Conflict Theory Sociology

The movie “The Blind Side” represents the conflict theory of sociological perspective. This movie is based on the story of Michael Oher, who was thirteen-year, homeless, African American teenager. His mother was a drug addict and he did not know his real father. He is taken by a white well to do family Touhys’ who helped him to fulfill his potential. The other hand, his presence leads Touhys’ family lives leads to some insightful self-discoveries of their own.

There are roughly 800,000 people living within the United States that is under the protection of an executive order during the Obama administration called Deferred Action Against Childhood Arrivals, or DACA. These children, commonly referred to as “Dreamers,” have grown up in the United States. They attended elementary school here, many graduated high school here, and many went on to become successful adults living in the United States, but as of September 5th, 2017 the DACA program was shut down by the Trump administration, pending a trial in Congress. This means that those hundreds of thousands of individuals living under the DACA arm will no longer be legal residents in the United States.

In general, conflict theory is to explain the conflict between authority groups and powerless groups through the uneven distribution of power and resources in society (Lai, 2013). It is based entirely in power and how those in power do all they can to hold the majority of the population down and to keep them from gaining power, so as to secure their own position. Conflict theorists all assume that the existing social order is not a product of consensus and mutual benefit but rather a function of power differentials in society. These perspectives recognize that societal resources are limited and contend that opposing groups are in a constant struggle for a greater share of the resources and power that comes with them. As groups struggle to gain

Strucutral functionalism is a form of functional analysis. Functional analysis (or functionalism) is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. In fact, many of the early giants of sociology, such as Spencer, Comte, and Durkheim were functionalists. Essentially, this perspective sees society as comprised of many parts that contribute in unique ways to the operation of the whole society.

Race is a way to categorize people with similarly perceived biological characteristics into one labeled group. However, race has no biological standing, as race highly “depends on our social location [and] on who is doing the [classification]” (Henslin, 2015, p. 266). Ethnicity averts from race in that ethnicity exemplifies the ancestry and cultural heritage in which one affiliates themselves with. A “sense of belonging may center on their nation or region of origin, distinctive foods, clothing, language, music, religion, or family names and relationships” (Henslin, 2015, p. 266). Both race and ethnicity are exceedingly interchanged with one another even though the terms have different meanings. A great example of this misinterpretation of race and ethnicity is the Jewish “race.” “Jews […] are more properly considered an ethnic group, since it is their cultural characteristics, especially their religion, that bind them together” (Henslin, 2015, p. 266-267). Despite the fact that race and ethnicity are distinctive ideas, they do come together in the way of identifying one group from another; whether it be by characteristics or cultural heritage. Race and ethnicity are also similar in that a person can identify with multiple ethnicities or races; as they may have two parents from different cultures. Albeit, race and ethnicity are related in ways, but they still

Race refers to the idea of identifying people into groups based on various physical characteristics. An ethnic group or ethnicity is a population whose members identify with each other based on shared social traits. In America, we currently have six dominant races: white American, American Indian or Alaska Native, Asian, black or African American, Native Hawaiian or other Pacific Islander, and people of two or more races. The Census Bureau also classifies Americans as "Hispanic or Latino”. Hispanic and Latino Americans are a diverse ethnicity that composes the largest minority group in the United States. Throughout the last decade many sociologist around the country have gathered evidence to prove the evolution the American population is witnessing.

Race and Ethnicity are integral parts of America. They are often used interchangeably. Race is associated with biology. It is a socially and politically constructed category of individuals who are assumed to share common inborn biological traits, such as bone structure, hair type, skin, or eye color. These distinctions have been used to the detriment or advantage of American groups over time. Whereas ethnicity is associated with culture factors. It is often tied to nationality of origin and characterized by a person’s ethnic traits, customs, and/or associations. Race and ethnicity in some ways go hand in hand and in other ways differ. Although the similarities are not quite the same they still have the same concept. Today’s society plays a huge role in defining these terms.

