Sociology and Me

Adriana Hernandez
Structural Functionalism
This is a phone, specifically the iPhone I have now. I use my phone everyday almost
all day from school work to texting. As a teen, everyone around me uses their cell
phones for any little thing. If you don’t have one, it’s “weird.” It has changed the
world that surrounds me as I’ve grown up. A smartphone exceeds the capability of a
regular phone. We have a mini-computer in our hands at all times, checking emails,
text messages, social media, calls, or even a quick search on the internet. The
manifest function of a smartphone is intended to connect us all around the world.
Manifest functions are the recognized and intended consequences of any social
pattern. For example, you may contact family or friends no matter where they are
around the world. On the downside, auto accidents have been common when
combining smartphones and driving. This is a latent function that becomes
dysfunctional for society as the number of auto accidents increases. Latent functions
are those unrecognized and unintended consequences. Another disadvantage is
social media, while the manifest function serves to connect people on a global scale
with each other, the Latent function (unintended consequences), serves to collect
big data to analyze large sums of information also gives people an open platform to
say what they please. Manifest dysfunction: most profiles are accessible, which
means that your life is out in the open, and privacy seems far. Latent dysfunction:
people start swearing at each other online because they think they are anonymous
and have free speech. Our smartphones are very powerful and should be used with
caution.
Social Stratification
This is a pyramid of social stratification showing the lower, middle, and upper class. In the
United States, resources are not generated in the same manner. People have no access to the
same opportunities, such as the best education or neighborhoods, and the opportunities in
life are not the same for everyone. People living within the same strata are part of the same
social class. Class refers to the number of financial resources, education, and authority that
individuals have. In the U.S., we usually speak about three classes: the working class, the
lower class, and the upper class. People of the same class have equal levels of access to
wealth, schooling, and power. Social stratification refers to the categorization of a
population of its individuals into categories based on socio-economic factors such as
money, wages, race, schooling, ethnicity, gender, profession, social status or derived control.
Growing up I did not have the same opportunities as others. I lived in a trailer and
struggled to advance. I started to get behind in my reading abilities, spelling, and grammar.
At times, I would cry because I wasn’t at the same level as others and I knew I was behind.
Doing homework was such a challenge for not only me but my hard-working parents. Then,
I moved to Camarillo, which at the time seemed to be a nice and calm city to live in. I began
to thrive in school because I had the resources to improve. My teacher spent extra time with
me and made sure I understood everything. After saving up and going to Moorpark College,
my dad became a radiologist. In the end, this caused us to move in vertical mobility
showing a change in social stratification.