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FAULTS IN A SOCIETY
Today's topic is close to me as it is a part of what I am already learning - Sociology! Faults as in not the cons but the caveats in a society. A child's upbringing is affected not only by its parents but also by the society surrounding the child. A child goes through several levels of exposure, from house to school or interactions with whom the child is associated and strangers. This is further accompanied by experiences, learnings, and the impacts that a habitat is making on the child. One prime example of it is radicalization. It's easy to find the distinction between a radicalized child and a mainstream child. But it is harder to understand what social impacts made the kids distinct.
It is not a one-point or one-reason answer, but rather a complex web of social relationships that is exhibiting a range of impacts on the kid. Again, the socializing of a child depends on how much time the kid is staying in a particular environment. Also what kind of exposure is the kid up to - secular learning, religious learning, orthodox or progressive tendency, single-sex school, etc? It is hard to pinpoint one thing and make an outcome out of it. Sociology focuses on every dynamic before approaching a conclusion.
There is another terminology from sociology - Social Currents. A social current is a temporary phenomenon to which a person becomes part of knowingly or unknowingly. For example - When a person catches a thief in the market, the surrounding crowd forms upon that thief. Similarly, the herd's call - where a group of people start following another person without being aware of what's going on. It's also the responsibility here that if a person made a decision based on these dynamics or it was just limited to his/her upbringing.
In my understanding, nothing happens in isolation, everything has an impact on each other. A society is not a controlled environment. There is no corner to it and there is no centre as well. And one can't deduce what information leads to what outcomes. We can't expect that what we feed to a kid in terms of knowledge, the kid is going to follow it exactly.
There is one such experiment was done. The name of the study/research is "Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging" by Dr. George Valliant. In this study, the doctor picked up some teens from a locality that is known for intoxication and drug abuse from an early age. The teens were kept in isolation where they were provided with good amenities. Soon the doctor observed improvements and set a target to release teens back in their locality. But soon after their release, they began to use drugs and other intoxicating products. A similar research was done and called "Peer Influence on Adolescent Drug Use".
This brings us to the conclusion that it is nearly unpredictable however what can be done is the pattern-based study. A pattern can be deduced from several observations which can be used to treat the child/person to get it back in the mainstream. One good saying that I can recall is that it is hard to change one's values/morals set after the 30s. As with age morals become part of personality and it is difficult to change.
| Studies | Link | Description | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stability of Personality Traits | Link | Personality traits learned before 30s becomes rigid and difficult to change | ||
| Influence of Life Experiences | Link | Influence of work, relationships, life experiences and its tendency to change | ||
| Peer influence on adolescents drinking behaviour | Link | Similar to Baltimore Experiment but with positive outcomes. |
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