Biological And Psychological Theories Of Crime Criminology Essay

Biological And Psychological Theories Of Crime Criminology Essay As the famous English playwright and poet, William Congreve, said in his play titled; The Mourning Bride: a tragedy;Heavn has no rage, like love to hatred turnd, Nor hell a fury, like a woman scornd. This famous quote is nowadays more known as Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned and I believe, shows the hidden power within a woman; the power to deceive the conventional image of a woman, that is to neglect all the characteristics often associated to a woman, and to commit crime. This in turn, I believe, is the reason why so many people are intrigued with learning about why women do what they do. Often enough, we tend to look at a woman as a gentle being, capable of bearing and taking care of children, someone who is calm and low tempered, as well as, capable of holding a family together. This, however, is the conventional portrayal of a woman and is highly associated with the Sex-role theory by the Functionalists which explains the socialisation of females and males. This claim states that males are inclined to be tough, risk taking and to be aggressive, but females, on the other hand are socialised to be gentle. Hence, according to the functionalists, males are more likely to be criminals. Sociologist Frances Heidensohn also argues that women are less involved in crime because crime is gendered as a male activity whereas females exhibit soft characteristics. Nonetheless, many women around the world have committed crimes, as can be seen in the case studies and statistics in the sections below. Women have loitered, stolen, stalked, and even murdered. This functionalist theory does not, in any way, explain why a woman, in the first place would commit crime, however, it does somewhat relate to a theory by Cesar Lombroso (1835-1909). Lombroso believed that all crime was a Biological Atavism. This involved the examination of the cranial capacity as well as the facial features which in turn could identify biological criminal traits. Lombroso concluded that females who committed crime had more masculine traits whereby the brain capacity and difference in skull was more inclined to that of a male. In his studies, results showed that female criminals also carried the worst possible female characteristics which include; a lack of sensitivity to pain as well as a lack for compassion which are generally controlled in women by what he called feminine weakness and underdeveloped intelligence. This in turn, could mildly explain the vicious and dangerous personality of a female criminal. According to Lombrosos study, criminal women had deficient moral sensibilities, unstable characters, excessive vanity, irritability, revengefulness, and an uncontrolled sexual desire. Lombroso went on to say that the only way to end female c riminality was to prohibit criminal meaning so as to avoid the biological traits from passing onto another generation genetically. More recent explanations look at hormones such as testosterone which is proven to control levels of aggression and anger. A certain James M. Dabbs, Jr, from the department of psychology at Georgia State University in Atlanta, conducted a lot of research on how high testosterone levels are linked to crimes. He noted that high testosterone levels were strongly linked to more violent crimes, and violations. This was also proven in women, whereby high testosterone levels were related to crimes of unprovoked violence, increased numbers of prior charges, and decisions against parole. Dalton (1964) studied the effects of menstruation cycles upon female behaviour. Parker (1960) concluded that sixty-two per cent of the crimes of violence committed by female prison inmates were committed in the premenstrual week. Parker claimed that hormonal or menstrual factors can influence women to commit crime in certain circumstances. Although biology seems to produce a convincing starting point as to why women commit crime and is nowadays more commonly used as an explanation, sociologists often dismiss biological factors as they take a deeper look into the environmental background of women who commit crime and the society which they live in. Feminist Sociologist Carol Smart was a very important figure within the Feminist Criminology world. In her 1977 writing she stated; Our knowledge is still in its infancy. In comparison with the massive documentation on all aspects of male delinquency and criminality, the amount of work carried out on the area of women and crime is extremely limited Since her writing, one may actually find more theories and ideas related to female criminality, yet a few broad theories related to this aspect of sociology continuously overlook the idea that gender may indeed be a factor influencing criminality. This is despite the fact that official figures suggest that gender is perhaps the most significant single factor in whether an individual is convicted of crime (Smart, 1977). Women, due to the social portrayal of roles as already mentioned above, is depicted as someone who is unable to commit crime. This in turn leads us to the Mad not bad theory (Lloyd, 1995: xvii). This is the idea that a woman who commits crime must indeed be mad as opposed to bad since she dared to go against [her] natural biological givens such as passivity and a weakness of compliance' (Lloyd, 1995). As a theory, this may, in turn, reflect the low number of female prisoners, however, if we had to apply this theory to Malta, research has shown that by the end of December 