5.1.4 Sociological Barriers

Most certainly our social environment affects our creative expression. A society is comprised of individuals organized in some manner for the protection and, supposedly, the advancement of its individual members. Problems arise when the organization takes on a life of its own and is responsible for dehumanizing its members, making them feel individually insignificant. A society shares a set of morals and traditions and is characterized by collective activities, interests, and behaviours. Often an individual member feels that it is immoral to deviate from the norm, to appear to differ with the written and unwritten laws of his or her particular group. Whether the society is a nation or a street gang, deviations of behaviour from the group's established patterns can evoke punishments or exclusion. Therefore, unique behaviour, suggested change, and the like, are considered subversive and threaten the stability and security that others derive from group affiliation.

History has demonstrated that when the individual loses a sense of power over his or her own life, a society is ripe for a leader with a dominant personality who advocates group norms and the need to protect those norms. Such appeals to "groupness" and the group's right to sustain itself have been obvious, for example, in Nazi Germany, Communist China, and several African nations.

Also, within a particular sociological setting, whether it is a family, a school, a bridge club, a ball team, there are class systems, designed to keep people in their place, on such bases as age, sex, appearance, ability, background, seniority, right‑handedness, and so on.

Social environment is a major factor in our ability to use our creative potential and to express our own uniqueness. Creative expression involves personal risk. Negative reactions to our expressions from our own group can cause us to experience even less self‑significance. Often an individual will retreat in order to feel accepted. The implications here are strong for those who attempt to evoke creative behaviour through teaching.