StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...

Social Structure Theory - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
Social structure theory Name Institution Social structure theory Human trafficking is a big social problem in contemporary society in that each year, many people across the world are sold. This behavior is prevalent in areas such as US-Mexico border. This film reveals the disturbing and painful reality of human trafficking…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER92.5% of users find it useful
Social Structure Theory
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Social Structure Theory"

Download file to see previous pages

Social structure theory is a sociological theory based on the argument that the social surroundings in which one exists tend to affect his or her behavior. There is a strong relationship between social environment and behavior in that the manner in which people behaves will be similar despite of their social environment. From the film, it is evident that people from different social surrounding behave differently from people in a different social surrounding. For instance, those people who grew up in poverty and lower class social surroundings tend to manifest criminal behaviors than those from upper class (Durkheim, 1951) The film endorses the social structure theory in that it shows how the society is composed of social institutions such as educational, political, economic, family, and religious whose purpose is to socialize an individual.

Further, it shows how society is classified based on economic income and social status whereby those with high economic income belong in upper class and have high statuses in society as compared to those with low economic income that have low status in society. It depicts how people in all societies in the world aspire and desire to utilize and maximize their potentials in life but deficiency in natural skills and talents hinder some of them from achieving their objectives. This in turn makes them turn to other means such as crime in order to realize their dreams.

The film reveals that social disorganization make people violate the laid down rules and regulations since there is total breakdown of power of informal community to control their behavior. This is attributed to the fact that they want to get themselves out of informal community in which the society has placed them. As such, they will engage in criminal behavior such as human trafficking and slavery in order to achieve their goals (Hester & Eglin, 1992). Social strain theory explains that crime in all societies is as a reaction to the conditions and circumstances that hinder opportunities for some people to achieve economic success for which all individuals are supposed to have.

From the film, it is evident that there is no institutional balance of power as proposed by social structure theory. This trend often leads to forced control of some institutions by others thus depriving them some societal privileges. Poverty bounds people from different cultures. The disintegration of informal social control eventually leads to social disorganization as violent groups replace social institutions such as family, schools, and religion as socializers thus transmitting violent values to people (Hester & Eglin, 1992).

Therefore, human trafficking is as a result of intergeneration spread of violent values. The film highlights the most serious social issues in modern society, which is human trafficking, and violation of human rights whereby human beings from different parts of the world are sold into slavery for different purposes. People assume that human trafficking is a vice that existed in the distant past or in nations where everybody is above the law. This idea is wrong because as the film depicts, human trafficking exist in every part of the world where people are transported to other nations for working in illegal business or engaging in prostitution.

In most cases, men are usually trafficked to provide labor while women are trafficked for prostitution. The film describes that human traffi

...Download file to see next pages Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Social Structure Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words”, n.d.)
Social Structure Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/law/1460015-social-structure-theory
(Social Structure Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words)
Social Structure Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words. https://studentshare.org/law/1460015-social-structure-theory.
“Social Structure Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/law/1460015-social-structure-theory.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Social Structure Theory

Domestic Violence: The Sociological Lens

The social learning theory, feminist theory, and Social Structure Theory have all been used to examine domestic violence.... Social scientists have attempted to explain domestic violence with a universal theory that works across all cultures and societies.... While each theory has its strong points as an explanation for domestic violence, none can claim universality or be generalized across all cultures.... The theory, developed by Albert Bandura argues that, "Children who observe their parents fighting or solving problems through the use of force are likely to grow up seeing those behaviors as acceptable ways of dealing with frustration" (cited in Haley & Stein, 2005, p....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Theories on crimes

This theory explains the prevalence of criminal behavior in that the criminal makes rational choices when committing crimes.... This theory basis its ideas on the classical school of thought in criminology, which posits that individuals have a free will to choose their actions both good and bad while threats of punishment and sanctions deter criminal acts (Siegel, 2009).... Furthermore, the choice theory points out that there are three actors of criminal behavior; rational actor, predestined actor, and the victimized actor....
5 Pages (1250 words) Case Study

Relationship between Poverty Levels and Crime

These instances indicate the presence of a strong and undeniable social pattern, thus substantiating the role of social status as a foundation of modern criminology (Siegel, 2011; Andersen and Taylor, 2010; Guarino-Ghezzi and Trevino, 2010).... Concerns regarding the relationship between the equitable distribution of income and crime have been raised by various sociological researchers over the years, thus making it one of the most widely discussed and debated issues in sociology....
4 Pages (1000 words) Essay

Social Structure Theories and How They Are Applied

hellip; The author states that the Social Structure Theory delves deeper into the relationships existing between social institutions and looks into group behaviors as opposed to that of individuals.... Social Structure Theory contains various schools of thought, which include; cultural deviance theory, social disorganization, and strain theory (Lantolf & Thorne, 2006).... In the paper “social structure Theories and How They Are Applied” the author discusses a theory that focuses on the different social fabric aspects explaining the reason as to why crime mainly happens due to citizens being in a disadvantaged class position....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Man Killed in Sydney Shooting

he Social Structure Theory mainly implies the relationship between various attributes of the society.... The Social Structure Theory is mainly based on the three modules those are a strain, cultural deviance theory, and social disorganization theory.... The objective of these components of the theory is to provide support for understanding individual behavior towards the criminal behavior.... The cultural deviance theory is a combination of the social disorganization and strain theory....
8 Pages (2000 words) Essay

The Kind of Murder Committed by Pistorius

Additionally, the paper will discuss three theories that include: rational choice theory, trait theory, Social Structure Theory in relation to this kind of homicide incident.... Finally the paper will provide a brief conclusion on the suitable theory that most explains Pistorius' Murder, discuss the implications of the theory for criminal justice policy, and what the criminal justice system should do to try to address the kind of murder committed by Pistorius....
6 Pages (1500 words) Case Study

Social Learning Theory and the Explanation of Crime

A sub-category to Social Structure Theory is the anomie theory that hypothesizes that human beings behave and reflect based on the collective characterization of various aspects and also common practices and shared beliefs (Bernburg, 2002, p.... A typical case showing an application of Social Structure Theory is the case of French vegan parents charged in 2011 for feeding their 11-month-old infant solely on breast milk (International Natural Hygiene Society, n....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Social Deviance: Bullying

There are two sociological theories which could be used in analyzing bullyings, such as Social Structure Theory and the differential association theory (Adler & Adler, 2012).... The current research "social Deviance: Bullying" aims to present, summarize, and analyze bullying from the perspectives of social theories and determine the manner in which current policies and interventions are designed to control and punish this social deviant behavior....
10 Pages (2500 words) Research Paper
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us