Response Paper 1

The definition of sociology is the “scientific study of social behavior and human groups” (Schaefer 5). Reading chapter one of our textbook made me reflect on how each one of us, one way or another, spends a large amount of our time studying human behavior. I suppose that, in a way, we are all sociologists. We observe the people that surround us everywhere we go and, based on our observations, we make various assumptions. We observe the people next to us waiting in line at Starbucks and we observe those who are sitting across from us on the bus. We are natural observers. Unfortunately though, most of the human race has the tendency to judge a book by its cover.  This is where the study of sociology can be extremely helpful and where I especially hope that it will help me in my education and in my future career. There is a lot more to a person and to a society then meets the eye.

In our text book there was a great amount of emphasis on the words scientific study in the definition of sociology. The author mentioned quite a few times that sociology is not based on opinions, but hard core facts. We tend to believe many things that we hear on the news or read on the internet because we are made to believe that those are the facts, when in reality most of them are just opinions. I hope that this course aids me in learning to look past some of these opinions, look at the facts, and then form my own hypothesis. There are many factors which contribute to a person’s or a society’s behavior, making it very important to take all of those factors into consideration when trying to completely understand them.
I anticipate this course to help me to look deeper into situations, behaviors and societies that I will encounter in the future. One of the key terms in chapter 1 is sociological imagination, which is defined as “an awareness of the relationship between an individual and the wider society” (Schaefer 5). I believe this to be an extremely important aspect in sociology and one that I would love to gain and practice. To fully understand a person and that persons behavior one must look at the society in which that person lives and vice versa. It is so easy to make a quick observation and a quick assumption, but to gain and use a sociological imagination is to delve into the life of another and truly attempt to fully understand it.

In a society where the mentality of many is “me, me, me”, I truly hope that this course will help me to gain more focus on “you, you, you”. Here at Kean University I am on my way to becoming an elementary school teacher. I think that to be able to truly help and teach my students I am going to have to do much more than make assumptions based on my own opinion on why they behave a certain way. If Max is struggling with getting his homework done on time I may want to blame it on his lack of responsibility, which is how it might seem, but the truth is, it may be something much more. If my students are struggling I am going to have to be able to look at the many aspects of their behavior, as well as their everyday surroundings, to get to the source of the problem and to find a solution. I most likely am going to have students that have different backgrounds and come from different cultures then myself, which may make it harder to get through to them, but definitely not impossible. In aiding my students to reach their full potential, it is going to be very important for me to try to understand who they are and part of who they are is where they fit in our society. 
We are constantly affecting one another and as we are doing this we are also affecting our society. It is a never ending cycle of change. Chapter one talks about the major contributors to sociology, one being Emile Durkheim. Durkheim stressed the importance of looking at the “larger social context, not just in individualistic terms” (Schaefer 10). If one wants to truly learn about someone one has to take a little walk in that person’s shoes, which means, not only learning their beliefs and action, but also the role that their society plays in their beliefs and actions. Fully understanding a person’s behavior means taking a deeper look into the society in which they live in. After reading chapter one and two, I have come to the conclusion that sociology is about digging deeper; it is about getting a deeper appreciation for all types of people and all types of cultures, as well as coming to a better understanding of them.

Works Cited

Schaefer, Richard T. Sociology: a Brief Introduction. 9th ed. NY: McGraw Hill, 2011. Print.