Alevels Sociology

Critics of this theory state that it focuses too much on order and stability and presents somewhat of a conservative and idealistic view of society. It does not encourage individuals to take an active role in changing their social environment even when such a change might be beneficial to them. "Instead, functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate naturally for any problems that may arise." (Zgourides 12). It also fails to take into consideration differences in power among and between groups.

The consensus model of criminal justice suggests that society strives to maintain a harmonious social order, and social institutions cement social bonds that counteract negative criminal tendencies. "The foundation of consensus perspective is the assumption that societies have an inherent tendency to maintain themselves in a state of relative equilibrium through the mutually and supportive interaction of their principal institutions. Consensus theory is a sociological perspective in which social order and stability and social regulation forms the base of emphasis" (Consensus perspective, 2011, Sociology Index). Societies are interdependent, and every element of society performs some essential function. The interdependent nature of all elements of a society creates a consensus of values and determines what should be required of citizens. By nature, societies are seen as tending towards consensus, and finding an equilibrium of common values is seen as beneficial for society (Sociology perspectives: The order and the conflict model, 2009, Minority Studies). Consensus theorists tend to see minority or dissident groups as troubling, given that they can upset the social structure and cause unrest. The goal of the criminal justice system is to enable people to fit into social institutions.

Marxism (1895–1900) is the economic and political theory and practice originated by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels that holds that actions and human institutions are economically determined, that the class struggle is the basic agency of historical change, and that capitalism will ultimately be superseded by communism. They include the notion of economic determinism that political and social structures are determined by the economic conditions of people. Marxism calls for a classless society where all means of production are commonly owned, a system to be reached as an inevitable result

These institutions and social relationship structures, to remain, put in place hierarchies of power, which evolves with a stint of inequality. As systematic means of maintaining order in such society may necessitate the need for control via force or putting in place an ideology. Thus controlling the way the specific society sees the world and current social relationships appearing natural, normative and inevitable.

M2 - Use different sociological perspectives to discuss patterns and trends of health and illness in two different social groups

The two types of capital are cultural capital and economic capital. This is then used by showing the resulting inequalities and allocating various social slots for men and women based on said differences. This in turn legitimizes the inheritance of social privileges in societies where democracy is thought to be the right and virtuous way. (Wacquant, 1996)

Which of the following groups have the highest incidence of use and abuse of alcohol?

Also, society plays a big role in people’s opinions. People might change their minds because of the society. If the society refuses some ideas, the chance of having the opposite thought is very low.

In Four Sociological Traditions, Randall Collins (1994:47) states that the tradition of conflict is an unpopular theory in reference to society. Collins introduces conflict theory by briefly mentioning that, “dominance is determined by the distribution of social and economic resources” (1994:3). The theory revolves around the idea that societies have groups that will oppose each other due to differing statuses of power, ideology, and interests.

"Functionalist Perspectives” also known as "Structural-Functional Paradigm”- “The sociological approach that views society as a stable, orderly system. According to this perspective, a society is composed of interrelated parts, each of which serves a function and (ideally) contributes to the overall stability of the society. Societies develop social structures, or institutions that persist because they play a part in helping society survive. These institutions include the family, education, government, religion, and the economy. If anything adverse happens to one of these institutions or parts, all

This shared culture provides a framework allowing individuals to co operate by doing things such as defining their goals they should pursue and laying down rules about how they should behave. One functionalist, Parsons, calls this agreement value consensus- the glue that holds society together. Value consensus makes social order possible, with Parsons indentifying that the system has two mechanisms for ensuring individuals conform to the shared norms, thus meeting the systems needs; Socialisation and Social control. The system can assure its needs are met by teaching individuals to want to do what is required of them, with positive sanctions rewarding conformity and negative ones punishing defiance. As individuals are integrated, the behaviour of each person will be quite predictable and stable, allowing cooperation. However this view can be seen as a weakness, as it is somewhat ‘naïve’ to assume that there is consensus; it is unlikely within society we all essentially believe in and work for the same thing. From an action perspective, Wrong criticizes the idea of a value consensus as he criticizes the functionalists over socialized, deterministic view of the individual. Wrong says that individuals have no free will or choice; they are mere puppets whose string are pulled by society. Due to this, the functionalists approach somewhat contradicts itself as functionalism sees humans as being shaped by society, but their approach actually takes

The Marxist's perspective is dominantly based on economic factors and over emphasizes them; money is assumed to be everything within society and social life. In my view, something is clearly missing here such as values and other social factors. Assuming that money is everything within society leads to assumptions that those owning the productive and therefore economic resources are given the power and use it to control those without to maintain their hegemony. Further factors that can form and shape society like gender, ethnicity, age, culture etc. are not taken into consideration and neglected. Hence the Marxist perspective focuses on having versus not having, earning versus not earning and powerful versus powerless.

One sociological perspective is the Functionalist theory. Functionalism is one of the earliest sociological theories. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) was a professor and was interested in how society was possible and how society remains stable. This theory focuses on the macro-level of social structure rather than micro-level of everyday life. Functionalism sees society in parts which form a system, the parts depend on each other. Functionalist theory looks at the parts of society such as

In addition too, Symbolic Interactionism perspectives, there is Functionalism Perspective. The idea of the Functionalist perspective leads back to Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist whose writings form the core of the functionalist theory (McClelland, 2000). Functionalism is what happens when social structures have positive effects on the constancy of society. It is the frame work for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote harmony and stability. There are also three assumptions behind functionalism theory, Stability, Harmony, and Evolutions. Those who use social structure theory focus on studying the nature and the consequences of social structures. It also focuses on a relatively state pattern of social behavior. This gives our lives shape in

In a community some form of order is an essential foundation for people to live and interact together. ‘’Order is part of the way people both imagine and practise their social existence.’’ (Silva et al., 2009, p. 311) Taylor (2004, p.58) argued that ‘’ the human capacity to imagine order is at the foundation of society itself.’’ (Taylor, cited in Silva et al., 2009 p.311) Social order draw in imagination, practices, the fitting together of people and things, and ideas about the past and the future. (Silva et al., 2009)There are many explanations of how social order is produced, Erving Goffman (1959, 1971 and 1972) and Michel Foucault