SIMROC Reflection

The SIMROC project is based on society as a whole and split into many different layers. There are the upper class, the upper middle class, the middle class and the lower class. The upper class in the game were the green (capitalists), the upper middle class were represented by yellow, the middle class were blue, the purple were the working poor, and the reds were the underclass. I was a part of the purples (the working poor) and had little means to survive.

The greens had the most power in the society and held most of the society's resources. The upper middle class were next, and the middle class followed after.

The lowest societies, the purples and the reds, had the least amount of resources in the game and struggled the most to survive. This whole game tests each of the regions and how they can provide for themselves and everybody else in their society in order to survive. The pre-simroc questions that I answered helped me to get a better understanding on how the SIMROC experience would be for me.

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Some of the questions asked were harder than some others to understand and respond to. Each set of questions focused on a specific topic based on the articles. They were on social structures, social conflict, social protest, leadership, interpersonal influence, and interpersonal communication. Each of those topics are heavily prevalent in a society and they were all interesting questions to answer. Since the actual SIMROC activity, I feel that some of my answers to the questions have changed.

My responses that I've made in A1 seemed to have changed and some parts also stayed the same. In my response, I stated my opinion on what the socially constructed nature of deviance means to me. The nature of deviance in a society is a social construct. Society has created beliefs and how we are supposed to act and behave. Every society is different and has their own social standards and rules that people have to abide by. Deviance is something that is considered to be abnormal and unusual to people in a society. Committing crimes such as rape, murder, robbery, are types of deviance that is considered to be immoral in society. Another idea that goes hand in hand with the nature of deviance are norms. Norms are the way we behave in a society defined by the society's culture (OpenStax College, 2012). Every society has a different set of norms or rules that they have to abide by. Going against social norms can automatically make you an outcast.

People like to follow social norms in fear of being different and shamed by their society. What we may consider to be deviant in another society may be considered normal in that other society. For example, the way that we dress in the states is significantly different and may be considered taboo in other parts of the world. The way that people from other cultures and other societies may act are also seen as being taboo here in the states. Every society consists of many forms of deviance. Deviance is inevitable and a there is no such thing as a perfect world. I also think that in a way, some forms of deviance are actually beneficial in a society. Many societies may have strict cultures and rules to abide by and I think that it's good that there are people out there that are willing to go against the culture and stand up for themselves. Moreover, the nature of deviance is socially constructed by those who are in power in a certain society.

In the article about deviance and batman, crime and deviance are extremely prevalent in Gotham city. This article relates to the nature of deviance and its impact in society. In Gotham City, deviance may be disruptive to the social order, but it also essential for the Gotham community (Wonser & Boyns, 2013). Deviance is needed in Gotham City in order for heroes like Batman to save everybody from the bad guys like the Joker. The Joker is portrayed as being the biggest outcast and villain in the batman comics. The joker and many other villains in the comic world represent the deviance in the society while the superheroes somewhat represent both normalcy and deviance.

Even though it's obvious that the villains represent the deviance in the society, the superheroes can also represent deviance as well. Although superheroes are trying to protect the society as a whole from the villains, they too have to go against social norms. They have to break the rules to fight the villains and have to keep the peace in society by some questionable methods. In a way, you can say that the heroes are deviant and are social outcasts just like the villains. What makes the villains different from the heroes is that they are actively trying to wreak havoc and disrupt the norms of society. What people don't realize is that the heroes are also disrupting the order while actively trying to fight the villains. Overall, the article about the caped crusader helps to explain the nature of deviance and how it works in a society.

The reds were the lowest class in our SIMROC society. They had absolutely nothing, in opposed to the other classes, even the purples (the working poor). They could not even work because they did not even have access to subsistence or transportation. The red region had to fight twice as hard than anybody else because they had the most to lose. It came to a point where the reds had to choose between life and death. In that situation, there were only two options for them. They either had to die, or they had to steal. So of course, they ended up stealing in order to keep themselves alive. This goes to show that deviance is normal in a society that is divided among many classes. The upper class in the real world rarely pays attention to the lower classes and the lower classes remain poor.

Crime is inevitable to happen when society is not giving any attention to a particular group. Although the greens and the yellows were trying to help, they couldn't save them all. The purples even wanted to help the reds despite not having much resources to begin with. Poor people in society have a hard time getting out of poverty. Their only means to survive are extremely limited and they have to turn to crime in order to stay alive. Crime is a lifestyle for many lower-class individuals. I think that we need to start paying attention to the poor and to help provide for them. Crime will occur more frequently within the lower classes regardless, but if we are able to make conditions better for those in poverty, maybe the crime would reduce.

In B2, I think that my original responses haven't changed as much through the SIMROC experience. I still think that conflict has some benefits even though most people think that conflict is inherently negative for a society. People from both sides are constantly fighting for power in order to balance the social order. It causes a society to be divided, but it also can help a society to be better. Unfortunately, major conflicts in our society past and present has lead to violence and wars. The conflict theory from Karl Marx says that society is always divided and in competition for certain materials (Hammond & Cheney, 2018b).

