Dorothy Smith Essay Example for Free

Dorothy Smith Essay Dorothy Smith was born in North England in 1929. At a young age she did various jobs as a secretary before realizing that she needed to study in order to get a well paying job. In the early 1950’s she studied at the London School of Economics where she specialized in sociology. In 1955 Dorothy moved to the University of Berkeley where she got her doctorate. (Gardiner 180). While at Berkeley, she was exposed to sociological thinkers like Mead, Irving Goffman and Merleau. For two decades up from 1950, Dorothy was involved in many leftist organizations and attended various anti war demonstrations. She divorced her husband when her second son was nine months and faced many difficulties and challenges raising them. (classiques. uqac. ca). During her times, there was an outright gender discrimination against women. She sought the Marxist ideologies to explain the on goings and she clearly realized the differences in power on the lines of gender in the society. To her, males dominated the most important sectors like education, politics, medical as well as the economic field. This way, the female gender was marginalized and their interests and aspirations suppressed. (Gardiner 180). Dorothy graduated in 1963 after which she went into teaching in Berkeley, Essex and British Columbia. She continued with her institutional ethnographic studies after her retirement. As one of the renowned feminists, Dorothy argued that the society was male dominated, with the laws and the existing legal structures being highly patriarchal. Her research therefore focused on how men who had the power in economic terms dominated women. She also argued that even the religion was male dominated and the women were the ‘dormant gender’ whose voices were rarely heard. (Gardiner 180). To her, the domination was so severe that some women would end up using male figures. For instance, a female author would use a male name probably to attract an audience. The male dominance had been made universal and it appeared as if the women’s fate had been sealed. In education, women were denied formal education as well as positions; an example is in medicine where the society accepted male dominance as universal. Again, those seeking education in the male dominated schools would be influenced by the system. Most references in the schools portrayed male as the dominant gender and the female related studies were poorly funded or dismissed as of less importance. (classiques. uqac. ca). Institutional ethnography was a form of sociological inquiry introduced by Smith to explain how social relations influenced people’s everyday lives. The sociology for the people encompassed all people in the society and tried to establish the contradictions between people’s experiences in their every day lives as well as the way their social relations were organized. (Smith 1-6). Their approach differed from other theories in the sense that it placed more emphasis on people’s experiences rather than the predetermined social relations in the society. To illustrate her theory, she carried out various researches like the effect of single mothers and schooling of their children as well as alienation of middle class managers and the role their wives played. Smith and a colleague in the teaching career, Alison, researched on single parents and their effect on the education of their children. This â€Å"research focused on the socially organized processes which structured some families as different in the schooling environment. †(Smith129). Single parenthood was deemed as a social problem. Such parents were viewed as ineffective especially in bringing up children due to the purported negative influences on the children’s emotional development as well as their long term behaviors (Smith 130). Dorothy and Alison critically analyzed the existing literature on single parents. They established that most of what was depicted in the media was very different from what was happening on the ground. The media was a reflection of the works of some professionals such as teachers, administrators as well as social workers but it had an overall effect on the society. (Smith 137). Their research clearly explained the variances between what is depicted in the media (literature) and what actually happens. In her article, women, the family and the corporate capitalism, Dorothy tried to establish the alienation of a middle class manager and the role played by his wife to reinforce the man’s alienation. To Smith, the middle class manager was different from the working class man whose alienation was more to the ownership of the means of production as opposed to the woman who was a ‘personal service to him’. Smith established that when the man ceased to provide for his family the relationship changed, a clear indication that male dominance is highly correlated to the economic dependence which is an external force as neither of them has control over it. To Smith, â€Å"monopoly or the corporate capitalism alienated both the men and women of the middle classes while eliminating the socio economic basis for an autonomous selfhood for women†. (Sydie Adams 560). To Dorothy, there was a general consent of how laws, courts and welfare agencies helped enforce certain understandings of how the entire world was expected to work. The prevailing understanding seemed to favor men at the expense of women and there was a general association of women and child bearing. Dorothy made a major contribution to sociology as it is today. In her new sociological inquiry, she advocated that researchers be on the same critical plane as the subject of the research. Here, researchers were to look deeper rather than just the objects of the research if their research was to be effective. Conducting research in the traditional way would not reveal how the object was constructed or what it consisted of when relating it to the social relations that affected peoples every day lives. Although women problems demanded for a sociological explanation as their experiences created problems, their experiences alone would not suffice to offer solutions. Their experiences would be as a result of the social, political as well as the economic organization. Dorothy’s work made sociologists especially the researcher focus on the factors that influence people before making final conclusions as people’s experiences alone would be effectively addressed by monitoring their social relations in everyday activities. To Denise and Cheryl, in their extinguished book nursing research, Dorothy Smith’s ‘institutional ethnography’ has been applied in various fields such as nursing, social work, and community health as well as in the study of professional services. It focuses on the social organization as well as the institutional work processes and consequently the outcome of the research plays a significant role in the establishment of organizational changes as the real problems are established. (Polit Beck 227). Like other feminist theorists, Dorothy posits that sociology as well as other social science disciplines was constructed by males in the highly patriarchal society. To resolve women problems would therefore only be successful if the female stand point was considered. Smith used the Marxism approach and highlighted the aspect of alienation, capitalism as well as the economic aspects in the society. To her, there was need to focus more on the alienated in the society, these being women as well as other groups who were oppressed. (uregina. ca). To Dorothy, there was a need to research more on people’s experiences as well as situations as what was present in the prevailing literature was inaccurate in explaining their actual fate. As Johnson in ‘contemporary sociology theory’ noted, Dorothy Smith’s ideologies could differ from those of other feminist theorists. Some feminists unlike Dorothy tried to show how variations on the lines of racial or class backgrounds as well as sexual orientation intersected with gender bringing about different experiences across the various categories of women. This is to say that other feminists considered other factors and their role in influencing the plight of women rather than focusing strictly on male dominance in addressing the problems of women. Location was also another issue considered as it was clearly established that women from different regions say the developed world would experience different issues or problems as opposed to those in the less developed countries. The contemporary sociologists will therefore incorporate such variations in their studies. (Johnson 432-3) Major concerns that can be raised against Dorothy’s work are the overemphasis on the male dominance in the society. The queries here are that sociology is not always related with the ruling or power games in the society. (uregina. ca). Her argument that sociology as well as other social sciences had been established by man, the dominant gender in the society, is therefore untrue as in most cases sociology seeks to establish the social problems in the society, an example being the plight of immigrants as well as the poor in society. Dorothy emphasized on every day experiences or situations in relation to the social relations that one had. Critics would argue that she underestimated the inner self or being of people which also has a role to play in influencing who they are. She also failed to explain the role played by other groups in the society and only focused on male and their dominance. (uregina. ca). Works Cited: Adams Bert N and Sydie Rosalind Ann. Sociological Theory. Pine Forge Press, 2001 Dorothy E. Smith. retrieved on 29th April from http://classiques. uqac. ca/contemporains/smith_dorothy/smith_dorothy_photo/smith_dorothy_photo. html Feminist Standpoint Theory – Dorothy Smith. Retrieved on 29th April from http://uregina. ca/~gingrich/319m2206. htm. Gardiner Michael. Critiques of everyday life. Routledge Publishers. 2000 Polit Denise F and Beck Cheryl Tatano. Nursing research: principles and methods. Lippincott Williams Wilkins Publishers. 2003 Smith Dorothy E. Institutional ethnography as practice. Rowman Littlefield Publishers. 2006

