Ethics

Last week’s topic was ethics. The word “ethics” seems to be used interchangeably with the words “values,” “morals” and “character.” However, all of these terms have different definitions. Values are a person’s freely chosen personal beliefs. According to dictionary.com, the definition of morals is “pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong.” Character is just who you are. It’s who you are when no one is looking at you. Ethics are the social rules that dictate how we conduct ourselves and perceive right and wrong. We then had to come up with a “Universal Code of Ethics.” It had to be able to be applied to all cultures. Codes such as “Do not kill” and “Do not rape” were created. In some cultures, people are killed for religious and many other reasons, so my group refined it to “Do not kill someone for no reason.” This was a springboard into the next topic. What shapes our ethics? Things such as school, family, media, religion and culture mold our ethics into what they are. These have such a strong effect on us because of social learning. This theory suggests that people can learn by observing the behavior of others. Their behavior can be reinforced by modeling the behavior of others. Cognition plays a role in learning. I have experienced this in my own life. My dad was driving me somewhere one time, and he made an illegal move. He turned into a lane that he wasn’t supposed to turn into. I asked him if that was allowed, knowing fully well that it isn’t, and he responded “It’s fine. Everyone does it. Even cops do it.” I’ll admit, since then, I have done what he did a few times. It molded my perception of driving laws slightly. After discussing this topic, I decided to myself that I won’t do it anymore. My dad also influenced my perception of right and wrong in positive ways. My dad is “brutally honest.” I’ve seen him tell someone the truth, much to the person’s displeasure many times. This has rubbed off on me. I find myself being completely honest with everyone, whether my honesty is received favorably or not. I have also seen my dad give money to homeless people many times. Now, whenever I walk by a homeless man or woman, I feel a strong compulsion to find something to give to him or her. Right now, I’m reading Utilitarianism by John Stuart Mill right now. In assessing the consequences of actions, Utilitarianism relies upon some theory of intrinsic value: something is held to be good in itself, apart from further consequences, and all other values are believed to derive their worth from their relation to this intrinsic good as a means to an end. Mill was a hedonist. He analyzed happiness as a balance of pleasure over pain and believed that these feelings alone are of intrinsic value and disvalue. I agree with his notion that one should aim to produce the most good for the most people.

Social Justice: Inclusivity

Last week we talked about inclusivity as a part of social justice. There are various ways that one can identify him or herself.  You can be an athlete, Christian, musician, artist, singer, or all of these combined. We talked about ascribed identity. It is the social status that one is assigned at birth. As the name implies, it is not a position that is chosen, but is a position that is assigned. Some factors that can determine ascribed status are: age, sex, appearance, race, group and kinship. The practice of assigning statuses exits cross-culturally. Social Group Membership is being a part of a group that receives or does not receive certain benefits. Some of these groups can either be privileged or oppressed. Oppression can take the form of barriers and disadvantages used to keep a group in line. This makes me think of Nazi Germany, when Jews weren’t even allowed to own and operate stores. They had to wear a Star of David on their garments to let people know that they were Jewish. This is certainly a form of oppression, and at this time, being Jewish was a major disadvantage in Germany. These people would be considered targets. Targets are people who do not have privileges or power. Institutions are created by societies, and they mold the way the people within that community grow and learn, among many other things. Systems that arise within these institutions include: sexism, racism, classism and much more. The effects of these activities can be seen all over a society. It can be seen in healthcare, the media, family, the education system, and business to name a few. Though there is a lot of oppression out there, there are also many privileges that can be seen. Privileges are unearned advantages. Being white can be considered an unearned advantage. Being a man can be an unearned advantage. Like targets in oppressed groups, there are people in privileged groups who receive power. These people are called agents. Privilege can also be seen all over society. Something that happened to me makes me think of this topic. My roommate and I were at a Pride event and upon leaving, were harassed by people waiting in the parking lot. They yelled harsh and profane things at us and one of them stepped up and got close to my friend. My friend, needless to say, got very angry and I thought she was going to throw a punch. My roommate intervened and told all of us to get into the car and leave. While we were driving away, these people threw beer bottles at the back window and shattered it. My roommate and I drove home covered in shattered glass. This is an example of oppression that is not so subtle. These people assigned us each statuses and we were targets in that moment. Just being associated with that group gave each of us major disadvantages. The police never found those people, but it really opened my eyes to the disadvantages of the LGBTQ community.

