The Self, the Group, and the Town of Mcminden, Essay Example

In McMinden, one of the central aspects of life is the interrelationship of the community, familiarity, and security. For better or for worse, founding social psychologist Cooley’s conceptualization of primary groups and their influence on psychological functionalism apply; the family, the peers, and the community are at the core of life in McMinden. It is here that values and a notion of self are established and tested in informal social contexts. The smaller the “in group”, the smaller is the basis for testing and challenging one’s beliefs, as well as for viewing oneself. Cooley developed theories of what he called the “looking glass self” in response to observations which clearly distributed a shift of identity based upon the company present. His theories combined the liberality of the early social studies and scientific and critical inquiry and revolutionized views of small social groups.

The Chicago and Iowa Schools of symbolic interactionism (SI) in identity formation produced many relevant principles, which would aid in Junior Meyers’s misunderstandings between his son and himself. Both schools of SI have their roots in the words of Herbert Mead. Although it did not include the term “identity” as we use it today, this groundwork created interest and a strong foundation for the concept’s sociological study. The Chicago School argued that identity is formed through the interaction of mind, self, and society and provided guidelines for classification of identities as egoistic, personal, or social. On the contrary, the Iowa School of SI focused on quantitative data and case studies which maintained the perspective that concepts would rise and fall according to social customs and attitudes primarily. This information bears personal relevance to McMinden resident Junior Meyers, as well as the political, school, and other community systems of the town.

As the information states, social stratification is obvious in the town’s arrangement of housing in prime areas of real estate; the richest citizens are mainly clustered around Lake Elmo. Class and achievement are two of the most common traits which determine the social and class status of a family and each of its members. Thus, even in the upper class, societies with well-developed systems of social stratification are labyrinthine displays of different levels of social success. The town has long-established customs of working-class segregation- with divisions for upper class, upper-middle class, middle class, and lower class, according to the type of employment which provides the family’s salary. The social consciousness is a basic component of small town life in McMinden and provides a framework through which all social needs are analyzed. It is unclear if this social stratification extends to the younger generations and is present in the schools.