Personal Narrative - Slumber Party :: Personal Narrative Essays

Personal Narrative -Slumber Party Thump-thump, breathe thump-thump, breath. My heart beat as if it was pounding out through my brain; I tried to catch my breath. I heard footsteps coming up behind me like an elephant chasing at my heels. A scream pierced my ears and echoed many times in my mind. My thoughts raced from one thing to another. After locking the door, the four of us clinched in a corner for nearly an hour. My day had begun normal. I remember I woke up, went to school and found myself with my friends that afternoon. My company was five of my closest pals; Becky, Alex, Meredith, Lee, and my boyfriend Cody. We all had hung out many times before and knew each other well. For most of the evening, we sat around telling horror stories and gossiping about classmates. Time passed quickly and soon, it was time to head home. The girls were all planning a slumber party at Becky's. Her parents had gone out of town for the weekend, and she was not willing to stay alone. We began our evening of leisure by getting into our P.J s, and returning to our scary stories. Before realizing it, another hour had passed. All the stories must have gotten to us because before we went upstairs we made sure every light was on in the house. The hair on the back of my neck began to rise as we listened to the cold aching silence. In the distance we listened to three loud car horns and a door slam. We, then, jumped away from the window and started down the stairs. Half way down the stairs, we stopped dead in our tracks. The roof began to rattle as if someone was climbing across it. Our pulses raced as we flew down the remainder of the stairs. Thump-thump, breath. We huddled together in the kitchen. For our safety, we gathered a sharp knife and a phone. We came up with explanations to relieve our minds deciding that the horn was a neighbor and the thump on the roof was the cat. Calming our thoughts down, we relaxed into a group, sitting on the counter. We laughed at the fools we had been, and grew quiet as we heard several car doors slamming, again. Silently staring at one another our eyes grew wide as we hesitated to jump. Alex tried to explain "It's just the neighbors.

