Assumptions and Stereotypes

For every and any small to big group, there are always norms, stereotypes, and assumptions made about the group. Especially when it comes to diversity and all the different heritages out there, I can think of many stereotypes and assumptions made on people from different backgrounds. We all know what they are; we just don't like to repeat them. So I will mention a stereotype and assumption made about people from my background, Middle East. I am an Assyrian American; we have not had our own country for over thousands of years, since it was overthrown by Iraqis. So our country is extinct. There are a little over a million of us in the world and we are all Christians. Shocking to hear, since there is an assumption made that all middle easterners are known for being Muslim which means their terrorists. Assyrians living in Iraq and Iran currently are being killed by Muslims, and even though they are from the Middle East and from Middle Eastern background, the "bad guys" of the mid east are making the entire Middle East look bad. When I tell people or am asked what my nationality is, when I say Assyrian, people assume "Syrian" from Syria, who are 90% Muslim. I say no, it is "Assyrian" and I emphasize we are all Christian and we do not believe in martyring and we had nothing to do what happened on 9/11.

Even according to our text in CH. 5, when U.S. workers were asked who is most likely to be treated unfairly at work, one of the highest ranked was Arab Americans (18%) and 12% Muslims, since 9/11 resulted in a negative perception from the U.S. towards Arab, Middle Eastern, and South Asian who are viewed as different, and dangerous to society. As the text also mentioned as well, stereotypes and assumptions can be damaging to our society. It is an ongoing battle of diversity our nation has endeared and most likely still endear, however if the communication amongst group became more clear and not given the wrong perception, diversity can move towards its' purpose in the first place; to add more culture, uniqueness, and harmony to our society.

White Men of Privilege

Dating back to what we've studied in our history textbooks, on slavery and civil rights, and exclusion acts, the whole ideation on racism came from within the power of the "white man government." In other words, it was always the caucasian male that would have the highest power in any decision making, such as government, corporations, in the home, education, sports,etc. I have never heard of a white man being refused in any restaurant unless if they are homeless and/or the male looks like a threat to society. Even then, if a African-American, or Asian-American or Middle Eastern American homeless man would to enter a restaurant, and a White homeless male came in, who would get the boot first? The "other" referring to anyone other than a Caucasian male, would be considered a threat and asked to leave first.

To piggyback back off what I expressed above on "white men of privilege", I do agree with the concept because it exists. I still think it exists, it is just not as obvious as it used to be forty to fifty years ago and beyond. An example of this was our latest Presidential election, Obama versus McCain. The reason this election made history was because Obama became the first African American to become President of the United States. This election was not about Democrat vs Republican, as each election usually is. This election was more than that, it was about a Black man versus a white man and the power of diversity, and acceptance, and change all took affect into the election. I am just glad after all those years of enslavement and being held hostage, being confined as a slave to a white man, Obama becoming President of the US, showed the African American community that a black man is just as important to society and can equally contribute to the table as well as any white man can. He offers hope and change for the current and future generations.

Valuing Diversity

The country we live in is based on diversity. It is something living in the 21st century, we endear everyday and it makes life more interesting. If we all looked the same, life would have no meaning because we would all not be able to understand different background, cultures, and customs associated being from different backgrounds. That is why valuing diversity is very crucial when it comes to being in college for example especially when attending a school such as San Jose State that as an institution of higher learning, you cannot get anymore diverse than our university. I mean Berkeley and SF state are pretty diverse however SJ contains many diverse groups of individuals and we express that in all our cultural clubs as well. The reason why it is important to also value diversity because there are many stereotypes and assumptions made on these different cultures and there are many factors that come into place as well which becomes a norm for us to assume something about someone just because they are of that race or gender or class. Diversity is all about everyone being unique and being able to express themselves through their heritage and not being ashamed and afraid to do so.

Some suggestions I can think of to enhance a group's ability to value diversity are for example, to think outside the box when it comes creating cultural events. Making sure at the event to highlight what each group is about and a little about the people that made their history. Also to not be afraid of getting to know fellow classmates in a class where there is a lot of diversity. I mean, I have had some classes here at state, where one culture dominated more than any other and there was not much diversity and there were other times it was pretty diverse and I did what I could to get to know individuals from other backgrounds because I value each individual and feel everyone has something to contribute to society.

Cohesion

One concept from Chapter 3, I found useful and interesting, that has not already been discussed is “Cohesion” which is referred to as “group cohesion” in the text. It describes how it is a result how well group members interact amongst each other and this also refers to the attraction the individual has to a group. For example, the group I am in, I was attracted to it before the first semester of my freshman year when I started at San Jose State. I had been apart of something similar just not as “legit” in high school, and was hoping our school here had something similar. Turns out, it was even way better than what I was expecting and our group has grown over the past three years I have been here. What I also found interesting and true on cohesion was the influence on cohesion which can consist of how many people are in the group, the background of the similarity of the group members, the satisfaction of the group members in the tasks they are engaged in.

I also found this concept helpful because it reminds me of why I joined the group I am in, in the first place and why I keep returning every semester (it is a semester thing) and it is rewarding for me to be a part of it each semester and I have met wonderful people from it each and every semester I have been it in while being in college. We all usually find a group we want to be a part in whether it’s a campus group such as a sorority or fraternity, an athletic team, a club, or even at work. There is something that attracts or had attracted us to it and once we find our “niche”, cohesion plays a role in that process as well and I think it is a great source to know, use, and be more aware of.

