The Social Influences on the Great Depression and the Holocaust

There are many views and perspectives of sociology that help us to better understand how social forces, social institutions, and social structures impact someone’s life, as well as help us to develop a sociological imagination. Social forces and social institutions played a major role in events such as the Holocaust and the Great Depression, and still continue to play a role in everyday life today. It is important that we understand how these factors contributed to these events so we can understand why these events occurred.
Germany was divided after its defeat in World War 2. Because of its division, the people of Germany were more likely to become racist. Adolf Hitler, the dictator of Germany, also contributed greatly to racism in Germany. The people of Germany during the time of the Holocaust were subjected to the racism Hitler had towards the Jews and minorities. These social factors played a huge part in Reiner’s racism towards immigrants. Reiner’s views are different from his mother’s because he supported Hitler, he lost his job to an immigrant, and because he feels insulted by immigrants. In his mind Germany is not a country of immigrants. He feels as if immigrants are inferior and treats them like they aren’t equal. His views significantly differ from his mother. His mother feels like everyone should be treated equal in a “better” Germany. She supports reunification, but Reiner is against it.
The Holocaust was a devastating event that happened in Germany. Looking at this event in the macro view of sociology, we see that social forces and inequality are the main reasons behind the Holocaust. Social forces are defined as forces that arise from the society of which we are a part. (Thio pp. 7) A social force is capable to br...

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...luence on my life. I believe that social forces that impact my life are actually quite similar to those that impact my grandmother’s life. Although they differ slightly, these social forces impact her life just as much as they do mine. The only real difference is that she has to attend work while I have to attend school. Despite growing up in a time of undeveloped technology, she is learning how to operate technology because technology is becoming more advanced every day.
While studying sociology, it is necessary to develop a sociological imagination. It is helpful to learn the views and perspectives of sociology in order to better understand how social forces, social institutions, and social structures impact someone’s life. By having a better understanding of how these things contribute to our lives, we also have a better understanding of why certain events occur.