A Perspective on Sociology

I still remember four years ago when, as a high school student, I crept into one of the Sociology classes at my sister’s university in Hong Kong. 

Anxious that I might be caught, I sat towards the back of the room, hoping I’d be invisible. To my alarm, there was a group discussion that day. Reluctantly, I confessed to the student sat next to me, a 3rd year Sociology major, that I was a high school student who didn’t even live in Hong Kong. Though shocked, she immediately advised me against studying Sociology, given that it offered no career prospects.

Sociology. Image Credit: Okanagan College

A few years down the road, I am a social sciences graduate of the University of Hong Kong, with a major in Sociology. Having graduated with the highest GPA in Sociology in my class (not that it should mean all that much), I feel it is my academic ‘responsibility’ to shed some light on this discipline.

Some personal observations on sociology (in Hong Kong, at least):

• it’s an easy way to get a good grade
• it’s arguably more “interesting” than a number of other academic disciplines and hence, a popular choice for electives
• it’s considered a “soft” subject, and thereby merits less academic respect than other social sciences, such as Political Science

… And some ‘myths’ that need debunking:

• Sociology is a branch of the social sciences; it does not equate to social science
• Sociology is not social work! Sociology is the “study of society” and “human behaviour as social beings” (ASA, 2014), whereas social work is a profession engaged with helping individuals and communities to improve well-being (CASW, 2014)
• Sociology is very broad and can be applied to all disciplines! e.g. Sociology of Economics, Sociology of Law, Sociology of Language, etc.

Through wide-ranging academic inquiry into the discipline, I discovered that there were certain topics that touched me most. I took a class on “Hong Kong popular culture” which forced me to appreciate the spirit of Hong Kong and to draw my personal connections with it at a time when I was relatively apathetic towards the city. Or a class on “marriage and family” where I had to write a paper on the modern notions of “love”. How ironic it felt that I had to be engaged in academic enquiry when I had so little real life experience of it, myself!

“Though most of us might not ever participate in the academic field of Sociology, […] we are participants of society.”

Sociology was a bridge between my academic and personal life as it became incredibly relevant to knowing myself as an individual. It made me more acutely aware of the social factors that shape me and those I interact with, and further enabled me to develop greater empathy with others of different social backgrounds, regardless of class, culture or sexual orientation. It allowed me to gain access to a wider circle within society. This has led me through forming close ties with refugees in Hong Kong, to  interviewing Hong Kong youths involved in gangs and triads for my professor.

The people puzzle. Image Credit: Parasinapse

Ultimately, it is only by understanding how we are influenced within the wider societal system that we may liberate ourselves from these social constraints.

If, at times, we are unable to do so, at least we can understand how, beyond education, status, class, race, gender, ethnicity, and nationality and so on, comes something even more vital to our personal development. It helps us realise that, when we are unable to overcome the constraints of these social forces, at least we can learn to hold compassion, generosity, love, inner peace and at our core, human connections, even more dear to us as they exist beyond social boundaries.

Transcending social constraints

In other words, we can thankfully say there is a limitation to Sociology, which means some things can transcend beyond these social structures and boundaries that Sociology cannot explain.

Studying at university level is supposedly to empower us not just as functional and practical career-oriented beings, but as a step towards developing a ‘responsible citizen’ or a ‘life-long learner’. Even though most of us might not ever participate in the academic field of Sociology, whether we like it or not, we are participants of society. Hence, we participate in, enforce, and reconstruct the field of Sociology every day.

Luckily, Sociology is only one of an infinite array of studies that allow individuals to be more reflective towards the human condition in which we find ourselves.