probably doing things differently. This way, I have been able to sustain my subsequent jobs that I have been taking. I have evaluated my perfomance and identified areas of which I would like to develop in order to improve my standard of achievements in my skills. Kolb‘s learning cycle(currently have a better control over my feelings and emotional experiences thus, I am able to tackle things differently in different environments, in different occasions and in different ways. Concerning my personal awareness, I willhave become aware of my good qualities and weaknesses. Therefore I will arrange clinical supervision with my mentor to plan future development. Butterworth (1996) suggested minimum clinical supervision of 45minutes every four weeks.

Conclusion

Personal development refers to a set of activities that one can engage in for the purpose of enhancing self knowledge and identity. It involves talent and potential development, building of human capital as well as employability, improving the quality of life, and last but not least playing a role towards the realization of aspirations and dreams. The idea of personal development is not only limited to self development, but also entails formal and informal activities meant to develop others, as well. As a person’s circle of self awareness expands, not only is he or she consciously aware of a greater portion of him or herself, but also the borders of his or her awareness have enlarged in such a way that, his or her self awareness borders upon a widened area of future discovery and development. The more doors an individual opens, the more he or she realizes there are to be opened.

Listening and attending are by far the most vital aspects of being an effective healthcare professional. Over-talking on the part of healthcare professional is normally considered to be less productive. If people can train themselves to learn on how to really listen to others, then they can be of really much help to the society. Personal development starts at a point of self awareness. In fact, it may as well be the ultimate end. It through the significant impact of personal development that an individual can grow and improve his or her relationships, wealth, happiness, health, and careers. Self awareness is a fundamental factor at the core of this broad and significant pursuit. Widening ones self awareness involves discovering new truths about an individual. Any kind of development whether personal, economic, geological, political or organizational, demands a framework for one to be able to know whether change has in reality occurred. For the case of personal development, a person frequently operates as the principal judge of improvement. Corroboration of objective improvement requires an assessment which has to be carried out using a standard criterion.

Reference list

Butterworth, T.1996.Primary attempts at research based evaluation of clinical supervision.

Nursing Times Research 1(2):96-112

Burnand, P., 1997. Effective communication skills for healthcare professionals. Cheltenham: Nelson Thornes.

Elearn Limited., 2005. Managing yourself. Oxford: Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann.

Johns, H., 2005. Personal development in counselor training. London: Sage Publishers.

Moss, B., 2008. Communication skills for health and social care. London: Sage.

Pavlina, S., 2008. Personal development for smart people. London: Hayhouse.

Rolfe, G., Freshwater, D. & Jasper, M., 2001. Critical reflection for nursing and helping professionals. Palgrave MacMillan.

Most people would agree with doing something horrific to another person, since it is easier to conform, than to fight, people tend to protect themselves before protecting a stranger. Stanley Milgram put a study together to prove that Germans are more likely to be obedient to authority then American are. The study was called “If Hitler Asked You to Electrocute a Stranger, Would You? Probably. ” Milgram explains the character aspects of why people listen to authority and why they afraid not to.Social structure and the organization of society have a powerful affect on people.

Milgrams set out to New Haven to start the study ad later on planed to go to Germany to do the study on the society there. Stanley wanted to prove that Germans are more obedient then Americans are. He started this study in New Haven then planned on going to Germany but while in New Haven he realized Americans could be just as obedient as Germans can be.Yet the Germans did help Hitler on his act against the Jewish people living in Germany. In his study he realized that the charter flows in the way that the society has control over the people. Germans obey without questions when Americans questions why they should do something. How Hitler had control over the Germans relates to how parents and the government take control to an extent.

As children we learn to listen to our parents and do what they ask of us. And if we don’t we get punished in some way.Our parents try to teach us at a young age to obey authority. Also the government has set rules for citizens saying what they are aloud to do. But the rules they set are to keep citizens safe and away from harms way. Everyone does things they don’t exactly want to do but that is part of life yet that doesn’t mean that people have to go and kill people since they know it is wrong but people are so worried about what will happen if they don’t do it or if they will be accepted.People can be so obedient because they are afraid of what will happen to themselves and a lot of times they don’t care about what will happen to other people.

People love to be accepted and have people like them and if they don’t do what people tell them to dot they might be cut out of the group. The consequences that can happen if one doesn’t listen or do what they are told brings the fear of punishment and isolation. People can be amazed at the things someone might do to just be accepted and not lose people.