In this paper, we will discuss my specific group, what we are all about and what our main

function in society is. There are so many groups in society that its hard to keep track of all of
them. With this paper, I will be able to talk about my specific group and help you to better
understand who we are, what we are and why we are.
I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. More specifically, I belong
to the Highland View Ward of Canyon Rim, Utah. Theres the basic history of the group: we
were founded by Joseph Smith, he was the first prophet, we believe that Jesus Christ died for our
sins and will return to earth one day in the second coming, etc. If you know absolutely zero about
the Mormon Church, please Google it. Explaining it all in this paper would be too much.
However, my specific history with this group is not that complex. Ive been a Mormon my entire
life, but I wasnt always a part of this ward. I joined this ward with my family in the winter of
2006. So Ive been with these people for about 8 years. The norms that are associated with us
are pretty numerous, I would say. Theres the norm of the specific attire men and women are
supposed to wear. The norm with taking the sacrament and being quiet and reverent while in
church. Im sure we have more norms, I just cant think of anymore right now.
The sociological theory of symbolic interactionism applies perfectly to my group. We
have so many symbols so I figured this theory would be a good one to examine my group with. It
correlates so well with all of our symbols. One definition of symbolic interactionism theory is: a
school of thought in sociology that explains social behavior in terms of how people interact with
each other via symbols. We wear specific clothing in our group when we attend church because
it shows respect for Jesus Christ and God. For example: men wear suits or nice pants and a shirt
with a tie, while women wear skirts or dresses and slightly fancy shoes. We do this because we
believe it is the right thing to do while in the house of the Lord. One of the biggest symbols I

could talk about would be the partaking of the sacrament. We drink water and eat a small piece
of bread each Sunday in remembrance of the Lord. We believe the water to be the blood of Christ
and the bread to be the body. Thats a huge symbol for us. Its one of the holiest activities you
can take part in while in my group.
One aspect of my group to touch on through the theoretical lens would be our activity of
doing baptisms for the dead. I feel like that is a huge symbol my group demonstrates. We do that
to give people the chance to be baptized and to be rid of their sins who never had the chance to
do so while they were alive. I hope that makes sense. Another huge symbol is our missionaries.
They are symbols by themselves. Our elders and sisters are symbols just by existing. They
symbolize the Mormon Church and everything it stands for. For example: you see an elder or
sister missionary walking down the street and you notice theyre wearing pants and a white top
or a skirt and a top. That represents our respect for the Lord and our Heavenly Father. So you
could say the missionaries are a huge representation of the sociological theory of symbolic
interactionism.

Next up, we will discuss gender, age,

and race/ethnicity within my group. Gender is a pretty touchy subject these days, but we shall
discuss it anyway. Men and women play many different roles in the Mormon Church. Men serve
in the Priesthood, women serve in Relief Society and Young Womens. Both men and women

can serve in primary though and Sunday school. It all depends on their specific calling from the
bishop. I think gender in the church is pretty evenly split up. You have the priesthood, relief
society and both men and women mix in Sunday school and primary, etc. Its not all totally
segregated in that way.

Now we will talk about age. My church is full of

people from 0-100. That is no exaggeration either. Everybody partakes in this church, no matter
what their age. However, only people of a certain age can take part in certain subgroups of the
church. For example: lets discuss the young womens group. When you reach age 14, you
become what we call a Mia Maid. Thats the specific age group of young womens. Then when
you turn 16, you become what we call a Laurel. Then, when you reach the age of 18, you can
join relief society with your mom and all the other older women in the ward. Thats just one
example of how age plays a role in my church. Another interesting thing having to do with age is
the chance you have of being appointed a primary teacher or a Sunday school teacher, etc. by
your bishop. There are always plenty of opportunities in my group.

Lastly, lets discuss race/ethnicity. Id like to

start by pointing out that there are hundreds of temples all over the world and thousands of
churches all over the world. We are an ever-expanding religion. Mormonism is constantly
growing, constantly expanding and always changing. For example, over the last couple years,
temples have been built in many different countries. Last week, the President of our church,
Thomas S. Monson, announced that there would be three new temples built. One in Haiti, one in
Thailand and one on the Ivory Coast. We do this to expand our horizons and to be able to
welcome so many more people to join us. I think race/ethnicity plays a big role in my group
because everyone is invited to join us. Anybody can walk in to one of our wards and join in on
the meeting. Everybody is welcome. Race has zero to do with anything. As Ive learned in this
sociology class, race is objective and not necessarily a real thing. So it goes without saying, race
doesnt matter. At least, it shouldnt matter. People in Japan can enjoy the Mormon Church,
people in Africa can, people in France can, etc. Anyone in the world is able to enjoy this group at
any time. Thats who we are. We are open for everyone to take a look. Obviously, certain things
are not put in public for religious reasons, but with most everything else, we are open and more
than willing to share.

In conclusion, the Mormon Church uses symbolic interactionism in so many ways.

Missionaries, the way we dress, our temples, what we do, and how we do it. All the things we do,
all the activities we take part in can all be related to symbolic interactionism. How we choose to
act, dress, speak, etc. in my specific group can be directly related to symbolic interactionism.
Pretty much every aspect of my group is a symbol. As I mentioned before with the bread and
water, thats a massive symbol. Missionaries are another big symbol. All these things can be
easily defined with symbolic interactionism.