Essay about Structural-Functionalism and Conflict Theory

Book Definition: Two dominant theories of social problems grew out of the structural functionalist perspective: social pathology and social disorganization (pg 9 Understanding Social Problems). Social pathology is a social problem like a sickness in a society Examples: Unemployment, which causes a breakdown in the economy. Poverty, due to disruption of the family farm and lack of family values.

To begin with, structural functionalism looks at the society as a bundle of a complex system with different parts that work to support the whole. It stipulates that a society is a combination of interrelated components, which work independently, but seek to achieve a common goal, which supports the growth of the whole system. Some of the systems in the society include the government, schools, businesses, and families. In essence, all these different components are fundamental in the society as they serve different functions to develop the society. On the other hand, social conflict theory looks at the society as a system with equal components, but within the endeavors to grow to find themselves in conflicting paths. Thinking about the society, some of the trends lead to conflict among the people living together. For example, ageism,

Sociologists employ three major theoretical perspectives in sociology today. They are the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionism. The structural-functionalist perspective is done at a macro level and its focus is on the relationships between the parts of society. The Conflict perspective is done at a macro level and its main focus is on how the wealthy controls the poor and weak.

First of all, according to the functionalism, society is a complex system whose part interconnect to promote a stable society. The structural functionalism falls under the macro perspectives, it’s based on the works of Emile Durkheim, who wanted to prove that the social forces can affect people’s behavior. The parts of the society are composed of the social institutions, they are identified with a social purpose and permanence, each one of them has a different objective and role in the functioning of the society. All the institutions depend on each other and if one of them stops doing their job, all the society will be affected. The reason for the existing of social issues is the changes that happens in the society, changes in traditions, changes in norms and values. For example, the rates of suicide increased during the war and economic depression because people found it hard to lose everything during these two events, so they thought that the only solution for this problem is the suicide. Some people find it hard to adapt to these changes; this failure leads to social problems. For example, some people commit suicide because of other people bullying and or cyberbullying. Another reason that may cause one to take

There are three different theoretical perspectives. Functionalist perspective, which emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. Functionalists see the contribution that it makes to society. The conflict perspective, assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, and political representation. The interactionalist perspective, which generalize about everyday forms of social interaction in order to explain society as a whole (Schaefer).

For example a key perspective is Marxism, it shows the class division in society separating the bourgeoisie from the proletariat and explores how social order is maintained by domination of the bourgeoisie. I am interested by sociology as there is so many different views on the way society is constructed and maintained and the way different perspectives challenge one another creating ongoing

The first of the three perspectives is the functionalist perspective. Their perspectives look at problems when they affect a community more than if they affect a single person. They define social problems as situations that do not accomplish what they are meant to accomplish or when a dysfunction occurs. Meaning that social problems are situations that are not what they are meant to be, or something wrong happens, also known as a dysfunction. A dysfunction is another term that means consequences of an activity that forbid a community or societies ability to survive as a community.

Sociological perspectives is the study of human life and social interactions; the way humans interact in group settings or in society as a whole. In sociology there are three primary sociological theories or approaches known as conflict, functionalist, and symbolic interactionist. Each theory has its own perspectives based upon how humans view society, social change, social order or individual views. The symbolic interactionist perspective is the sociological approach that generalizes about everyday forms of social interactions in order to explain society as a whole (Witt, J. 2015, pp 17). Symbolic interactionist is what we will use to find out how it affects family, marriage, education and religion within our lives daily.

Explain the three major sociological perspectives of functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Identify which perspectives use a macrolevel or a microlevel of analysis. Apply each perspective to socialization.

Sociological perspectives is an echoed term, which is divided into three major factors: “…symbolic interactionism, functionalism, and conflict theory” (Chambliss & Eglitis, n.d.). Conflict theory is a theory that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. It holds that social order is

A comparison of the two prominent macro sociological theories, Structural Functionalism and Conflict Theory; shows some similarities and other strong opposing and contrasting concepts. Many of the beliefs of the Conflict Theory were born in reaction and disagreement to the long standing ideas of Structural Functionalism, which held the leading view among sociologists at the time. Unlike Functionalism, Conflict Theory is not developed on the concept that society is created and produced from dependency on other institutions working together; but rather that conflict creates society through the competition for resources. Functional Sociologist, Tallcott Parsons, specifically emphasized the importance of social order. According to conflict theorists, functionalism was incomplete in explaining occurrences in society like poverty in America. While Functionalism stressed cooperation; Conflict theory stressed competition as the primary basis on which social analysis is built. An example of similar beliefs of structure, but contrasting views by theories of their purpose and role, would be an institution of religion. Conflict Theory viewed religion as a negative institution of society and saw it as a mechanism for dumbing down the general labors, controlling them and pacifying them in their exploited state of existence. In a world viewed of inequality, religion was used primarily as a form of control. Meanwhile in Functionalism, the view of religion was that it was a

The sociological perspective puts emphasis on the social context in which people live in and how these contexts influence their lives. At the center of this perspective is the question of how groups influence people, especially how people are influence by their society. Sociologists will look at how income, jobs, education, gender. age. and race affect people’s ideas and behavior.

“Healthy individuals cannot survive when society is sick.” On the other hand, aspects of social structure influence health and illness. Social factors not only affect life expectancy, but the possibilities the one will experience diseases and in turn, the health care that they will receive.

Structural Functionalism is “A major sociological perspective that views society as an interdependent system of parts (structures) and purposes (functions) that work together to make a society operate (Larkin, 2015)”. In order for a society to work all parts of the same society must work together. In structural functionalism society nearly depends on one another to stay afloat. If Something changes it can causes a disruption in society and begins to make things become unbalanced. Functionalism focuses on many groups that make up society, for example Government, Judiciary, and religion are some of the key groups that benefits in society strengthening their social relationships and the very world humans live in.

Throughout the course, I have acquired a number of different ideas that will contribute to my knowledge and understanding of sociology. First, I was able to learn about what a social problem was in general. What defines a social problem, how they are constructed, and the four stages of a social problem. It may be obvious to many, but an important note about social problems is that they are socially constructed. This means that people decide if societal condition is a social problem. Natural things like earthquakes and hurricanes are not social problems. I was also able to learn about the three sociological perspectives theories: Functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. These three theories make up a large part of how these social problems are viewed and why they occur. Functionalist compare society to a self-adjusting machine and each part of the machine has a function. When parts of the machine are working accordingly, it contributes to the well-being of the society. The conflict theory states that everyone is competing with one another for a limited amount of resources. There are only so many resources to go around, and the competition for them is so severe that conflict is barley kept in check. Symbolic interactionism is the theory that focuses on how we make sense out of life. It states that we see the world through symbols that we attach meaning to and that we use to communicate with one another. With this better understanding of what a social