Functions of Group Norms

Every group that exists,has a norm. Each norm part of that groups serves a purpose and function. For example, I have a friend and also know of others who started and play on our school's Quidditch team-which is a game used in Harry Potter. The norm in that group is that it looks silly and the game is weird, since in the movie, the characters were playing the game on broomsticks, and chasing each other that way, however in reality, it is played on the field with broom like sticks as well. The function of this group norm in relation to Table 9.3 on the Four Preliminary Steps on p. 155, there are external constraints on the process(what are the limitations?), procedural issues(how to run the group), voting or consensus(how will the decision be made?), and ethical decisions (what are the possible ethical dimensions of the decisions?). These four steps tie into the function of the group norm I've mentioned by how I went to the first meeting when this intramural sport Quidditch was not even a team yet, there was just one girl with a vision and passion and wanted to share it with other individuals who had the same interest.

As far as experiencing a violation of a norm, I believe I have not personally experienced one, maybe a possibility could be some people who do not know me as well, did not know I like to dance(entertaining wise, fun like, not professional or serious), so when people I knew(friends) were watching me dance one time and were like "work it Mary", some people walked in on us and saw me and did not know what to say because they had this norm of me that I am a gregarious person however they did not know I like to dance jokingly so a norm was violated there and it put people into shock which is what or can happen with the function of group norms.

Chapter 3: Norms, Rules, Cohesiveness, and Groupthink

If I would to name and define all the different norms out there, I could most likely be able to write a book- that is how many that are out there! There are definitely group norms at SJSU. The two biggest ones I can think of are those who are part of Greek Life and those who are part of Athletics. Those who are part of a sorority and/or fraternity, have that norm that they are all about partying with their brothers and sisters and they each have a philanthropy they have to live up to and contribute to each semester. Truth is, those who a part of one of these organizations, they still have to balance being a college student and maintaining their duties being in their sorority or fraternity. It is not always easy and fun either. For those who are part of Athletics, they have the norm that they have it made. That once they come to SJSU, they have everything handed to them. They get priority registration, they get to miss classes, they like to party hard too, their living the dream. The truth is that norm is false because although there are perks to being an athlete, the downside for every athlete, is they still have that role of being a college student of getting their work in on time, some are on scholarship and some aren’t and they still have to pay for tuition and books just like every other college student. They have to balance school and their sports team, and I personally give each athlete a lot of credit playing college sports. I’m sure it is fun and rewarding but it can be exhausting at the same time.

I am a Peer Health Educator on campus and we are the ones who educate those on campus and in campus organizations on alcohol, drugs, stress, sexual health, violence prevention, chronic diseases, body image and put on different events each semester and conduct class presentations and workshops. I do hang out with fellow peer health educators off of being part of the group as well; however either way, the group norm we have is that we are expected to never drink or say things that contradict what we teach. Truth is, we never tell students in our presentations and events “don’t drink, don’t have sex or encourage it.” We serve our purpose that if you choose to take part in drinking, or being sexually active, then do so safely.” We provide tips, ideas, show the good and bad, and encourage students to stay on the good side of alcohol, and provide resources to get help if needed. I identified these norms because I can see it in peoples’ expressions and questions on what we do in PHE and how we have to conduct ourselves and what is expected of us, outside PHE. I am not saying we all drink or sexually active in PHE, I actually do not go around asking all of my fellow phe’s what they do in their personal lives and for those who were in it or are still in and I’m close friends with, they at least have the resources and knowledge of what they choose to engage in prior before. I adapt/adapted to these norms by never placing pictures on facebook when I hang out with friends( I actually do not drink, I won’t have a full drink until the day I turn 21-that is my vow I made to myself) and I am always careful what I say to people and what I put on my statuses and make sure anything I say is never offensive to people because being in the group I am in, we are all about promoting living a healthier and more happier lifestyle and last thing I want to contradict myself or others around me and make them feel uncomfortable.

Interesting Concept from Chapter 2

One concept I found to be interesting and a great reminder on why small group communication is needed and important is the concept on "Wholeness and Synergy." These two words are about how people working together and interacting creates an even better result in comparison to someone working alone or people in a group working alone in a group and not communicating. Having that synergy and wholeness in a group helps and leads to good problem solving skills and that ideology that "two heads are better than one."

I remember in my online class last summer on small group communication, in a post on having to work in small groups on two essays assigned, some students explained how they prefer working alone than in groups on projects or papers because they do not have to rely on others and deal with the pressure of inconsistent group members. That's where I felt synergy and wholeness came into place because those people did not realize although especially having to work with people online and communicate virtually, having that synergy by working together, and choosing who does what and putting that together and creating one paper, that involved using consistency, persistency, usage of problem solving skills if there was an issue needed to be resolved amongst the group in which that created synergy and wholeness. That is why I feel without synergy and wholeness, a small group will not be as successful and be able to work effectively together to accomplish the task at hand.

Entropy and Equifinality's Impact on Small Groups

Whenever working in small groups, there is usually something that does not go in accordance to our plans and at times, it can lead that group off the path and direction they were headed. However, the importance of being in a small group is teamwork and helping each other getting what needs to get done in the amount of time they have. Going through the good and bad together.

There are few things however, that can have a big impact on a small group negatively and positively correlated. First we have entropy, which pertain on the group losing focus and organization and how there is no equal control in the group. If everyone in the group is saying something at the same time, and there is an over-dependence on rules and regulations and new ideas, that can lead to chaos and disorganization. In order for a group to be effective and avoid entropy occurring, it is good to watch and be aware of how ideas are coming into the group and that there is a balance within the group. Equifinality is when the small group is in harmony and is able to maintain that balance and be successful on their process and tasks by using "different routes to same destination." This impacts the group in a positive way because how the journey to the end point is conducted is what really matters. If a group does not have a good balance and all the ideas and communication is lacking, the end point will seem further and be even harder to cross. However, when equifinality is in place, then the group will be able to become more successful and complete everything in a more harmonious manner.