Durkheim Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Durkheim - Essay Example For myself, I found out how a functioning community could be formed with a purpose and over a certain moral outlook. I believe Randall Collins helped me to view my experience as stemming from certain concepts in Emile Durkheim and in Erving Goffman's theories of interaction ritual. Discussion Randall Collins outlined several important points of Durkheim in going over the recent history of sociology, its theory, and while also developing the theories of Erving Goffman interaction ritual. I stood as an 'outsider' that one day before walking up the stairs to the meeting room of the organization which I should call here the Volunteer Tutor Society (VTS). The organization had a good track record. It had placed groups of trained volunteers into several elementary schools of the city's African American community to conduct hour long tutoring sessions with groups of African American students who were in need. I saw myself as an 'outsider' who sought to become a member of 'insiders', a group that was already socially functioning. In Collins' words I sought the social situation in which "individuality and egotism are oriented toward socially constructed goals" (p. 22). There was a situational reality that was taking place. It was one VTS had already formed from which they reflected a successful record with over several years of contracts with the city's school administration. I wasn't aware of all the challenges, but I knew there were many in educating the youth. Also I wasn't particularly a racially minded individual, although I had friends who would have questioned my motives and who would have probably criticized me. I wasn't the 'do-goody' type and was actually rather shy. But I have always been a person of purpose and I was intent on doing my so-called part in changing the world. All of these things were going through my mind as I entered the room. The room was filled. There were a few people sitting at long tables at the front facing the audience of about 50 or 60- so people sitting on unfolded metal chairs. I immediately felt a difference as most of the people were African American women of different colors. From the way they dressed, I could see most of them were professionals or middle class. There were also a few African American men, young and old and dressed all kinds of ways. Some seemed to have just come from a good job and some looked as if they had come from the community, dressed plain. One person was dressed in African garb. The ages were from young to what seemed like old and retired age. This wasn't the first time I had been with this group of people, as we had all met a few weeks ago to take tests. The ones present, and myself, had apparently passed the tests. But what was most interesting about the group was that there were other 'outsiders' like myself. There were even a couple of oriental faces, and there were whites, a couple of white men and three white women, me being the fourth. I took a seat, waiting in anticipation for what would happen. I guessed I had gotten there just in time for things to start. People were tossing empty cups of coffee into the trash or setting back into their seats with napkins of cookies. A young woman entered from a side room that had the administrative office and I immediately recognized her as the operating manager. What was strange was that she was white and also I