Kohlberg's (1976) theory of morality argues that moral development is guided by cognitive needs and a wish to understand the reality of the world, in which there is a strong compulsion to conform.
A) Kohlberg's (1976) theory of morality argues that moral development is guided by cognitive needs and a wish to understand the reality of the world, in which there is a strong compulsion to conform. This theory, which suggests that we learn and construct our moral beliefs through social interaction, was introduced by Piaget, and expanded by Kohlberg using empirical evidence. Piaget felt that children will initially accept adult rules, since they appear to be unalterable, but will eventually see that society's rules can be discussed and changed. Kohlberg used this theory, and proposed three levels of moral reasoning, each of which has two stages. He argues that everyone proceeds through these stages in the same order, and also that progression is reliant on suitable levels of cognitive development, and for this reason not everyone reaches level 3. The levels are briefly outlined below: * Level 1- Preconventional- acceptance of adult standards due to lack of personal moral code, although the consequences of rules-breaking is accepted. * Level 2- Conventional- Morality can be judged from the point of view of the group or society to which one belongs. * Level 3- Postconventional- Rules are understood in terms of higher moral principles and the need for democratically agreed rules. However, Kohlberg also suggests that at the very highest point of level 3, individuals may feel
This paper will look at gender, class and ethnicity and show how these concepts relate to whether you are employed and given the chance to succeed within the work industry.
Introduction Gender, class and ethnicity may be significant factors that affect the decision elements in determining how individuals are treated and regulated in the workplace. Gender and class is a major determine in how individuals are employed and treated in the work place. Work is the carrying out of tasks, which enable people to make a living within the environment in which they find themselves. But in fact, it is very difficult to understand the nature of work and puts us in a poor position for better understanding the changing contemporary work. According to Tony J. Watson, "Work is basic to the ways in which human beings deal with the problems arising from the scarcity of resources available in the environment. The scarcity of resources in the world influences the patterns of conflict and competition, which arise between social groups. It follows from this that the social organization of work will reflect the basic power relationship of any particular society. But patterns of social relationships do not relate to power structure alone. They are also closely connected to patterns of meaning." (Watson 1995.113) Therefore, the ways in which people think and feel about work will closely relate to their wider political and religious doctrines and to their general cultural orientations. This paper will look at gender, class and ethnicity and show how these concepts
Critically compare and contrast the 'Hypodermic Model' of media effects theory with the 'Uses and Gratifications' approach.
Sociology of the Media Critically compare and contrast the 'Hypodermic Model' of media effects theory with the 'Uses and Gratifications' approach. Before it is possible to start an analysis of these two models, it is first essential to define them. The Hypodermic needle model, or the media effects model, is the earliest explanation of the way in which the mass media affects audiences. The basic premise is that whatever message the media (TV, radio or print) is giving, the audience will absorb it entirely and without question. This model views the media as a drug that is injected directly into the consciousness of the media consumer. According to Mick Underwood (The Hypodermic Needle Model) "The folk belief in the Hypodermic Needle Model was fuelled initially by the rapid growth of advertising from the late nineteenth century on, coupled with the practice of political propaganda and psychological warfare during World War I." The Hypodermic Needle Model treats the audience as passive; the couch potato is a product of the Hypodermic Model. The audience are a mass and do not have the capability of free thought, rather the audience tunes into the media and is transfixed by whatever is represented. This model gives rise to the Neo-Marxist quote "TV is the new opiate of the masses". The Uses and Gratifications model is more sophisticated in that it credits the audience
Provide a critical discussion of Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model
Provide a critical discussion of Herman and Chomsky's Propaganda Model. In 1988 Edward Herman and Noam Chomsky wrote their book titled 'Manufacturing consent: The political economy of the mass media'. Mass media plays such a dominant role in society as it can be seen to communicate ideas and transmit ideas about society's norms and values. Herman and Chomsky comment how in a world so full of conflicting class interests the media must present the views of the ruling class as societies collective thoughts. Further more, Herman and Chomsky view the media as something that not only serves the dominant elite but also show how private media is ultimately looking to make a profit, and therefore its ideas generally only appeal to the ruling elite it is interested in selling too. Herman and Chomsky use a 'propaganda model' as a framework for analysis for how the media in America is run. Herman and Chomsky use 5 categories in their analysis: ownership, advertising, sourcing, flak, and anti-communist ideology. These five ideas are seen as 'filters' that the media must pass through leaving 'only the cleaned residue fit to print' (Herman and Chomsky 1988: 2). Herman and Chomsky's model though can be criticised, and the following paragraphs will examine the first three categories in detail (as these are deemed the most important in the twenty first century) and how their ideas can be
Modern Political Thought.
GV 100 Modern Political Thought LT 04 * JJ Rousseau Born in Geneva in 1712. Mother died in childbirth, raised by father and relatives. He was apprenticed in his early teens but ran away when he was 16. He fell under the influence of the of his protector Mme de Warens, a catholic proselytiser who gave him free run of her home and library in return for his becoming her lover. During his time with her he immersed himself in study - becoming a self made intellectual - a writer, composer and music critic, novelist, botanist and political philosopher. Rousseau left for Paris in 1742 where he became familiar with many of the chief thinkers of the French Enlightenment. In 1750 he entered a competition from the Academy of Dijon and won with his Discourse on the Sciences and Arts, in which he famously argues that the spread of science and literature was morally corrupting. It was society and its ways that posed a threat to man, not a solution to his base and corrupt nature. * The Discourse on Inequality (1755): for and against the Enlightenment: society is the cause of inequalities and war amongst men; but man is capable of self-improvement, and of compassion towards others. In the Social Contract, published in 1762, he sets out to describe which kind of political society would enable us to remain free, equal, to live in peace and to express our compassion for others- the kind of
What are the main features of Marshall's theory of citizenship?