According to Marx, the best way to eliminate conflict is to have a socialist or communist society. Ideally, a socialist or communist society would not be the best options in most cases. In other words, there is a large gap between the rich and the poor in which the rich have the most resources. The most dominant groups have more power and wealth than the less dominated groups. There will always be a power struggle between the elite classes and the lower classes. That causes conflict in a society because the oppressed don't have that power to against the dominant groups. The conflict theory still applies to our society today as there is still a power struggle between the dominant and oppressed groups.

From the article about anger in social conflict, negotiations are major aspects of social conflict. They are defined as being an agreement between multiple parties in order to resolve an issue (Van Kleef, van Dijk, Steinel, Harinck, & van Beest, 2008). Anger also plays a huge part in negotiation and conflict. The effects of anger in negotiation helps make decision making easier. Being angry in a negotiation causes the other party to be less impressed with the other party. Another part of the article mentioned is ultimate bargaining. Ultimate bargaining results in multiple parties deciding between high offers and low offers based on emotion. If a person is perceived to be angry in the bargaining a lower offer is given rather than a higher one. These all relate to social conflict being necessary in a society. I believe that social conflict is needed in order for issues to be resolved in a society. It is also necessary in order for people who are less privileged to have fair chances against those who have the upper hand.

In the SIMROC activity, examples of social conflict took place. I think that the biggest social conflict was between the greens, the blues, and the reds. The upper class were spreading lies to all the other regions about the blues and telling us to not trust them. This caused a huge conflict between the greens and the blues along with all the other regions. The greens were also trying to make negotiations with the reds as well as the purples. It seemed that the greens were feeding everybody lies because it was hard to trust them. The purples tried to come to a decision between the greens. The greens were giving us many promises but could not come into agreement with the purples. This represents the conflict in negotiation notion as both sides could not make a final decision. It took an incredibly long time to actually come into agreement with the greens but it was already too late. The greens said that they wanted to help the reds as much as possible by giving them jobs but did not fulfill that promise in time. I felt that the greens were causing a conflict between all the regions because of how everything went down. Furthermore, these types of negotiations and conflicts occur frequently between classes in society.

In C2, I don't think that many of my views changed from my original response. Societies often rebel because of terrible conditions and strict laws. Certain laws implemented in a society can cause people to get angry and go against their leaders. Rebellions are also ways for the oppressed to let their voices be heard. Rebellions in society often occur when harsh dictators are in power and are implementing unfair rules to the citizens. There have been many successful rebellions in history that serve as examples of how the oppressed rebelled against the dominant groups. With the way our society is stratified, it is necessary for a rebellion to happen. Stratification is the division in society according to the amount of money and power from a particular group (Hammond & Cheney, 2018a). Social stratification causes a large division among all members of society. People who are in poverty are struggling while the elites hold most of the wealth. Civil unrest and protests are results from the society being stratified into the upper class, the middle class, and the lower class. The power of the elites on the oppressed will inevitably cause many protests and rebellions.

On the article on social protest in Puerto Rico, the protest for higher education is a prime example of a rebellion against an unjust system. The University of Puerto Rico has been subject to political intervention and the university was created after the military government for Puerto Rico ended (Rodriguez, 2011). The students were protesting against the increase in tuition at the school. This was a social conflict because many people would not have been able to afford the school if there was a tuition increase. The police officers arrested many protesters who were rebelling against them and the university. They used violence against the protesters to try and keep them from rebelling. The rebellion from the protesters caused numerous strikes to support them. This goes to show that rebellions can bring out social change and positive reactions. The protests from the school caused the university to be closed and the president resigned. This act of rebellion allowed the protesters' voices to be heard, even though there were some acts of violence in the process.

I would say that the purples and the reds had more of a reason to rebel during the activity. My group (the purples) were at a point in the game where we wanted to rebel. There was not enough subsistence for the many people in our region and not enough jobs for everyone. We only had one primary sector that was only employing a handful of people at a time. There was a point where many members of the region did not get fed and had to starve for the remainder of the session. We wanted to rebel because we felt that our conditions were limiting us from obtaining certain resources and felt that our conditions were unfair. The reds had even more of a reason to rebel than us because they didn't have anything. Although we had very little, we were still able to work and provide some subsistence for the members in our society. The reds on the other hand didn't have any options. Their reasons for rebelling would be justified since they were not able to work and keep themselves alive. This happens constantly in the real world where people living in terrible conditions are tires and want change. I think that protests and rebellions are needed in society in order to push for social reform.

The entire SIMROC experience changed the way on how I looked at this world. Having somewhat of a firsthand experience as a working poor changed my lens on how I viewed society as a whole. This entire game is a game of survival that is based on smaller regions in a larger society that are all provided with certain amounts of food, labor, and money. Playing the game was difficult at first as many of us didn't know what to do, but we eventually got the hang of it. Being a part of the working-poor group was draining and exhausting, because we did not have as many resources as the other groups and relied on each other to survive. As opposed to the wealthier regions, my group had to work twice as hard to make means and to provide subsistence for everybody, not just ourselves. Overall, this experience has changed some of my world views and allowed me to have a better understanding on how society operates.