2011, Mount Carmel had 268 males and 252 females who formed part of the sleeping-in population. Although I am not able to say if any of these patients actually had anything to do with any sort of criminal behaviour, by simply looking at the numbers, one can conclude that the theory is inefficient in explaining the Maltese situation because the numbers of females to males is less. Another theory is the Liberation Theory also known as Freda Adlers theory of Emancipation. This theory deals with the idea that ever since the liberation of women, the rate of female criminality has increased. Research, however, shows that female criminality was on a rise before the liberation of women. James and Thornton studied women prisoners and from their studies revealed that the women who were imprisoned originally came from poor and uneducated backgrounds. When asked for a reason as to why they offended, the responses received did not appear to be linked to liberation (1980). Upon looking for Sociological theories, I realised that Carol Smart was actually right in her accusation. Not a lot of sociological theories are in fact linked solely to female criminality. Sociological theories try to find a reason as to why people in general commit crime and rarely focus solely on female criminals. However, when looking for biological theories many were actually found and these seemed to focus a lot upon why females commit crime and what brings them to commit it. Could this mean that female criminality is largely linked to biology as opposed to environment, since research seems to direct us to this conclusion? Could female criminality be the perfect answer to the Nature vs. Nurture argument, again due to the theories found and how they are mainly linked to biology? The nature vs. nurture argument is one that has been discussed for years, and continues to be discussed. This argument tries to figure out as to whether crime is something which is controlled genetically or environmentally. The Nativists take on the extreme heredity Position whereby they assume that the features together with the characteristics of a human being are a result of evolution and individual differences evolve from our unique genetic code. In other words, they take on the nature approach, whereby our biology and genetic code can determine as to whether we are more likely to commit crime or not. For example, if my mother is a criminal, this theory believes that I too am very likely to become a criminal as was my grandmother. On the other hand we find the Empiricists (not to be confused with the scientific Empiricists). These are the environmentalists whom take up the nurture approach. They believe that at birth, everyones mind is a tabula rasa which means a blank slate (a t erm often used by John Locke). Over time this tabula rasa is filled as a consequence of experience (e.g. Behaviourism). In other words it is through experience that one might become a criminal and another may not. Personally, I believe that no matter how much we try to wrack our brains to ultimately figure out the reason as to why females commit crime, it is not one that as such can be answered. We can continue trying to come up with theories, which will eventually always be criticized by someone who thinks otherwise. The truth is that every human being has their own way of thinking, and trying to come up with a universal explanation as to how people think or why they do what they do is rather impossible. The Judiciary System and Female Criminals Apart from theories regarding why women commit crime, other theories take a closer look into the judiciary system and female criminals. Many believe that female criminality and court sentencing are linked together in a very unusual manner. Some believe that the Judiciary system can ultimately be affected by such a thing as gender. In other words, some believe that females receive a different sentence than men for the sole reason that they are females. Some of these theories can be seen below. A theory which looks at female criminality and sentencing is the Chivalry Theory. This theory deals with the idea that female offenders tend to be sentenced in a more lenient manner than that of men. This theory is highly linked to the sex-role theory presented earlier by the Functionalists. Females are seen as nurturers and caregivers, and hence this theory believes that females should be given a much more merciful sentence because they are weak and fragile. According to Otto Pollak (1950) in his book The Criminality of Women men have a protective attitude towards women and hence Men hate to accuse women and thus send them to their punishment, police officers dislike to arrest them, district attorneys to prosecute them, judges and juries to find them guilty, and so on David Farrington and Alison Morris (1984) studied the sentencing of 408 theft cases in a magistrates court. All these cases happened in Cambridge that same year. Around 110 of these offences were committed by women. Through these cases, it was shown that even though the male offenders received more severe sentences than the women did, research found that this difference had disappeared when the severity of the offences was then taken into account. Furthermore, Farrington and Morris concluded that there was no independent effect of sex on sentence severity. Nagel and Hagan (1983)believe that females are treated more leniently than males as long as they are committing less serious offenses and exhibit behaviours consistent with their appropriate gender role: acting passively( Ruth T. Zaplin. Female Offenders: Critical