Observation Of Mass Observation

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Our observations took place at Newman’s Catholic Church. In particular, we observed the interactions of a priest for an hour and thirty minutes. We began by observing how he interacted with members of the church for the first fifteen minutes before service began. Then we focused on his interactions with the assembly during service and finally, we witnessed how he interacted with others after mass. During this time a few noticeable differences occurred.
Our area of study took place in two environments. The first outside the church and the second was inside the church. As the environment changed the parishioners’ interactions with the priest changed. The atmosphere changed. When the priest was outside the church he had several discussions with the ushers who assist in setting up for mass. When he spoke to a tall white male about organizing the handouts …show more content…

During mass the priest spent majority of his time on an elevated stage, in his traditional garbs, displaced from the assembly. He was in a positon in which he was able to see everyone and everyone in the church was able to see him. In this positon he gave commands to the assembly for instance, he said, “Lets bow our heads in prayer”. Although most people in the assembly did follow his command and lower their heads a few people did not. Some of these outliers were in whispered conversations or preoccupied with other things, like texting. However, as the priest moved closer to the assembly and walked down the aisle. The outliers complied and put away their distractions to follow the orders. In this situation, when the authority figure, namely the priest moved closer to the pews more people began to follow his commands; while when he was further way some people resisted against his commands. The way in which these social situations relates to an individual’s willingness to obey directly relates to Stanley Milgram’s view of obedience to

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