Sociology

The residents of Mc Town and the activities they are involved in makes up a social community. This community provides a convenient platform for all the residents to engage in activities which help in sustaining their lives. For instance, the town residents have invested in trades which are beneficial not only to the town residents but also to their surrounding counterparts to an approximate radius of 70 miles. The area surrounding the town is primarily agricultural land that thrives on agricultural production. To support this, traders in the town have invested in multiple businesses that supplies essential products such as tractors, agricultural inputs, grain storage facilities and chemicals. The concept of a community is one of the fundamental concepts in sociology. Though the simplistic meaning of a community is not very clear in sociology, there are key criteria which identify Mc town residents as a community. First, the residents activities mainly take place within the geographical regions of the town. Hence, they are territorially established as a community based on geographical considerations. In addition, there is a sense of belonging among the members which implies that they are emotionally and socially enjoined within that community.
There is also an apparent existence of organized structures within the town which can be associated with the existence of schools and a recognition of police personnel who represents the towns institutions for law and order.

Another social concept evident in this small town is the existence of law and order. First, there is reference to Jake Horner, the single patrolman for the town police. According to the patrolman, there are some values which are recognized to be against the law. He cites driving under intoxication as the most prevalent issue that the law enforcers face in the town.  He also cites the criminalization of some substances which he terms as drugs for instance, cocaine and methamphetamine. In sociology, law is explained as the control of a society through systematic application of rules and regulations by a well organized political system. The political system consists of the law makers and law enforcers and this explains the criminalization of the drug substances by the law makers and the enforcement of that law by the policemen. It is the law fabric which ensures that individual rights and freedoms are not violated against as well as ensuring the protection of property and assets. The existence of the law in Mc Town helps the people to own properties such as the business dealership in chemicals, tractors and agricultural implements. It is recognized in sociology that the existence of the law in any place, such as, Mc Town is preliminary to the existence of good behavior even among the most exemplary citizens (Bertrand Russell). This implies that were it not for the law, most of the people interviewed would have complained of lawlessness in the town.

Another social concept in the town is the idea of social groups. A social group is a grouping of two or more people within a wider society who interact with each other and identify themselves as a distinct unit. As such, this group is likely to have more interactions within itself and very little or no interaction with the other groups. Due to their interaction, the social group carves up its own culture and characteristic which is evident in the areas frequented by the group. Such a group may be isolated due to its financial, culture or educational power. In the small town, the rich people live in the subdivision around Lake Elmo. This group is identified by their white collar professions which include banking, business and other elite professions. The rest of the less financially able group consisting of the low skilled workers who works in the manufacturing plants, retail and agribusiness management occupy the rest of the town. This demographic distribution is an illustration of social stratification where economically equal groups tend to occupy similar geographical locations within the society. The characteristics of the different social groups are also likely to be felt in all institutions within the town including the social places, the schools and health institutions.

The concepts of a community, law and order as well as the social groupings are interrelated.  First, the community instigates measures that establish law and order for the assurance of security for all members. Also, the social activities established within the wider community are the one that lays a foundation for social institutions and requirements that separates different social groups. For instance, when a community sets up education as a necessary tool for development, the tool separates the community between the educated and those who are not. This coupled with the privileges that the different groups accesses essentially establishes social stratification in form of social groups.