Perspectives and Effective Interventions) This leads us to the second theory related to the criminal justice system; The Evil Woman theory. This theory deals with the idea that since women are stepping out of their social roles and actually committing crime they are treated in a harsher manner than men who commit the same crime. It is hard for one to actually pinpoint which theory, if any, is most commonly put into practice. According to Joanne Belknap and Kristi Holsinger, it is important for us to keep in mind that the hypothesis best reflecting reality may depend on the type of crime and stage of the system where the decision is made (i.e., policing, courts, and corrections). In other words, each case will have to be taken individually and each stage will need to be looked at in depth. The Maltese SituationC:UsersuserDesktopUNIVERSITYAssignementsprison StatisticsLogo.jpg C:UsersuserDesktopUntitled.jpg C:UsersuserDesktopUNIVERSITYAssignementsprison StatisticsStatistics per year.jpg C:UsersuserDesktopUNIVERSITYAssignementsAnnual CCF Population.jpg The above information has been obtained from the site http://www.crimemalta.com/prison.html. In turn, this information was provided by Corradino Correctional Facility, Valletta Road Paola, Malta, PLA 1518. The tables and charts above present us with the exact number of prisoners present in the Maltese prison and the amount of males as opposed to females who are or have carried out a prison sentence. Through the tables, one can look at the prison population over the years, the population of prisoners monthly throughout the year 2011, the amount of prisoners over the months of 2012, as well as a weekly update of the current month. The Maltese prison carrying capacity is actually meant to be 500 people. However, as one can note, the amount of prisoners actually staying in our Maltese prison adds up to over 600 people, of which only 45 are female prisoners. Looking through statistics, one can see the largest gap of prisoners between 2006 and 2007, whereby the amount of female prisoners increased by 12 whereas in the following years we can see that the number was kept rather constant. Through these statistics, one can conclude that in proportion to the total amount of prisoners present, Malta has an extremely small number of female prisons. Nonetheless, this does not mean that actual female criminality is very low. One must keep in mind that a lot of crimes go unreported or undetected. Therefore, one cannot assume that there arent many female criminals in Malta. In fact, it is known that a lot of domestic violence cases on men go unreported for several reasons, one being humiliation. As Katryna Storace stated in her article THE UNFAIR SEX; Domestic violence has traditionally been understood as a crime perpetrated by domineering men against vulnerable women. But recent data is slowly beginning to reveal a growing number of male victims. Ms. Ruth Sciberras, Manager of Domestic Violence Services at AppoÄ ¡Ãƒâ€žÃ‚ ¡, the national social welfare agency, seconds the idea that a lot of domestic violence cases upon men are not the actual figures and that in actual fact there is a hidden figure concealed. Such an example proves to one how the rate of female criminality in Malta could very well be higher than what our prison is indicating. Even so, one cannot help but ask for the reasons as to why the 49 female prisoners are actually there. The following table, obtained from Formosa S., (2012) CrimeMalta, www.crimemalta.com presents us with a good idea of the offences for which women were incarcerated during the 2000s (2000-2009). Catagory Over 10 Years % Theft 43 16.8 Arson 1 0.4 Blackmail 1 0.4 Breach of Conditions 14 5.5 Court Order 1 0.4 Conversion of Fines 50 19.5 Drugs 51 19.9 Contempt of Court 3 1.2 Defilement 1 0.4 Disturbances 1 0.4 Escaped from Custody 1 0.4 Falsification 12 4.7 False Evidence 1 0.4 Fraud 15 5.9 Threats 5 2.0 Homicide 1 0.4 Loitering 14 5.5 Migration 5 2.0 Others 36 14.1 Total 256 100 Although Loitering is often the common assumption as to why women go to prison, the table above actually shows that women who have in fact ended up in prison were mainly for conversion of fines (which is when a person has received several fines, those fines are not paid, so therefore converted into a prison sentence), drugs and also theft. Through this research and statistics we are now not only able to determine the exact amount of women in the Maltese prison, but also have a clear indication of the crimes that are mostly committed by Maltese women of crime. Case Studies Here are two examples of the most Notorious female criminals; Bonnie Parker Famously known as Bonnie and Clyde, were shot to death by officers on May 23, 1934 in Louisiana. They were believed to have murdered 13 people, and involved in several robberies as well as burglaries. Aileen Wuornos A former prostitute who was executed in 2002 for killing seven men in the late 1980s and early 1990s. As can be seen from all the research, a log of people have tried to find the reason and solution for women and criminality. Through shown statistics, Malta has a very low number of female criminals. This, of course, does not include hidden statistics i.e. crimes which go undetected. The reasons as to why women end up in prison in Malta have also been shown to be safer then those abroad, whereby very little lives have been taken away by Maltese female criminals. This topic has taught me a lot regarding the female sex and social expectations upon us. Nonetheless to every rule there is an exception, and no social construct can prevent criminality.

