Sociology

Social life can be interpreted from symbolic interactionism because people use symbols to define their surroundings and distinguish what type of interaction we use in our social life. One of the few men who contributed in bringing symbolic interactionism into sociology was George Herbert Mead. In Functional Analysis, the main idea is that our social life is created by interrelated parts that work together making society one whole unit. Auguste Comte, who is credited as the founder of sociology, viewed society as a whole. The last theoretical perspective is conflict theory which was founded by Karl Marx. Marx believed that society was made up of different groups that competed for each available resource that human beings needed.

Ethnocentrism is a tendency to use our own group's ways of doing things as the guide for the way we judge others. Ethnocentrism can be viewed in both positive and negative ways, it is positive for society because it reduces disloyal behavior in a group. On the negative side, Ethnocentrism causes hatred and discrimination among others who live by ways different than ours. For example, laws are created to make the world a better place to live in and we as people are taught to abide by them and ethnocentrism comes into play because our brains are automatically set to follow those set of rules. However, there will always be rebels and ethnocentrism teaches us to look down upon criminals who break the law.

Family is one of 8 agents we depend on because our experiences with families impact our lives. Neighborhoods impact us because we live our lives based on how and where we are raised. Religion is a key agent because it gives us morals and values to live