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About this sample
About this sample
Words: 625 |
Page: 1|
4 min read
Published: Nov 8, 2019
Words: 625|Page: 1|4 min read
Published: Nov 8, 2019
The sociological perspective is built on the idea that our circumstances are a major part of why we do what we do. It says that our social backgrounds have a monumental influence on our attitudes, behaviors, and our life chances, meaning that many factors combine to influence how likely we are to be healthy, happy, and wealthy. In light of the sociological perspective, a social background is simply the factors that combine to create part of a person’s identity. These factors that make up a social background include gender, race or ethnicity, social class, religion, education, and family situations. Based on the concept of the “accident of birth”, no one gets to choose what kind of social background he or she is born into. Who your parents are, what area and social class you are raised in, or what race you are are not deliberate choices.
We are born into them, so we are stuck with them. Because of our social backgrounds, we are all inherently different. We have different challenges and things that we face every day. However, the textbook notes that even if we differ in many ways “we share with many other people basic aspects of our social backgrounds,” including “gender, race and ethnicity, and social class”. When you really get down to it, we are more similar to the people around us than we may assume. Your neighbor, while differing in one or two aspects of their social background such as their race or gender, likely shares the same social class or education level as you.
Finding similarities fosters sympathy. When we see how we relate to those around us, we are more likely to view them as someone who deserves love and respect, so we gain empathy for them.In our class lecture, we discussed the suicide rates in each state. Using the sociological perspective, we were able to see that many factors played into how high or low the suicide rate was. Some of these factors at play were personal struggles such as genetics, pressure from work, abuse, self-image, and mental health issues. Other factors were attributed to public issues such as quality of education, distribution of wealth, the guilt factor, and gun ownership laws in the area. Understanding that some factors are personal while some are public helps us gain empathy for others because we can see that it isn't just a “personal problem”. It becomes clear that our contributions to society, socially and politically, may be part of the problem inflicting harm on others.
On the flip side, it is also clear that while we are all subject to the same public issues, there are other deeply personal struggles we can never understand. We will know what it is like to receive poor state-funded education, but we cannot comprehend what it is like to be abused and have an intensely negative self-image. We gain empathy when we realize other individuals personal pressures push them to behave the way they do. While we can look at the different circumstances that contribute to an individual's behaviors and attitudes, we are incapable of completely understanding each other. Because we are human, the capacity of our love and empathy is limited. However, there is one who understands completely and empathizes perfectly. This is the savior Jesus Christ. Elder Holland claims “the only way complex societal issues can ever be satisfactorily resolved is by loving God and keeping His commandments”.
We can use the sociological perspective to train our brains to consider many factors, but ultimately, true understanding comes when we trust Heavenly Father and following his commandment to love one another. As we love those around us, empathy is natural and, ever so slowly, the problems within our society can be resolved.
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