History Of Rock And Roll: The Beatles Essay

If there were would be one band that achieved fame more than any other else, this band is on the top of the list. This band reached the pinnacle and forever left their mark not just in the Rock and Roll scene but in the whole music industry. Not only did they made a lasting impact on music, but they also served as one of the most unforgettable people or group in the history of the world. Their music served influential and created a social impact as well. Composed of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, this group is arguably the most popular band of all time, the Beatles. THE BEATLES A group that originated in the small bars of Liverpool, the Beatles started off as one and only band who led the â€Å"British Invasion† into the United States. Their musical style can be easily attributed to the 1950s early rock and roll but eventually they grew into different genres that ranged from pop to psychedelic rock. They became trend-setters and their clothes, statements and styles became widely popular during that era. They even became a major influence in the 1960s’ social and cultural revolutions. â€Å"Their arrival in the United States marked such a wide recognition and frenzy. Like an approaching thunderstorm, the Beatles’ arrival in America was preceded by a few low rumbles and flashes of light, none of them giving more than the slightest hint of the potency to follow. Noting the saturation coverage in England of the Beatles’ Royal Command Performance two weeks earlier, Newsweek magazine offered one of the first American impressions of the band and its music. The tone of condescension and contempt in an article in the issue of November 18, 1963, would set a standard that virtually all American media would follow for months† (Goldsmith, 2004, p. 115) They have been one of the most successful bands commercially and has been noted as a critically acclaimed band that ruled the entire music scene. The Beatles has become the band that tops the charts among the best selling musical groups of all time. They had made almost more than 40 different songs that reached the top of the charts. And not were they only famous in the United States and the United Kingdom, but they were famous in almost every continent of the world. It has been estimated that they have already sold a billion records. The music of The Beatles displayed an array of songs depicting various messages and lyrics that ranged from different emotions. They were just made up of 2 guitars, 1 bass guitar and 1 drum set, though sometimes they use other musical instruments to create variations with their music. They also incorporated the Piano in some of their songs. The Beatles were influenced by R&B music and they kept on continuing to take different influences even if they have received initial success. Most of the time, they find new lyrical and musical ideas by listening to contemporary music. Some of these influences include Bob Dylan, who made an influence on songs as â€Å"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)†, and â€Å"You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away†. There are many other influential contemporary bands that made an impact on the Beatles, some of them are the Beach boys and the Byrds. The album of the Beach Boys’ named â€Å"Pet Sounds† was strongly liked by Paul McCartney and the band’s producer claimed that without that album, the album of the Beatles’ â€Å"Sgt. Pepper† won’t even exist as good as it did. While McCartney loved the Beach Boys, John Lennon gave high praise to the King of Rock, Elvis Presley. Lennon claimed that Elvis inspired him to buy records. He thought that the early music of Elvis was just phenomenal. John Lennon got hooked on Elvis’ beat music and when he hear the song â€Å"Heartbreak Hotel†, he wanted to fall in love with music and wanted to have something to do with it. The Beatles created variations with their music. They used sound effects but â€Å"Along with studio tricks such as sound effects, unconventional microphone placements, tape loops, double tracking and vari-speed recording, The Beatles began to augment their recordings with instruments that were unconventional for rock music at the time. These included string and brass ensembles as well as Indian instruments such as the sitar as in â€Å"Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)† and the swarmandel as in â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever†. They also used early electronic instruments such as the Mellotron, with which McCartney supplied the flute voices on the intro to â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever†, and the ondioline, an electronic keyboard that created the unusual oboe-like sound on â€Å"Baby You’re a Rich Man†. Starting off with the utilization of a string quartet organized by George Martin with ideas form Paul McCartney on â€Å"Yesterday† during the year 1965, the Beatles spearheaded a modern kind of art song, represented by the arrangement of a double-quartet string on the song â€Å"Eleanor Rugby†, â€Å"She’s Leaving Home†, and â€Å"Here There and Everywhere† during the year 1966. McCartney was also inspired by the television performance of Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 by Bach which in turn influenced him to utilize a piccolo trumpet on â€Å"Penny Lane’s† arrangement. Moving towards psychedelia with the songs â€Å"Tomorrow Never Knows† and â€Å"Rain† in the year 1966, while â€Å"Strawberry Fields