DISC 300 Towards Empathetic Communities Essay

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Barati |1 Course: Disc 300 Instructor: Amir Barati Towards Empathetic Communities (2000 words essay) In this essay, students will employ their knowledge gained from texts we have covered in class on theories of community, discourse, social engagement, and empathy and apply them to one of the communities they have access to. This project is mainly concerned with Segal’s idea of “prosocial behaviors” and how such empathetic prosocial behaviors can be translated to prosocial actions. In other words, how can we as human beings, active in different communities, develop a consciousness to perceive the concerns of others outside our communities and try to use our communities’ potentials to help those people in need? Segal poses a few key questions with regards to empathy, social gaps, and the well-being of all members of the society when she writes: The human tendency to be less empathic and more prejudiced toward people who are different presents a major obstacle for social cooperation and facilitating social well-being. How can we understand the needs of others if we maintain the empathic distance that has come with our historical evolution? How can we close the empathy gap between ingroup and outgroup membership? How can we encourage voters and policymakers to extend resources and services to people who are different from them? (100). Following this general idea, in this project, students will examine the effective ways their communities can help other people in society in a much more meaningful and empathetic way. Students can ask themselves: What real problems people outside my community might have no matter where on earth they are, and how my community can help to reduce those people’s hardships and pains? What actual Barati |2 ways can I suggest to my chosen community to cut the empathetic gap/distance between the ingroups and outgroups and take an empathetic prosocial action? While responding to these questions, the students will try to imagine ways to recruit people in their communities to join them and help other people in need, and in any parts of the world, an example of which is charity works and volunteering for different people in need. This project attempts to make the students ponder about the needs of other people outside their communities and how they, in theory, can they employ their potentials to take empathetic action for the well-being of others. Students are advised to use the communities they analyzed in their first projects but can still change their communities if they have sufficient justifications to do so. The community can be of any kind, actual, virtual, social, or discursive. Students will employ their observations and findings gained from their first project to compose this project with sufficient quotations. Students are encouraged to utilize the library’s resources to their best advantage and add more academic sources to their projects. The outcome of this research will be written in a 2000 to 3000-word research paper, MLA Format, which reflects the student’s power of making research, synthesizing and developing innovative ideas, and writing a well-structured academic paper. Before handing in the full draft of the paper, students will propose their projects in the form of a 5-minute informal lecture in an individual conference with the instructor to confirm the credibility of the subjects the students are going to address. The 5-minute speech outlines what you intend to examine, why you chose that subject, why you think it’s a reasonable topic to cover, and what you hope to find out through your research. The research hopes to highlight the importance of community construction and communal action. Students are more than welcome to use other academic resources to back up their positions and the use of at least 2 scholarly and a few other articles is highly encouraged. Barati |3 WHAT I WILL BE LOOKING FOR: ✓ An introduction that provides context for your subject and an arguable, focused, and revelatory thesis statement that will guide your paper ✓ An in-depth analysis of and reflection on the topic you’ve chosen, as well as the larger implications of it. ✓ Solid claims that are backed up with key details and effective incorporation of source information ✓ A logical organization that provides a clear argument and includes transitions that tie the material together ✓ A conclusion that brings the ideas together ✓ Sound sentence structure and grammar ✓ Use of YOUR OWN WORDS A NOTE ON PLAGIARISM: Barati |4 Plagiarism is the use—whether aware or unaware—of someone else’s work without citation or attribution, in an attempt to pass it off as your own. Plagiarism of any sort will not be tolerated and could result in an automatic ‘F’ grade in the course. FINAL NOTES: I am here to help you if you need it. Ask for further elaborations, email me, or call me, ask for help and I am here to support you.
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Introduction
Community is a complex social construct that encompasses numerous examples where
different aspects revolve around both individual living and living within groups. To live within
communities is to live through a diverse set of experiences and go interact with a complicated
situation that often has an impact beyond oneself. In this sense, members of the communities are
often groomed to look into the group with admiration and care. Since these communities are
where humans grew up, most individuals find themselves entangled with their groups, and often
to dangerous levels.
While attachment to one’s community is not bad, beneficial even, as it helps like selfidentification and knowing oneself with more clarity, overdoing it might lead to undesirable
situations. When overloading appreciation for one’s group is created, chances are members of
this community will blur lines to benefit the community. Reflecting on the world outside, there
have been plenty of examples wherein community selfishness is manifested. In essence, they are
lacking in the ability to look beyond the differences, shifting their paradigm within themselves
and the group that they identify with.
While sharing within the community can be selfless, bounding it within “similarities” can
lead to selfishness that is shown not by people but by groups. In essence, while people are more
than willing to contribute, the excitement lessens when the discussion starts on expanding aid to
other individuals. According to Segal (100), these are gaps in existing empathy wherein aid is
only willingly and wholeheartedly shared with individuals within the communities. The existing
problem within communities is that people will extend help and grace to people that are living
within the same neighborhood, within the same social class, same ethnicity, and other
similarities.
One question that arises with the gaps and human tendency of prejudice and bias is how
prosocial movement and prosocial thinking lead to prosocial action can that transcends barriers
of differences. Applying this to a minority group of Utopian communities within the United
States. First, how will these communities, as a minority, develop social consciousness to aid
others within the community and beyond it, and how can it be maintained. Second, theories will
be ratified as to how minor communities within the United States such as speckles of Utopian
people can be given aid.
Prosocial Behavior and Prosocial Actions:
As ratified before, communities are often observed to be displaying an extent of emphatic
attitude towards each other. While some communities might be lacking, or oblivious to such
orientation, communities are often built upon the theory of helping each other and aid. According
to Wittek & Bekkers (16), individuals that show prop social behavior are those that, when
mulling any action, takes into consideration the possible impact not just on oneself but also on
others. In essence, it is about building a mutual relationship wherein all involved parties are met
with proper compensation or at least reduced losses. However, it should be noted that prosocial
behavior is an orientation focused on choosing what is best for everyone, including oneself, and
not what is best for others with the self not involved.

