My Sociological Portrait (Essay Sample)

My Sociological Portrait
Name of Student
Name of Institution
Course
Introduction
The sociological portrait provides an individual with a sociological story that aims at providing information on the identity of a person (Zephir, 1996). The family and education are two of the settings used to produce identity formation of an individual. For my sociological portrait, I chose the family institution. I chose the family setting as it provides detailed information about a person. The family defines a person right from childhood compared to the educational system that only represents a person I terms of academic performance. The family also creates an environment in which the children and other members of the family grow. The relationship created by the family union forms a bond that is impossible to break. The bond joins all the members to the extent of making them behave in a similar manner different from other people who are not part of this particular family. The family institution offers me a useful analysis of my identity formation as it gives me an analysis of my background and that of my parents (Andersen & Taylor, 2008). The life my parents lived is important because it defines how my life will turn out to be. It also sets a limit to me and my siblings as it gives us an opportunity to reach similar heights or even go beyond.Identity and the family institution
My parents married 20 years ago and even with the struggles they went through at first, they did not divorce. My father grew up in poverty. His father worked at a bakery while his mother worked as a waitress. Their earnings were not enough to cater to the needs of the family. His father died due after suffering from a heart attack when he was only 17 years. My father did not have the opportunity to join the college as he had to start working at the age of 20 at the dealership at the age of 20 to support his mother in raising the family. His talent with numbers and his hard work gave him an opportunity to enjoy his current position. He is now the vice president and the chief financial officer for Douglas Motors. My mother grew up in a well-off the family. Her father ensured they lived comfortably. He met my father while they were still young, and they decided to start a family. She had worked as a waitress before my father asked her to retire early as his salary could satisfy the needs of the family. My father ensured that my siblings and I went to college and achieved what we wanted. He also bought a house for my siblings as he wanted them to live better than him. These are the factors that I envy, and they are what drive me into being more like him.
My family institution shaped my identity formation as I can relate to it. My parents’ experiences while growing up assist me in make decisions that will affect both my present and my future life. For example, my father worked hard to ensure that his family enjoyed a better life than what he got. His hardworking nature motivates me into working even harder in my soccer team and in my academic work. I will graduate with a B.A. in Science and pursue a career in pharmacist.
My family is well off now, and we are in a position to afford essentials that our parents did not enjoy. My father lived in poverty as his parents could not provide a better life. Despite the hardships, he decided to start small because he did not go to college. His determination paid him as he worked his way up the ladder to the position he holds today. The status he lived in before made him work hard so that his children enjoy that he did not have while growing up.
The family gives roles to its members. With these roles, an individual aims at accomplishing his or her duty. The benefits accrued from these positions helps in personal development (Andersen & Taylor, 2008). For example, I became an adult the day I moved out of my parents’ house in 2011. From the example set but my family, I managed to work hard and finish school and now am a pharmacy technician.A reference group or person is a group of people or an individual we look up to for advice. My family is my reference group because I can relate to what they have been through in life starting from my grandparents to my parents. They are hardworking people and go-getters, and this motivates me to work hard in my football team and also in my career paths.Societal forces
Gender is what distinguishes between a male and a female. Gender is also a macro environment, and an individual has no control over it. As a social force, it dictates what roles male and female do and the pattern of their lives (Newman & Newman, 20009). As a child, I grew up with the knowledge that the male should be the breadwinner in the family as this is what my father did. I worked hard towards my career goals as I want to accomplish this role in the future. Individual agency is the ability of an individual to make decisions independently (Deters, 2011). It is what enables a person to make clear paths of what they want to achieve or accomplish. I arrived at decisions basing my judgment on what my grandparents and parents went through. I want to be financially stable even with the rough economic conditions.
Race and ethnicity are also macro environments that shape the identity of a person. These two factors provide a road map through which an individual learns of his or her identity. They define where we come from, who we are, and what we will be. For example, my background shows hard working people who respect the family institution and would do anything to protect it. My father started working at the age of 20 years at the dealership. His father’s death passed on the responsibility of the family to him, and he knew he had to do it.
The social status relates to a person’s wealth or the class they hold in the society. The majority of...