Introduction
Sociology can be termed as the study of social human relationships and institutions. Sociology’s subject matter has a wide range, from crime to religion, family to state, race divisions and social class to common culture and shared beliefs, and from stability to essential change in society. Sociology’s purpose of comprehending how perception and humans relate in a community is determined by social and cultural structures. At an individual level, sociology determines the social consequences and causes of gender and racial identity, romantic love, deviant behavior, family conflict, religious faith, and aging (Corrigall-Brown & Catherine, 2020). The societal level deals with law and crime, wealth and poverty, discrimination and prejudice, education and schools, social movements, and urban communities. In Canada, sociological theories and concepts, including social isolationism, heterogeneity, and structural functionalism, have helped analyze social principles in newspapers and magazines.
Sociological Theories and Concepts to Be Used in Analyses
Social Isolationism
Social isolationism is a state of losing complete contact with the community to which one belongs. Social isolationism involves individuals staying at home for an extended period without access to community involvement or services (Corrigall-Brown & Catherine, 2020). In isolationism, there is usually no or less communication with family, friends, and acquittances. Though individuals may live in a similar environment, it may be hard to interact when facing unemployment, loss of mobility, and health issues. Depression, grief, social diversity, disabilities, and domestic violence also act as barriers to maintaining and forming social networks in society.
Structural functionalism
Structural-functionalism states that a society is a compound system where associates from various upbringings work together to achieve steadiness and unity. It focuses on how all institutions or structures in society work together. Examples of institutions and facilities involved in structural-functionalism include health care, education, legal system, family, religion, and economy. Structural functionalism explains that people and institutions are interrelated whereby, if something shifts either in human beings or in institutions, either of them has to change to reinstate the equilibrium (Corrigall-Brown & Catherine, 2020). The theory helps functionalists compare the human body to society, reflecting that every segment of society functions just as the body organs do.
Social heterogeneity
Social heterogeneity is where a group or a society has people of different cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, and sexes. The social heterogeneity concept terms urban areas as mixed environments that consist of individuals from varied backgrounds. It influences social isolation since individuals are disconnected from their relatives and families and are busy dealing with life matters; hence, most of them do not keep connected to those in rural zones (Corrigall-Brown & Catherine, 2020). The United States of America is an example of a heterogeneous society whereby it consists of Americans who ethnically belong to Japanese, Chinese, Korean, Indian, African, English, Spanish, and others.
Newspaper Story Analysis
“Three youth arrested for vandalism at Vancouver climate rally” is a story published by the Vancouver Sun newspaper on November 12, 2021, involving different young individuals arrested by the police over a vandalism case (Ruttle, 2021). The three individuals included a twenty-year-old man and two women of age sixteen and eighteen years. They were arrested after being caught allegedly sabotaging a city center Vancouver agency tower during a weather protest. The three individuals were released after being moved to Vancouver Prison and are awaiting court appearances. The story also talks of a large crowd gathered outside Canada offices at West Hastings and Burrard Street, claiming the release of the three arrested individuals they termed the arrests unjustified (Ruttle, 2021). The police seem not to listen to the crowd and mention that they will not release the arrests as they cannot standby when persons choose to damage properties or break the laws. Later on, the demonstrators negotiate with the police to release the three individuals, and after the agreements, the ceremony continues peacefully and with washable paints. The story offers a detailed observation of peer pressure, social sanctions, and different sociological concepts.
Fundamental Principles Relating to The Story
The first fundamental principle seen in the story is stigma, which is an unwanted label or trait used to describe an individual. The police officers associate the three individuals with a stigma whereby they refer to them as property destroyers and lawbreakers; hence, they are seen as deviants in their ways (Ruttle, 2021). A deviant is an individual who breaks important group or societal rules. Even though it was washable, the smearing of office walls and windows with paint deviated from the societal norm, leading to the arrest of the three individuals.
Another principle seen in the story is social sanctions that help encourage conformity to social rules. Social sanctioning is well portrayed in the story after the arrest of the three young individuals. The arrest led to the behavior correction both to the arrested individuals and other people who were demonstrating. In addition to social sanctioning, peer pressure encourages both negative and positive deviance, as seen in the story. Positive deviance occurs when a behavior over-conforms expectations, while negative deviance is when the behavior under-conforms to expectations (Spalter-Roth et al., 2019). An example of negative deviance encouraged via peer pressure is when the people decide to demonstrate the release of the arrested individuals. An example of positive deviance is how the police explain that painting office windows and walls is unlawful, even if painted with washable paint.
The three sociological concepts, which include social isolationism, social heterogeneity, and structural functionalism theory, are also portrayed in the story. Social heterogeneity that involves individuals from different backgrounds is seen when they are arrested, and the crowd demonstrates against their arrest. The crowd involves people from different ethnicities, age groups, races, and gender. Social isolationism is seen in the story after the arrest of the three individuals, whereby it is hard for them to interact with others since they have been denied communal access until their release (Spalter-Roth et al., 2019). The structural functionalism theory that involves members in society but from different parts to perform specific tasks is also well portrayed. In the story, people from different backgrounds demonstrated their fellow’s release, which later bore fruits.
Conclusion
In Canada, social isolationism is among the elements of great concern as it has grown to the point of attracting the attention of media mainstream and scholars. It occurs when people in a particular area are emotionally in a comprehensive level of disconnection with others but appears physically connected. Human beings tend to create bonds whenever they interact because of their naturally socialist way of life. In urban areas, the socialization bonds might be weak due to heterogeneity, whereby most individuals in those places have distinct elements. Vancouver is significantly affected by social isolationism, and it seems challenging for it to end. Sociological analysis of research articles and newspapers in Canada has helped in exploring social principles in Vancouver with the aid of theories and concepts that include isolationism, structural functionalism, and heterogeneity. Structural functionalism and social heterogeneity involve individuals from different backgrounds coming together, promoting socialization and minimizing isolationism.
References
Corrigall-Brown, Catherine. (2020). Imagining sociology. An introduction with readings. Oxford University Press.
Ruttle, J. (2021). Three youth arrested for vandalism at Vancouver Climate rally. Vancouver Sun. Web.
Spalter-Roth, R., Shin, J. H., Smith, J. A., Kalb, A. C., Moore, K. K., Cid-Martinez, I., & Toney, J. (2019). “Raced” organizations and the academic success of underrepresented minority faculty members in sociology. Sociology of Race and Ethnicity, 5(2), pp. 261-277. Web.