Identity and Community essay
The aim of this work is to find out the dependence of the personality from the society and close surrounding, relation between identity and community.
Individuality is a social characteristic of the person. It is someone, who is capable to independent, socially useful activity. During the growth, humans uncover their inner features, inherited by the nature and formed by their own lives and education. That means that all human beings are doubled creatures because they are the outcome of the related biological and social influence in the reality. All life people learn how to live in the most complicated of all the worlds – in the world of social communications.
It is important to notice, that a person is a product of the cultural influence as well. That means that community plays an important role in the achievement of personhood. Community can affect the person in a good way by educating and also in a bad way by depressing. Appreciation of the personality by the community influences on the personality’s growth. Community is the main factor that influences on the personality, its evolution, formation of the individual feature. On the one hand, person is always in a need of appreciation of his or her positive qualities and advantages by another person. This positive valuation can easily generate self-respect and dignity. On the other hand, humiliations can only generate dissatisfaction and influence badly on the personality and its growth.
On the early development of the personality, it is better to use the rule of the compliment and approval in the case of adequate behavior and successful achievements or punishment in the case of disrespect and failure (Rutherford, 1990). First and foremost parents and teachers have to instill correct model of the behavior, clarify the most important aspects of communication and actions in society, cultural traditions, ethic norms and moral philosophy, rules of the correct ways of receiving knowledge. Self-questioning and self-reflection come later when the person is able to compare the own action with the standard, familiar for him model of behavior.
In the process of growing young people have to face difficult period between childhood and adulthood. Due to this there a lot of difficult problems, which come up in front of them. Unfortunately, at the same period they are not ready to solve them by themselves without any intrusion. Their childhood experience and even help from the more mature and wiser people would not become a lifejacket in this growing wave of life changes and challenges. That is exactly the period when growing human being is looking for his own community to join. This community in the majority of cases is a group of similar people of the same age. The explanation for this is quite simple. People usually face the same problems and questions, values and ideals, changes of the whole view on life at the same age. This group is satisfactory to its members due to provision of needful freedom and independents, the same way as in the adult subculture. But in the same time this group maintains social security and emotional belonging, of which they are in great necessity because of being incomplete grownups.
The group of the counterparts of the same age is considered to be the most suitable for the roles of judgers of activities and deeds, goals and achievements, dreams and behavior of the other group members. By being a member, person fells oneself impotents, necessity from the attitude of the others. He actually can see himself from the side of people, who are not in any relation to him, see himself impartial, fairly, emotionless. Being group member, identity can try on the social clothes of others individuals.
The influence from the side of the society takes place quite imperceptibly. Absolute everyone in the different ways falls on the road which builds for us our community. Sometimes we do not even realize that our thoughts and decisions do not belong to us in the first place.
But it is important to add, that community can influence on the personality but it does not define it. Influence of the society is defined by what actually person is making of it, how this person perceive the surrounding. The person always makes decisions by itself. As the final result everyone decides by his own wish and choose the way whom to become.
In conclusion, we can sum up that in everyday life people live surrounded by the community. Identity will always be in the close contact with the society and dependence from it. It can force ideas on personality, but it is important to remember that it can never define it.
