Many sociologists have tried to help us have an understanding of how our lives are lived at the crossroads of individual biography and broader social systems. We all live in a system. Allan Johnson(2008) believes that “we are always participating in something larger than ourselves, and if we want to understand social life and what happens to the people in it, we have to understand what it is that we’re participating in and how we participate in it (Johnson 2008:13).
He explains that sociology is the study of how all this happens and goes in depth to explain different types of social problems. In studying sociology, we are able to make sense of different social structures and how we defines ourselves as human beings. People play a role in the systems without actually being a part of it. Johnson says that “social life is a dynamic relationship between social systems and the people who participate in them (Johnson 2008:14). ” It is about the interaction people have with each other and not specifically about the individual themselves.
Without the social interactions, it would be hard to identify social systems and define sociology. A crucial point that he highlights is that the “people aren’t systems and systems aren’t people, and if we forget this fact, we’re likely to focus on the wrong thing in trying to solve our problems (Johnson 2008:14). ” For example, the positions in families aren’t systems. There is a father and mother figure, but people are just filling in those roles. Families don’t resign themselves or relieve someone of their position like what would occur in a place of work.
According to Johnson (2008), a person must be able to accurately identify the social system in which they are playing a role in to behave appropriately to that system (Johnson 2008:15). People playing a role in the system affects two things: the system and how it works, and what people actually do as they participate in the system (Johnson 2008:17). “A system affects how we think, feel, and behave as participants. It does this through the general process of socialization, but also by laying out paths of least resistance in social situations (Johnson 2008:18).
We all have choice in how we participate in a social systems, and our decisions shape the general structure of that system. Individuals react to a situation in a certain way according to the social system the live in. People are likely to follow the path of least resistance, but there is dynamic relationship between the people and the system because there can be multiple paths of resistance that create “role conflicts (Johnson 2008:19). ” Thinking of systems as just people is not the correct way of viewing our society. Through that action, we lumped people into groups.
Inevitably, this causes members of privileged groups to become offended by certain conclusions derived from assumptions. Johnson notes that “The United States is a racist society that privileges whites over people of color (Johnson 2008:15). ” He clarifies that this is a statement that describes the United States a social system and it does not thereby describe anyone else as an individual (Johnson 2008:15). It makes sense that the system can benefit a particular group, but not everyone in the group is comfortable with its consequences.
It explains many causes of social divide between people in social systems. People are not the systems they live in. Johnson says the one of “the most important bases for sociological practice is to realize that the individualist perspective that dominates current thinking about social life is wrong. Everything we do or experience happens in relation to a social context of some kind (Johnson 2008:20). ” Social life can produce horrible or wonderful consequences without necessarily meaning that the people who participate in them are horrible or wonderful (Johnson 2008:24).
Systems dictate how certain events will conclude, and it is us as participants that aid the system to continue. Developing the mindset to view the society as whole can be difficult and overwhelming. C. Wright Mills states “the sociological imagination enables its possessor to understand the larger historical scene in terms of its meaning for the inner life and the external career of a variety of individuals. It enables him to take into account how individuals, in the welter of their daily experience, often become falsely conscious of their social positions (Mills 2013:3). The sociological imagination through the form of self-conscious helps people to view past those personal structures that they have been so accustomed to.
They acquire a new way of thinking. According to Mills to understand the changes of many personal milieu we are required to look beyond them. Looking beyond our personal experience aids us in understanding our society as a whole. In order to use the social imagination, one must look passed personal experiences and develop an understanding of the structure to become closer with their community and themselves. In our time we have come to know that the limits of ‘human nature’ are frighteningly broad (Mills 2013:3)”.
Mills also warns us that limitations as humans are broad because an individual’s life is dictated by their biography and historical sequence. Therefore, we are all connected if we look past our own individual experiences and relate our history and biography to society. Defining our role in society can be accomplished because it can be broken down into simple structures.
Charles Lemert claims that we agree that structures, including social ones, have at least two defining characteristics. First, they make order out of some set of things. Second, they do this work because they endure for a time, even for a short time (Lemert 2012:125). It is difficult to pinpoint a specific structure that has an impact on us but we are able to gain grasp of what social systems we are a part of. Lemert states that “social structures are organizing, enduring, and generally invisible, but salient, social things we know by their effects (Lemert 2012:135).
There are multiple variables that form our society. Some are easy to detect and others are invisible to a participant. The larger influences in our society hold all the attributes listed by Lemert. As participants, we are always effected by different structures within our society that make up the social systems we live in. Lemert also highlight that power is another factor that works to structure the social worlds in which people live in (Lemert 2012:141).
