I chose this image because it represents the way people are growing through knowledge, the way I did by learning in order to write about a topic.
Sunday, April 28, 2013
Conclusion
This
blog experience was different than I thought it would be. I actually learned more
about the subjects I picked when looking them up. I enjoyed expressing myself by
researching topics I found interesting and connecting a bigger part of the
world together. I also learned that sociology is a lot like psychology in ways.
Both try to find answers about individuals or groups of people and the way they
interact. I might add on to this blog once the class is over with, just because it is easier than I thought and is a great way of communication.
I chose this image because it represents the way people are growing through knowledge, the way I did by learning in order to write about a topic.
I chose this image because it represents the way people are growing through knowledge, the way I did by learning in order to write about a topic.
Current Event
As a current event, I went with the bombing in Boston, April
15, 2013. I chose this event because crime and deviance was a chapter we
covered in our book. I believe sociologist would look at this event and try to
find the motives of the deviant. When I had first heard the horrifying news
about the bombs in Boston, I immediately thought “Who and why are would someone
ever do that? It’s so terrible. They have to be messed up in the head.” I can’t
say that I have any idea to date on what the motives where but I can look into
what sociologists have researched on crime and motives.
“Methods Not Motives: Implications of the Convergence of
International Organized Crime and Terrorism” is an article that theorized the
connection between organized crime with terrorism. While crime is economically
driven, they state that terrorism is politically related. This article related
to the bombing because it discusses different motives of bigger scale deviance
as it examines the similar methods used by both organized crime and terrorism.
Photograph of the bombing in Boston
Besides all the conspiracy theories found on Youtube, this video is an actual interview. The video clip is about the mother of the suspects' view on the bombing. She claims her sons are innocent and that they are being set up. This raises more conspiracy theories, and makes it harder to come up with the motive.
The article “Does Religion Really Reduce Crime?” provides
useful information on a research project conducted to find whether there is a link
between crime and religion. As I looked into the news, the media portrays the
act may have been involved with Jihad, which is attached to the Muslim culture.
In the abstract of the article, the researcher states that “most previous
studies have found a negative effect of religion on crime”, but that the
researcher had found “negligible effect of religion on crime and a negative
effect of crime on religion.”
“Feelings of Revenge, Retaliation Motive, and Posttraumatic
Stress Reactions in Crime Victims” is an article that provides information on
how feelings of revenge arise from crime victims. The reaction is explained by a
“maladaptive coping reaction to experienced injustice”. Could it be possible
that the bombing was based off of revenge? There is no way to know until more
information comes out.
or
http://jiv.sagepub.com/content/21/2/229
"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."
Ronald Reagan
This quote is sort of ironic.
"My fellow Americans, I am pleased to tell you I just signed legislation which outlaws Russia forever. The bombing begins in five minutes."
Ronald Reagan
This quote is sort of ironic.
Transgender
For the second blog post, I chose to elaborate on a very briefly
covered topic found in chapter 11; Transgender. The book defines transgender as
“those who live as a gender different from that to which they were assigned at
birth.”(pg.254, ) Other than the definition, there is a short paragraph
describing the struggles arising among transgender individual regarding their identity. Our society is based off labeling things and putting them into categories. A coworker explained how she sometimes still had trouble classifying her son, who identified as a girl until the age of 18. I wanted to learn more about transgender because I find it interesting and because it isn't brought up often.
As an article that explains concepts and theories on
transgenderism, I found the “Encyclopedia of Sex and Gender” to be most
relevant. The encyclopedia itself has many sections, including a 15 page
chapter on transgender and transexuality. Because transgender is classified in
the DSM as Gender Identity Disorder, the chapter starts out by discussing the biological
and environmental etiology of transgenderism. There was not much information
given about those matters because there has been no indication of a causation of
transgenderism. Many are currently in works of trying to remove it from the DSM
because they do not believe it should be considered a disorder. The encyclopedia
also gives useful information on hormonal therapy.
The image I found is of two “Lady Boys”, as termed in
Thailand.
This video clip really shows the conflicting body challenges
a transgender child deals with. The parents are very accepting and willing to
do anything how their child.
By working at the campus’s Women’s Center, I have been
exposed to more of the LGBTQA community than I had originally been exposed to. In
the office, we are a safe zone, an ally, but not everyone is as accepting. I
picked the “The 2003 National School Climate Survey” article because, by use of
statistics from the survey, it shows how unsafe and even dangerous the schools
can be for transsexual and transgender individuals.
The second informative article was called “Transgender
and Gender Non-Conforming Youth Recommendations for Schools”. This article also
is about how schools are an unsafe place. “Transgender students face severe
discrimination and harassment in schools. 89.5% of transgender students report
feeling unsafe in schools. Transgender students are at higher risk of dropping
out of school and of suicide.” But the majority of the article is about the
ways to make schools and public places a safe zone. They cover the overall recommendations,
how to avoid disrespectful pronouns, toilet accessibility (lack of neutral
restrooms) and other.
“People changed
lots of other personal things all the time. They dyed their hair and dieted
themselves to near death. They took steroids to build muscles and got breast
implants and nose jobs so they'd resemble their favorite movie stars. They
changed names and majors and jobs and husbands and wives. They changed
religions and political parties. They moved across the country or the world --
even changed nationalities. Why was gender the one sacred thing we weren’t
supposed to change? Who made that rule?”
― Ellen Wittlinger, Parrotfish
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