Exploring social identities reflection PDF

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This is a reflection to the Bobbie Harro articles, the cycle of socialization and the cycle of liberation....

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SRVCLRNG 292MH Bobbie Harro Response September 26, 2021 After analyzing this week's service-learning articles by Bobbie Harro, I have developed a new understanding of socialization and liberation. I never realized the true significance of these topics. Socialization starts before we are even born. For instance, circle one of the cycle of socialization explained that people have no control over the circumstances they are born into. We are born into these situations without any biases, assumptions, or judgement. However, we are either born into a privileged lifestyle or experience struggles in our lifetime being born into an unprivileged environment. The first arrow then goes on to showcase that socialization begins immediately since little girls are dressed in pink and are told to play with dolls while little boys are dressed in blue and are told to play with cars. These rules and norms are already set into place before we have the chance to acquire the knowledge needed to make our own choices. The second circle then explains that these socializations get reinforced at influential institutions such as schools and churches. Our society expects us to attend these institutions for ten to twelve years. By this time, we are inevitably instilling these unjust beliefs, ideas and behaviors that strengthen the cycle of socialization. Essentially, we are punished for bad behavior and rewarded for conforming. Personally, I have unintentionally followed the cycle of socialization. I grew up in Stoughton, Massachusetts where there was not a lot of diversity and people were not influenced to speak out against the well-established “norms” that exist in my town. Instead, speaking out is frowned upon. I have learned that no one wants to be the elephant in the room and address a controversial topic; they rather ignore it completely. These articles helped me realize that this type of behavior makes us our own oppressors. We contribute to ideas and beliefs we know are flawed only because we choose not to be outspoken. Hence, the cycle of socialization continues. In my opinion, the cycle of socialization is very similar to the cycle of liberalization. The cycle of liberation also has several parts that are significant to who we are: waking up, getting ready, reaching out, building community, coalescing, creating change, and maintaining phases. Like socialization, oppression can be intentional or unintentional. We are born unbiased but as we grow older, we are exposed to many others, some of which will intentionally or unintentionally develop racist thoughts in our minds. This article taught me that it is important to acknowledge that privilege and oppression exist and that we must take “little risk” actions to help alleviate this cycle. I plan to take teachings from this service-learning course to break these cycles of socialization and liberation, or at least to do what I can to put a dent in it. Specifically, I plan to make noise and draw attention to these oppressive systems in my community. I think a major reason why these cycles are still upheld is because people do not think twice about their day-to-day interactions, which are a product of these cycles. We are socialized to acquire attitudes, values, and beliefs that reinforce racism. I hope to attack these cycles with a positive and passionate perspective....