Forever†, â€Å"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds†, and â€Å"I Am the Walrus† during 1967, the Beatles turned on a new leaf. Each member of the band provided almost an equal contribution. Due to the numerous songs, each member of the Beatles have created their own impact on songs whether be it heard with the rifts, the vocals, the beat or just simply by the over-all presence of the song. John Lennon and Paul McCartney provided the added lift with regards to ingenuity with their songs. Their capability to adapt with the times and even produce music that seems ahead of their time has made the Beatles as one of the best bands of all time in the world. Their performance style during the 60s’ somehow are just simple but very catchy. The crowds roar and women drool over the band member while listening to them rocking the stage. There are times where the Beatles are just performing at TV stations and most of the time they are also performing in huge stadiums, which is a first in the Rock and Roll scene. They spearheaded the stadium-performances which hosted magnanimous number of people, which by the way were all sold-out right from the get go. During the 70s, the Beatles somehow showed a correlation with art and even intertwined pop culture with mass media. Also, during one time in the 70s, they performed on one of the rooftops of a building. The crowd below listened and stopped and even caused mayhem. Police had to get up and fetch the Beatles while they were still singing â€Å"Get Back†. This is one of the most awesome performances that they have done. As the Beatles have mentioned themselves, the Beatles have been influenced by American music. One of the notable inspirations that they always mention is Elvis Presley. There’s no better influence other than the king of rock. Their music somehow professed a mixture of style and tempo of Gospel music and also a little bit of jazz. But all in all, they created a different and seemingly diverse music, a result of different influences. The Beatles reinvented social values in their music. Their style of Rock and Roll and Pop changed the social landscape. It is widely regarded that the Beatles were influenced by jack Kerouac. This American poet, writer and artist somehow made an impact on the band. â€Å"One of the key myths surrounding the Beatles’ is that their music was so artistically strong it could not fail to get to number one. This belief fails to take into account their huge ambition for fame and its rewards. In today’s usual reckoning of the Beatles as pop `artists’, we tend not to examine any of their baser motives, preferring to see them as purely motivated by a love of music and a need to communicate with the world. The Beatles themselves, it should be noted, have attempted to point out that not all their motives were pure. John in particular wielded the biggest attack against the Beatles myth – as he himself referred to it – in his 1970 Rolling Stone interview. To make it to the top he said you had to be a `bastard’ and the Beatles were in such a context the `biggest bastards on earth’. Albert Goldman’s The Lives Of John Lennon seems to have taken this remark to heart and pursued it relentlessly, missing the point of what John was trying to achieve with this comment. By making such knowingly sensational remarks, he sought to counter what he saw as widely held misconceptions of the Beatles. His remarks also served to emphasise that the Beatles were not gods, but ordinary human beings. It is from the last perspective that I have written this book – the Beatles not as four gods, but as four highly motivated, but otherwise normal, Liverpool lads. † (Rowley, 2002, p. 11). CONCLUSION If there would be one band that have made such a magnanimous impact all over the world, it has got to be the Beatles. Their musical style that ranged from variations of different genres displayed their flexibility. Their ability to adapt with the times and influence contemporary bands and the bands of today has been unmatched. Not only were they successful in the field of music but they also gained a huge following with regards to the trends that they have utilized. No other band sold more concerts or at least satisfied more people other than the Beatles. Their music has been a wonder of the world and still has that impact until today. The Beatles, unparalleled, unbeatable, unforgettable. They are just simply phenomenal. REFERENCES Goldsmith, M. (2004). The Beatles Come to America. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Rowley, D. (2002). Beatles for Sale: The Musical Secrets of the Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band

All the World’s a Stage, the Dramaturgy

All The World’s a stage â€Å"All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances; And one man in his time plays many parts† Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare wasn’t a sociologist, I think this quote profoundly sounds like Ervine Goffman’s ideas of dramaturgy and impression management. I agree with both Shakespeare and Ervine. We all have a part to play in this world and we do play it. To me Ervine Goffman’s ideas about self and dramaturgy are the most applicable social ideas in my own life.He believed we do something called impression management. I have actually noticed myself using impression management every day. I have also noticed that in sociology we really need to understand face to face interactions of individuals to understand a society as a whole. He also believed in a concept called symbolic interactionism. He