Sociology Perspective-Man in Society

SOC 101
Mukda Chabairum
Chapter 4 Essay
Brian Adkins
05/02/16

Sociology Perspective-Man in Society
As children, we learn who we are by relating ourselves to the people around us. We are given “assigned coordinates” by our parents, family, and authorities especially in schools. Children would start gathering information about themselves such as their name, their age, and their appearance while growing up. In elementary school, I remember I was always that one kid that would follow the rules. I believed and did everything that I was told to do in school. I never got detention, never break nor question the rules, and according to society, I was a good kid.
According to Peter L. Berger, this assigned coordinate tells an individual “…what he may do or what he may want in life.” As I read through chapter 4 of “Invitation to Sociology” Berger stated, “No society can exist without social control.” Methods of social control will vary for different social environments. Physical violence is another way to operate under social control. It is in fact, one of the oldest acts of social control. For example, currently we live in a society where we have police officers protecting our society. Berger is saying that police officers may not use violence frequently, only when it is absolutely needed.
Another form of social control is economic pressure this includes the fear of not being hired and the fear of getting fired. Verbal/mental pressure is a common form of social control that I could easily identify this social control on a daily basis. This social control includes gossip (especially gossip), persuasion, ridicule, and ostracism. The forth form of social control is morality and manners. People can get punish by immorality by losing their job. As for having bad manners certain groups of people may not invite an individual if that person is considered to have bad manners. The fifth form of social control is occupational control. There are two types of...