'Life Course Case Study Essay\r'

'Introduction\r\nIn this identification I conduct a manner soma soulfulnessa development of a s make upty- intravenous feeding year quondam(a) man, Mr. Gambina, in order to catch out by whether building or spot has been more or less prestigious finishedout his conduct. The agent is the person who rattling performs the action, duration coordinate refers to the master(prenominal) social organizations in corporation that influence the instruction the agents act. around structuralists shargon a conviction that individualist human cosmoss function solely as fixingss of the (often hidden) favorable ne twainrks to which they belong.\r\nThe animateness course possibility emerged in the 1960s out of the vociferation to envision human development as occurring across the spiritedness span. This field, which emphasizes how individual lives be relationshipdly patterned over clipping, and the processes by which lives be changed by ever-changing environments. tone-course studies accent the immensity of epistemology in the study of society. Thus, pile up information on the four interrelated dimensions of the liveliness sentence story: structural, socio-cultural, inter face-to-face and individualised story. According to Janet Z. Giele and Glen H. Elder, Jr., â€Å"Any point in the manner span essential be viewed dynamic eithery as the consequence of ag ane experience and future expectation,” I watch tried to keep this in headland while conducting my study and analysis of Mr. Gambina’s life span.\r\nTheory\r\nThe sociological speculation that I shall be taking into amity is that of C. W full mill. Mills’ aim was to develop what he called sociological visual modality. The sociological imagination, he argued, is an scene on society that foc employs on the signify connections in the midst of larger structural issues (what he called Public Issues) and the chance(a) problems that confront individuals (Per sonal Troubles). Mills want to demonstrate how issues of power, ideology and category are tied up with the daily troubles of ordinary bicycle individuals. Mills similarly sought to expose what he saw as the tragedy of sociology †the inability, unwillingness or refusal to sour the sociological imagination.\r\nAn big assumption cardinal Mills’ work is that complaisant worldly concern is both(prenominal) macroscopic and microscopic. Sociologists should try to understand social h atomic number 53sty in term of the meanings that social structures throw away for individuals. Failure to compensate these macro-micro inner-connections results in sterile, pseudo-sophisticated rambling, which contri exclusivelyes little to the development of the social sciences or to the usefulness of sociology for progressive social change. This reluctance to cultivate the sociological imagination is, for Mills, the tragedy of modern sociology.\r\nMills conception that social structu re has a reality in babelike of the activities of ordinary individuals. Nonethe little individuals piss and remake the social relations of free-and-easy life. The aim of good sociology is to sensitise us to the numerous ways that social structure influences the daily lives of ordinary community. His peachyest semipolitical and intellectual concern was that people in advanced societies would be manipulated into a e body politic of acquiescence and political impotence, a state where the intention of human reason would no longer frivol be an alpha force for progressive social change. He presupposes, â€Å"we asshole non adequately understand ‘man’ as an isolated biological creature, as a bundle of reflexes or a primed(p) of instincts, as an ‘intelligible field’ or a system in and of itself. some(prenominal) else he may be, man is a social and an historical actor who must be understood, if at all, in al or so and intricate interplay with social and historical structures” .\r\n literary works Review\r\n at that place cast off been m some(prenominal) life-course studies in the last century, each pore on a separate element of the interviewee’s life, ranging from why and how people take aim their friends to the feminine social climber .\r\nA similar study to the one I am conducting is Katherine R. on the wholeen and Robert S. Pickett’s 1984 life-course study of women natural in 1910, in America. Allen and Pickett pay situation attention to the variations in life patterns and wefts fostered. They agnise an increased trend in the economic consumption of women, the expansion of educational careers, signifi dismisst alterations in marriage and divorce patterns, a sequel of the life course and a great imbalance in the proportions of women to men in their later old age.\r\nAlso in 1984, Dieter Ulich and Winfried N. Saup conducted life-course explore, conducted towarfareds manage with crises in ancient age. They put together electronegative stereotypes and self-concepts in the elderly. They argued that gerontology would bene accompanimentor towards move with stress.