INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL INFLUENCE: HOW ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS CONTROL THE PSYCHE OF ITS INHABITANT

 

SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT has come to play a vital role in human life. When a toddler, one’s family plays the most important role, of course parents especially mother who ensures that the baby does not experience hunger or is exposed to a harmful weather condition. The father runs helter skelter to ensure there is food on the table. In that wise, there was almost everything in place for a growing-up child until a stage where he started recognizing his maturity and thus, began to assume he could offer certain services to himself by himself then the hitch. For instance, he could decide to fetch himself some water when thirsty or change his dress when needed without his mother’s assistance. At this juncture, he had begun to observe the changes that occur in his environment, how people relate and the instinct of pertaining in such a relationship set in thus, he began to associate with people other than family members as such, he would be prone to tapping from both positive and negative influences as there were people of various calibers found within his umbworld.

His mindset grew stronger as a teenager and the tendency to take bigger risk alone began to rise, he could take the risk of visiting a neigbouring friend and bathe in the distant river in the absence of his parents. Sometimes, he had prepared his meal when mother was away and most surprisingly, he cooked for the entire family members voluntarily. Then mother began to infer that he had come of age, she thus, began to assign certain chores to him which he took as an obligation. At this juncture, his society also began to notice his probable efforts, the need for him to belong to the youth corps of his society became considerable, he began to participate fully in community service and suddenly, he realized he was that man that could stretch even beyond people’s expectation of him but his efforts were troubled with by people he mingled with who subjected him to ‘even and odd’ so his life became a career that he would have to manage. He thought of avoiding a negative social capital but every turns he made, he realized life could not exist without having to experience good and bad people. At a time, he thought of changing location to where his like-minds existed, he did this but despite the serenity of his current location where he had found some bits of wholesome influences, there were still some hitches from neighbours as some men were smokers and drunkards, some ladies were prostitutes and worse still, there had lived close to his house, some cultists who disturbed usually at night. Won’t there be threat from cultist? Won’t the prostitutes play around his austere lifestyle?

He thought to crane and bear after all he was not to live there forever. Hence, rather than avoiding them or distinguishing himself from the whole, he would learn how to put up with their different behaviours. Thus, he would have to learn how to relate with a cultist amiably and how to appear unattractive before a prostitute.  In that light, what he had set aside to achieve daily would be toughened by such hurdles and how long would he have to feign an attitude not his original? If he was to frown for instance, the moment he had spotted a drunkard and maybe a cultist he would smirk not really from his heart. Or maybe in the night he had expected to study, his neighbour might deem it fit as the very moment to increase the volume of his/her TV set to the maximum yet under a sonorous sound of an aged generator splattering from backyard like rain. He got to a time he could bear it not further thus, considered returning to his home was the best option but upon getting home, he found out that his father had grown captious overnight such that he could barely please him with any efforts. He thought of squatting with a nearby cousin but he was told he had equally grown thug overnight. Maybe his aunty would do- he found out she was at war with her husband.

Having swayed up and down in search of a favourable environment for his ambitions but to no avail, he finally realized that a rolling stone gathers no muss as such; he would fallback to discovering and intimating himself with the culture of his environment both favourable and unfavourable. But then, he had imagined the difficulty having to penetrate through such paths that harshly contended with his growing-up. For instance, he lived in a ghetto where even sunshine was rather wild and flood would always chase him out of his sparsely apartment plus his family members- such a moment life crawls like snails on land. Poverty became his major predicament yet amidst a dogged determination to become a world figure. He woke up daily to experience friends who had no future ambitions, hefty youths to lead a parade for violence in a society where hunger lorded instead of seizing every opportunity at forelock. Such could be exasperating.

Finally, he suddenly realized he was infected with even those rascal behaviours he claimed to have escaped; he was not a thug but how he could wildly defend himself before thugs showed he exuded the traits of a wild life yet, he was that meek and spirited man. What his life has become marveled him greatly, he had cut a split personality and a peek into his father’s life, he realized he grew up in a different environment supposedly a little bit peaceful than his. He observed several other people around him and noticed some were luckier than the other in terms of physical and social settings in which they grew up simply put, Social Environment. Some were born to rich homes and grew up in a place surrounded with result-oriented people where competition for greatness was the other of the day whereas, some other grew up in a ghetto surrounded with thugs and all forms of lawbreakers where competition for violence was the other of the day. Comparing the two settings, he realized the former could easily breed Doctors, Lawyers, Teachers and the likes while the latter could easily breed robbers, assassins and the likes.

That someone’s Social Environment is like a part of their body which grows as they advance in age.

Social Environment defines the quality of every individual and the nature of its weather, the day to day language spoken among the people and finally, the caliber of such people, play a sacrosanct role in raising a responsible individual in a society. It is such indispensable that even changing location or residence cannot disrupt the impacts of one’s society on one’s life. For instance, if one could be deracinated, what of where he lives presently? Are there not human beings of various characters therein? Are there not degrees of various social behaviours or problems? His psychological strength is revitalized always by impetus from or within his environment, such push sets his mindset on a good path but if a negative push, then his reaction would be dormant.

Conclusively, man is the product of his environment.  

 

                                    INFLUENCE OF SOCIAL ENVIRONMENT

As regard the indispensable importance of one’s Social Environment in lifetime, it has the capability to ruin or build. A negative environment can resultantly destroy the life of its inhabitant by instilling unwholesome attitudes in him but by life itself being a matter of choice, one can avoid such traits by virtue of integrity and astute self-discovery.

For instance, one whose environment is full of setbacks can conquer by identifying such negative influences earlier before addiction sets in.

 

HELPFUL FACTORS IN AVOIDING SOCIAL ENVIRONMENTAL NEGATIVE INFLUENCE

·        Self Discovery

·        Ensuring a social a capital that holds out a positive results

·        Indefatigability- determination is a drive through which one can thrive amidst  hurdles

·        Being proactive not reactive towards societal threats

·        Relocation may not at all time be fruitful thus, maintaining a definite society with spirited determination could prevent cutting a split personality especially such that could ruin one’s original self.

 

Author: Ochai G. Isaac

Lagos Nigeria