Introduction
Needless to say, responsibility is one of the essential human features every successful person should possess. The authentic success in life can achieve only those people who are responsible for what is happening in their lives. There exists an opinion that every adult person possesses the responsibility, contrary to children who are dependent on their parents. Unfortunately, this is not true as adults’ behaviors and words often contradict with what people usually associate while thinking about the responsibility. This assignment will address the question “What does my responsibility mean?” and the ideas “How to understand whether my responsibility adheres to the norms of society?” and “How can my responsibility be enhanced?”
The responsibility is familiar to every person from the very childhood. Responsible parents always try hard to educate their child and demonstrate them the correct behavior in a community. For instance, if a student at the school has not prepared his homework in English, he must realize that the outcome of his irresponsible action may be a bad grade to demonstrate that he is responsible. If an adult person commits an act that is opposite to the values of public morality, he or she demonstrates the high degree of responsibility.
Definition of responsibility
The responsibility may be defined as one’s ability to take complete control of what is happening. People take responsibility for themselves in those situations where they have control over what is happening, take part in it, and take some actions that contribute to obtaining the results that they need. Hence, it turns out that the avoidance of the responsibility is one’s unwillingness to influence the situation. When someone says: “Take responsibility for your life,” they usually mean: “Start at last to do something so that your life becomes what you want, instead of complaining about the circumstances.” Therefore, the responsibility assists in handling various life problems and challenges a person may face.
The components of responsibility
Personal Responsibility
Personal responsibility implies following individual settings. In this case, a free person oneself determines what he or she will be responsible for, what exactly his or her mission in life consists of. When a responsible person gives his or her word, he or she means it.
Collective responsibility
Another component of responsibility is a collective responsibility. It implies that the individual is an inevitable part of a particular social system and should develop the collective responsibility. The responsibility of citizens imposes equal requirements for every responsible member of society. A responsible person is an inevitable mechanism in the system.
Why people avoid responsibility
There are several main reasons that may explain why a person refuses to accept and control what is happening in one’s life. While some individuals have a personal reason for that, other people may have particular fears.
- An irresponsible person is convinced that he or she cannot control one’s life for various reasons. For example, one may endlessly say:”In my country, nothing will ever change.” With this assumption, a person does not even try to change anything as he or she believes that one’s action will never be able to change at least anything, and, therefore, he or she ignores the social responsibility. To avoid this, parents should teach their children that they should be responsible for their lives and should develop their personal social responsibility.
- A person avoids responsibility as he or she faces the inability and ignorance of how to do something, and, as a result, waits until somebody will make it for oneself. In most cases, the issue arises among other people who used from the very childhood to the fact that somebody will help them to do everything. They were taught since childhood that if they failed to do something from the first time, there is no need to continue doing it, as somebody will come and help them to finish their job. Unfortunately, children who used to the fact that their mother will help them and there is no need to try again and again, fail to achieve great results in adulthood as they still wait that somebody will do everything for themselves. In case they do not get the help they seek, they immediately start to blame other people around.
- Some people also avoid social responsibility mainly because they are afraid of making mistakes. In most cases, this reason can be traced in those individuals who have been constantly punished during childhood. Usually, other people are perfectionists, and they are not ready to take responsibility only because they do not want to face imperfection. Other people also are afraid of being criticized by others, and, therefore, they will never be responsible.
- Lastly, people avoid responsibility as they do not believe in their own capabilities.As a result of the multiple unsuccessful experiences, people start to believe that there is something wrong with them. Consequently, other people do not even try to do something, avoiding any responsibility, while others make only minimal efforts.
The formation of responsibility
From the very first day of one’s birth, a person is already a member of a particular group. Being in early childhood, one is taught that he or she cannot do what one wants. For college students or primary school students it is a common case to face such issue as the pressure of society when he or she does not meet somebody’s expectations. Sometimes it may be very dangerous to have one’s own opinion if it contradicts with a public one. When a person enters a society, he or she learns to live by its rules. Also, responsible people belonging to particular groups may have different ways of formation their responsibilities. For example, soldiers in the army usually have their responsibility to sacrifice their lives for the wellness of society. Being in the army means that one possesses a higher feeling of responsibility.
A responsible soldier should engage in prompt and effective collective action to create conditions of peace and stability. One more example is the responsibility of authorities. The government usually has the responsibility to protect citizens. The behavior of the individual changes accordingly: one no longer behaves as he or she used to but is rather forced to combine one’s personal demands with the collective. Responsibility in this situation means to fit into the community and not to lose one’s individuality. In conclusion, responsibility is a driving force of society that makes individuals live and cooperate according to the norms of morality.