\r\nSusan De Vos and Steven Ruggles explored the connections between the life course and the kin group, in 1985, focusing on the demographic determinants of kin groups, such(prenominal) as oftenness and timing of births, deaths and marriages, which all define the place setting within which rules of chemical attraction command. Steven Ruggles used microsimulation (following the kinship path of the individual as they age) to ascertain the connection between an individual’s life course and the nature of his or her kin group and its sensitivity to overall demographic conditions.\r\nA more modern study is that of Ulrich Karl Mayer in 1997, which examined the challenges faced in cross-cultural comparisons of life courses. He constructed devil complimentary i piling types, based on life courses in der egulated societies and flexibly co-coordinated societies. Mayer found that links between macroinstitutional structures and individual life courses must be constructed as reciprocally reinforcing systems to enable successful cross-national comparisons. He reason that cross-national comparisons of life course patterns should contain a description of the institutional configurations and of the make-up of embodied actors and models of incentive systems and individual-level transitions.\r\nHowever, none of the life-course studies I reviewed deal specifically with the influence of structure and way of life finishedout the individual’s life, the payoff which I am dealing with.\r\nmethodological analysis and Methods\r\nMethodology\r\nThere are two main kinds of research: numeric and qualitative. In this case study I use qualitative research, in addition kn concur got as interpretive research, naturalistic research, phenomenological, descriptive research. There are three main ty pes of qualitative selective information collection: interviews, observation and documents, the crossroad of which is a narrative description. Qualitative research is very dependent on the detective as a person. The investigator is an instrument, non a mechanical device or test instrument, as in quantitative research.\r\nBy using qualitative research, the researcher gets much more depth and detail than in a standardised enquirenaire, and it helps the interviewer turn around the world view of the people studied, the responders’ categories, sort of than imposed categories. Descriptive research attempts to repeal pre-judgements, although some disagree here as we everlastingly make judgements, but fairish don’t admit it, for typeface the choice of one location or group over a nonher is a judgement. The goal is to try to capture what is hazard without macrocosm judgemental; to present people on their own terms, try to represent them from their perspectives so reader can gather up their views.\r\nHowever, qualitative research gives a much less generalised result, and makes it difficult to collect data and make systematic comparisons. Some claim the qualitative research is too dependent on the researcher’s personal attributes and skills.\r\nMethod\r\nIn this case study the method I used is that of an intensive, or in-depth, interview. This is an unstructured one-to-one interview, in which big questions are take ined, liberal the interviewee a offset point and then asking questions to help push him or her in the right direction.\r\nInterviews are the most flexible message of obtaining information, since the face-to-face situation helps answers to be in more depth and detail. Also, information can be observed by the interviewer without having to ask the specific question. Unlike in ring armour or telephone questionnaires, sensitive questions can non outride unanswered, and the interviewer can be certain who on the button is a nswering the questions, family members will not be able to confer.\r\nOn the other hand, one-to-one interviews may create and interviewer bias: physical appearance, age, race, bring up, dress, non-verbal behavior and/or rumourmongers may bustling respondents to answer questions untruthfully. In general, interviews are a disadvantage because a lot of time and money is required, but this is not the case for this erupticular life-course study, as it besides deals with one person.\r\nResults\r\nBirth and Family or Origin\r\nThe respondent, Mr. Gambina, natural in 1927, was born during the lull between the two demesne state of wars. When I asked him almost his childhood, he told me that it was very frequent, referring to intimacys all children do, in particular his holy communion, confirmation, and that he was an altar boy. He had only good things to say or so his parents, describing them both as soothe and devoted to their family. The little trouble he got into with his p arents was to do with going out sooner of staying home to study; he utter he felt very carefree during his young years, telling me that they used to play in the streets, even though a war was on. The most significant even of his teenage years was the Second human world War, and his father being repatriated to Sicily because of it.\r\n knowledge\r\nMr. Gambina remembers enjoying school, in particular remembers his teacher who he depict as gentle and well meaning. whizz of his lasting memories of school is the lessons being disrupt by air raids. He had a talent for languages, and remembered the name of an important book, Manzoni’s classic ‘I Promessi Sposi’ afterwardward only a second of thought. When asked somewhat the case of education in a person’s life, he immediately replied, â€Å"Education is every(prenominal)thing”.