Social Structure and Interaction Essay "The film, Death in Gaza" is a 2003 documentary created by James Miller, in which his team traveled to Palestine to view social problems and unrest in the area. Traveling alongside Miller was Saira Shah, who acted as a narrator of his production. This piece focuses on the involvement of role models in children and how it impacts their lives. Many countries and societies around the globe view Palestinians as social deviants, due to the social structure of their culture being very self-destructive. Within this structure, much global criticism is exercised towards how the children are being raised and their socialization. This problem is what draws Miller and Shah to the area.
James Miller began filming the children of the area in the Gaza Strip city of Rafah. The film began with the Palestinians hooking explosives up to a vehicle of potential terrorists. The men were blown into pieces, and the children in the area would run around trying to gather the remains of the bodies. This shows that the children have been raised viciously and cruelly, just as adults. Ahmed and Mohammed were two of the children he followed during his time there. They would tell James stories of the Israeli forces killing their friends and family. Najla, a 16-year-old girl, speaks about her hatred of Israel and how they have taken many lives from her family as well. The children would line the streets and throw rocks at the tanks and other military vehicles of the Israelis. The tanks would shoot back just to scare the children until, eventually, one day, and boy was struck with a bullet and was killed. This frustrated a lot of Palestinians, and they became more violent back towards the Israeli soldiers. Later in the film, the community explains the significance of Martyrdom and how ritualistic it is in their culture. The children were swept in by these groups who would practice martyrdom. These children are at such a young age, and they already want to give their lives away to fight the Israelis. The film ends when James Miller is shot and killed by an Israeli soldier before he can even finish the film documentary.
A role model is an influence that we try to imitate. In the film, the children view their parents, the leaders of the martyr groups, and the people who are worshipped for martyrs as their role models. These role models are not the greatest people for these young children to look up to. Children as young as 12 years old are making explosives to throw at the Israelis. The young boys in the community are automatically going to look up to the older males and imitate what they do. It is not socially correct for the older males to be showing the children how to make grenades and telling them they should hate the Israeli religion. Adults should strive to be positive role models; however, their beliefs are different.
A deviant is defined as people regarded as a problem by dominant members of society. The United States may h...
