Sociology of Identifying and Identity

(Chicago Blackhawks team logo)

Continuing on with Theories of Race and Ethnicity, I will talk about the sociological definitions of identifying and identity, which was coined by Jean-Paul Restoule, in this article. This is an important concept to grasp because it is a such a great tool for understanding yourself and your true feelings
about your ethnicity.

Concepts of Race and Ethnicity Continued

(A picture from the Holocaust. Via http://www.mtholyoke.edu)

On the previous Sociology of Race and Ethnicity article, I talked about what 'race' is and how it is not real. I also discussed the concepts of racism and discrimination. For this article, I will continue on with the concepts from this subject.

What is Peter Berger's Society as Drama?

Peter Berger's society as drama is a thought-provoking concept that examines the idea of humans being characters in a theatrical drama. 

Peter Berger, in his work Invitation to Sociology, brings up Erving Goffman's interesting idea of society being a drama. In this theory, Goffman says that humans are just characters with roles (specific ones based on their group) that society has given them.

For instance, a doctor is meant to have the role of a healer. But if we look deeper into society, we can see that it also hands out the roles of the scary thug black man or the obedient wife with great kitchen skills. For Berger, he believes that we have to use this knowledge to escape the "tyranny of society."

What is the Sociology of Crime and Deviance?

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The sociology of crime and deviance is the examination of what society views as criminal and deviant behaviours and why. 

When sociologists study deviance, they look at people or groups who violate social norms, such as drug addicts, murderers, child molesters, Satanists, Nazis, etc, and then observe to see why society deems these people/groups as deviants. Sociologists also try to figure out how these individuals/groups became full-fledged deviants.

As well, some sociologists also consider people with conditions such as mental illness, disabilities, obesity, etc, as deviants. But not because of the person's personal self, but rather because of how society looks at and treats them; they are not acceptable in the eyes of their fellow humans.

What is the Sociology of Race and Ethnicity?

(W.E.B du Bois)

The sociology of race and ethnicity is the study of the construction of race and how this affects society.

The Sociology of Race and Ethnicity was my favorite course back in university because it revealed so many aspects of people and society that I didn't realize. I hope that through this post -- and many more like it -- you will achieve the same realizations I did.

Sociology of Social Stratification

(Karl Marx)

Social stratification is society's way of ranking people based on a hierarchal system of property, prestige, and/or power.

There are two different types of stratification. The caste system and the class system. Caste ranks people based on whose family they were born into, while class ranks people based on both birth and a person's achievements.

What is the Sociology of Sexuality and Gender?

The sociology of gender is the study of gender in society. It examines the effects of socialization and the construction of each.

According to social scientists, sex and gender are two different things. A person's sex defines what they are biologically. Are you a girl or a boy? Male or female? Sex answers these questions. 

Gender, however, is the different social behaviors between males and females and how groups of power have exploited people based on it. I am a man, therefore I will go out and hunt, and protect the family. You are a woman, therefore you will stay back, and gather fruits and take care of the children. Basically, it looks at the different gender roles that society has created.

What is the Sociology of Religion?

The sociology of religion looks at the sacred, awe-inspiring beliefs and practices of a community. 

Sociologists tend to look at how the procedures of fundamentalism and secularization are influenced by religious pluralism -- a system where more than one religion is accepted in a society.

They also investigate why people join religions, why certain religions are more widespread, and how religion affects people's behaviour, to name a few areas that they study.

What is the Sociology of Family?

The Sociology of Family is the study of the different types of families. It investigates how a person enters each and how this can affect society. 

A family is defined as a group of two or more people who are related -- and consider themselves as such -- by blood, marriage or adoption.

When studying families, sociologists like to look at demographics, social class, ideology, domain, and interaction.  They research these areas to learn why certain beliefs and/or lifestyles, for instance, are more prevalent in certain areas (or societies) over others.

An illustration of socialization

Young and Dangerous

Here is a story to illustrate last week's concept of socialization.

I am an owner of a start-up and every month I have to go to the bank to deposit my earnings, which happens to be mostly cash. But this one time (maybe my fifth or sixth time going to that back), the teller, who was a middle aged white lady, was very suspicious with me and kept asking me personal questions and very specific questions about my business, and even though I cheerfully answered them, she made me feel very uncomfortable because I knew in the back of my mind that she was only hassling me because I was young, didn't dress like a businessman and Asian (this feeling is referred to as double consciousness, but we will explore this further later on).