Social Structure and Social Interaction
List 5 statuses you have. Label each status as either ascribed, achieved, or master.
The following are the statuses I have and their accompanying labels. My achieved status is linked to my occupation as a financial crime specialist. My ascribed statuses revolve around my age, race, gender, and ethnicity. I am a 29-year-old, black, female, and African American, respectively.
Describe the role that is associated with the status. Describe how you learned that role.
The female gender is associated with numerous roles, some of which have sparked debates across the world for decades now. Some of the significant roles associated with being female are the ability to be accommodative and emotional, and the ability to take responsibility for my place of living by frequently cooking and cleaning. The ability to be accommodating and emotional is a personal trait that most women have, regardless of how we have been brought up, making us more rational beings when compared to our male counterparts (Nash, 2016). Similarly, cooking and cleaning skills are common among women whether we live alone or with others – it comes more easily for the female gender than it does for the male gender. Most, if not all, gender roles are learned from parents from a very young age. I learned the above gender roles through my mother as I grew up – she has always been an accommodating and emotional woman evident in the way she carries herself and treats everyone around her, it was hard not to adopt her traits. (Nash, 2016) The same applies to the cooking and cleaning roles – my mother always boasted that she got all the best skills from her mother and how fulfilling doing house chores was, so I followed by example.
Describe a time when you experienced conflict because of the demands of two different roles associated with any of your statuses. How did you resolve the conflict? List any active listening skills you used to resolve conflict.
As a financial crime specialist, I get to carry out multiple roles, the most common being carrying out investigations on financial crimes, compiling reports, and assigning my juniors various tasks around the workplace. At one time, I assigned two juniors I was mentoring a financial case that they were meant to investigate and compile a report on, but they could not proceed because they had a difficult time working together on both tasks. I intervened in a bid to resolve the conflict after noticing their delay and lack of willingness to handle the responsibility given to them. I keenly listened to each of them as they narrated the issue, occasionally nodding to encourage them to go on. After each of them was done addressing their issues, I summarized their complaints about the purpose of clarity, and both of them confirmed that what I said was indeed what they were conflicting upon. After this listening session, I addressed both of them with as much openness and honesty I could by reminding them that working together would not only improve their efficiency as a team but also assist them in building trust and maximizing on each other’s strengths (Mind Tools, 2020). In the end, the conflict was resolved, and the two juniors were ready and focused on fostering teamwork in their roles, which they ended up doing quite effectively.
References
Mind Tools. (2020). Active Listening: Hear What People are Really Saying. Mind Tools.
Nash, J. (2016). Gender Roles in Modern Society. One World Education.