Deviance

I think that punishing deviant people is a societal construct because we don't want people who commit crimes wandering our streets. We try to keep all the bad deviant behavior under control by punishing people. Its hard to avoid punishments towards deviant people because people in the society will find out about letting people off the hook for doing something wrong, and create a scene. In the US we regulate deviant behavior by sending criminals to prisons for certain amounts of time until we think that they have learned their lesson and are willing to change. I think that there a lot of problems with out jails and punishing system because we dont take the time to teach anything, like correct behavior, to the inmates. The government just locks people up for certain amounts of time without even bothering to help them. sometimes people need rehab, but in our system people can only have drug rehab if they fit into certain requirements. Once these people are in jail, they wait until their trials and once they have served their time they are let go. What many people and the government dont seem to understand is that most of those people go right back to jail. When we were watching 30 days there were 2 good examples of people who were let out early and ended up going back to jail after just a few weeks. There was an older man who had been in jail several times before, and told the camera that he was ready to be out in the world and that he was going to try to be better, but in reality people cant just change without help. If the jails had some kind of therapy or group discussions, maybe the inmates will really understand what it means to change. The other example was a teen who had been in jail before for drugs and was able to leave his drug rehab program early. The government shouldn't allow that. People should have to go through the entire program to ensure their health and safety. Being deviant in out society calls upon punishments, but the real question that has to be answered, is if those punishments are actually working or if they are just creating more criminals.

Final Blog

1. Today when I woke up I decided to wear a pair of jeans, and a cute sweater to school. I wore my moccasin boots and I let my hair go wavy. I think that when everyone gets up in the morning, including me, and decides what to wear, they are letting nurture take hold of them. I wear whatever is in style and when something new comes into style I always think that I need to have it, along with most girls my age. I always try to look put together and I never wear sweat pants. I think that part of me could potentially be nature because my parents always look nice when they leave the house, they never look like a mess. I guess I can argue that my decisions in the morning could be be either nature or nurture, but it all depends on the way you look at it.
As a teenager I think that it is very important to have a job and learn how to manage your own money and experience the real work world. I have a job and I think that it was nurture that made me want to get a job. I was always taught that money does not grow on tree's, and that being able to work hard for something you want is important. Right now I am pretty sure that I know what I want to major in and what I want to do for the rest of my life, but I dont think I was born with this knowledge. I had to do research on physical therapy and I had to learn about it before I realized how much I love it. Because this was not a natural gift, this goal is nurture based. On the other hand I have a lot of good role models and powerful people in my life, like my parents who gave me the ability to work hard. They have showed me how important it is to graduate form college and get a job.
2. Social status power is so important to adolescence because they are always so worried and concerned about what people think of them and what their appearance is. Status power has taken control of peoples lives because all they want to do is having the hottest boyfriend and the cutest cloths. Something about Status power makes teenagers rude and selfish because they want everything for the benefit themselves and their status in life.
3. The socialization process is much different for children today because we have grown up in a much more advanced society. We have a lot of technology, that everyone depends on. We have computers for research and homework, instead of the library, we have cell phones, that teenagers are obsessed with and we have t.v.'s. Instead of learning how to have correct social skills, teenagers just text their friends and create relationships with people without even talking to them. This has caused a problem in our society because people are forgetting important skills, like reading the newspaper instead of watching the news on TV. yes these are valid concerns, but I don't think that people in our society realize what has happened as the technology keeps on improving. People don't realize how dependent they are on technology, so there is no way that people are going to change.
4. There are many gender issues in our society today and some of them have played a role in my life. Today girls are expected to be emotional, dependent, ditsy, passive, attractive and fit. These are all qualities that the stereotypical popular girl in school, or in the movies wold have. I am a girl that is not always those qualities. It bothers me when people think that all girls are ditsy and passive. I am neither of those characteristics and I am OK with that. I don't want to be spacey and stupid. I think that its OK for girls to be smart and be able to take control. They shouldn't let people walk all over them.
The same things happen in guys lives too I think. Guys are expected to be assertive, brave, insensitive and independent. Once again these are the qualities that only a perfect guy from the movies would obtain. Not all guys have to be insensitive. I know from experience, that no girl would ever want an insensitive guy. Girls want someone that will care about them and respect them, and a guy that insensitive and assertive would not do the trick. Also, its OK for guys to be emotional. It OK for guys to have strong feelings, that's what makes them have great personalities and great character. being the tough guy all the time must wear them out.

Adolescence

Adolescence are the teenagers in our society who cannot be considered adults yet, but are also to old to be considered kids. There is no real name, place or rules for these teenagers, which is why we refer to them as adolescence. Status power consumes the lives of these adolescence all the time because they are always worried about what others are going to think of them and what they can do to be cooler. Whether it is being pressured to drink on the weekends or not hang out with mom, status power always makes these teenagers do things they dont want to do. Its not uncool not to drink or to hang out with your mom for a change, just some teenagers dont understand that and let their unconscious mind take over. This is a huge problem in our society because teenager care way to much about the way that they look and act that their obsessive behavior might carry over when they become adults. Who knows, maybe this stage of adolescence is not only during their teen years. If their crazy about status and power then this behavior is not going to change when they become adults.
Status power is confusing when it comes to deciding whether or not these kids are old enough for some behaviors. I think that since parents have a lot more control over these teens, they tend to break the rules more because they think they they are more mature then what their parents think. A good example is staying out past curfew. I know that I can stay out later then some of my friends because my mom trusts me, but some of my friends break the rules so that they dont miss out on anything. Feeling like and adult, but not getting treated like an adult is a very confusing factor in an adolescent mind. Adolescents have a very confusing and sometimes challenging life style. They need to be trusted, but they are still teenagers, so their has to be a line, but drawing that line can sometimes be difficult.