Correction

Sociological Autobiography

The external forces can shape the lives of the individuals. Therefore, those forces have a great role that they play towards shaping the life of an individual(s). Concerning the above information, it may be argued that individuals are who they are due to their experiences in the social world. Numerous external forces also exist, and they might influence the life of an individual. Individuals also experience several aspects in their lives, and these aspects might be interpreted from the sociological perspective. Bearing the above information in mind, the following discussion examines the individual events focusing on the manner that these events illustrates the sociological concepts as well as tying the events into the broader or bigger sociological issues that are pertinent to the events. By examining the individual events concerning the sociological perspectives, the role that the external forces play towards shaping the life of an individual will be revealed.

The two major personal events that have shaped the life of an individual and which might be explained in terms of the sociological perspective are the starting school event and when I was leaving the family to work in a far distance. The moment that I was commencing my academic life, it was one of the major events that I will never forget for the rest of my life. Due to numerous reasons, I will live to remember this day as it was the starting point for the entire of my life. The most memorable thing was that I was very excited, nervous, and anxious during this day. The other thing was that I was very much eager to know how the school appeared, the way that the other children appeared, and the most remarkable thing was that I wanted to know how the teachers looked like.

Additionally, it was the initial day when I could be alone without any member of the family, not even the father or the mother. Due to the lack of these essential people near me, I was totally upset and could use a considerable amount of time crying for no apparent reason. The other notable thing was that I could not tell whatever I expected from the other children and the other new people that I was encountering. Despite the numerous new things that I was expecting and eager to find, I also found starting school as being a hard time. For example, it was challenging to live the family behind and move to a new setting where everything seemed to be new and complicated (Beakley, 2012). The children were highly frightening, and I was unable to know what to do. Generally, I developed a negative attitude during this initial day of starting school, and the day might be classified as one of the most surprising days of the entire life.

When it comes to the event of leaving the family to work in a far distance, the experience was a bit different since I had to leave home and the parents to start a new life with new individuals. The event of leaving home to work in a distant place had both emotional and social impacts in the individual's life. There were new rules and methods of surviving, which I had not been exposed to before leaving the family to work in a distant place. In the new home, everything seemed to be new right from the way that the people were paying for their bills, mode of food, and other things as well as managing an individual's life. There was a high need for being independent, and I had to wait for an extended period to catch up with the manner that people survived and carried out their daily transactions with each other. Indeed, the event was a revelation of the manner that each member of the family was not only resourceful but also meaning in the life of an individual. Therefore, this event was also highly meaningful.

The sociological concepts of conflict theory, functionalism, and symbolic interaction are the major concepts that might be used in explaining the above two personal events. When it comes to the conflict theory, there is a claim that the community is always in a state of the continuous conflict due to the competition for the scarce resources, (Galtung, 2010). The theory was suggested by Karl Max and claimed that the rich individuals and those in power could hold on it through the use of all the possible means and in most cases, through suppression of the powerless and the poor individuals. The other notable thing regarding the concept is that it feels that competition is a constant thing, and in most cases, it is the overwhelming factor in almost every human interaction and relationship. The above concept might be used in explaining the two major life events that have been discussed above. When it comes to commencing a school, there is a high need for overcoming the suppression of the poor and powerless individuals in the community. For example, without having attained a given level of education and wealth, a person, a family, or even any other organization might be suppressed due to the low class that they hold in society. Therefore, after attaining a given level of wealth and education, an individual might be recognized by the other members of society and might even influence whatever that might be happening in society.

The concept also becomes applicable when it comes to the life event of leaving the family to work in a faraway place. As a result of the competition for the limited resources, an individual has to look for ways of surviving the competition. For example, it is desired that an individual has to move to a far distance whenever there is a need for doing so to overcome the prevailing condition (Bartos, 2002). Therefore, as a way of overcoming the situation, moving to a farther distance to overcome the competition is the most appropriate strategy of overcoming the competition. The role that the concept plays towards changing the life of a person is that by struggling to overcome the prevailing competition, a person will be better equipped and will gain key skills of overcoming the tough occurrences that an individual might face in life.

The sociological perspective of functionalism concerns the mental states of the individuals. According to the functionalism, the identification of the mental states is by whatever they do instead of being identified by whatever that they are made of (Turner, 2013). As an example, the mental states of the individuals are likened with the mouse traps. The implication is that they are categorized by whatever they are capable of doing than what they have been made from. The other notable thing as far as this concept is concerned is that every aspect of the community depends on one another and each has a contribution to the entire stability as well as the functioning of the given community. Therefore, when it comes to explaining life events through the use of this perspective, the mental states of the individuals might be viewed as being the thing that influences the lives of the people.

For example, every individual is regarded as being mentally upright. As a result, the individual has to be entitled to education and attaining a given level of knowledge. The above consideration is the issue that makes a person to be entitled to commencing a school and even moving to farther places to interact with the rest. There is also a consideration that every member of society has some contribution to the overall functioning and the stability of the community. Due to this case, a person is entitled to attaining some knowledge, which is a key factor for the contribution that an individual will have in society. The issue of moving away from one's home to a distant place is also viewed as an essential thing that will bring about the much-needed interaction and relationship between the individuals of different origins and with varying occupations and interests. Therefore, there is a high need for moving from one point to the other as a way of interacting and bringing about a positive relationship in the society, (Eckert, 2006). The role played by this concept towards changing the life of a person is that as a result of being classified by what a person does instead of who the individual is, there is a possibility of attaining individual prosperity. The prosperity comes about after beating all the odds that come about in the life of a person.

The perspective of symbolic interactionism, also known as the symbolic interactionism, claims that the individuals develop and build upon each other through the process of social interaction. The concept has its origin from the assertion by Max Weber that the individuals behave in the manner that they do according to the interpretation of their world's meaning, (Reynolds, 2003). It is also notable that the concept analyzes the community through addressing those subjective meanings which the people inflict on the behaviours, objects, and events. For example, there is a feeling and believe that the behaviour of the people is based on the things that they believe and is not based on whatever that is considered as being objectively true.

The concept is also highly applicable in explaining the two major life events that have been addressed above. The aspect of commencing a school might be viewed as a way of encouraging a certain level of interacting socially. For example, a child does not only attend the school to gain much-needed knowledge but also as a way of interacting with others who are viewed to be like-minded. On top of attaining the education, the child is expected to interact socially with the other individual. The life event of moving from one's home background to work in a distant place is also viewed as an essential way of encouraging some given level of social interaction. The overall effect that the concept has on changing the life of a person is that through the interaction, a person is capable of growing and developing which greatly determines the kind of life that a person will live or even the social class where a person will be classified, (Stryker, 2002). Therefore, the sociological perspectives are essential when it comes to explaining the life events which a person has experienced or encountered.

References

Bartos, O. J., & Wehr, P. E. (2002). Using conflict theory. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Beakley, B., & Ludlow, P. J. (2012). The philosophy of mind: classical problems, contemporary issues. Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.

Eckert, M. (2006). Theories of mind: An introductory reader. Lanham: Rowman & Littlefield.

Galtung, J. (2010). A Theory of Conflict: Overcoming direct violence. S.l.: Transcend University Press.

Reynolds, L. T., & Herman-Kinney, N. J. (2003). Handbook of symbolic interactionism. Walnut Creek, CA: AltaMira Press.

Stryker, S. (2002). Symbolic interactionism: A social structural version. Caldwell, N.J: Blackburn Press.

Turner, J. H. (2013). Contemporary sociological theory.