What are the main features of Marshall's theory of citizenship? T. H. Marshall's theory of citizenship is the most recent theoretical model developed in the 1950s. He elaborated his ideas around the three rights elements, civil, political and social rights. He argued for equality of status rather than that due to the labour market. Along with all theories Marshall did not go without criticism, I will conclude with some of these criticisms and focus on the contemporary problems of citizenship. Prior to explaining Marshall's definition of citizenship, more general explanations can be offered. Citizenship refers to the position of being a citizen, and the collection of rights and duties of this position. These rights define the socio-political membership with the consequence of allocation of collective benefits to the social groups, households and individuals. Citizenship therefore comprises the individuals as fully- fledged members of a socio- political community, whether it is an inhabitant of a city or as a native. This provides the individual with access to limited resources, supplying social or legal protection from unexpected uncertainties of the market place and related life-cycle disadvantages. Within the modern society citizenship creates new types of social solidarity in term of public relations of the exchanging of possessions with others for mutual benefit;
Discuss the Social Psychology of Prejudice
Discuss the Social Psychology of Prejudice Prejudice is an important topic in social psychology, it is regarded as a negative trait which needs resolved, it effects many aspects of social interaction, and it is seemingly universal (and in many cases, institutionalised). Resultantly, the question of what causes prejudiced attitudes has been prominent in research for the last sixty to seventy years, resulting in a number of different theories being offered. Despite this there is, as yet, no agreement over what the answer is, with the only fact seeming to be that there is no single definable origin. Indeed, even the task of defining the term 'prejudice' has proved to be less than straightforward. It is broadly agreed that it can be defined in terms of 'negative feelings towards persons based solely on their memberships within groups'1. But even then there is the point to be made that it seems to be multifaceted, with aspects and components falling within the boundaries of cognition, behaviourism, and other similar disciplines. There have been many definitions thus offered by those researching the topic (usually in support of their theories), but Ashmore2 found what he believed to be four basic points that seem to stay constant among them. Firstly they are manifested between social groups, secondly they are always negative, thirdly they are overgeneralised (i.e. based on
Outline your understanding of the main tenets of critical criminology.
Outline your understanding of the main tenets of critical criminology Critical criminology is widely seen as a very complicated and multifaceted topic, which according to Henry and Milovanic (1991), involves four somewhat related lines of inquiry that have appeared during the last decade or so: left realism (socialist); feminist theory; peacemaking criminology; and a postmodernist structuralist perspective. When applied to these four perspectives critical refers to the varying degrees to which, they attack mainstream criminologists for their scientific pretensions, that is their assumptions about an objective and stable reality that can be captured by mainstream theories, and conventional quantitative methods. Therefore critical criminologists claim that, mainstream criminologists' "knowledge" is fatally flawed. A feature of critical criminology is that there is an emphasis on uncovering various structural features of society including economic, racial and gender inequality and discrimination, which are some of the major "root causes" of law breaking, along with discriminatory treatment of people who have been brought up within the justice system. Critical theories have often been described as radical in 'thrust', and the research agenda for these criminologists goes far beyond "getting facts"; rather it centres on uncovering and attacking social inequalities in society,
'Trait theory is better at describing than explaining personality' Discuss.
'Trait theory is better at describing than explaining personality.' Discuss Trait theory description of personality Trait theory describes personality as a hierarchy of distinguishing characteristics (traits) which underpin consistent desires, attitudes and behaviour and, when correlated, form broad, stable dispositional tendencies (factors/dimensions). Empirical advantages to trait theory descriptions Trait descriptions are good in terms of accessibility and generalisability because of their empirical derivation. The lexicographical methodology for deriving personality descriptors (separating different concepts and reducing complexity through correlating linked concepts) reflects intuitive assessment of personality. Trait theory descriptors attune with 'a categorisation of natural language trait terms'1 and provide a socially relevant nomenclature for personality. This relevance provides a lexical basis for the validity of trait descriptions. Just as West Greenland Eskimos have 49 ways of describing different types of snow2, the importance of differences in types of personality for the well being of individuals and social groups is similarly reflected in language. According to Galton (xxxx, cited in Pervin, 2001), 'the most important individual differences in human transactions will come to be encoded as single terms in some or all of the world's languages'.
Gatrell, V.A.C. (1980) 'Crime, Authority and the Policeman-State', reproduced from Muncie, J. et al. (ed) (1996) Criminological Perspectives (London: Sage) pp. 383-391 - Review.
Assignment 1 Report Gatrell, V.A.C. (1980) 'Crime, Authority and the Policeman-State', reproduced from Muncie, J. et al. (ed) (1996) Criminological Perspectives (London: Sage) pp. 383-391 Part A Gatrell in this article considers how attitudes towards crime and policies have been constructed, by whom and how. The writer discusses from when the ideas about disciplining occurred and how the definition of crime has changed its meaning as the society has evolved over the centuries. So the writer begins with the history of crime and moves to up to present. During and later 18th Century, there was growing assumption that lawlessness existed amongst the proletarian classes. They were seemed to threaten the consensual values, which the dominant social class was trying to construct around this time. Therefore the proletarian classes were seen inferior to them. This suggests the politicians were not exactly concerned with the breaking of law as crime, but protecting the considered better sector of the society. This was enforced by gaining control of the criminal justice system, the term referred to 'policeman-State'. The term 'Police-man State' refers to the power exercised by the state in the 19th Century. They used their authority to implement beuracratic control over the state to reinforce social discipline; the police were the agency of this. Gatrell points out in the context of
