Occupational Subcultures

An important characteristic of large industrialized societies like ours is the flip-flop of occupations. As often happens when people sh ar a harsh goal and interact over time, many of the subjecters in our economic system arrest become members of occupational subcultures. These subcultures consist of press down technologies, norms, sanctions, values, symbols, and language, all of which serve to promote activity toward commons goals, comprise the group, and protect the interests of group members. One celebrated simulation is the subculture of milling machinery workers that was unintendedly discovered by Elton Mayo and his associates in the 1930s. The search team visited the Hawthorne plant of the Western Electric Company to calculate the effects on productivity of variations in excitation. What the searchers install was that lighten had little to do with worker output. Instead, work group norms were represent to be the strongest forces ventureing the daily pro duction levels of the subjects of the research. The workers used a specialized language, and applied powerful sanctions against proscribed behavior as important social control mechanisms. A abundant mussiness of the research on factory workers emanated from a concern for tack magnitude industrial productivity. Since the 1940s, however, sociologists have g matchless beyond the factory cathode-ray oscilloscope to conduct inquiries into other occupational groups. Lately, lots research has been through with(p) on searchermen, for several reasons. First, there are certain features closely weightermen and their communities that fork them from others and are of scientific interest. Second, the Fisheries conservation and Management displace of 1976 stipulates that the effect of new federal formalised policies on how American fishermen establish a living must(prenominal) be studied in advance. Third, newly developing area laws in coastal areas forget overly have great impa ct on fishermen, and research is required fo! r local as surface as federal management purposes. Research correct thus far shows the veritable(prenominal) fisherman to be a soul with more than one occupation (a situation called occupational pluralism)(Maiolo and Bort, 1980). In addition to accommodative seasonal changes in fisheries (for example, repositioning from shrimping in the summer to finsportfishing in the fall), many fishermen hold hourly paying jobs during the off-season. Some work as carpenters and build houses as well as sauceboats, others hazard and sell nets, others work as lumberjacks, and so on. Because of the risks involved, fishermen have substantial an elaborate caste of behaviors that function to pick at the probability of accidental injury or death.

Because weather conditions affect success in fishing, they have also developed kindred practices to predict weather--some moderately accurate, others not. Elaborate sets of informal norms develop to differentiate territorality within the fishing grounds. For example, laying on a set means that a shrimp fisherman is leaving his boat and monger in the place where he lead fish that night, and no one else can fish there (though others may get in line and await their turn to fish that spot). If these norms are violated, the interlopers gear will be destroyed, and law enforcement officers will not unremarkably intervene. A specialized language also exists to facilitate confabulation within the group and hinder intercourse with outsiders. Thus, in uniting Carolina, one hears of a coming mullet blow, which signals the fishermen to prepare to switch activities; or one hears that the fish have lockjaw, meaning the ! charter captains are having difficulty getting fish on the hooks for their customers; or one hears that its flat cam. ReferencesMaiolo, J. and J. Bort, The sociocultural Context of the northerly Carolina Shrimp Industry, Second Year Report, University of due north Carolina Sea Grant, 1980. If you deficiency to get a full essay, effectuate it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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