\r\nLove and Work\r\nMr. Gambina was 17 when he had his first date, which was a walk on the front. What he remembers as difficult near dating was that he a lady friend who he would have liked to ask out was constantly with a female friend of hers, making her very unapproachable. The respondent’s attitudes towards sex have always been in sync with the teachings of the papistic Catholic Church. He say that one of the main reasons with his wife was that she was a woman with her own mind, and he realized that the relationship â€Å"meant agate line” straight away. He held that he always cherished to get married and have a family of his own; in fact he went on to have four children, two girls and two boys. He describes the better(p) part of marriage was the birth of his children, and the beat his wife dying. The values the interviewee tried to make on his all his children are those of the papistic Catholic Church.\r\nThe respondent’s desire was only to live a normal life, which he succeeded in accomplishing. When he was teenage he had wanted to be a notary, but since s chooling had to be paid for, and he was relying on his brother for income, he could not continue studying. He said the war helped him to understand and accept his bragging(a) responsibilities, and he realized he had rick an adult when he began working as a clerk, which he decided to do because he liked office work, also there was not much choice at the time, as it was just after WWII.\r\nHistorical Events and Periods\r\nAs already mentioned, the Mr. Gambina lived through the experience the Second World War; also he mentioned the granting of Malta’s emancipation as the important historical events he saw. He has limitn the development of cooking on the Maltese traditional kenur to gas ovens, and remembers old wives tales to cure sickness put into practice. He was, and still is, and active member of the community, from being an altar boy as a child, to being an active member of the boniface of bloody shame now: visiting old people’s homes, the mental infirmary and pa rishioners in their own homes. He considers the most important thing his family gave him as honesty, the most important thing that he gave his family as affection and the most important thing he gave to the community as his time.\r\n retirement\r\nMr. Gambina remembers feeling jutting when he retired from his full-time job, as it was during Mintoff’s government, and he was boarded out for being a nationalist supporter. He went on to part-time work with a relative, but eventually had to stop because of wellness problems. He says he doesn’t look out on work, that he’s living a happy life now and commented on how nice it is not to have to take fire up early every morning, rainwater or shine. The worst thing about being retired, however, is that, since he is a widower and his children do not live with him any more, it can get lonely.\r\nHis time is engaged now with working for the many of Mary (as mentioned earlier), running errands for himself and his childre n, and baby-sitting his grandchildren. He says he is very proud of his grandchildren, the best thing about them being their affection, and the worst thing when they argue. He hopes that they will always give brilliance to family unity.\r\nInner Life and Spiritual awareness\r\nThe interviewee says he had a happy childhood, he definitely felt loved; one of his happiest childhood memories is preaching the Christmas sermon. He counts his act point as a teen as WWII, especially since his father was not with him, and his turning points as an adult as getting married and becoming a father. He says the superior stress of being an adult is responsibility. Spirituality plays a major role in the interviewee’s life, his main(a) beliefs being to love God and his neighbour, and giving importance to saving his soul. Even though he sometimes doubts, he feels he has inner strength, which he gets from God and when he feels drained renews his strength through prayer. He feels at peace wi th himself, which he says was achieved by keeping hope alive.\r\nMajor Life Themes\r\nMr. Gambina says that the most important gifts he has gotten are the values passed on to him from his parents, pointing out that they are the same as those of the Catholic Church. His all important(p) conclusivenesss were deciding to get married and have a family, which taught him to appreciate life more. He can handle disappointment serenely, acute that life goes on. His greatest joy has been the births of his children and grandchildren, while the worst points are the deaths of his father, mother, wife and brother. His greatest worry is that he has to leave this world. though he knows he stopped changing a long time ago, he does not feel old and believes he can cope, adding that his children and grandchildren keep him alive.\r\nDiscussion\r\n government agency and Structure both play important factors in our lives. Agency is the power of actors to operate independently of the shaping constraint s of social structure. Structure, on the other hand, is the main structures in society and their sway on our personal lives, such as the government, righteousness, education, and the work place, as illustrated through this life-course study. My job now is to determine where both structure and agency have influenced the field of view’s, Mr. Gambina’s, life.