Socialization Through Sports (Autosaved) Essays - Resocialization

Reflection Paper Dr. Mark Killian Introduction to Sociology 11 December 2017 Socialization Through Sports Throughout my life I have been socialized as an athlete. The past year, due to an injury, I was told that I will no longer be able to play softball. The hardest part about the journey so far has been the resocialization into society without having the collegiate athlete title. I never realized how many social factors were influenced by my athletic career, and how engrained softball was in my social identity. Two of the most influential factors that have shaped me are my culture, and the organizations I have been a part of. Being athletic, and playing sports were always idealized in my culture. I was raised in a very sporty family; every member of my family was an athlete at some point in their life. The values in my family were centered around academic and athletic success, a form of "nonmaterial culture" that influenced me (40). Trying to keep this status of a student athlete was very difficult for me, I had to make a lot of sacrifices. Most of the friends I had were on my sports teams, and being constantly surrounded by them swayed the way I thought and acted. We all developed a culture in which we shared common values, beliefs, norms, behaviors, and even language. Since we spent so much time together, I portrayed these shared ways of believing and of doing things. The "culture within" me showed in my everyday life, even when I was outside of games and practices (41). Softball culture includes time management, teamwork, listening to coaches, taking constructive criticism, and working hard. Softball c ulture was engrained in my everyday life, and the athlete title was associated with who I was as a person. Since I am no longer an athlete I am going through a resocialization process into a new culture. This process has been very difficult for me, it involves; not going to practices, not having to contour my schedule around softball, the way professors and classmates treat me, and even the way my family views me. It has been a "norm" for me to constantly arrange everything around softball, and to be treated as a player (50). Being treated as an athlete is difficult to explain, but it is your identity and people look at you with a sense of respect. Especially as a collegiate athlete I had to develop a relationship with my professors, which was hard since I missed classes and exams for softball. Also in my family culture, we socialize by talking about, and playing sports. I have been struggling a lot with this part of the resocialization process in particular, because I feel as if I have disappointed my family. Sometimes it is challenging trying to communicate with them because I am una ble to speak the language, and implement the gestures used by athletes (48). For example, I cannot talk about practices, other players, or the ability of our team because I am not there to experience it. Whereas usually I could have long conversations about all aspects of my culture, and now a lot of times I don't know what to talk about. The organizations I belonged to helped socialize me into an even more well-rounded athlete. I have been associated with high school softball, travel softball, collegiate softball, and student-athlete organizations. All of these "social groups shared something significant in a common," group members pushed each other to achieve goals (133). These groups were very influential and they greatly affected each person, we all wanted to be the most successful athletes. These organizations were created for athletes to grow and perfect skills. They are run by trainers who refine, teaching and helping us reach our goals. Leaders in "peer groups" such as these, demonstrate how we should act and what we should value (89). We begin to take the roles of those leading us, constantly "measuring ourselves in the roles that people see us in" (91). The members of the group can be the most persuasive, but the can only affect us as much as we let them. In my opinion, it is inevitable to be persuaded by teammates. When a teammate stays late

development geography essays

development geography essays Using a variety of contemporary geographic issues, discuss how they are related to the levels of development in nations that you have studied. The reasons for high or low development within any nation directly relates to an assortment of geographic issues. These can include things such as the changes to social and political power within a nation, peoples access to housing and employment, and the environmental quality in which the nation is surrounded. Environmental quality refers to the condition of a countrys environment and its ability to continue to support the population. It is for this reason that we regard environmental quality as an indicator of the development of a country, i.e. the more polluted the environment, the less developed the nation. In many developing countries, poverty forces farmers to overgraze land and also to deforest vast areas for fuel wood. Also, poverty spreads disease by depriving communities of clean water and adequate sanitation. Even where poverty is less extreme, lack of technology for disposing of industrial pollution or improving energy efficiency results in wasted resources and generates environmental damage. Pakistan has about 25 million ha of arable land. About 0.4 million ha is lost every year due to salinity and water logging. If these rates continue then by 2050 there will be no farmland left in Pakistan and Pakistans population will have doubled to 180 million people. In developed countries however, technology is so much more accessible and it provides us with an immense amount of material goods and comforts yet fouls our air with pollutants, generates hazardous wastes and creates enormous demands for energy. The United States, with one of the highest GNPs (Gross National Product) in the world, spends a very small part of its GNP on the environment. The quality of life of the population is affected as a result; for example, 30 000 people are thought t...

Patient engagement programs Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Patient engagement programs - Assignment Example The strategy design also focuses on forming a health information technology that will support the provision of quality health care for all the parties involved in the health care system including laboratory services. The strategy will also ensure that there is easy access to complete HIT that incorporates the long-term record of a patient electronically to EHR. The strategy designed will also be friendly with easy access to online materials. The need to engage patients is due to the existence of regulatory mandates that demand the need of engaging patients when designing strategies. The growing demand for the use of digital technology development and its innovation has also encouraged the need for patient engagement in the healthcare system. The existence of personal information technology has enabled people to be more responsible for their health and get support on healthy lifestyles. PHIT entails communications that are all about secure communication with the relevant health provid ers. Convenient self-service is another category of PHIT that entails being able to locate a facility and make appointments. PHIT also involves personal health information that ensures access to personal data. Financial and education support are also part of PHIT that enables the ability to pay bills and get support from the community respectively. There is also the general capabilities in PHIT that enable management of insurance and coverage and being able to manage profile and analyze data on health.