2020 "Sociology of Change" 

Entries in our 2020 competition responded to the impact of lockdown and changing social norms in the global coronavirus pandemic.  

Winner: “Mask” Jaimie Farquharson (Joseph Rowntree School) 

‘For years, the wearing of masks has been a cultural taboo in western society: evoking anxiety and unease within many, and producing feelings of alienation especially targeting the East Asian population for whom wearing masks has always been much more of a norm. However, the most drastic change in modern history, the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, has seen a dramatic shift in attitudes towards both masks and their wearers. 

As coronavirus threats grow rapidly, the government has begun to urge the public to wear masks when they visit the outside world. More and more people who would previously ogle at mask-wearers are choosing to wear masks in public, and it is practically unheard of now to see somebody display the same distaste and horror at somebody wearing a mask as they would mere months ago. 

Most norms take years of conditioning for society to accustom; however, amazingly, over the space of just a few months, the mask has become a norm in our society. In my photograph, I chose to take a picture as though for the front cover of a fashion magazine, where the model is wearing a floral mask. This symbolises the mask becoming a norm in our society, showing the mask to become a fashion staple shown off in designer magazines, just as ‘normal’ and accepted as any other piece of clothing.’ JF 

Shortlist: 

“Society on Lockdown” Keira Forde (Joseph Rowntree School) 

“The New Religion and the technological singularity” Tobias Coll (St Columba's College) 

“Self-reflection” Sonia Uthirapathy (Alice Smith School) 

“Hong Kong Protest: Summer Tears” Gregory Chang (Ampleforth College) 

Special mentions:  

“Sociology of Change” Eve Hutton (Joseph Rowntree School) 

“Social change in the eye of the Pandemic” Jessica Francis (Gumley House Convent School) 

2019 Sociology in Everyday Life 

Entries in our 2019 competition explored the role of surveillance, religion, and the media in shaping everyday life. 

Winner:  "The Whole Package" Hannah Seal (Hornsea School) 

‘This photo represents how the media is labelling us because of the choices we make and the actions we implement. These labels are affecting the way we see ourselves and the way we perceive our bodies. This has caused several types of eating disorders (especially within teens) because it is shaping an idealistic and unrealistic image of acceptable standards in society which many people are beginning believe is perfection. Consequently they are aspiring to meet these standards but are unable to. The need to meet these standards comes from the desire to become 'the whole package' - HS.  

Shortlist:  

“Proverbs 15:3” Giselle Lawrence (Christ’s Hospital) 

“Samma” Saiesha Gupta (Benenden School) 

2018 Global Sociology 

In our 2018 competition, entrants explored themes of globalisation, global social theory and multiculturalism. 

Winner: "Kingdom of King's" George Smith (The Kings' School) 

"This piece of work is based on the diversity of my school community. I decided to present the diversity of my year group in this way because it got people involved in the making of it, allowing them to show off their culture and feel proud of who they are, as opposed to them just being told to sit down on a stool and smile! One of the models commented during the shoot, “man, I feel so cultural right now, I’m going to go home and speak to my Dad in Urdu” - exactly what I wanted to hear. 

The project was a logistical nightmare. It started with 34 people signing up, which I was blown away by. Since we could only shoot in break times and lunchtimes, and with the face paint being very time-consuming, it was next to impossible to match availability, but I ended up with a great group of people who were more than happy to take part. This resulted in lots of happy faces, as you can see!" - GS. 

Shortlist: 

"Liminal Spaces" Bonnie Barfield (The Abbey School) 

"Cracking the Conundrum" Rebecca Moody  (Barton Peveril College) 

2017 What is Sociology? 

The theme of our 2017 competition was ‘What is Sociology?’  Entrants considered gender stereotypes, the socialising role of schools, and how even a cup of tea can be related to sociology! 

Winner:  "How can something as simple as tea be related to Sociology?" Aisha Peerbaccus (Brynteg School, Bridgend) 

'This image can help explain the difference between the upper and lower class, the upper class (china cup) being the minority but powerful group of society and the lower class (sports direct cup) being the majority but powerless group of society.  

Tea is also a social ritual and helps individuals express their "Britishness". For example individuals from the upper class can present their "Britishness" by going to afternoon tea, however individuals of the lower class may just go to their local café or have tea in the comfort of their own home by having a "brew". But these classes make this their ritual just express it in different ways. Also this could be a stereotypical generalisation that we may never know unless we have experienced it.  

Tea is also seen as a drug many people say they can't "function" without tea, but what does this really mean? They are addicted to it and that they can't live without it. Tea provides social and economic relationships to society by bringing people together and helping people financially. This is because it provides people with jobs in cafes to make tea allowing these workers to socialise with these customers. Also different brands in shops provide society with financial gain as individuals can make it in their own environment resulting in a beneficial economical and social society.' - AP 

Shortlist: 

"Socialised to gender stereotype" Sian Leary (Joseph Rowntree School, York) 

"School & Education" Kieren Mitchell  (Joseph Rowntree School, York)