Introduction
People have different behaviors depending on their culture, age, sex, race and academic backgrounds. However, modernization has forced them to live with one another despite the presence of these differences.
It is necessary to explain that even though people come from different backgrounds they have managed to live together without serious conflicts among them (Massey 76). This paper covers various aspects that an individual compromises to be accepted in his new society.
The Underlying Social Problem
This case explores the challenges an individual faces before he is allowed in a new society. The introduction part of this essay has pointed at the issues that make people different from one another. However, these differences have not stopped people from visiting members of other societies and becoming part of them (Bales 56).
It is necessary to explain that human beings are social animals and even though they have social, political and economic differences they can interact with one another and establish healthy relationships. The social issue being discussed here involves the compromises people make to fit into their new societies.
This means they must strike a balance between their cultural values and decide to drop or add beliefs or practices that are not familiar to them. This problem is approached through assessing various aspects of deviance that make people to be accepted in a society. It is necessary to explain that the theory of Social Conflict is also an effective approach to this problem.
This theory explains that the society has conflicts among different people with different interests. These differences make the society to function properly; therefore, it plays significant roles in promoting unity among people. A conflict exists when people have different perspectives regarding an issue.
This can also be explained by the principle of deviance that states that people who behave differently from a common way of life are deviant.
Therefore, an individual must compromise some aspects of his culture to fit in a new society. I am personally interested in this problem because the world is becoming a small village with many interactions among human beings. Therefore, it is prudent to know how to live with other people despite the differences in our backgrounds.
Research Questions
If this paper was a research work the research question would be, ‘Is compromise mandatory in the process of fitting in a new society?’ This paper would try to answer this question by exploring various theories of socialization and identifying relevant concepts that are involved in this process.
This question is appropriate since it seeks to establish the truth regarding compromise as a way of fitting in a new society. This question will try to find answers for the existence of different cultures and how they can be integrated to enable people to live in harmony.
Occasionally, people experience conflicts due to the differences in their cultures and this creates misunderstanding among them. However, some people have managed to settle in new communities that have different cultures. Therefore, this question will examine issues that were affected before these people were free to live with strangers (Lewis 81).
Even though, the world is becoming a small town and people from different races, cultures and tribes are interacting daily they still manage to maintain their cultures. This is another approach this question will take to unravel what people do before they are allowed into other communities and if the reverse is possible.
Answers to the Research Question
People have lived together despite the differences among them in terms of social, economic and political perspectives. This means that it is possible to coexist with one another despite the diversities among people. However, there must be issues that enable people to understand and transact various businesses with members of other communities.
The most important issue to note here is that individuals must compromise some issues before they accommodate their differences and decide to live like members of the same community (Ferris 44). Secondly, there must be respect for the cultures of other communities.
Studies have revealed that all cultures are equal since they have similar values and advance the interests of their members. Therefore, an individual must respect the culture of the host community since this is the fastest way of establishing rapport with strangers.
Thirdly, people must avoid a lot of resistance regarding other cultures even if they seem to go against the beliefs and practices of the other person. This will form the first step towards understanding and developing trust among people.
This will help to reduce the assumption and stereotypes that the cultures of other communities are inferior and that an individual can exist in a strange community without compromising his cultural beliefs (Thomas 32). The assumption that cultures are in the mind and not actions is proved wrong when an individual discovers that he will be forced to drop some beliefs and pick others from the host community.
However, this belief is wrong and does not play any role in explaining the possibilities of healthy interactions among members from different cultures. People must learn to resist endogamy that restricts their activities to their practices.
Literature Review
Robert Bales in his work titled, Socialization and Interaction Process, explains that the family is the most important agent of socialization at the local level while peers and work mates are more influential when an individual matures. He claims that people learn a lot of things from those that are closer to them and thus when a child is growing up it is very close to its mother and other family members (Bales 22).
However, as it continues to mature the gap between it and the family continues to widen as the ties among them weakens. When an individual moves to a new community he will start to learn new cultural practices from people that are close to him. Therefore, this will force the individual to compromise his original cultural practices and adopt new ones.
Kelly Ferris identifies the society as the real world and compares it with a battle field where individuals do what is convenient to them and not what is right. He explores various factors that promote healthy relations among people and those that hinder the society from achieving harmony (Ferris 54).
He explains that the theory of Symbolic Interaction is an effective way of viewing the society as a conglomerate of individuals that use symbols to communicate. Differences in cultural and traditional practices are overcome by communication using symbols that are known by members of different communities.
David Lewis uses pragmatism to explain how human relationships work. He claims that despite the cultural differences among human beings they are able to use common sense to develop healthy relationships that are helpful in developing their societies (Lewis 19). He views cultural differences as personal differences that exist even within members that share similar beliefs.
Therefore, cultural differences are in the mind and can be used positively if people become pragmatic when associating with others. He concludes that people can coexist peacefully despite their ancestral origins since these are mental pictures that do not have significant impacts in defining them.
Garth Massey explains how the society functions and uses the Structural Functionalism Theory to explain that people are different but this helps them to perform various roles that enable the society to be alive. He claims that all societies have structures that perform different roles to enable people to live fulfilling lives (Massey 32).
These structures include the family, church, school and friends among others. Therefore, an individual can live happily in any community provided he identifies the roles of these structures and follows their regulations. This will enable strangers to blend with the local population and live without fears of discrimination.
Sophia Thomas explores the theories of socialization including the Conflict, Symbolic Interaction, Deviance and Social Behaviorism theories to explain how human relations work.
She was very vocal in proposing that all these theories advanced by different scholars play significant roles in promoting learning among people from different backgrounds (Thomas 77). She explained that the human mind can adjust and fit in any environment and this is evident when people move to new environment and are able to cope with the conditions in their new homes.
Conclusion
The research findings will show that people are not always expected to compromise their values to fit in other communities. There are many factors that determine whether an individual will be accepted in another community or not. My paper will show that the human mind plays significant roles in enabling strangers to be accepted in other communities.
Works Cited
Bales, Robert. Family: Socialization and Interaction Process. International Library of Sociology. London: Routledge, 2010. Print.
Ferris, Kelly. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2009. Print.
Lewis, David. American Sociology and Pragmatism: Mead, Chicago Sociology, and Symbolic Interaction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2009. Print.
Massey, Garth. Readings for Sociology. New York: W. W. Norton and Company, 2008. Print.
Thomas, Sophia. Socialization: Theories, Processes and Impact. Social Issues, Justice and Status. New York: Nova Science, 2012. Print.