Reflection on Sociological Perspective

1. How does society influence you? As a student or a Filipino citizen, how do you affect society? Use
our discussion on social groups and social networks to answer this question. (10 points)
Most of us experience social influence constantly in its many forms. There are various reasons we
enable our thoughts and actions to be influenced by social forces. Society often seems to affect us by
poisoning our minds with lies and violence, or with honesty and reality more frequently. It defines how
other entities, our general outlook, and our ethics are seen. What we see, hear, feel, and experience around
us influences us, changes us, and teaches us various things that shift our perception and perspective. Our
ideas and acts are also changed to fulfil the criteria of a social group, perceived authority, social position,
and approval of its members. All these lessons that stick with us, which can also be learned from culture
and life in general, can be influenced by anyone. Society consists of many different factors that affect our
mentality and actions, like media, neighborhood, rules, education, and much more, and shape us into
people we will eventually grow up to become. Society impacts us in a way that often influences us
through the expectations we meet, which causes us to imitate what we see from others. We usually
conduct, act, perceive and talk like other people would and accept other people's views or behaviors.
We have begun to learn and apply our culture's ways ever since we were brought to life. We begin to
socialize with our parents, relatives, friends, teachers, and other members of society and it makes a
difference in how we perceive ourselves and others. It influences our beliefs, what we consider to be right
and wrong, and how our decisions are affected by the culture we live in. Although our choices can impact
others, they can ultimately help shape our culture. We are also one of the individuals that affect other
people because we have our beliefs, perceptions, behavior, and experiences that other people look into
that alter them, just like any other person. As we encounter all kinds of people, and how they turn out is
determined by our relationships with them in many situations. As a student or a Filipino citizen, we have
learned what we have learned will help affect other people everywhere we go. We all learn from each
other on an ongoing basis, helping us change our perspectives on various things. The way we interact and
communicate with other individuals may be the variables that influence some individuals. However, it is
not just through experiences that we get to affect other individuals. Generally, people will always be
influenced by how we behave and live our lives. For instance, when we post something on our social
media, people who see it can change their minds or influence them, causing a domino effect. The way a
lot of people act, talk, or live could change one person. We influence other individuals with our right or
wrong acts and intentions, even by simply following rules or laws, people will see how things should be
that would make them follow or ignore.
Furthermore, we either control them or vice versa with the groups we belong to or what we call a
social group. With the common features, identity, or perceptions that we experience when we connect and
unite with them regularly, we will feel that we belong, making us change and evolve as we continue to get
along with them. Since we belong to many forms of social groups, such as our families, our numerous
friendship groups, the classes we take, our jobs, the clubs and associations to which we belong, and so on,
while socializing and forming substantive interactions, we can influence each other. Similarly, we build a
social network that connects us in specific instances based on our preference when we make connections
and links with our social group. Everywhere we go, there are groups of people. As an individual, you can
belong to several different types of groups. We associate with the group because we have something in
common with those in the same group, and the group can provide a sense of belonging for us. That is also
when we learn and recognize how we see ourselves and others. It is also when we get to know and
understand others' perspectives and learn and develop through them. Nevertheless, just because culture
plays a massive role in influencing our behavior, mindset and personality does not mean that we remain
empty. We must nurture society's positive impact while discouraging any detrimental effect. The kind of
person we end up being at the end of the day depends as much on ourselves and family as it does on
society.
2. Identify the different environments or ecological systems (i.e., microsystem, mesosystem,
exosystem, macrosystem) from Bronfenbrenner's theory and explain how they influence your
development. (15 points)
The first stage of life is considered the golden era of life in which all that also serves as the time that
forms our future is taught to us by our parents and by any person we meet. As all our knowledge and past
experiences are stored there, it molds our personality. They do not inherently determine us, but they play
a significant role. It involves the world we are moving through, as Bronfenbrenner suggested that the
child's environment is a nested systemic arrangement that gives an individual or child a significant effect.
It describes how children's innate characteristics and their environments interact to impact how they grow
and develop. Usually, children are entangled in different backgrounds, from the most intimate ecological
home environment to the broader school system, and then to the most comprehensive system that
encompasses community and society. The relationship between factors in the infant's environment, his
immediate family/community environment, and the social landscape fuels his development and steers it.
