Social class is a category that opens up a whole host of other topics. For example, being of a different class may involve differences in culture, economic circumstances, educational status, property ownership and power. Social scientists however use social class as a way of classifying the economic and social divisions of society, therefore differences in economic systems create social class groupings (Woodward pg 21). Social class can be shaped by our history and can provide us with a sense of belonging (Mackintosh and Mooney, pg 96). In Britain in 1999 most people still described themselves in class terms, and the majority categorized themselves as working class (The Guardian, 15th January 1999, pg 3). The social class that a person belongs to can give many mixed emotions, some see it as a positive label with which they can identify with, others however perceive the labelling as a form of stigma (Mackintosh and Mooney pgs 85 and 86). This reaction is likely to have some dependency on the class in which the person is in and issues such as gender.
Culture as a structural influence on identity again opens up many other topic categories. In general the cultures we know and identify with give us a sense of shared meanings and values. Having national identity is an important part of the culture of a society (Woodward, pg 22). For example an individual may hold a British passport, which in itself proves citizenship but it also takes away some aspects of the person’s identity. There is no place yet given for multi-ethnicity and regardless of birth place individuals are all placed under one heading thus giving the impression of a collective identity. This impression can be given to other areas regarding this subject, the word ‘race’ can be used as a way of categorizing people simply based on physical characteristics. Some people may use a persons ‘race’ to affix meaning to their background and describe their culture, culture however is not just ‘race’ dependant.
When looking at each of these areas in terms of a structural influence, what soon becomes apparent is the large extent to which they interact with each other along with abundance of other factors. For example when discussing the education system with regards to gender this raises the question of social classes and education along with the effects of cultural differences and many more.
Word count: 750
Reference
Woodward K. (2004) ‘Questions of Identity’ in Woodward K. (ed). Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity, London, Routledge/The Open University.
TMA 02 Question Part (b)
With reference to any occupation or social role of your choice, show how individual agency and structural influences interact.
Three years ago I became a mother for the first time and my life changed forever, therefore in order to complete this essay I would like to discuss how within my role of a parent, individual agency and structural influences interact. Pregnancy for me was about choice it was something I chose and wanted, it was agency.
During my pregnancy I witnessed many social structures with regards to the subject, hospital visits, birth plans and the like. These aspects of the subject although in parts can be very structured, individuals do also have the ability to gain and express some level of agency.
Maternity and paternity leave are now par for the course and again follow a very structured strategy. After my leave had ended I then, at least in theory had the choice of what to do next, due to structures that were in place at work with regards to hours and location of employment the idea of going back and juggling motherhood along with this would have been a great strain, there was really no option. I stayed at home.
This was a huge milestone for me and although I enjoyed my new role as a full time Mum it soon became apparent my agency had many knock on effects socially and structurally. The way in which I was perceived by others changed, when I purchased insurance on the internet the only occupation that was close to what I considered my new role to be was ‘housewife’ but yet this wasn’t the category I sought to be placed in or identified with, and I began to have a certain amount of envy for mothers that did manage to juggle both motherhood and paid work that you could essentially be recognised for, I missed ,what Mackintosh and Mooney suggested, a the source of collective identity that this type of work gave me (Mackintosh and Mooney, 2004, pg 80). I also noticed in conversation when occupations were discussed my new role never created any lengthy topic of conversation. Mackintosh and Mooney suggested that, housework or unpaid caring for relatives and family members seem only to define us – as ‘carers’ or ‘housewives’ – when we do not also do paid work (Mackintosh and Mooney, 2004, pg 80). Again this emphasises the interaction of my individual agency and social structural influences.
For parents in the contemporary UK there is a lot of social influence that has changed dramatically over relatively recent generations, it is becoming more and more acceptable for fathers to be main carer’s of their children and mothers to go out to work or indeed for mothers to return to work once the babies are born and to then pay for child care and as a direct effect of these changes there are more individual choices some of which of course are circumstance dependent. However, surrounding all of these options there are many conflicting views and morals with are expressed. From both viewpoints there is structural influence and support, Belsky and Rovine (1988) study reported that day care can adversely affect attachments whereas in contrast Scarr (1998) reported that high quality day care benefits children from low income families, the long term picture for middle and high class families was less clear (Gross and Rolls, Essential Psychology, pg 49).
Education is another good example of this type of interaction. There are many social structures in place for parents and children with regards to education at all levels including Pre School, there are places available for children at local schools but parents still have agency and are able to choose where to send their children. Of course due to some of the structures that are in place the current system is often described as being based on the principle of parental choice, however not all parental choices can be satisfied when popular schools are over-subscribed, as the institute for public policy research point out, but parents do never the less have some levels of agency about the choices we make for our children’s education. In the UK now when a child reaches school age, parents still have a level of agency about this matter as children can legally be taught at home and don’t have to attend school although this is not yet the more socially accepted influence.
There are many more topics that could be raised when using the role of a parent in order to highlight the interaction of individual agency and structural influences, but the above points emphasize the extent to which the two areas do frequently have effects on each other and therefore their interaction.
Word count: 767
Reference
Woodward K. (2004) ‘Questions of Identity’ in Woodward K. (ed). Questioning Identity: Gender, Class, Ethnicity, London, Routledge/The Open University.
Gross R. and Rolls G. (2003), Essential AS Psychology for AQA (A).
The Institute for Public Policy Research (website).
Self-evaluation (TMA 02)
- I feel the skills that I have got to grips with best are the note taking and representing, I found the course material interesting and useful when it came to writing to the essays. Again I found the audios useful and also broke up the reading.
- The skills I believe I need most help with are effective reading and the processing of the course material, I found myself reading over sections several times before being able to take the information in and process.
