The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers.

The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In today society if you are not above average or what is conceived by others to be ‘normal’, based on dimensions such as culture, politic, social and economic, you are considered ‘less than’ or abnormal, you face exclusion from a society that you were born into. Examples of minority groups are the LGBTQ+ community, Social class, disability, gender and race. Within this assignment we will be assessing the extent to which mainstream psychology has contributed to the exclusion of marginalized groups, then comparing with how features and research within critical psychology is able to make reparations to those excluded, focusing on Social class specifically the working/lower class, then concluding with final observations of research found within to the assignment.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Permalink: https://nursingpaperessays.com/ the-modern-day-v…ssignment-papers / ? The Social class system affects many aspects of the human experience, these categories offer an identity and stereotype to individuals without a choice. Social class is known as a group of individuals who occupy similar characteristic, traits as well as socio-economic indicators and the socio-cultural aspects of the individual’s life (Rothman, 2017). These economic markers that provide part of the decision are based on, job title, education, earning, and where they live (Cole, 2017) Alongside these indicators researcher believe that cultural capital offers insight into how these groups are labelled, this “currency” is the idea that those with understanding of behaviours and knowledge of the upper class or those seen as dominant in their culture hold, are able to move upwards, reflecting in the clothes or style of the individual, intellect, education and rhetoric (Bourdieu, 1986).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. The core concept of the social class system is hierarchy, by being closer to the top, the more power and autonomy you have with having greater access to resources such as healthcare and education (Montague, 1951). Within this social class system there are often three to four level that one would be placed into, at the top of the “pecking order” a metaphor used to describe the hierarchy of status, is the Upper class this group will be filled with those wealthiest, a graduate degree within a job such as doctor, lawyer or politician for example, those who hold the most power with our society. Then comes the Middle class those who survive off earned incomes without help, often educators, conventional and seen as the everyday Norm. Finally, the lower/working class this group hold the least status in terms of the ladder with lower income, intelligence, fewer assets, access to resources and stigma which does not encourage motivation for transitioning (Fox Et al., 2009).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. “Classism refers to stereotypes and prejudice about class position that contributes to discrimination and domination” (Day et al., 2014). The class system is a socially constructed concept built by those who would be at the top, this power based concept grew Classism, which is the attitude and belief system that encourages difference between the classes ensuring that those in the upper class maintain their dominance with however the expense of the lower/middle class by diminishing access and encouraging negative typecasting (Fox Et al., 2009). We are socialized to want power and to look at those with no power or the ability to gain it as undesirable, this occurs through being nurtured by family or friends and how the classes are portrayed through media such as film, T.V, social networks and books, which are often ran or publicised by the elites of society showing only the desired parts of popular culture and ignoring the less desirable, unless it has an admirable story line of ‘rags to ritches’ (Hall, 1982).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. However, in reality meritocracy, meaning that through hard work anyone can transfer into the upper class, is filled with greater obstacles than what media and films may portray, it is particularly difficulty for those in the lower class.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. A poll taken by YouGov for the Economist looked at how well the population in Britain are aware of their social class, results showed that 48% of people over 30 hope to reach further up the ‘ladder’ than their parent, however only 28% feel that they would be able to achieve upward mobility, these statistics show the attitudes toward social mobility as being unlikely, in addition to these pieces of data, the poll also showed the 2 thirds of the 1,995 sample believed that they or any children or future children will be able to move upward of the social class they’re born into (Class, 2006). Classism and social opinion, contribute to the marginalization of the lower class, stopping them from living fulfilled social lives, with no control over expectations of their abilities or resources available to them, decreasing their self-esteem and confidence due to public attitudes which are encouraged by media, showing how this class is oppressed and rejected by society (Prilleltensky, 2008).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In addition to being excluded through social representation and public attitudes, Mainstream psychology also contribute as an influencer to the marginalization of the lower class, as the social science contains attributes and ideas that are in line with the ideologies of the social class system. The role of psychologists is seen as respected and influential in society bringing foreword development, understanding and knowledge. Psychology and practitioners are themselves upper class in the social system, due to the education required as mentioned previously a graduate degree, high intellect and income are socioeconomic indicators of Upper class membership (Rothman, 2017). when receiving treatment from practitioner we trust their support, council and diagnosis, by respecting the qualification or title of Dr understanding that they must know better than us because they have certificates on show to prove it, this shows how psychologist are a part of the hierarchy, by using their knowledge as influence to persuade or guide care users, this indicates that a power dynamic is used between the client and practitioners (Saper, 1970).