This chapter focuses on the topics of race and ethnicity. It discusses the difference between race versus ethnicity and prejudice versus discrimination, and how race is a social construct. Race is defined by the racial makeup you were born with; i.e. Mexican, Asian, Caucasian, Native American, African American, etc. This is based on physical attributes like hair type, color of skin, shape of eyes and other attributes. Ethnicity is the shared characteristics people register with, such as religion, language and culture. For example, when people live in less fortunate neighborhoods, they would be more likely to register as “hood” than someone living in a higher end neighborhood.

affected individuals and families in many ways throughout history and in present day. Social influences

The Social Exchange theory proposes that we make decisions with the goal to maximize benefits and minimize costs (Newman, 2009, p.64). The choices we make require social approval and self-sufficiency. A family will make sacrifices if they perceive the action will equal rewards. Basically the theory refers to a give and take relationship where there needs to be balance for the relationship to be satisfying.

In conclusion, social exchange theory is intended to explain when or why people maintain or stay in relationships is because of three assumptions: by assessing the rewards and benefits, cost and the outcome (rewards-cost=

Social OrderAccording to the social order model, society is given a set of rules to regulate people behaviors and prevent anomie or "normlessness." Society serves the interests of all sharing, a strong set of norms and values, though not being able to adhere to these cause people to feel out of place. Most people accept this hierarchy as long as they see the system is fair. However, it is not fair, and this in turn becomes visible when it comes to occupations. Young people do not apply to specific jobs because they assume their qualifications are not well-built enough to obtain certain positions and therefore are exploited and oppressed in the workforce.

The conflict theory itself was contrived and created from the beliefs of Karl Marx, who was a firm believer that society is an existence that is always changing and is influenced by the conflict between the social and economic classes. Functionalism views society as a complicated system where all are wanting equality, but the conflict theory sees life as competition and survival of the fittest. One of the foundations of the conflict theory is that society and life are made up of people acquiring and competing for limited resources, such as money or possessions. Social structures and foundations (such as religions and forms of government) encourage competing for resources and the consequences of not having the same power or resources. some people and organizations have more resources. The main consequence is that those people or individuals who have the money, power, or other resources are able to keep their standing in society.

Conflict theory is the theory that human behavior in social contexts is the result of conflicts between competing groups, as different social groups, be they class-, gender- or race-defined, have unequal power and access to power, yet all groups compete for limited resources. This inevitably gives rise to tension and conflict, albeit often of the subtle variety, as oftentimes the conflicts between groups have been institutionalized in society to such a degree that the conflicts and tensions are such an expected part of society that the conflict, and inequality, itself disappears from public sight, and consciousness. For example, an adherent of a world systems theory of conflict would point to the global competition for resources, particularly the inequality between rich and poor nations struggling to provide the basic necessities of life to their inhabitants, as evidence of global conflict. Conflict theories seek to explain the interactions of groups within society, and assert that social order is preserved involuntarily through the exercise of power one social class holds over another (Lindsey, 2010, 7). The conflict between groups is not always obvious or apparent, so it must be unraveled and examined in order to identify and establish the impact of such conflict on society as a whole, as well as individual members and social groupings.

Intergroup Competition is the idea that social groups will extend from the desire for a group to gain the scarce resources that exist (36-40). This idea is greatly supported by the segment on affirmative action in the video (36-40). As said in the movie, the idea is that scholarship money and grant money is a scarce resource when students decide to go to college (37-40). In this view, the individuals who are against affirmative action are competing for that scarce resource (36-40). By using techniques like affirmative action and racial and/or ethnic based scholarships present the subordinate group’s strive for power, and the arguments against these resources are the dominant group’s attempt to maintain their power (36-40). Moreover, the strive to gain these programs is not just for their own individual self interest, but is for the interest of their social group as a whole to maintain the group’s desires (36-40). It is in this belief that’s the Realistic Conflict Theory resides (36-40). In this, their exists the view that this conflict for scarce resources subsequently produces prejudice, in which a privileged group has a sense of group position and strives to protect it (36-40). This is shown in the video by the idea of reverse racism, in which the dominant group tries to grain pity for their loss of domination by saying that affirmative action gives African Americans an unfair advantage, thus racially profiling the subordinate group while trying to maintain their