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fandomhigh2006-04-03 11:07 pm
the-ascended.livejournal.com) wrote in fandomhigh2006-04-03 11:07 pm
Entry tags:
Anthropology, 5th Period
"We're going to start looking at social organizations. Let me talk for a few minutes, and then we can discuss some of the points raised and how they relate to you.
We're highly social creatures. It is extremely unusual for us to be in total isolation from other people for long. You may personally enjoy being alone. However, your voluntary isolation probably does not last more than a few hours or days at most. Our strong emotional need for social contact and company makes it possible to use solitary confinement as an effective punishment in prisons. The threat of social ostracism can also be an effective way of curbing potentially deviant behavior. Those who act "badly" run the risk of being rejected by other members of their social group or community.
When we are deprived of human social contact, we often seek it in substitutes such as radio and television shows, and books. Pets also are common social substitutes for other people. This is particularly true of dogs and other animals that enjoy interacting with us in a friendly way.
The need for human social contact and the rewards that it can bring lead most people to become members of numerous social groups. In fact, we are members of many groups at the same time. We may be family members, employees of companies, citizens of towns, states, and nations. In addition, we often are members of clubs, vocational associations, political parties, and religious groups.
Our behavior is adjusted to and by the various groups of which we are members.
Our individual identities are greatly defined by the groups to which we belong and by our positions within them.
People around the world create social groups based on two broad criteria: kinship identity and non-kinship factors. Which of these is most important depends greatly on the scale of the society. As societies grow in size to hundreds of thousands of people, the non-kinship factors usually become increasingly important and the kinship ones less crucial. However, even in the largest industrialized nations today, we still use kinship for creating some kinds of social groupings, but kinship has become much less important as a foundation for membership in educational, business, and government organizations.
"Okay, potential discussion points. Social ostracism; can you think of any examples? For me, it involves the social organization of academia and I was essentially ostracised for unpopular academic theoriesinvolving aliens. What about substitutes? Have you ever had to seek any in place in human contact? Where do you think you'd go if you did? I have books. Lots of books. And my girlfriend's told me off for that..." Daniel trailed off and blushed slightly.
A cough. "Okay, social groups. We're all part of Fandom High and of the greater community of Fandom Island. You're both part of your families; my family is more by adoption by blood. Any other groups you belong to, or have belonged to, or plan to belong to later in life? What functions do they serve? How do they adjust behavior? How does group identity work?"
He looked at his two students. "Let's discuss."
[[ooc: Sorry about this being so late - dad's birthday. Any spelling mistakes or just general mistakes, blame on the two and half glasses of Rose and the glass and a half of champagne! *g*]]
We're highly social creatures. It is extremely unusual for us to be in total isolation from other people for long. You may personally enjoy being alone. However, your voluntary isolation probably does not last more than a few hours or days at most. Our strong emotional need for social contact and company makes it possible to use solitary confinement as an effective punishment in prisons. The threat of social ostracism can also be an effective way of curbing potentially deviant behavior. Those who act "badly" run the risk of being rejected by other members of their social group or community.
When we are deprived of human social contact, we often seek it in substitutes such as radio and television shows, and books. Pets also are common social substitutes for other people. This is particularly true of dogs and other animals that enjoy interacting with us in a friendly way.
The need for human social contact and the rewards that it can bring lead most people to become members of numerous social groups. In fact, we are members of many groups at the same time. We may be family members, employees of companies, citizens of towns, states, and nations. In addition, we often are members of clubs, vocational associations, political parties, and religious groups.
Our behavior is adjusted to and by the various groups of which we are members.
Our individual identities are greatly defined by the groups to which we belong and by our positions within them.
People around the world create social groups based on two broad criteria: kinship identity and non-kinship factors. Which of these is most important depends greatly on the scale of the society. As societies grow in size to hundreds of thousands of people, the non-kinship factors usually become increasingly important and the kinship ones less crucial. However, even in the largest industrialized nations today, we still use kinship for creating some kinds of social groupings, but kinship has become much less important as a foundation for membership in educational, business, and government organizations.
"Okay, potential discussion points. Social ostracism; can you think of any examples? For me, it involves the social organization of academia and I was essentially ostracised for unpopular academic theories
A cough. "Okay, social groups. We're all part of Fandom High and of the greater community of Fandom Island. You're both part of your families; my family is more by adoption by blood. Any other groups you belong to, or have belonged to, or plan to belong to later in life? What functions do they serve? How do they adjust behavior? How does group identity work?"
He looked at his two students. "Let's discuss."
[[ooc: Sorry about this being so late - dad's birthday. Any spelling mistakes or just general mistakes, blame on the two and half glasses of Rose and the glass and a half of champagne! *g*]]
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