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Psychology is able to identity abnormal behaviours and personalities as it concentrates on people, cultures and societies, as we’ve observed psychology itself is powered by elitist, therefore it often follows similar views of what characteristics define those who are different or ‘abnormal’ with those in the upper class that reject the working class. Within western culture psychology see ‘normal’ as individuals who are have appropriate behaviours, happiness, health, productive work and being able to rely on one’s self however for those of lower socio economic status their accessibility to higher skilled job, efficient healthcare and in some cases the need for financial assistance, does not fit the psychological model of ‘Normal’ (Maisel, 2012).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Ignoring those who are living below the perceived line of normal, is also seen within research as Psychology see the ideal subject that will be used to generalised in clinical research as a white, male, middle class person, this is an example of how mainstream psychology may exclude other minorities such as race, gender and the lower class (Levesque, 2012). Samples often used within psychological research are often gained from college/university students, this pool of participants will often be representatives of the middle or upper class, as students will often have a higher IQ through gaining education and a degree, putting them into middle class section of the ‘ladder’, this leads to the middle class being over represented in research as the ‘norm’ however then ignoring those in the population who are unable to acquire higher education, meaning the research is not representable or generalised and biased, however these factors are overlooked, further supporting the ideals that lower class member of society are excluded from the norm and considered ‘others’ within the field of research (Fox Et al., 2009).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Psychological research in to social class is often over looked and ignore, though it affects every aspect of the human experience, social class does not show to be a core focus within research (Day et al., 2014). However, when there has been a direct focus on this social construction, the research favours the angle that individuals have the notion of ‘choice’, that poverty can be resolved and anyone can attain social mobility with the myth of meritocracy through changing the individual, not the structure that developed and constructed the rules of normality or negative stigmas for those who deviate from the desired model. A study conducted by Catherine Cozzarelli on attitudes and attributions of the poor, sample taken from Midwestern college, the overall opinion was negative to the poor for example their poverty being the result of their personal failure due to lack of abilities and effort. However, a pattern showing that of a contrasting opinion between those of different ethnic backgrounds, the sample that were middle class, white and male, agreed with mainstream psychology that individuals have control over whether they remain in the lower class, whereas those considered minorities immigrants & females disagreed and highlighted that social structures must also play a part (Cozzarelli et al., 2001). This study supports how mainstream psychology is biased toward the social structure not being the issue, as they are practitioners at the top of the ‘pecking order’, in by doing this psychology ignores and forgets the real life implications of encouraging descriptions such as talentless/effortless therefore encouraging class difference and the negative stigma that the lower class offer nothing to society.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Additionally, mainstream psychology also encourages the stigma, that those of low socio economic status have considerably low IQ in comparison with others. By focusing on the differences between classes in their abilities, cognition and motivation for social mobility comparing these alone encourages class differences in highlight weaknesses of the classes leading to possible discrimination, ensuring there are always dominating and lesser than classes (Day et al., 2014).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. American Psychologist Linda Gottfredson, researched the possibilities that lower levels of intelligence is able to explain why and where people are placed on the ‘ladder’, by reviewing literature which offered various views, that IQ is able to predict whether or not individuals will live a successful fulfilled life or not, along wither another view that IQ and status is inherited and maintain from parents nurturing their young to follow their path. Results showed a positive correlation between a father social class which is defined through their occupation and their child’s attained social class matching with their parents, Goffredson also reviews result that display test taken at the age of eleven can also predict the possibility of class transitioning (Gottfredson, 2004). Furthermore, she concluded with this data that all young people are exposed to the same quality/ level of education and expectations no matter the social class, therefore indicating it is down to the child or individual if they are unable to attain success (Gottfredson, 2004).The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In addition, this incites the removal of ‘blame’ on the social structures and places it again on the individual, this point is further argued and agreed with by Bernice Lott another American psychologist, she argues that those of low socio economic status aren’t able to access the same quality of education that the wealthy or middle class are granted access to, therefore their IQ would be lower due to lower quality education (Lott,2012). As it would also be if a working class child were able to get middle class schooling, a stigma encouraged by mainstream psychology and society, would follow the child and result in lower expectation due to background, therefore as seen in research previous mentions, younger working class children are then ‘othered’ by the education system, however if the young person showed higher intelligence than what expected, they are celebrated in be able to ‘escape’ the ‘horrid’ working class, rejected by society (Lott,2012) Along with disempowering the lower class through education and public attitude, Mainstream psychology also regards them as ‘problematic’ when faced with health issues. By being seen as disadvantaged by society, they are stereotyped to have lower health including both mentally and physical, that due to the supposed ‘risky behaviour’ of the lower class with common habits such as smoking, lack of nutrition, drinking and not active enough increases the likelihood of poor health (Miller & Grigg, 1966). However, though the negative stigma that exist around people of lower class that they all make bad life, career and health choices, along with being seen as lazy and vulnerable to addiction, this grouping is incorrect as not all individual apart of the lower class fit this stereotype (Wardle, 2013). Often poor health issues are due to being unable to access efficient and affective healthcare, in terms of the U.S aside from overrun free clinic, healthcare is costly as is the insurance which requires a job with stable income, as for the U.K even with the NHS healthcare accessibilities is decreasing due to financial cuts by the government, which causes waiting times and overworked staff to increase, resulting in care below the standard (Ham, 2005)The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. After looking at various factors and research conducted within mainstream psychology, clear themes of disempowerment and oppression come to the surface, showing that psychology and practitioner use similar negative language as public attitudes and the media, such as Lazy, Rejected, talentless, lesser than and ignored. This terminology used by people and heard by the lower/working social class incites them to accept these lower expectation, resulting limited unfulfilled social life, facing society and it obstacles alone without the support of even psychological practitioner who only see a way to ‘fix’ the individual, not the problem that is the social class system. However, we now move on to how another strand of social science is able to benefit and redress the issues the working class are faced with.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In today’s world, the modern person is educated, independent and aggressive. To be a success, you must put forth your most competitive side and win it all. Nothing less will be permitted. This is the mindset of most business tycoons, stockbrokers and the like. However, on the other side of the globe, third world countries follow a more traditional lifestyle where the outlook on life is a little less malicious. In these countries, the society’s idea of success is being part of a large family with prosperous crops and livestock. How is it that our society and theirs have both been successful? And why has the traditional way of life stayed so prevalent in such an industrialized world? First, what exactly …show more content… Females do give birth to the children, but in these societies, a female is more like a piece of property than of heritage. Marriage in these societies is usually based on the best dowry, rather than being based on love like most modern marriages.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Traditional societies believe that family heritage is what holds a family together. These societies have ascriptive values, meaning to follow their family’s ancestry and way of life. In modern culture, an individual has the power to decide for him/herself as to what he/she wants to attain in life – including an education, career and mate. To those of us living in a modern world, traditional societies may seem to have it rough. However, to those living the traditional way, their life is set for them. They need not worry about how powerful they will be or how much money they will make. Their life brings them security. Medical knowledge is less than adequate in these societies, leading to much illness and a very high death rate. The infant mortality rate is overwhelmingly high, which is a reason for the high birth rates. In some ways, traditional culture and modern culture are alike. Any culture is a system of learned and shared meanings. People learn and share things over the course of generations, and so we say they are a culture. Traditional and modern culture function similarly because both are ways of thinking, ways of relating to people and to the universe.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. The beginning of culture was language. The first word was culture. Someone looked up from whatever else was going on and said something, and that first word was the building block of all human culture. You could pass it around. You could imitate it or change it. Its meaning could be shared among people. Maybe the word was “food” or “love” or “God.” It doesn’t matter what the word was, what language it began, or when or how. It just was. And the word constituted culture, because the word carried meaning.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. REAL LIFE. REAL NEWS. REAL VOICES. Help us tell more of the stories that matter from voices that too often remain unheard. Subscribe Now If there were only one concept to be considered in the discussion of culture, it is this: meaning. How do we know whether the group of letters a-p-p-l-e represents that sweet-tart yellow or red fruit, or a brand name of computer? How do we know whether the group of letters l-e-a-d represents that blue-gray metallic chemical element, or the verb that signifies “to show the way?” How do we know what a person’s intentions are when they wave their hand at us from across the street? It is because we have learned to share the meanings of words.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Of course meanings are not limited to written words but began with thought words and spoken words, signed words, gestured words, pictured words. All these kinds of words carry meaning. And it is in the meanings of things that culture resides, regardless of whether it is traditional or modern culture. So we can commence with the idea that our traditional ancestors, like their modern descendants, learned and shared meanings. Traditional and modern culture are alike in another way. Both developed to accommodate their surroundings. Both traditional and modern culture work for people because they are suited to local environmental conditions. A farming culture would not work as well in Antarctica. Inuit (Eskimo) culture would not survive as well in the Sahara. Bedouin culture would not function as well in Manhattan. Culture of any kind works best (and longest) if it is well adapted to local conditions.