Response Paper 6

Chelsea Billek

October 27, 2011

SOC 1000-15

Response Paper 6

            One’s social class position is vital information to know in order to be a productive member of society. One’s social class position can be relevant to a number of things in everyday life, such as politics and religion. Some things said to effect one’s social class position are income, occupation, education, and lifestyle. In my opinion, I, myself belong to the lower-middle class. My family as a whole, on the other hand, would probably belong to the upper-middle class. Though I was not always aware of or educated on the social classes, now is a time where it is becoming very relevant to me.

            My knowledge of the social classes began in high school. Through out the numerous history, psychology, and sociology classes I took, social class was a reoccurring theme. In high school I held a summer job and began working part time at another my senior year. I was working on obtaining my high school diploma at the time. Therefore, my class was not severely relevant to me. Once I graduated from high school and was looking into colleges, it started becoming imperative. One thing that I first encountered regarding my social class was pertaining to college tuition. The amount of tuition I would be responsible for and the amount of financial aid granted to me relied mostly on my family’s social class. Now that I am a sophomore in college, this topic has come up in work, class, and a majority of other places I find myself.

The logic behind social classes, specifically one’s own social class, is an important thing to be aware of for numerous reasons. Questions referring to your income and social status will appear on many documents one will inevitably be faced with. Not only did it appear on my college documents, but my tax documents as well. Also, if you are considering voting, it is important to know about the politician’s standings on social class. Are they in favor of doing beneficial things for your social class, or another? For these reasons, it is easy to see why this information is not taught to children at an early age. Once kids have become adolescents and become more involved in society, then they should become aware of these matters. At this time they are interacting with an older crowd and most have acquired jobs or other higher positioned places in society.

With that being said, the only time I really felt unsure of my social position was probably when I was younger. Up until my third year of high school, social class was not something imperative for me to know. My junior year of high school was the first time I became introduced to social class. At this time I experienced false consciousness because I was going through such a dramatic change in my life. I was seeing myself in relation to the rest of the world in a whole new way. I was also not very educated on the ideology behind the social classes. But, once I became better educated I made my assumption as to which class I belong in.

Response Paper 5

Chelsea Billek

October 6, 2011

SOC 1000 (15)

Response Paper 5

            In today’s world, there are many different forms of formal and informal social control. These types of controls can vary by state, town, community, etc. Formal social control is widespread and effects more people than most informal control. Although, at Kean University, I feel that formal social control is not as evident. Being a renowned university with students attending there to better themselves, it is not very common to see formal laws being imposed. Not because no one administers them, but because there is seldom a need for enforcement to step in. Most students and faculty attending Kean University see it as a privilege, and would not do something as unheard of as to disobey a law on campus. Though there are times where this does occur, they are luckily few and far between. At my place of business, the same ideology applies. I would never do something to risk losing my place there. I earn a good amount of money and again, see it as a privilege to be working there. If someone was to break the law while employed here, I strongly believe it would be grounds for automatic termination. Likewise at Kean, doing so would probably result in expulsion or another drastic form of punishment.

            Informal laws on the other hand, are much more prevalent. This is especially true in the two settings mentioned. Although informal social control can vary by person, there are many common ones shared by society. I believe both formal and informal social controls are somewhat effective, but formal control would have to be the most powerful. I feel this way because formal laws do not discriminate against race or religion. Everyone is expected to oblige to the same code, despite their personal beliefs or feelings. This is not true in informal control. That being said, society takes much bigger measures to ensure that formal laws are obeyed.

            Someone who goes against this formal social control would be considered a “deviant”. Most people see deviance as a characteristic of the person. But in reality, a deviant is someone deemed that by society. In one’s own mind, they might see nothing wrong with their reasoning or logic for breaking the formal code. They might have even had a somewhat excusable reason for doing so. Yet society, who might not know their story behind it, automatically views them as a menace to society. Also, there are groups of people that think certain laws are unjust and should be repealed. One such example that can be heard or seen today is the legalization of marijuana. A large number of Americans believe marijuana should be legalized. Therefore, someone charged with a marijuana related crime may be viewed as a deviant to some, but just the opposite to others.

Response Paper 4 - Out of Class Meet Up!

If you didn't recognize it our group met up at the STEM building! It was where we all first met and the most convenient place for us to meet up. Despite a broken camera and students staring - we had a successful photo op! Thank you to the nice construction worker who captured the last amazing photo. (: