Deviance can be broadly defined as the transgressions of social norms. It is a concept in sociology that has drawn many different analytical perspectives. This includes perspectives such as the reactivist, normative, statistical and absolutist. In his work, Liazos attempts to define the current state of the field of study by analyzing works of different authors in the field.
Oftentimes, people read their favorite books or watch popular movies and they are completely oblivious to the origin of the theme(s). In fact, a collection of recent movies, books and paintings include themes dating back to mid-19th century. Indeed, the 19th century transcendentalists inspired many of today’s influential artists. For instance, mainstream movies like the “Star Wars” saga, best selling books such as the Hunger Games series, and distinguished artwork like Dispersion all suggest transcendentalist themes. Even though humanity moved farther away from simple lifestyle, some ideas from transcendentalists remain prominent in modern movies, books, and paintings.
In modern-day life people often have their ups and downs of having power and losing it all. This is a key element in life, which is why many art forms choose to use it as their basis of writing. Literature often shows power and powerlessness through heroes and villains. However, author James Baldwin brings the battle of having and losing power through ordinary people’s life experiences. In the short story, Sonny’s Blues, written by James Baldwin examines the idea of how the desire to have power or control leads to having no power at all through the plot, characters, and setting.
But first what is Power? When researching Power words such as authority, control, direct, command and influence all appear. These words all support the following statement “Power is the ability to influence and control the behaviour of others.” The problem with power is that it often leads to those in power abusing it. As Lord Acton famously quoted “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” Macbeth
Power and influence in society have a huge impact on the way things happen and affects perception. A prime example is the power that presidents and prime ministers have. Given this power they can effectively influence and persuade others. Power and influence is often associated with gender, conflict and roles and relationships. The importance of the power and influence can be thoroughly examined using texts that demonstrate ideas presented as truths. Some of these texts include, The Crucible, Macbeth, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, and many more. The text being examined is The Crucible by Arthur Miller, set in Salem during the 1692 witch trials. The theme of the importance of name will become apparent by studying John Proctor and Abigail
Throughout Ken Kesey’s, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, the balance of power is challenged in the psychiatric ward. Out of the several leaders that appear in the novel, Nurse Ratched and McMurphy are the most prominent. During Nurse Ratched and McMurphy struggle for power, they share many of the same qualities. It is argued that: “McMurphy and Ratched are alike in intelligence, military service, distinctive (if opposite) clothing, and conventionally masculine qualities” (Evans). These small similarities; however, do not distract the characters from fighting for their individual beliefs. Both McMurphy and Nurse Ratched approached their leadership in different ways. McMurphy uses transformational leadership, which is a leader that “must perform some combination of the transactional functions (plan, direct, organize, control) in order to build respect and trust… [and the] leader gets people to work towards some higher purpose or goal” (O’Connor). In other words, it is a leader who achieves a “higher goal”, while “build[ing] respect and trust” from the people. On the other hand, Nurse Ratched uses authoritarian leadership, which is when “Policies [are] determined by the leader. [The] leader determines what each member should do and with whom he should work… Some find it difficult to diffuse authority… [which] causes some to feel threatened and insecure” (Sferra). More simply, an authoritative leader is one that has supreme power over the people. McMurphy’s transformational
2. Marx, Durkheim and Weber each have particular ways of handling social cohesion and change in human society or culture. Where does social cohesion and change come from, how does it happen, and what causes it? Does each have an analysis of change or merely a typology of stages? Are the causes of social cohesion and change materialist, idealist or some other approach? How might you evaluate the contributions of each or their weakness in regard to an analysis of change?
Is the concept of power accessible to everyone or just certain individuals who possess incumbent resources? According to the Cambridge English dictionary, power is defined as the ability or right to control people and events, or to influence the way people act or think in important ways. Many people in modern society strive to reach an overall powerful status amongst others, for this is evident in the play, The Crucible by Arthur Miller. In certain instances, there are even different branches of the notion. For example, a teacher having control over a student is not equivalent to the control the United States government has over its citizens. Nevertheless, everyone has their own ideas of what power can do and how it affects a group of people, but what exactly determines who is powerless and who is not? The factors that determine power in modern society are authority, affluence, and fright.
The Hunger Games is a fairly popular and typical tale that includes a heroine, courage, and bravery. This story can be read or watched through many different lenses such as a Marxist lens, feminist lens, or even an archetypal lens. Through these lenses one can see as a reader or viewer that this is not just a story that fits into one category, but one that can fit into many. Using the Marxist and feminist lenses a viewer can gain a great depth of knowledge into The Hunger Games story itself.
In the novel “The Hunger Games” by Suzanne Collins an important idea the writer developed was the idea of Governmental Control and Oppression. This idea was important as it helped me understand an important message for teenager, the idea that laws could control some populations and abused of its power could cause those living suffering.
The first symbol that describes the theme of abuse of power is government control. The reason that they hold the Hunger Games is because it is a dystopian society and most of the districts are poor and the capitol likes it because it keeps them entertained just because they believe that they are superior to everyone else who lives outside the capitol. To explain this more into detail, the government controls all the districts and all the districts have to follow the rules or else there is a serious punishment. One of the punishments is since the government controls the districts is cutting out anyone’s tongue who opposes the government and you have
Max Weber is one of the philosophers able to explain economic systems such as capitalism. He was born in Germany in 1864 at that time there were a dramatic change in Germany in terms of industrial so there were a transitional German period and that influenced by those changes happened. Max Weber has a specific ideology about state and society. In constant, Karl Marx was a sociologist who were born in Germany in 1818, his idea and ideology about state and society are revolutionary. In addition, he was influenced by Communist party and he worked as a journalist he wrote a number of books and articles about capitalism, state, and society. Marx was one of the most intelligible and perspective critics. However, the study of political sociology refer to the interrelationship between both politics and society and somehow this relationship cannot be separated between both of them or it is hard to separate between both politics and society, because they are interrelated. As a result, of this interconnection between both politics and society there is a social relationship between both of them which lead to reform in the society and make the community a better place for living within a welfare for the people. In this way, the definition of Political sociology is apprehensive with the social basis of power in all institutional sectors of society. In this tradition, political sociology deals with patterns of
Genograms are a great way to organize different subtypes of your family. You can organize a genogram with generations, authority, power, and age. When I organized my family in these groups I realized that age sometimes does not correlate to how much power the family member may have. I thought I knew everything about my family members and their roles but, after doing this assignment it made me make better conclusions why some people have more say than other do in the family. Genograms also helps make connections why you are not as close to some family members but closer to others.
“Moral Authority comes from following universal and timeless principles like honesty, integrity, and treating people with respect”-Stephen Covey. With power comes great responsibility, just as authority does. However, sometimes people abuse their power in certain situations. It is also common to see people with power step on the people below them. In The Crucible, many characters use their power and authority in Salem for personal gain and for wrongdoing. Throughout history authority figures give orders to people below them and those people have listened, which shows the kind of effect authority has over a population who cannot make a decision in times of stress.
The capacity the one person has the influence over the other persons such that other persons act in accordance with his/her wishes can be defined as ‘Power’. Conflicts could be both positive and negative. Good conflicts could be encouraged but bad conflicts ought to be prevented.