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. It should perhaps be noted that there is apparently nothing genetic about the presence or absence of traditional culture; traditional culture is not the sole province of any one ethnic group. For example, in ancient Europe the Celts and Teutons lived traditional culture. In ancient North America the Anishinabe and Lakota lived traditional culture. In ancient Africa the Bantu and Yoruba lived traditional culture. At some point back in history all human beings — regardless of what continent they occupied and which ethnic group they constituted — all lived in a traditional tribal culture. Modern culture developed in some areas of the planet as human societies grew larger. Mass organization in some form — first the development of large work forces and armies, and later the development of mechanized means of production — was an important force in changing traditional culture into modern culture. The shift from rural life to urban life is at the core of the development of modern culture.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. While traditional and modern culture may be similar in some ways, in some very significant ways they are clearly different from each other. Traditional culture, such as our human ancestors enjoyed, is held together by relationships among people — immediate family, extended family, clan and tribe. Everyone lives nearby. Everyone knows how he or she fits into the mix because relationships, and the behaviors that go along with them, are clearly defined. “Brother” is someone toward whom I must act like a brother. “Uncle” is someone from whom I expect a certain kind of behavior. If I violate what is expected, everyone will know. Perhaps there will be severe consequences.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. But this does not rob the humans who live traditional culture of their individuality. Some brothers act differently from other brothers. Some uncles take on different roles depending, for example, on whether they are mother’s brother or father’s brother, or whether they are particularly gregarious or more somber, and so on. But in general, well-defined family and clan relationships, and the kinship terms that signal them, make daily operations in traditional society take a workable course. If you have the proper relationship with someone, you can get just about anything accomplished. If, on the other hand, you don’t have the proper relationship, you find it difficult, if not impossible, to accomplish anything. You learn that kinship terms are key phrases in getting along. In traditional culture, relationships and people seem to be what matters.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In the modern culture of mainstream America, most people live in nuclear families: Mom and Dad and 2.5 kids. Many have only occasional contact with family members outside the immediate household. Young people quickly learn that their importance depends on how many and what kind of things they can control. Eventually they learn that power — personal, economic, social, political, religious, whatever — gets things done. Modern culture has a tendency to spread out, to build empires, to capitalize on as many resources as possible. Modern culture seems to be held together by power and things, not by people and relationships.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In modern culture people learn that business life is separate from personal life, for example that church and state can be kept apart. We learn to compartmentalize our lives. During the week we can be shrewd business-makers in a competitive marketplace where there are happy winners and tragic losers. On the weekend we can go to church or temple and ask forgiveness for our transgressions, and then go back on Monday and start all over again. We learn (in some form) two key phrases: “It’s nothing personal, but…” and “It’s just business.”The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. But in traditional culture things are not that simple — business life and personal life are often the same thing. Partners in trade and other economic activities are generally the same people as one’s kin relations. Similarly, the principles and values that guide spiritual and ceremonial life are the same principles and values that guide political life. Thus in traditional culture, the compartmentalizing or separating of business and personal life, of religious and political life, would not work. You cannot separate how you treat your trade partners from how you treat your cousins if they are the same people. You cannot separate your spiritual values from your political values if they are the same values.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Another way in which the two differ is that traditional culture tends to stay relatively the same for long periods of time. It is basically a conservative system. Does this mean that new ideas are not incorporated from time to time, that traditional culture is static? Certainly not. The traditional culture of our ancestors changed in response to the same kinds of forces that produce biological change. The invention of new things in traditional culture (for example, new technologies such as ceramics or the bow and arrow) work in the same way as genetic mutations: something unusual happens, and things after that are different.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Preferences for especially useful things and ideas in traditional culture work in the same way as natural selection: something does a better job or is more desirable in some way, so it becomes more common thereafter. Ways of thinking and doing things in traditional cultures flow from one culture to another just like genes flow from one biological population to another: folks come into contact, something gets exchanged. Isolation of a small, unusual sample of people in a traditional culture causes whatever that thing is that makes them unusual to become more common in future generations (for example, if a small group of people sets off to start a new village, and they all just happen to like to wear their hair a certain way, then their offspring would tend to wear their hair that way too) — in just the same way that genetic drift operates. Ancient traditional culture did change. But it was such a conservative system that it tended to resist change whenever it could.