Culture

Last week’s topic was about culture. Culture is a phenomenon. It is the full range of human learned behaviors. This knowledge is transmitted to succeeding generations. An iceberg is used to illustrate what culture is like. Some products of cultures include written languages, governments, buildings, art, music, games, cooking, body language and family structure. However, some products are more noticeable than others in societies. Things like arts, literature, music and dress are often the most apparent aspects of a particular culture. We then played a game called “Five Tricks.” The class was split up into different groups. Each group was then given a deck of cards. Each group had different rules for playing the game. The person who won in the round had to move up a group, while losers moved down a group. This ultimately led to people with different concepts of how the game is played to be mixed up. It forced people to adopt the rules of others or implement new rules. Needless to say, almost everyone in the room became confused…except me. For some reason, I didn’t catch on to what happened. I wouldn’t have known about that had someone not told me the point of the game. I guess I represented the culturally ignorant group of society. Some people became frustrated when other members couldn’t catch on to their rules for the game, while others had no problem conforming to other peoples’ concepts of how the game should’ve been played. These people clearly represented types of people in society. There are the narrow minded people who are not tolerant of other peoples’ differences, just as there are those people who are very inclusive, mindful and tolerant. Some people, because of a sociological influence, feel the need to dominate or be in power. After playing the game, it seemed to me that social influences can have a major impact on how groups function. If culture is simply learned behavior, does it apply to animals other than humans as well? That’s just a question I have. During the game, I found myself imitating the actions of the other players in order to fit in. I knew the rules, and I could have done what I wanted and stood out, but the pressure of the group made me desire to conform. If a group that small can have such influence over my actions, imagine what a whole society can do to someone. Earlier this evening, I went to an event that my resident assistant came up with. We played a board game that had to do with social justice. It really helped me see the privileges of other people. Privileges are unearned advantages. Like in the reading, being white has its privileges. Being an American citizen has its privileges. There are identities of mine that put me at a little bit of a disadvantage in certain situations, but I feel that my privileges outnumber those disadvantages. Even being able to go to college is an enormous privilege that will benefit me in the future.

Group Cohesiveness

The topic of last week’s discussion was groups, with an emphasis on cohesion. How does group cohesion enable an organization to function at their best? In 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team had a goal: to obtain a bronze, silver or gold medal. However, they needed to beat the U.S.S.R. National Championship Team, a team from Russia that was to be contended with. They were underdogs, mainly comprised of college students who lacked much experience, and yet were able to defeat Russia. How did they accomplish this? Luckily for them, they had a bond that gave them focus and determination. The cohesion of the group was a force that kept them intact by pushing the members together. Cohesion is considered to be a form of attraction. Attraction can be measured by the number and strength of mutual positive attitudes among the members of the group. Attraction can influence performance at two levels: individual and group levels. In the case of the U.S. hockey team, there was individual attraction since they had to do everything together. This in turn led to each member feeling positively about the group as a whole. Cohesion is the integrity, fellowship and sense of community within the group. Each member should feel that they belong in their group. This can result in enthusiasm and commitment that can be unprecedented. Cohesion can also be considered a type of teamwork. Groups in the military are driven by their shared desires. A group whose cohesiveness stems from their commitment to achieving shared desires is called collective efficacy. Unlike being optimistic and having confidence in the group, this type of cohesion is fueled by shared beliefs that the group can attain their desired goals. It is having faith in the group. It is having a positive regard for the team’s potential. Esprit de corps can also have an effect on the group. Another term for it is positive affective tone. This can have a variety of positive outcomes. The combination of the unity, sense of belonging and shared goals of the teammates of the U.S. hockey team allowed them to beat their opponent. They were, without a doubt, a cohesive group. We then talked about Tuckman’s Model of Group Development. This model consists of: Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. In forming, the group gets together and gets to know one another. This can be considered the “honeymoon” stage. Storming, as the term implies, is when the group hits conflict. Norming is when the group resolves the conflict and creates routines. Performing is when the group reaches a kind of synergy and performs at pace that goes beyond their routine. This concept does apply to my life right now. My roommate and I have experienced a couple of these facets. In the beginning, everything was fine and dandy. We have definitely had conflicts, but we were able to achieve resolution by going through the norming phase. We each figured out what the other person required to live in a comfortable environment. It has made a relationship considerably better.