II) Sociology is the study of social behavior, which means it describes and explains society, or the rules of the group. Social behavior is any behavior that has been, or is being, conditions to any degree by interaction with others. When you read this definition you begin to understand the complexity of sociology. We deal with sociology every day of our lives, since we are always doing or interacting with someone or something. There are six essential categories of behavior that are used to study and understand social behavior. They are perception, emotions, thought and speech, physical motion, posturing and costuming.
In todays world there are many social issues or rules that everyone follows or understands. The most important principle of social constraint is self perception. These are the prescriptions of behavior – when, where, and how to feel and act. Another way to put it is a system of rules we all follow in society. We depend on society to tell us who we are, what is important, and what we should do about it. These are seen as our survival guide, and well-being of every member of the group. We learn each day what is accepted socially. What the social rules are and how they pertain to us as an individual.
This is how we respond not to the environment or situation we are in, but how we were learned or trained by society to respond. Society being a set of beliefs on how to go about living. III) I deal with social issues everyday, from the clothes I choose to wear, to the car I am going to drive, to what career I will choose. I dont want to been seen in society as someone different, so I follow other leads in my daily decision, making sure what I choose is socially correct in my environment. We think that we are our own individual when the truth is we are not, from our social etiquette, to how we think, feel and act, we are what society makes us.
This in part makes us feel secure, because if everyone else in society does it, then it is ok for us to do the same. What I perceive as right and wrong though is not always the way others will see it too. For example I may not feel the same others would about certain social issues such as gun laws, capital punishment or abortion. The kinds of groups we belong to help shape the person we become. There are many structures of sociology such as age, sex, race and religion. I make many decisions in the course of living every day, and I make these decisions within the context of society; our family, school, career and the larger world.
Each day the social world guides my life choices. I also deal with society rules because of my gender. Being a women I am seen by many as only a child bearer, or someone who does not, or can not have a career, and sometime seen as incompetent. I need to prove to myself and others by trying to change how societies look at women by succeeding in where society says I can not succeed. I hope in taking this class, I will get a better understanding of Sociology, and that it will help make sense of my own experience in society. I hope to become better informed and more socially aware member of society.