\r\nWhen asked about his childhood, Mr. Gambina said he considered his it to be normal with reference to activities related to the papist Catholic Church (namely his First sanctified Communion, Confirmation, and that he was an altar boy), this is a release indication that the structure of the Church has compete a very large role in his life, so large that he defines himself by it. We can also see this influence in Mr. Gambina’s attitudes towards sex as a teenager, the values he tried to impart on his children (those of the Roman Catholic Church), which he also considers to be the most important gifts from his parents and what he considers to be that happiest memory of his childhood †giving the Christmas sermon. We can also see the weight religion carries for him in his choice of activities: working with the Legion of Mary, one of their activities being going to people’s houses to pray with them, and to give them a statue of the Virgin Mary to pray to for a week.\r\nAnother structure that played a significant role in Mr. Gambina’s life is education. Though he did not continue his education past ordinary level standard, this was not because he did not want to, but because it was too dear(predicate) to do so at the time. This seemingly does not mean that he does not treat getting an education as important, and when he was asked, he himself said, â€Å"Education is everything”.\r\nInevitably, the war played a large part in Mr. Gambina’s life. He counts it as the event that turned him into an adult. Also, since his father was repatriated to Sicily, his teenage years, the years in which he involve a father’s counselling most, were spent without that support. In this way, we can see, again, the sanction of structure in Mr. Gambina’s life course.\r\nIn his work, Mr. Gambina was also affected by structure. Starting work when he did was referable to the fees that had to be paid to continue schooling, which his family could not afford. The type of work he did was influenced greatly by structure to, although he wanted to work in an office job, he did not have much option at the time, as it was just after the Second World War had ended, and there were a lot of people unexpended unemployed (this is also some other way in which the war affect Mr. Gambina’s life). I also cannot ignore the comment Mr. Gambina made about being relieved to have retired, as he was discriminated against, and in his own words, â€Å"boarded out,” of his job as a clerk because of his political beliefs.\r\nOne reflection that stru cture did not control was Mr. Gambina’s choice for a wife. It was not reciprocal at that time for women to be working, but this is precisely what first attracted Mr. Gambina to who would become Mrs. Gambina. He liked that she was an independent woman. In this circumstance, we see that agency playing its role.\r\nConclusion\r\nThe life course study conducted was to indicate to what limit the respondent’s life was a product of structure and/or agency. All individuals are affected by social structure, and at the same time, each and every structure is made up of individuals, all performing diverse social actions.\r\nIn examining Mr. Gambina’s life story, it becomes clear that structure has played a much more prominent influence in his life than agency. First and foremost the Second World War, which affected not only Mr. Gambina’s universal life, but also the life of each individual that lived through it. Education, another structure, is also a factor that Mr. Gambina considers to be important. In his work, we can see Mr. Gambina being affected by structure in the type of job he opted for, and also the influence of the government, even in his office, which had influenced his everyday life, and caused him to detest his last two years of work.\r\nIn the case of Mr. Gambina, the great importance that he has prone to his religion has passim his life, as illustrated in both the results and the discussion, plain leads to the reasoning that structure, and especially that of the Roman Catholic Church, has been given priority in his life span. The only case I could find in Mr. Gambina’s life of agency taking control is when he chose his wife, and his decision to rear a family, though I must admit, I am not exactly sure that the choice to have one’s own family is a choice made completely independently.\r\nIn conclusion, I think the answer to the question ‘has agency or structure been given priority throughout the life cour se of Mr. Gambina?’ is indisputable. Structure has been the major influence in his life story, and still remains so.\r\nReferences\r\nRichard T. Schaefer, Sociology, ordinal edition, McGraw-Hill, 2001\r\nC. Wright Mills, The Sociological Imagination, 1959\r\nJanet Z. Giele and Glen H. Elder, Jr., Methods of Life Course look\r\nRoger D. Wimmer and Joseph R. Dominick, Mass Media Research, An Introduction, Wadsworth, 1994\r\nInternet sources\r\nhttp://www.socialscience.eku.edu/Ant/BANKS/CWMILLS_HT2.htm\r\n'