Sociology

In the simplest of terms, defining social perspective can begin with the study of ones idea on anything that he senses or perceives. These ideas are not just created by an individuals imagination.  At birth, ones mind is virtually a tabula rasa. Knowledge is not inherently implanted inside it.  Instead, it is developed along with the development of the individuals senses.  As a child grows, he begins to learn many things not just by observation but also by instruction initially by his parents and, later on, by his teachers in school.  He starts education not just with the use of his senses on things and events but by the explanations of what these things or events are.  However, children in different societies and cultures grow with dissimilar perceptions on things that they may have in common.  This is because their assumption and analysis of reality depend on the social influences that surround them, which is otherwise called as culture.  An example for this is ethics and morals.  Every society, from the most advanced to the most primitive, has moral or ethical standards.  Nevertheless, these may differ to great extent, which is why some people of one culture would mistakenly reach a conclusion that those of another are entirely immoral.  Since social perspective varies according to the society it is held, judgment for immorality or being unethical can only be applied in one social condition.  What can be right for a predominantly Buddhist society may be utterly wrong for one that is predominantly Christian.  However, the people living in a Christian society are not supposed to criticize those who belong in a Buddhist society because their parameters for morality are different.  A Buddhist who violates the mores of his own culture and society may be considered deviant though.  This is because he is expected to have assumed the same social perspective, being a product of the same cultural and religious education training as those with others in his society. 

Mans line of thought is a product of material objects.  His brain, of course, is material but it also processes information gathered by sensual observation of material evidences.  From his earliest years as a child, he is already taught on how he should behave as a member of the family, in front of his friends, and in the school.  The process of learning about how he should behave is actually a course in which he is also taught what society expects of him.  Therefore, all through out his school years and even as he joins the productive force, his mind is filled with the social principles distinct to his society.  He absorbs the social perspective so much that he eventually makes it a part of his own identity.  Ultimately, his own thoughts do not only bear the hallmarks of such perspective but actually is actually a product of it.  As he carries the mode of thinking taught to him and expected of him by society, he himself becomes instrumental in upholding a social perspective and in influencing others with it.

It is very important for sociologists to be able to grasp comprehensively the social perspective of any given society or social group.  By doing so, they will be able to deduce all information gathered from social research and individual observation into conclusions falling under one specific collective mode of thinking and behavior.  A study on social perspective can lead to the possibility of easily identifying the impressions of a social group from a scenario or from an object that has an impact on them collectively.  For policymakers in the government, disregarding social perspective is a recipe for disaster.  The results of such disregard can be policies that are so unpopular that the citizens or a particular social group can go up in massive protests against the government.  Effectively integrating with the populace in order to find out about their wants and needs is one way of discerning the social perspective.  If government takes pains in doing so before creating any sweeping policies that will affect citizens or just a social group, it manages to avoid unpopularity and heavy criticism.  If it is responsible enough to send out social researchers and have the services of sociologists to analyze the information gathered, it can anticipate the possible reactions of the people for every policy or decision it formulates.

Social perspective has a bearing in how social groups interact with each other.  If a person is brought up in a family that teaches hatred for other races, he may find himself socializing only with those whom he shares the same skin color and even political and racial beliefs.  Although he belongs to a society, that admits to uphold equality regardless of race and religion, he begins to create or be involved in a sub-group that shares the same racist views.  Although society may not subscribe to such ideas, he and his group may just interpret some ambiguous policies, actions, and laws to be in favor of what they believe.  This is how they justify their principles and the movements related to it.  Certainly, they will be considered by others as a bunch of racists.  However, they may not be affected at all by the labeling and the criticisms.  Their collective reality is different. They believe in the righteousness of their cause.

The study of social perspective can lead into the better appreciation of the conflicts and the harmonious relationships that exist in a society.  Conflicts between social groups or classes can be attributed to the contradicting perspectives that they have.  In a capitalist society for example, the workers may at first see their class as having a specific function for the survival and development of society.  In some cases, especially in very conservative social conditions, they may be taught that labor is their contribution while for a select few, capital is.  However, even if they are educated in such away, their actual experience in the factory may awaken them into another interpretation of reality.  They will soon realize that the capital contributed by the wealthy few for developing society comes from their own labor.  Since they work collectively in a factory setting, they begin to realize that it is their class that creates wealth in the first place.  Therefore, the capitalists may just be appropriating a huge portion of their labors products.  They will come to conclude that society can be developed without the existence of the capitalist class.  In fact, such society will be even more equal and just.  This social perspective breeds the will to change society.

It is clear that social perspective may be taught to members of a society so that they will be factors in maintaining the existing state of affairs.  In a society where the political, economic, and cultural powers are controlled by a minority, it is necessary that the majority are constantly educated with principles that serve the status quo.  Otherwise, the majority will interpret reality from the viewpoint of the powerless and will seek to introduce change in their favor.  The education and training that favor the status quo is expected to subjugate the majority.  However, as mentioned earlier, social perspective is not just created by what is taught or by multimedia means of mind control.  It relies more on the material conditions perceived by the senses rather than the ideas infused to the mind through various cultural forms and processes.  Simple questions based from observations such as why are we poor while a few are rich or why people of color have less job opportunities than whites will lead to the formation of a new collective consciousness, a social perspective different or even opposing the social perspective taught before and which once was thought as real.

Social perspective cannot be observed from just one individual sample.  Although the individual carries with him the ideas that he are influenced by things, events, and people surrounding him, he alone will not be sufficient to provide the observer a conclusion regarding society.  Aristotle said that the whole is always greater than the sum of its parts and this is true when it comes to the study of social perspective.  The individual thought may not totally reflect the thought of his organization or his society.  The sum of such thoughts from different individuals living same social condition may indeed reflect the social mode of thinking.  However, reflection is the most that it can do.  It does not absolutely represent the social perspective.  This is because the whole is not just the sum of its parts.  According to the book Principles of Gestalt Psychology, it is more correct to say that the whole is something else than the sum of its parts, because summing up is a meaningless procedure, whereas the whole-part relationship is meaningful. (Koffka p.176)  This means that in order to learn about the social perspective in a particular society or social group, it may be necessary to analyze the individual but what is more conclusive would be the findings provided by a social research.  Such social researches should concentrate more on the behavioral patterns of groups based on nationality, religion, race, class, age, gender or any other subdivision among the members of society.  Sociologists do not make conclusions about society by relying on information collected from the study of an individual.  They understand society deeply by learning about the behavior of the groups of people present in it.

Once social perspective is handed down to younger generations through educational processes and once it is taught through formal and informal ways, such as academic institutions and mass media respectively, it becomes institutionalized.  The definition or meaning of a certain thing, event, or personal character becomes very much an integral part of society.  Because of this social reality is constructed.  Social perspective, therefore, is at the very core of social reality.  It is the mode of thinking that the members of a particular society have in common and, thus, becomes the basis of agreement over issues that they are confronted with.  The social construction of reality is not a product of a common social perspective only at one single instance.  It is the result of modes of thinking being handed down from one generation to another.  It is the psyche behind the many cultural forms, which have been instrumental in preserving society for long periods of time.  It is, therefore, obvious that deconstruction of a social reality may take a very long process.  It will take a counter-culture to do it, one that provides an alternative but acceptable interpretation of objective conditions in society.  However, for as long as the material conditions that molded the perceptions of society remain present, there is no possibility for a perspective devoid of objective basis to take shape.  The development of social perspective does not precede the material conditions that shape it.  Instead, structural changes in society can prompt the social perspective to change.