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In contrast, modern culture thrives on change. It creates new goods and services, and teaches us to want them. It adds new technologies, things and ideas at an increasingly rapid rate, such that the amount of cultural change experienced in America between 1950 and 2000 is far greater than the amount of change experienced in the entire eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in America. Change in modern culture is propelled by all the same forces that cause change in traditional culture, only in modern culture the changes happen more quickly. Modern culture is a more mutable system that tends to change often.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Another way in which traditional culture and modern culture differ is in their relationship to environment. Traditional cultures lived in close contact with their local environment. This taught that nature must be respected, cooperated with, in certain ritualized ways. One did not make huge changes in the environment, beyond clearing fields for agriculture and villages. Society saw itself as part of nature; its spiritual beliefs and values held humans as the kinsmen of plants and animals.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In contrast, modern culture creates its own environment, exports that cultural environment to colonies in far away places. It builds cities and massive structures. It teaches that nature is meant to be manipulated, to be the source of jobs and wealth for its human masters. It sees itself as being above nature. Its religions commonly cast humans as the pinnacle of nature: at best its paternalistic supervisors, at worst its righteous conquerors.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. These differences in the way traditional and modern culture perceive and interact with the environment have various consequences for the humans in those cultures. Not the least of these is the difference in sustainability. A culture that lives in relative harmony with its environment has a greater likelihood of sustaining itself than does a culture that destroys its environment. The culture of our human ancestors existed for thousands of years without doing any substantive damage to the ecosystem. In a very few centuries modern culture has eliminated or endangered numerous plant and animal species, degraded many waterways and negatively impacted the health of many of its citizens: “better” living through chemistry!The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. A closely related comparison between traditional and modern culture concerns ways of thinking. Modern culture is built upon knowledge. The more bits of knowledge one controls — a larger database, a larger computer memory — the more power one has. Modern culture produces new bits of knowledge so rapidly that sometimes our computers tell us “Memory is Full!” People in modern culture are more likely to feel that things are changing, that bits of knowledge are coming at them, so rapidly that they cannot absorb it all, cannot make sense of it all. Modern culture is long in knowledge.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. The traditional culture had a broad base of knowledge, as well. All plants and animals in the local environment were known by name and by their potential usefulness to humans. Weather, geology, astronomy, medicine, politics, history, language and so on were all parts of a complex integrated body of knowledge. But in traditional culture life went on beyond knowledge, to the level of wisdom — seeing the patterns in the bits of knowledge — and to the level of understanding — realizing that there are more profound patterns made by the patterns of wisdom.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Take medicine as an example. Traditional man had a pain in his stomach; he found a plant in his local environment that had a certain medicinal property. These were bits of knowledge. If he prepared the plant’s leaves a certain way, and drank the tea that resulted, it would make the pain in his stomach go away. This is a scientific method, a process that involves seeing the pattern in the bits of knowledge: x (the plant) goes with y (the preparation) to produce z (the treatment). This realizing of patterns is what I call wisdom. Both modern and traditional culture go this far, but here they often tend to diverge.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. Eventually this traditional ancestor realized that there were all kinds of plant treatments for all kinds of ills — that for every ailment there was a treatment — and that there was a balancing act that operated on a universal scale of which he was but a small part. There was a harmony that could become disturbed if he destroyed the forest in which the plants grew, or if he overestimated himself by taking for granted the wisdom he had gained about the plants — and this harmony had to be maintained on all levels (physical, social, environmental, spiritual, etc.). This realization that the patterns of wisdom were themselves connected in higher order patterns was the beginning of what I call understanding. The traditional culture of our ancestors was long in understanding, whereas modern culture frequently seems to stop the thought process at the level of wisdom.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. In modern culture, the elders tend to think of traditional culture as “primitive,” “backward,” somehow “childlike.” In traditional culture, on the other hand, the elders tend to think of modern culture as “hollow,” “ignorant,” somehow “childlike.” But modern culture tends to take over traditional culture because modern culture is powerful: it is mechanized, it moves mountains, it digs canals and drains swamps, it overwhelms, and it is seductive — it glitters, it tastes sweet, it goes fast. And it advertises.The Modern Day View On Society And Culture Assignment Papers. So why do so many people these days seem to be refugees from modern culture? Why are so many people who were raised in the ways of modern culture now so interested in traditional American Indian or Celtic culture? Why is there a constant stream of people searching for a “new age,” for “medicine men” and powwows and traditional ceremonies and Highland games?The Modern Day View