-
Essay / Sociological Theories in the Film Freedom Writers
The Film Freedom Writers is a book-to-film adaptation that follows the story of first grade teacher Erin Gruwell and her at-risk students in Room 203. The beginning of film is narrated by the main protagonists Eva, who explains the strict moral code of caring for one's own; this code will become the main conflict of this film. It tells the story of racist students living in an environment fraught with gang violence. The story takes place at Woodrow Wilson High School in Long Beach, California, in 1994; two years previously, the school was part of a voluntary integration program. Before integration, the school was considered high performing and had excellent academics. Once the students were integrated, existing staff considered the program a failure because the new students were less successful; which resulted in underperformance of the school as a whole. Ms. Gruwell's class was filled with students deemed underperforming, most with reading levels well below their grade level. Ms. Gruwell begins her time at Wilson High by confronting the department heads with the department head believing that resources should go to the highest performing students or those who were in the honors program. Ms. Gruwell begins to fight for resources and funding, when the district and school refuses resources, she begins working two part-time jobs. She assigns each student a journal in which they can write freely, and the stories they tell about the adversity they face daily begin to open their eyes to the challenges of the classroom. The students slowly begin to overcome their racial differences (part of the change is due to a mutual dislike of their teacher) and over the course of two years, the students meet grade level expectations. Throughout her two-year journey with her students, Ms. Gruwell encounters resistance from her colleagues, the school board and even her husband. Adversity is eventually overcome, the students spend four years with Ms. Gruwell, and the school board begins to support minority students. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay The film is an excellent example of sociological theories, namely conflict theory and labeling theory. Conflict theory, simply put, is a model that rejects assumptions that the theory of social order is preserved. According to this theory, society is organized around fundamental inequalities that privilege certain groups or individuals while disadvantaging another group or individual. This theory allows humans to unlock their abilities by challenging the current power structure. Unlike social order theory or functionalism, society is not built on shared norms and values; rather, it can rise against a dominant force that fuels or controls weaker parties. Typically, conflict theory is applied on a large scale, but in this particular case, conflict theory can be applied to the microcosm that is Room 203 at Wilson High. Labeling theory is used to analyze deviant behavior. Labeling theory is essentially based on the fact that the personal identity and behaviors of individuals can be determined by the terms used to classify them. Essentially, the terms used to describe someone become what the person identifies with. The label can lead an individual to become deviant,..