ipl-logo

Walter B. Miller's Five Tensions Concerning The Lower Class Culture

945 Words4 Pages

Walter B. Miller had focal concerns concerning the lower class culture. The five focal concerns were trouble, toughness, smartness, fate, and autonomy. These focal concerns are said to be “areas or issues which command widespread and persistent attention and a high degree of emotional involvement.” Goode, E. (1996). Each focal concern explains a little bit of what each person has or should have and brings a person prestige. One great example of these focal concerns was the movie Carlito’s way. One of the five focal concerns is Trouble. The basic description for trouble is welcoming authorities by having any types of encounters with them. For people who get involved with trouble they have to do something and actually be able to get away with it. But if …show more content…

Toughness is when you have physical strength and you have skills in combat. A man has to have to have the ability to “take it and take it like a man”. Men have to project a hard shell and that they could fight and most men show that by having tattoos, being muscular, drink, and smoke. But if they are in the street and a fight breaks out, they have to join the fight no matter what. 90 percent of men were raised in female based homes but they could not show any type of a feminine side. No matter how much affection you might show behind closed doors, in public men view women as objects. Therefore, you have to have the quality and traits of toughness to actually be considered being tough. The third focal concern is smartness. Smartness is having the ability or capacity to outsmart or con others. You have to show that you are able to get money and survive by your wits alone. You have to be able to see the con coming and be able to go in the room and know when something is going to happen. You go into a room and know that something doesn’t feel right and you prepare yourself for whatever might happen or go on. Having smartness is being able to talk and engage in the street

Show More
Related

Summary Of The Working Poor Invisible In America By David Shipler

1974 Words | 8 Pages

“The Working Poor: Invisible in America”, written by David Shipler (2004), portrayed many families who faced extreme barriers that directly impacted their families and affected the quality of their lives. This book not only gave the reader a sense of America’s social justice issues, but it also allowed the reader an opportunity to take a look inside the lives of real people struggling with social, economic, and cultural barriers to achieving the “American Dream”. Among many of the individuals and families in the book, most were barely making it financially, despite large efforts. With respect to social work, David Shipler did a fantastic job opening the eyes of the reader to the problems one might face with clients, and the spiral effects

Read More

Documentaries Tough Guys Summary

771 Words | 4 Pages

Response The documentaries Tough Guys and Killing us Softly, really brought to light the way masculinity and femininity are represented in our society. The characteristics and associations that are made when these words are thought of are bizarre and not natural. I strongly believe that both masculinity and femininity are learned characteristics from the human environment. I often wonder if people would even have these ideas and characteristics that are associated with gender in the beginning of time, or if people have slowly began to define and differentiate the genders throughout the evolution of time.

Read More

David K. Shipler's The Working Poor: Invisible In America

1705 Words | 7 Pages

Critical Review The Working Poor: Invisible in America David K. Shipler is a book that could be most accurately described as eye-opening. Shipler opens up the book on his claim that “nobody who works hard should be poor in America.” America is built upon the idea that the harder one works, the better off one will be. Shipler then goes on to explain how the poor, often times, work the hardest jobs and are put into the worse conditions, but still do not grow to become the most successful. Using their lives as examples, Shipler illustrates the struggles the working poor face while attempting to escape poverty.

Read More

Social Caste System In The New Jim Crow By Michelle Alexander

1685 Words | 7 Pages

In Michelle Alexander’s book The New Jim Crow, she analyzes the use of the War on Drugs to not truly be against crack, but those of a minority; as well as considering the shift of using race to describe and discriminate in the Criminal Justice System, and in society. On top of the switch of who is able to define someone as colored, the Criminal Justice System is in a sense, the new Jim Crowe, seeing that the system affects those in the minority groups more than those who are not. It used to be that the everyday person could describe a person by their race or skin tone, which would then group minorities by their described race. Grouping these people made discrimination stronger, especially when history of how these people were treated is

Read More

Gender Roles In Tough Guise

671 Words | 3 Pages

Similar to Sapolsky, Katz argues that the media teaches men from a young age to be tough, aggressive, and not to show emotional vulnerability. This is what he calls the “tough guise” or the artificial definition of manhood that forces men to conform to society’s expectations by being “tough” and powerful and hiding their emotions. In the beginning of the film Katz shows interviews with various young males where he asks what it means to be a man, and all of them provide an answer referring to strength, such as “powerful,” “intimidating,” “strong,” and of course, “tough.” When asked what a male is called when they fail to live up to these expectations, the young men replied, “wuss,” “fag,” or “sissy.” Katz points out that this just one of numerous methods that society uses to contain young men in this “tough guise” box, using insults to drive them to perform the way they believe a man should.

Read More

Michael Kimmel's Bros Before Hos: The Guy Code

967 Words | 4 Pages

History has repeatedly given men privilege due to their physical advantages; yet it is these same advantages that have developed into “rules” or expectations that all men should conform to in order to prove their manhood. Michael Kimmel’s essay, “‘Bros Before Hos': The Guy Code” outlines the “rules” where men are expected to never show any emotions, be brave, act knowledgeable, be risk takers, be in control, act reliable, and be competitive, otherwise they would be showing weakness which is analogous to women. It is humiliating that men associate weakness with women; they should focus on the potential of the individual rather than their gender. Most insults toward men attack their masculinity because society finds it shameful for men to be

Read More

Social Class In The Turn Of The Screw

766 Words | 4 Pages

Thesis: Amongst the library of supernatural fiction and ghost stories written within the late 1800s, The Turn Of The Screw offers a direct commentary on the suppressed social fears of class change through the embodiment of ghosts. Introduction: Written in 1889, during the rise of supernatural psychical research and supernatural fiction, The Turn Of The Screw by Henry James tells the tale of a governess driven to insanity. The governess claims to have seen ghosts of the late governess, Miss Jessel, and the deceased valet, Peter Quint, on the grounds of castle Bly. The ghosts that she sees throughout the novella are not real and were created by the governess, due to the social pressures that she faced working at Bly. Her repressed desire to belong to a higher social class and her fears of trying to elevate her status were

Read More

Tough Guise Debate

861 Words | 4 Pages

Tough Guise 1. What are some benefits to boys and men of putting on the “tough guise”? When is it an effective and adaptive response, and when is it self-destructive and dangerous to others? 2. Are there biological reasons why males commit the vast majority of violence?

Read More

Minimum Drinking Age

1035 Words | 5 Pages

Under the 1984 National Minimum Drinking Age Act [23 U.S.C 158], persons under 21 years of age are prohibited from purchasing alcohol in all 50 US states. although there are exceptions in certain states when alcohol is consumed at home, under adult supervision, and for medical purposes, the drinking age still stands. There are moves to lower the drinking age, however. many proponents think 18 is a good number, considering that teenagers at this age are practically considered adults. in fact, they think it is hilarious that an 18 year old can marry, vote, join the military or buy guns, but can 't buy or drink alcohol, which is probably the easiest thing anyone can do, as opposed to getting married and choosing the next president.

Read More

Jackson Katz Masculinity

1322 Words | 6 Pages

Both meaning to become brave or tough, this phrase is most often spoken to men who are displaying emotion, and the belief in which the phrase is founded is evident: manliness is not solely focused on appearance, but also, one’s ability to be invulnerable. Jackson Katz, an anti-violence educator, explores the idea of male toughness through references to many iconic men in the media, including the Marlboro Man. All of the men Katz describes in his interview assert their manliness through austerity and impassive behavior, expressing to society that, “interdependence, connection, and relationships [in men] are forms of weakness; that stuff’s for women”. Moreover, a study published in the journal entitled Social Science & Medicine by a University College Dublin sociologist, Anne Cleary, also emphasizes the notion of complete indifference in men. In her study, Cleary highlights the commonalities among fifty-two young Irish men who survived suicide attempts: “all expres[s] reluctance to disclose to anyone the significant, long-lasting emotional pain that had threatened to overwhelm them” (Freed).

Read More

Life Of Pi Persuasive Essay

453 Words | 2 Pages

In conclusion, mental and physical strength are necessary in order to survive. You need to be physically fit in order to move things and overpower competition. Also, you need to be mentally fit and smart to think of a plan. You need to be able to be both of these things, not to the extreme however, you don’t need to be a genius or an Olympic weightlifter. So, in conclusion one needs to be strong and smart to

Read More

Toxic Masculinity In Media

1492 Words | 6 Pages

There is a lot of pressure on men in society to be manly; however, what exactly does it mean to be manly? Though many people have different opinions, a lot of them conclude that a man has to be strong and somewhat emotionless to be considered a man. This assumption can lead to Toxic Masculinity, which is “A false idea that men are expected to be as manly as possible” (The Hard, Adrenaline-Soaked Truth About 'Toxic Masculinity, 2017). Men are forced to face these assumptions not only from those around him, but also from people he might see in Media. Media reinforces Toxic Masculinity which in turn causes men to belittle women.

Read More

Essay On Social Classes In America

608 Words | 3 Pages

I believe social classes have defined our society in many ways. In America, they separate people into three different classes: the upper class, middle class, and the lower or working class. Based on wealth and various occupations, social classes determine the population’s status in society. Social classes today define individuals and influence their actions. Although people born in a certain class may choose to stay there, they also have the choice of leaving.

Read More

Walter B. Miller's Focal Concern Theory

1070 Words | 5 Pages

In 1958 Walter B. Miller came up with a theory in order to explain the subculture in low-income neighborhood. The theory was called the focal concerns theory, and was divided into six different concepts that Miller thought explained the subculture in Low-income neighborhoods. In the movie Carlito’s way we are shown how some scenes correlate to Miller’s Focal concern theory, and explain the actions that the main character Carlito takes. Trouble, Toughness, smartness, fate, and autonomy are five out of the six focal concerns theory that Miller used in explaining the development of the subculture that existed in low-income neighborhoods, and the reasons why youth in these neighborhoods acted in the fashion that they did (Miller, W. B. 1958, pg.7).

Read More

The Importance Of Social Class In Society

1863 Words | 8 Pages

Social class is a hierarchy based on wealth, living standards, education level and occupation which impact people’s lives for better or worse. In this essay, I have chosen to explore the idea of how social classes affect the way we treat people. The four texts To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee, Me Before You by Jojo Moyes, The Help by Kathryn Stockett, and Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen all capture the idea in which social class can affect our lives. In each text, we see how social classes divide people from another, that most characters are aware of where they stand in their society because of social status, and how relationships across different social classes can be formed.

Read More

More about Walter B. Miller's Five Tensions Concerning The Lower Class Culture

Related Topics

Open Document