believed that social interactions are what make someone who they are. I b elieve that to understand his ideas better it is imperative that you know a little about him. Goffman was born June 11, 1922(Blackwood, 2011) to a Jewish Ukrainian couple in Canada.Initially, he received his bachelors in sociology at the University of Toronto. Then he went to the University of Chicago to achieve his masters and doctorate. Chicago was the center for many micro-sociologists and symbolic interationists like Goffman. His ideas must have made him fit right in with all the other sociologists studying at University of Chicago. He also studied a year in Shetland and wrote a book called The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. This is where he refers to the theory of us always being onstage. He then went to Berkley to teach about Sociology and Anthropology (which he also studied).Goffman also went onto to write about his ideas of total institution (the sociology term for somewhere completely blocked off from normal society). He wrote many books over his life time and he re mained a very important man in the sociology world. He ended his writing career going back to address more evidence that we are all performers, he ended on the same note he started on. He passed on November 19th, 1982. ((Blackwood, 2011) Micro-Sociology is the study of a small group of people to understand how society works as a whole.Ervine Goffman advocated this idea and used face-to-face interactions as a basis to understand sociology. I believe that this is a very true idea because without individuals there is no society. I also believe that how we act as individuals is what makes a society how it is. For example as individuals we actually enjoy conflict when the conflicts involves others. In high school I remember that everyone always wanted to stop in the hallway to watch people fight. On a larger scale society watches reality Television shows like â€Å"Bad girls Club† just to see these conflicts.Everything we do individually affects us as a society. Another thing that Goffman believed in was how society is what makes us who we are, this is called social interactionism. Yes we make up society but in turn society molds us to who we are as well. For example a child is born completely without morals and values. These things are taught to the child by family and ultimately society. The child is taught killing is deviant and unacceptable. It is also taught that being overweight is a concrete stigma for females of society. Therefore if the child is a girl they will constantly want to be skinny, even at a young age.My Humanities professor was talking about how his 8 year old daughter was called fat the other day in school. Now the young girl will not eat very much. This not something we are born with, these are learned values that society teaches. I have my own personal experience with social interactionism. My whole life society has shaped me to be who I am. It’s almost like a very subtle, yet powerful, form of peer pressure. For example I think that if it weren’t for the fact that society teaches that you should treat strangers with absolute respect I think I would have had a lot more conflicts with them.Society teaches us to not get as angry with strangers as we do with our own friends and family members. Another thing Goffman believed was an idea called dramaturgy. Dramaturgy is the idea that we all act around people as if we were actors on a stage. He believed that the only time we acted as our true selves was when we are backstage and no one else is around to see us. I believe this is true of everyone in society. Of course there are those who have to act because it’s their job. Politicians, lawyers, servers, parents these people have to put up a facade so that others reactions server their purpose.Not all of this acting is used for selfish purposes though. For example a parent doesn’t want their child to be scared so in a crisis they might smile and tell them everything is going to be all right, e ven if they know it’s not going to be alright. The final point I agreed with Goffman on was an idea called impression management. Impression management is similar to dramaturgy however it is how we are all the time. I use impression management every day. For example I am a server and I have to come off a certain way for my guests to like me or I won’t make any money.I have to smile even when I’m stressed and I have to use a completely different voice when addressing my guest than I would use with anyone else. I also have to pretend I like things on the menu I have not even tried. In conclusion, I agree with Goffman’s theories on dramaturgy, impression management, micro-sociology, and symbolic interactionism. I concur with the fact that society shapes you to be who you are, it has definitely made me who I am. I also think that looking at how individuals interact with each other is imperative in finding out how society works.You cannot understand the big pi cture without first looking at the small details. Impression management is a very important part of my life because it’s how I make a living. Finally dramaturgy is something we all do every day. We are actors on the stage of Society Citations 1. Blackwood, B. D. (2011, July 06). Blackwood. org. Retrieved from http://www. blackwood. org/Erving. htm 2. Travers, A. (1997). Reviewing sociology. Retrieved from http://www. reading. ac. uk/RevSoc/archive/volume10/number1/10-1e. htm

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