Indexes

Micheal Schwalbe, chapter 3 of TSEL, discusses the term index. An index is a social symbol for social conditions. Society often tends to observe individuals and interpret what their status, taste, class, etc can be. To be "sociological mindful" one needs to see that an index brings social meaning behind everyday situations in society. For example in my community a lot of Mexican ice cream men on foot pass around my neighborhood selling ice cream, chips, and fruit pushing a cart around. The men often seem tired and exhausted from being under the sun and on foot all day. I have not seen one of these ice cream men passing around more high income areas. The reason why I believe they are seen most in low income areas is because people in that community can afford the items sold by the ice cream man since it might be difficult to purchase, for example ice cream, elsewhere like at a grocery store or a ice cream shop. There are also more people living in those communities so it is more beneficiary to sell there than in areas where it is more decent and quiet (high income areas). Another example of an index in my community is graffiti on walls and fences. There is a variety of graffiti writing through out my community that are mainly gang related. This indicates it is an area where young individuals do not have anything better to do so they have the time to make a mess in the community. A lot of these kids maybe do not have the opportunity to be successful in school due to the lack of education given in school in low income areas so they turn to gangs to feel useful. Graffiti is also a sign of disrespect and a sign that those who are responsible of the graffiti in the area are careless of where they live. It brings a view that the area is dysfunctional since the community has failed to educated to those in need of getting educated better to know that graffiti is not right.