Reading Logs

Reading Log #1
James M. Henslin
"Chapter 2: Culture"
Henslin explains that everyone is ethnocentric, whether we know it or deny it. Ethnocentrism means that an individual has a preference of one group over another. Ethnocentrism has both positives and negatives. A positive is that individuals have more pride and show it towards their group. A negative is that an individual may discriminate because of one's ethnocentric ways. (Henslin 37)
All groups have values, desired or undesired standards. For example Americans may consider individuality, freedom, and handwork as desired standards. On the other hand Americans may consider some values such as laziness, inequality, and oppression as undesirable.(Henslin 44-47)
The dominant isn't all one solid chunk of identical groups. A culture is one solid unit; it may be composed of smaller and much diverse groups known as subcultures. The general culture also hosts countercultures, whose values differ than that of the general culture. (Henslin 48)
Opinion: I wonder how it would feel to grow up in a totally different culture than our own.

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Reading Log #2
James M. Henslin
"Chapter 3: Socialization"
Males and females receive messages about their role in society from several social institutions. Each gender is put on a different path of life and they both are taught how the proper boy or girl should behave. This process is called socialization into gender, and it starts from the day the child is born. The family is the primary institution. Depending on the gender, a child may either receive dolls or action figures, cuddles or playtime, maternal or paternal care. As the children grow they may now be included in peer groups. Peer groups could be friends, the kids in the neighborhood, and classmates. A few more examples are the mass media: television, movies, and video games; religion, and day care among all of the institutions. (Henslin 70-74)

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Reading Log #3
James M. Henslin
"Chapter 4: Social Structure and Social Interaction"

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Reading Log #4
James M. Henslin
"Chapter 6: Deviance and Social Control"

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Reading Log #5
James M. Henslin
"Chapter 8: Social Class in the United States"

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Reading Log #6
James M. Henslin
"Chapter 9: Race and Ethnicity"

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Reading Log #7
Peter Berger
"Invitation to Sociology"
Berger's article "Invitation to Sociology" is self explanatory in the title. This article is an invitation to a field broad enough for many new discoveries that are yet to be made in our social world. Sociology is the study of the social world or society that one lives in. Their occupation allows them to study how their own and other peoples' lives function, connect, and cooperate to form a functional society. Although sociologists, like people who study other fields, have a line that separates their occupation from their personal lives. (Berger 8)
As is it inevitable for a Sociologist to study their own lives, is it also inevitable to sometimes bump heads, compare, or unite with a person from another study field. Sociologists however, must continue on with the social observations and experimentation to get the answers to the questions that bring them to the unvisited realms of the social world. (Berger 6)
These explorers have a keen interest in human interaction which is an essential trait in every Sociologist. (Berger 9-10)
Opinion: What I basically got from Peter Berger's article, or more precise, a letter of invitation into the field of Sociology. Berger pretty much explained what sociologists think, believe, and do as their choice of lifetime career. They aren't permanent jobs forced upon them or anything like that. They just possess a trait or natural interest in Sociology that consumes them entirely. Berger believes that if you do not possess an absolute and honest interest in human society you probably won't truly enjoy Sociology.

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Reading Log #8
C. Wright Mills
"The Sociological Imagination"
Mils' idea of the sociological imagination explains people sometimes tend to place themselves in an incorrect identity. In reality, they are in a much narrower view of their position in the structure of the social world. (Mills 13)
People's sociological imagination is capable of so much. Ranging from ways to new thinking about society to the ability to from a self-identity with a group. (Mills 15)
The sociological imagination is equipped with a tool of distinction that distinguishes how "the personal troubles of milieu" differ from "the public issues of social structure." (Mills 15)
Opinion: In this next article following Berger's introduction it really gets more descriptive of what sociology really is. Mills' article somewhat confused me. I didn't follow his main idea so it threw me off completely and left me more lost than educated. One concept that I did manage to grasp from Mills' reading was that opening one's perspective into what things really are makes one feel more hostile or trapped than they did before finding the truths of society, buried beneath it's surface.

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Reading Log #9
W. Richard Stephens, Jr.
"Careers in Sociology"
Stephen's "Careers in Sociology" beings with an explanation of why a student is taking Sociology in college. Most students have never even heard of the subject matter or want to actively pursue it for they are simply taking it as a requirement for their general education. Students may feel forced at first, but as they proceed studying the material and applying some of the sociological ideas into their lives it becomes less as a chore. (Stephens 22)
Students who enter college knowing that their desired major is Sociology are extremely uncommon. It is unlikely that they look at Sociology as a job worthy career. In reality, Sociology can offer careers from a wide variety. (Stephens 24-26)
However, in order to advance in the field of Sociology one must note the character profiles of existing and working sociologists. These employed sociologists embrace, search, and actively create change in their careers. Like change, sociologists also actively search for opportunities or make them when time calls. (Stephens 28-29)
Opinion: Richard Stephens explains that relatives, more specifically parents, worry about their investment in such a course like criminal justice. In sociology there are many reliable career paths to choose from. Whether it be working for a phone company or general products and services. Sociology will not only lead you to a rewarding career, but will show you new and beneficial experiences. Sure you are feeling like you're taking a risk in such a new ideology, but the field of sociology provides a safe and stable living while at the same time granting you knowledge on the way.

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Reading Log #10
Mitch Albom
"We talk about our culture"
In the article "We Talk About Our Culture" by Mitch Albom, the author explains that some rules are crucial in a society, but not all of the people in a society should be forced to follow set expectations and artificial goals. As a person within a society, one must build their own subculture for themselves best suited for one's own custom benefit, regardless of inconsistency with the mainstream culture. (Album 86-87)
Album explains that people aren't as different as culture paints them out to be. Everyone goes through birth apparently; everyone goes through death as well. Males, females, whites, blacks, catholics, and protestants are all essentially human so why are they all divided and treated differently? If one looks past the stereotypes and prejudices then one can establish an effective and wide human branch with others from human civilizations throughout the world. (Albom 87)
The article explains that infants and elderly people depend on others to survive, but the people in between depend on others for survival as well. That is why belonging to a family is essential for any individual or culture to survive. (Album 88)
Opinion: This particular reading makes me look at our culture in a different way. Mitch Albom's passage was very much like a short story. The character in the story is a close friend of a seriously ill elderly man who is in a very difficult medical condition. He is recollecting his experience with people he has met during his life and regards them as people that were "threatened" by their society. Society has the potential to make you have morals and values that are almost self destructive. One must build their own culture and replace the flaws.

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