Social Class

Are there social classes in America? This has been the topic of discussion throughout this week and how it may affect the family structure. Whether or not you want to admit it, there are social classes in America. These divides in our culture may not be clearly defined, but they do have an impact in the people we interact with. I often wonder how a different neighborhood, a different money situation, or the displacement into a different culture completely would have changed my family dynamics. The views of those with a bigger income compared to those with small incomes usually differ greatly. This is not to say one is better than the other in any way. But it's interesting to see how families in these different social classes interact with one another, what values are most important to them, disciplinary actions they take, or how they view and treat other people below or above them on the social class spectrum.

I am grateful for the living situation I was able to grow up in. I was blessed with solid parents who loved me and were deeply committed to God. Growing up in Texas provided many opportunities for physical activity outside and missionary work. As a result, we grew to be a very out-going family and interacted with many others outside our own family. But when we moved to Idaho and into an already tightly knit community of the same religion, our actions slowly changed. It was much colder there, so our main source of entertainment was indoors and usually at home. My sisters and I grew much closer because most of our time was spent indoors together instead of with other neighborhood friends outside. We also lived by many extended family members and became close friends with them. Therefore, we became less out-going to others outside our family. It was much harder to play with friends outside our family and there were less opportunities for missionary work. But our family bonds grew much closer as a result of this societal and environmental change.

I challenge you to think of how your own family would compare given a different social or cultural situation. Would it have been better or worse?

Symbols

As I learned about Symbolic Interaction Theory this week, I realized how the principles in this theory have greatly impacted my life, for good and bad. Symbolic Interaction Theory deals basically with our perception of various situations. In plain terms, everything has different meanings or symbols to different people. And sometimes these symbols get mixed up and affect our communication, feelings, and interactions with others. Essentially, we may be easily lost in translation of the same experience! This of course is true UNLESS we recognize there is potential for miscommunication when we do not clarify the symbols someone has associated for a similar experience.

I think an example will clear up any confusion on the matter:     
Every morning, a woman's husband had to leave early in the morning before she woke up. Every morning, this woman woke up to all the drawers in their bedroom left open. She thought this was an extremely rude gesture of her husband to open all the drawers without closing them. She knew he was doing this just to spite and annoy her. Finally, this woman confronted her husband and told him she could not stand it one more morning. She would not have him be so unkind to her anymore. The husband was stunned by this confrontation; he left the drawers open every morning in order to not wake his wife with the noise of closing the drawers.

I believe understanding each others symbols and associations to human actions is huge in our communication with family members, spouses, and with anyone whom we associate with. When we can empathize with and gain perspective of the feelings and emotions of anyone we interact with, our own perspective will change. We will more readily be able to effectively associate and communicate with all those around us. Our families will learn through this way how to interact in a more loving and understanding nature.

I challenge you to understand the symbols of a situation to another person who's perspective on the matter may be completely different from that of yours. Discover why they feel that way about this particular action.