12 Angry Men Thesis Paper

Sociology is the study of human social relationships and institutions; particularly social influence (the affect society has on human behavior and perspective.) Though people would like to believe that every choice they make is based solely on their own individual evaluation or judgment, social influence applies to everyone. Each human is born into a different social and cultural setting—family, religion, and economic and social class. One society’s influences may strongly differ from another, thus resulting in dissimilar behavior patterns, among cultures, throughout the world. The only place society does not, or should not, have a key role in behavior is a courtroom. According to The Universal Declaration of Human Rights, "Everyone is entitled in full equality to a fair and public hearing by an independent and impartial tribunal, in the determination of his rights and obligations and of any criminal charge against him."
The American Film 12 Angry Men clearly demonstrates that even in a place where individuals are required by law to step outside of societal norms, cultural and social behavior patterns are so deeply planted into the mind that people often operate fully without being aware of them.
The film opens up inside of a courtroom, where a murder trial is taking place. A Puerto Rican teenaged boy is being accused of fatally stabbing his father. The camera briefly focuses on the jury where they are taking in as much information as possible before they must go and deliberate. Eventually, the trial is dismissed and the twelve men retire to the jury room. The majority of the group agrees that it’s a clear-cut case—the boy is guilty. The Foreman, the person responsible for keeping the jury in order, calls for a vote. Eleven of the jurors vote guilty, while one, Juror #8, votes not guilty. This man did not base his vote out of spite for the rest of the group, but out of pure dissatisfaction with the way the trial is being carried out. He wanted to thoroughly