Prosocial behavior leads to actions that are focused on not just oneself. It creates an
environment of sharing, empathy, and understanding. Zahn-Waxler & Smith ratified those
prosocial actions are those that are focused on providing, comfort, cooperation, protection, and
defense. Furthermore, it has been theorized that amongst children, prosocial behavior includes
moral reasoning, and the ability to understand others despite differences.
There are many possible influences of prosocial behavior. It can manifest through many
different channels and might vary in intensity across different phases in life. According to
Brittain & Humpries, two major influences in the prosocial behavior of adolescents are
socialization and cultural orientation. Socialization is how one can integrate itself with the
surrounding society and how aware one’s perspective is of its struggle. Cultural orientation is the
upbringing of an individual and the norms and methodologies that were instilled by a culture.
However, the study is very limited to a very select ethnicity.
Culture is one of the biggest factors in which a child grows. While defecting from one’s
cultural norm is feasible, the influence extends from physical attributes to moral stands and
orientation. According to Zahn-Waxler & Smith, a child’s outlook in life is most likely a result
of the environment that one grew up in, and this perspective can be stuck with a person across
multiple stages in development. However, when exposed to a compassionate and nurturing
environment, it is observed that these aggressive and selfish instincts can be diluted, eventually
getting replaced by prosocial-oriented thinking and actions.
While prosocial behavior is often contained in a single concept, some theorists have
suggested segmenting these based on their nature. By doing so, more understanding of these
activities can be formed. According to a medically reviewed article by Cherry (2020), there are
three types of prosocial behavior. Proactive are actions that are focused on benefits towards
oneself. Reactive is a response to occurring personal needs. Lastly, Altruistic is pure help
without any expected compensation or return.
Utopian Communities in America:
Utopian communities are groups of individuals that share the same vision of weaving
human society and practice through the normalization of some cultures and activities. Members
of such groups can retreat partially or completely from what is normalized within popular
society. According to Newsela, the first type of these communities is religious-centered and is
oriented towards faith-based practices. The second type is more secular and is simply focused on
human happiness, enlightenment, and ...

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