Social Anthropology Term Paper Example

Anthropology discipline introduces scholars into the understanding of human cultures and development through its various categories and branches - for instance, various anthropological categories which include; biological, cultural, archaeology and linguistic anthropology focus on different aspects of humanity. The behavior of a particular group of people is determined by their physiological traits and development as contained in their evolutionary process. Social anthropology focuses on specific cultural human societies and development by concentrating on a particular language or social group. Cox and Garcia in their texts tackle social anthropology from a cultural perspective in which the two authors contend that 'life outside' is responsible for the predicaments that affect the societies. Therefore, this paper focuses on reviewing the two works of Cox and Garcia as part of the contemporary ethnographies from the standpoint of different categories addressed by individual authors.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

In "Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship," Cox addresses the social prejudice that exists with different genders. While the text addresses critical aspects of citizenship including homelessness for the young women in Detroit, Cox showcases the aspect of personal agency. The young women living in Detroit fight the stereotype attached to the femininity (Cox 158). For instance, the girls labor to speak their voice which is against social expectation especially for young black women. The devaluation that occurs to their gender compels the girls to utilize every opportunity to create awareness and their existence to anyone that cares to listen. According to Cox, readers must first visualize the young black girls from the social visibility that surpasses the simple narrative that focuses on their hyper-sexuality.

Critically, Cox can be construed as a social anthropologist in her approach to social ethnography as revealed by her work. The importance that she attaches to the women brevity despite the social ills that affect them portrays an author that ethnographically values women's aspiration for empowerment. Cox addresses time and space succinctly as the reason that renders the young girls homeless (Cox 152). The desires for respectability and social change drive the young black women out of their homes. The author discloses pertinent issues of racial and gender intersections as showcased by the social emancipation realized by the young girls. Accordingly, the young women long for their personal space and attention calling which most of them were deprived as the society focused on the male gender. The assurances that the young girls are loved make them care for their lives.

The climax of any ethnography can be seen in the manner with which the author collects evidence which in the case of Cox remains primarily on the lives of the young black girls. The text figuratively uses the term 'Shapeshifters' to rally the need for change in gender, race, and even social perception of people. For instance, Cox acknowledges that no white girl is subjected to racial discrimination which bedevils the young black girls. The text successfully provides the young girls with an avenue for self-expression without thinking of the popularly societal notion that belittles them. Fundamentally, the author observes that most of the inadequacies that most young black girls experience stem from their personal beliefs as inscribed in them by society and their cultures (Cox 180). Additionally, certain systems and families can also shape the discriminatory feelings that affect the young black girls that Cox labors to eradicate through her scholarly platform.

Angela Garcia's "The Pastoral Clinic," is organized into various chapters that showcase an ethnographic portrait of the society from which the effects of drug addiction is taking a toll on the lives of the people. Culturally, society assigns various roles to particular people depending on their ability perceived or real in accomplishing such tasks. However, drugs can potentially reduce the effectiveness of performing such roles especially when one gets addicted to their use. Garcia tackles social anthropology from an ethnographic perspective of her medical fieldwork. The social category of anthropology informs the basis of Garcia's work as she concentrates on the family dynamics (Garcia38). The sub-culture of the rural community in the Espanola Valley relies on the use of heroin to the extent that affects her psychologically and disrupts her focus in containing its effects. The cultural and social lives of the North Americans according to Garcia relies on the use of heroin substance which potentially disorients most of the citizens and the treatment interventions altogether.

The relevance of Garcia's revelations relies on her Chapter two of the text in which she connects the effects of social dispossessions and people's behavior. Anthropology as a discipline concerns with human characteristics as determined by their development and evolution. Garcia's "The Elegiac Addict" reveals the pleasurable feelings irony of melancholy subjections. The residents of Espanola Valley are endlessly grieving over the historical atrocities of the mid-19th century which deprived them their land possessions (Garcia 78). Critically, Garcia perfectly addresses the social category of ethnography from the standpoint of melancholy subjectivity in which the victims grieve endlessly. The ongoing pain among the Hispanic community explains their insatiable urge to drug use particularly heroine which makes the problem difficult to solve by both medical and psychological interventions. Garcia's work remains a testament of ethnography as it deals with the study and understanding of human societal culture which in this case remains heroin addiction.

Even though psychologists often construe behavior as a learned phenomenon, ethnographic research attaches human traits to genes as showcased in Garcia's third chapter "The Blood Relative." The social and cultural behavior of the Hispanic people explains the intertwined nature of heroin addictions amongst the kin. For instance, Bernadette's mother introduces the young man into heroin use at sixteen. Garcia wants to reveal the kinship ties and patterns of drug use and its effects on the people of the northern New Mexico also known as Espanola Valley (Garcia 113). "Suicide as a Form of Life" echoes the assertions of the author in her previous chapters. The chapter further reveals the connection between hardship and people's response to negative experiences. Suicide can be interpreted as a deliberate means of taking one's life while acknowledging the pains and dangers that such an act can realize to the victim especially in cases where it fails to occur. However, Garcia relates the use of heroin and its adverse effects on the user ethnographically sometimes. For instance, she refutes the claims that Hispanic locals resort to suicide as a form of life while responding to life difficulties that confront them. According to the author, one can accidentally commit suicide through heroin overdose unknowingly, but the principal cause of such sad scenarios remains attached to the life that Espanola community are living (Garcia 111).

Sometimes people get closer to others even if they are not related through blood like in the case of Garcia's reaction to the mysterious death of Danny. Even though Garcia's chapter of "Experiment with Care" is determined to showcase the effect of the drug culture of the Hispanic people on their livelihood including their children, ethnographically the author developed a strong attachment with the people as experienced in this chapter. For instance, the fact that she witnessed Danny's mother pregnant with him and now he is no more reveals that even people that do not share blood relation can develop such rare connections (Garcia 152). However, the bigger theme in the text is the dangerous effects of drug substance on pregnancy. Garcia reveals this phenomenon painfully especially when the headline report shows that the baby's blood had traces of morphine, alcohol, and medicine an indication that the child abused drugs deliberately or unknowingly. The orientation of Garcia's work showcases in her conclusion in which the author ends with her return from the fieldwork (Garcia 188). Even though none of the residents according to Garcia would want to revisit the old system anymore, she eloquently and ethnographically displays the relationship between negative experiences and people's behavior.

Conclusion

In conclusion, both Cox and Garcia ethnographically look at human behavior and response towards negative experiences. Cox develops a powerful work around the gender and racial intersection that often characterize the social prejudice of young black women. Cox advances a powerful discussion on the social category in which she parades the young black girls as social activists yearning for individual empowerment that can give them a voice. Cox attaches their insatiable urge to acquire personal freedom and space to their homelessness condition. Similarly, Garcia challenges psychological concept attached to the meaning of behavior which she observes has human traces of genes inheritance. Most Hispanic and northern New Mexicans abuse drugs due to cultural and societal influence that is now passed in their genes. Garcia's work that is contained in the different chapters' uses advanced evidence collection, particularly as included in her fieldwork experience.

Work Cited

Cox, Meredith Aimee. Shapeshifters: Black Girls and the Choreography of Citizenship. Durham: Duke University Press, 2015.

Garcia Angela. The Pastoral Clinic: Addiction and Dispossession along the Rio Grande: University of California Press. 2010. Available on https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.1525/j.ctt1pppms.6