Day 6
Today was very interesting. We had the opportunity to meet a few local government officials along with the library staff of the Hancock County Library System. It was interesting to hear them talk about how quickly they received help (3 days). They told us how they have a “pull yourself up by the bootstraps” mentality; and how that philosophy has allowed them to stay focused on the road to recovery. They told us how they spent time applying for a $25,000 grant to restore 5 pieces of artwork. They also spent a lot of time telling us about how energy is being used to plant new trees in areas that had many trees uprooted. We also learned that the bridge connecting Bay Saint Louis to the rest of the Gulf Coast was just recently opened.
Nevertheless, the sociological concept that I pondered while I listened was the Symbolic Interactionist Paradigm; which essentially says that we construct our own social reality based on several environmental factors.
The ironic thing about today is that two years ago I was in this county volunteering in Pearlington, MS. I did not realize that I was actually returning to the same area that I had previously volunteered four months after Katrina devastated the coast. (BTW: In fact, I found out that the building I stayed in during my mission trip was the Pearlington Branch of the Hancock Library System; which was connected to a school) And, it was very very very interesting to listen to the speakers talk today and compare and contrast those comments with those of people from the same county only two years ago. And, I must end by saying that the other sociological term that I pondered heavily today was conceptualization. This really came to the forefront of my mind as I listened to various speaker speak about community.
Tomorrow, we will be getting up bright and early to conduct oral histories, do strap-booking, scanning, and fulfill any other tasks that we can to help the Hancock County Library System.
To be Continued …………..
Benny: Your observations are most interesting in light of the fact that you came to one of our communities (Pearlington) on a mission trip. I would be most interested in you explaining “Symbolic Interactionist Paradigm” and “conceptualization”. Thanks! Prima Plauche’
- Thursday, May 31, 2007 8:49 pm
I would like to begin my response by saying thank you again for giving our group the opportunity to serve your community.
The 3 basic premises of the Symbolic Interactionist Paradigm are:
1. “Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them”
2. “The meaning of such things is derived from, or arises out of, the social interaction that one has with one’s fellows.”
3. “These meanings are handled in, and modified through, an interpretive process used by the person in dealing with the things he/she encounters.”
In my reflection I was mostly referring to premise 3. After listening to people talk this week and during my time two years ago, I believe that many people are moving forward using an “interpretive healing process.” Meaning that they are dealing with each day by realizing that they have indeed lost a lot but there are people who lost more and it could have been a little bit worse.
Conceptualization is essentially how we think about things or essentially how we define things. For example, what comes to mind when you see a dog might be different from me. You might see a nice pet and I might see a viscous monster. It is important to note that how we conceptualize things is also based on our experiences. Nevertheless, when I used the word in my reflection I was speaking about how the word community could be conceptualized as the entire Hancock County or just the neighborhood in which one resides. And, based on my experiences this week and two years ago I do believe that the word community is conceptualized differently throughout Hancock County, Waveland, and Pearlington.
Before, I close I would like to reiterate that the Symbolic Interactionist Paradigm is just a model and it does not stand without criticisms. And, one of the chief criticisms is whether it has the ability to describe macro issues.
I hope that this clarifies a little bit more. Please feel free to ask any additional question. I love to engage in conversation.
And again, Thank You, and I think I’m going to go to bed early after running 3.5 miles tonight with some of my peers!
- Thursday, May 31, 2007 11:14 pm