Structure and agency

structure vs agency, the never-ending debate among sociology discussion. Some people may argue that the agent’s decisions are entirely based on greater powers like cultural, political, and economic influences, while agency would counter that an individual has total management of their own life. First of all, I would like to argue that there are certain circumstances and situations that would make agency valid. You could say that agency signifies that an individual has complete control, which I partially agree with. An individual can worsen or better his/her current situation based off their decisions. In my opinion, these decisions are played out mostly in part of the level of intellectuality that the person possesses. Others may argue that…

arise from the multi-positions one occupies in society, in discusses the relationship between structures and agency (Anthias, 2008; Anthias, 2002a). In light of this, Anthias (2001) asserts that identity markers such as culture, origin and language, may function as resources used by the individual or a group contextually or situationally. Thus, adopting a translocational positionality line of thought and reasoning, the proposed research seeks to understand the context and the situation in which…

The Local Structure and Organization of the Police Force Introduction Communities have a complex police structure, because there are different levels of policing agencies. Even though there are different levels of policing agencies, the manner in which they arrange them are all the same, because they have the same goal. The police organizations are hierarchical and they are outlined with separate departments, units, and structure (Cascio, 2010). The components work jointly to form a completely…

“Socialisation is the process that shapes the personality of individuals so that they can adjust to and become members of society.” (Hunt & Colander, 2016, p.66). "Socialisation is the process of learning how to become part of a culture. Through socialisation one learns the culture’s language, their role in life, and what is expected from them. Socialisation is a very important process in the forming of personality. Socialisation occurs when one interacts with other people.” (Essay, UK…

In order to solidify the concept of conformity I am going to discuss a study that was conducted by Reitan and Shaw, which discussed conformity by examining attributes such as the individual’s personality, the kind of stimuli that evokes an individual to confirm, the situational factors and examining intragroup relationships. The individual personality factor that was examined in Reitan and Shaw’s study was group membership, which essentially stated that individuals that belongs to a multitude of…

amoral manner. Therefore, the researcher combines multiple traditional theories and demonstrates how the researcher can apply these to the issue of argumentation and the benefits of this process. The most obvious starting place for language and the constitution of society through discourse is structuration theory. This theory attempts to demonstrate how individuals of a group learn the rules and resources, or structures, of that group and then either adapt or modify those structures. The next…

Understanding the way context interplays with human agency is impetrative in the study of leadership. Structure is a direct correlation with context in relation to agency being directly correlated with characters. Context is not black and white it can be many things. I define context as the situational factors (environment) in which an idea, story, or event takes place that gives a deeper understanding as to why the idea, story, or event happened. It’s like the set up or the background. Agency,…

The administrative structure of the Martin Pollak Project, Inc is a traditional hierarchical structure. One top of the pyramid is Richard Norman, Chief Executive Officer, followed by Janet Olajide, Chief Financial Officer, then Lydia Agbeja, Human Resources. Program directors fall under human resources, followed by supervisors and then social workers, and support staff fall towards the bottom of the pyramid. Depending on what type of support staff an individual is designated as determines their…

disadvantaged or predisposed to harm than others due to the effects of social structures. It is often subtle or invisible and no individual or culture is the sole cause of the phenomenon (Farmer, 1999: 79). In his book Infections and Inequalities, Dr. Paul Farmer sheds light on the structural violence that contributes to the distribution of disease in Haiti and Peru. He highlights that one main consequence of structural violence is the constraint of individual agency, or the ability of the…

Administration Discretion Public administration in itself is a structure. A structure of many different administrative organizations working to carry out the orders/laws of the government. As with many structures, elements of it have to work or fit a certain way for it to be stable or function properly. There is also a structural plan (laws/rules) that must be followed in order for the structure to be safe and effective (run smoothly). On the other hand, although most structures can usually…