A Hidden America - Sociology Essay Example

According to Chamberlain (2011), Sociology includes the pattern of social relationships, social interaction, and culture. This culture is divided into the material and non-material culture. Material culture includes the object or belonging to human beings mainly consisting of physical items such as anything you can see feel or touch that is not human has the potential to be an item of material culture. Examples include photograph, documents, etc. Chamberlain (2011) aghain added that human motions such as dancing may also be described as material since it has shape and material form. On the other hand, nonmaterial cultures are thoughts or ideas that make up a culture, and it does not include any physical object or artifacts.Examples include any ideas, believes, values and norms that may help shape society.

Hout and DiPrete (2006) argued that in the Hidden America-children of the mountain film, the material culture has been illustrated through poverty as it has been shown in a place where we could think: the Appalachian Mountains. Down the long, the long road that leads up a mountain leaves some of the poorest people in the country with some in very extreme circumstance. Its a culture that breeds children who are exposed to the drug-life at a very tender age ,mountain dew and other sugary sodas and their baby bottles due lack of sufficient money to acquire nutritious snacks we focus on the lives of the affected youths and the question that enters are mind is whether or not this kid has any chance to succeed in life and family members being separate.Hout and DiPrete (2006) continues to argue that looking at the issues from the functionalist, conflicts theorist and symbolic interactionist perspectives; the kids profiled in the documentary have little or almost nil chances with blame resting on the shoulders of the system currently in place, the cultural norms that follow their behavior and consequently the choices the kids and their parents make themselves. The functionalist perspectives are known for holding individuals accountable for their actions. A little girl named Erica in the film is living an underprivileged life with a mother who constantly falls in and out of drug abuse.

Furthermore, the documentary also details that dropping out of school before coming to close to achieving to higher education is very prominent in the community; many dropped out in high school as it is indicated that one out of ten will get the college degree. Currently a functionalist would view this point and set that dropping out of school is something that is the obvious negative decision that will leave a kid hopeless and with no bright future. In Appalachia also there are a few opportunities one to improve his life as job growth is methodical and scarce in the community and the ones that are open are undesirable work such us in the first food industries, and they pay low and unsatisfying wages. Finally, in the film Hidden America-Children of the Mountain, using the sociological practices of Bernstein, it is evident in the community of Appalachia that there is an abundance of slang and improper speaking method. This result leads to success that the kids want and dream that is easy and incapable of white color work.

Reference

Bonilla-Silva, E. (2004). From bi-racial to tri-racial: Towards a new system of racial stratification in the USA. Ethnic and Racial Studies, 27(6), pp.931-950.

Chamberlain, A. (2011). Racial Threat or Racial Contact? How Race Affected Third-Party Presidential Voting in the Antebellum North*. Social Science Quarterly, 92(2), pp.384-403.

Hout, M. and DiPrete, T. (2006). What we have learned: RC28's contributions to knowledge about social stratification. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 24(1), pp.1-20.

Hout, M. and DiPrete, T. (2006). What we have learned: RC28's contributions to knowledge about social stratification. Research in Social Stratification and Mobility, 24(1), pp.1-20.