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Essay on social control theory
Essay on social control theory
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Consequently, many rich Americans believed in this view, and used it as an explanation of why some are poor and some are rich. Additionally, a similar view is expressed in Progress & Poverty, written by J.M Dent. (Doc. 11). In Progress & Poverty, Dent explains that an uneven distribution of wealth will aid social progress, because it will drive people to work harder, which in almost all cases, never worked, and only caused social unrest and strikes. Conversely, some politicians fought for workers’ rights and developed legislation in response.
The rich use tactics to gain the support of the middle class, but without losing any of their own riches, like wealth or power, for their own gain. It was at the cost of the “slaves, Indians, and poor whites” (Zinn 1). It spared the rich any expenses, but brought them much gain, from the support. Finally, the growth of the colonies positively impacted the rich as well, as they received the profits and benefits from the expansions. With one percent of property owners owning forty four percent of the wealth, it shows how the majority of the wealth was given to the rich, and not distributed among the other classes at all, deepening the division.
“....fearful the poor would plunder the rich… (they) admitted that the rich, unrestrained, would also plunder the poor (Hofstadter 57).” One class can not have too much power because it would lead to an anarchy. This document meant to hold up a democracy, not anarchy. The reason why the rich benefitted from the system was because if they had not, the social classes would have been
Did you know, that the Inca lived in the Andes Mountains, or that the Aztecs capital city is Tenochtitlan? The Inca and The Aztec were both Empires, they both built their Empires over a time period of at least 200 years. The last 2 months we’ve been working on learning about the Maya, Aztec and the Inca, I’ll be talking about the Aztec and the Inca. This essay will be about the Aztecs, the Inca, and where and how the Aztec/Inca built their EMPIRES. The Aztecs and the Inca are the same because they both built an empire somewhere in Mexico.
Groups and individuals with that hold these resources use them to maintain power and social control. The wealthy are the independent variables that hold the power to make decisions and control how society is ran. The lower classes are the dependent variables that have little to no control over how society is structured. Conflict theorists encourage social change. Instead of allowing the “well off” to force social order on everyone else, the general public should fight for social change even at the expense of a possible social revolution.
John Locke’s Second Treatise of Government is most known for his justification of private property, but there are many other theories, though not as popular, that are equally as important. One of these is his justification of inequality, which will be covered in this essay. Locke says that until the invention of money, there was no point to accumulate more property, or wealth, than one could use because it would spoil. That changed after the introduction of money because money does not spoil, which allows people to accumulate more than they need. Locke argues that since men agreed to use money as a way to fairly possess more than they could use, they also agreed to the consequence of inequality.
Thomas More had an abundance of revolutionary ideas for his time, many of which he penned down in his famous work Utopia. More’s greatest focus in this short book is placed on exploring the possibilities and benefits of a new kind of government. His views on such things as freedom, community, and the innate nature of man were all considered when creating what More views as the epitome of a successful government. It is baffling to realize that, using these same principles of freedom, community, and the innate nature of man, another author could come to a conclusion in direct opposition with More’s outcome.
While this defined and stable social structure is not very common in western society today, there are still remnants of it everywhere. Almost every large civilization to ever exist has had some sort of social or economic pyramid; In capitalist societies, for example, the poor have the most grueling work with the worst living standards and the least social influence, whereas the wealthiest one percent have the most power and better living standards than anyone
Classism is a major issue that plagues American society. Classism separates groups by their economic status in society. America is perceived to be a middle class society, however in reality the middle class does not hold majority of the nation’s wealth. Most of the nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population in America which consists of 34% of the nation’s wealth, meanwhile “the richest 20% of Americans hold nearly 85% of the total household wealth in the country” (Adams et al, 2013, p. 151). American citizens that are a part of the upper class are privilege because they have access to majority of the resources.
The American Dream and Property Ownership: As a child growing up in a single parent household I moved around quite often. In fact, I attended at least 7 different elementary schools that I can count. My mother made sure to instill in me how important my education and roots should be. So, it is from countless life experiences that have shaped my opinion on why owning property is an advantageous factor.
This leads to an unequal distribution of means among people belonging to the same society and having similar aspirations. This lack of accessibility to available means encourages deviant behaviour among people to attain their cultural goals. Such people then resort to deviant activities that violate social norms such as theft and embezzlement, to fulfill their economic goals and cultural ambitions. Individuals who are oppressed or those that are marginalized by the society are most likely to indulge in such unsanctioned activities to achieve economic success as even they have similar cultural and economic goals as the rest of the people in the society. This example validates Merton 's theory that a society which fails to provide adequate and equal means to all the people creates a strain on the less privileged and limits their scope for success through socially accepted means.
Ownership causes one to become selfish and so self-absorbed in their property that they wouldn’t allow other people to experience the joy they have through their property. In “My Wood,” Forster explains how uneasy he felt when he saw people walking through his woods and going to his blackberries. Because of the unease that he felt, Forster thought that in order to show people that the blackberries and his wood was his, he should build a pathway with high stone walls, blocking the view of the blackberries from the public, just like the wood near Lyme Regis, where people “circulate like termites while the blackberries are unseen.” Through the example, Forster illustrates how the ownership of his wood causes him to become selfish and so self-absorbed in his property that he wouldn’t want people coming into his wood and experiencing the blackberries. We often time are just like Forster.
Question 1. What do you make of Karl Marx’s contributions to sociology? Answer: It would take volumes to describe how important Karl Marx’s work is in sociology. His work is important in the 21st century because his concepts and ideas are the only genuine seeds for a better society.
And assets being the stuff that you own: your car, your house and your cash money is also an asset. It is the job of the government, leaders and citizens to ensure that the wealth and income is distributed equally among the population. However, when this fails due to corruption, discrimination among other causes the country is unable to move forward economically, further leading to poverty and civil unrest and other consequences. Surprisingly, statistics show that wealth inequality is not limited to only developing countries, but also some of the most developed countries. America, Israel and Greece are one of the countries with the worst income inequality.
Moreover, as much as the acquisition of wealth for its own right is in opposition to what constitutes virtue in the Aristotelian society (Politics), this capitalist ideal is found present in the definition of the Lockean good life. Due to the fact that citizenship is the duty to be watchful of the government, and freedom is one of non-interference in the pursuit of a private life, the good life then is adherence to these ideals. Freedom and thus human flourishing, then, are obtained when the individual adheres to the nature of law in regards to being mindful of consumption, whilst securing their own property through the combination of their labor with the land. Under the common wealth they have agreed to, property will be secure. The individual is free to flourish and secure property.