These are structures include the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem and the
chronosystem. The five systems are interrelated, so one system's effect on the growth of a child depends
on its interaction with the others. In all aspects of children's lives, and of these ecological processes
ultimately interacts with and influences each other. Changes or disputes will ripple across other layers in
any one layer.
The microsystem, which is the things that have direct interaction and personal relationships with the child
in their immediate setting, such as parents, relatives, teachers and school peers, as well as the children's
everyday home, school, peer group and community environment, is the smallest and most immediate
environment or the first level of Bronfenbrenner's theory. In their environment, the child may be
influenced by other individuals and can also alter other individuals' views and behavior. The relationships
within microsystems are often very personal and are essential for encouraging and promoting the infant's
growth. How other people communicate with children can impact how they develop. As this is the stage
in which the child is taught the basic things in life as he/she develops, they are affected by what the
individuals they are surrounded by, and as the child grows, they bring the teachings of the various
individuals with them and use it to develop. Through teaching and showing the child the actions and
perspectives, they will be able to influence their development. It will possibly be how other people
manage and show the child how he/she can grow up. The power of microsystems serves as our basis for
building and improving ourselves and our lives. The second stage, the mesosystem, includes the
interactions between the child's microsystems. In essence, it is a system of microsystems and, as such, it
includes relations between home and school, between family and peer group, and between family and
society. The mesosystem is where the individual microsystems of a person do not operate independently,
but are interconnected and control each other. A mesosystem is, basically, a system of microsystems. For
example, if the parents of a child talk with the child's teachers or friends and have a good relationship, this
contact will affect the development of the child and have positive results. By peace and like-mindedness,
the growth of the child is positively influenced. Therefore, when we talk, experience, think, and even see
the relation of other people, they can affect our growth when we learn how we should come together and
impact each other. The exosystem, which is the third level, contains other formal and informal social
frameworks that do not include the child themselves but affect them indirectly as they affect one of the
microsystems. There are situations in which the child is not involved, and are beyond their experience,
but they still influence them. This layer describes the broader social structure in which the child does not
work directly. People and locations in which children do not communicate directly may yet impact their
lives. These locations and individuals may include the parents' workplaces, extended family members,
and the community in which the children reside. This layer's structures impact the child’s development by
interacting with some structure in her microsystem. How the environment in his/her microsystem acts or
shows things affects the child's thinking and actions as he/she develops, including the way they are being
treated in life. The fourth level, the macrosystem, which can be called the outermost layer comprised of
cultural values, practices, and laws in the child's environment, is the largest and most distant set of
individuals and places with major effects on children. This focuses on how cultural factors, such as
socioeconomic status, geographic location, wealth, poverty, and ethnicity, influence a child's
development. The culture within which people are immersed can affect their beliefs and perceptions about
events that happen in life. The macrosystem does not apply to one developing child's unique
environments, but to the already developed community and culture in which the child is developing. Our
way of life impacts our growth because it helps us to understand and experience things based on what is
already before us and where we are. Based on these factors, they form cultural norms and values of the
child, primarily their prevailing beliefs and concepts, and political and economic structures, which may
have a positive or negative impact on their own. It affects their lives and how they think, act, or speak
through the cultural norms that the child follows, which can be carried as they develop and grow. The
fifth and final stage of the theory of ecological systems by Bronfenbrenner is known as the chronosystem.
This system consists of all the life-long environmental changes that affect development, including major
life transformations and historical events. These can include standard life transitions, but non-normative
life transitions can also be included. As children get older, they will react differently to changes in the
world and may be more able to decide how they will be affected by that change. The chronosystem
introduces the useful dimension of time, demonstrating the effect of both change and constancy in
children's environments. The chronosystem can involve a change in the structure of the family, address,
job status of parents, and immense changes in society. Since we all go through development, we learn
different things and see different perspectives as we grow. Thus, the chronosystem environment allows us
to learn more and adapt to changes and, in that way, the experiences around us are influencing us. These
ecological systems influence the development or each individual. Thus, it should have a positive effect on
an individual for them to have a better life and perspectives.