Strict Liability

August 7, 2009 Criminal Law- 2 Essay on Strict Liability Crimes Having no element for Mens Rea, consequently permits punishment on those that may be blameless to a crime. With that fact, there is definitely a wide range of controversial pro's and con's. I personally am unbiased either way regarding this topic, for any and all concerns I feel are legitimate. What I will set forth here is unbiased opinion and facts to all pro's and con's. In this world there are many regular civilians and citizens that may encounter, in some form or another, an inconvenience, mishap or even loss on many degrees' due to someone's negligence or culpable liability. Which will lead me to one's take on the pro's or benefit to the existence of strict liability crimes. First and foremost, when someone is hurt or harmed, they want recourse and they want it from whomever is liable, or from the closes person to that liable party. So they care nothing about ones blamelessness or mental intent, which in this case the law would not hold prudent anyway. To them and to the law â€Å"public health and safety come first. † For them an act alone is all that would actually need to be proved. For if that were not the case, then the possible victims would not have any remedy under the law. Further more, the benefits to society outweighs the cost of punishing those that may have no true blame. As for the con's in strict liability offenses, one might argue that being held liable without subjective or objective fault may be a violation to the U. S. Constitution. Where this stipulation actually contradicts the Model Penal Code (MPC) etc. on criminal liability and the stature of concurrence. Further more, with there being no actual or effective means on protection against strict liability or accidents, leaves a broad range of exceptional blameworthiness. Where â€Å"they† could say â€Å"we are the victims! † adversely this could jeopardize society and not protect it, thus curtail much human (especially professional) activities etc. at the fear of any possible culpable negligence. So here I have just a few to name the least, of pro's and con's on strict liability. So as you see we all have some legitimate place or say in this very controversial matter. For all people: individuals, civilians, families, cooperations, businesses, functions, police force and all professionals have some form of risk here. Over all I think the law on strict liability is well needed and the sacrifice's are well worth the gains†¦ fo r better of for worse.

Why Do People Spend More Time Buying A New Car Or Planning...

Introduction Why do people spend more time buying a new car or planning a vacation than investing their life savings? Most people know they should play a more active role in their investments but they often do not know where to start. Investing simply means putting your money to work so it can make more money. The responsibility for retirement planning is shifting to the individual. According to Statistics Canada, the amount of paid workers covered by a registered pension plan dropped from 44.2 % in 1985 to 38.5% in 2005. Saving for retirement will likely be the biggest financial goal for most Canadians and investing is one of the few ways that can help achieve their goals. Investing is not a get-rich quick scheme nor is it gambling. Gambling is putting your money at risk by betting on a random outcome with the hope that you might win more money. Wise investors don’t leave it to chance. They have a plan and commit money only when they have a reasonable expectation of profit. Everyone has a different idea of what money means to them – personal freedom. A sense of security or the ability to afford the things they want in life. Having an investment plan can help you get where you want to be. An Investment funds is a pool of money collected from many investors that is used by the fund manager to purchase and sell stocks, bonds or other securities in accordance with the fund’s investment objective. The purpose of this paper is to discuss two investment funds –Show MoreRelatedFamily Budget5320 Words   |  22 Pagesor paying the monthly electric bill, were faced with family budget decisions all the time. Family Budgeting Its sometimes difficult to deal with financial planning matters such as family budgeting. There is one more bill to pay, or a big decision needs to be made on an expensive family vacation. But no matter how people might try to deny it, this is a hard rule of life: We make decisions all the time that affect our ability to stay out of debt. 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