Ethnography: From Migration To The United States

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In 1920 Robert Park gave his students an unconventional task. Going to college in Chicago, they were all surrounded by the convergence of diverse people, new forms of a community being created, the displacement of traditions, and the balance between order and chaos in their everyday lives (UER). Park wanted his students to look at what they thought they knew about the everyday life of the stranger next door with a set of new eyes. He urged them to have the discipline of a scientist while simultaneously having the adventurous mindset of an explorer (UER). This method would come to be known as ethnography. Ethnography is essentially when someone observes a person’s life, actions, and beliefs from an everyday perspective. Over an extended period …show more content…
In the wake of Park’s ethnography challenge came the migration of immigrants overseas and the African Americans coming from the south to the north. But, what contrasted from these two groups, were the immigrants found social mobility while the African Americans stayed in the slums. Years later, in the 1960-1970’s politicians and citizens saw the ghettos that the African Americans were living in as a social problem (UER). What ethnographers soon found was that their work and family aspirations were the same as everyone else's, they just had to adapt their lifestyle and values to racism (UER). Ethnography started from having only a handful of schools having ethnographers in their department to now a handful of schools not having any at all. The growth of ethnography from the 1920s to today has been significant and provided understanding for communities that seem to have non traditional values and showing why and how these values came about and how they have become an adaption to the society surrounding …show more content…
Moynihan’s argument that having a female head of the house is a sign of family disorganization. He fails to realize that the female head of the household is not causing family disorganization. The mothers are adapting to the generations of racism by depending on kin and neighbors surrounding them as resources and for support (UER). They understand that what they are getting from government aid is not enough to provide for their family so they must improvise and discover other ways to get by whether that is working under the table or using the “swapping method.” In “Rethinking Social Policy”, Edin realizes that many Americans are against taxation, especially if they believe it's going towards benefits that help the indolent (UER). She knows that the benefits are going to hard-working mothers trying to make ends meet but to many Americans, it does not seem that way. That is why she suggests making welfare a right to social security (UER). By making it a right, more single mothers will look for regular full-time employment instead of part-time employment or not working at all. Along with that, it will be favorable in Congress because everyone who is working is receiving the benefit and it is not being considered a handout to those not working (UER). The decrease in crime may come about if those who worked were rewarded for working. As
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