Functionalism, Conflict Theory, And Symbolic Interaction

Structural functionalism is a macro level approach to study sociology (Browning, 2015). Structural functionalists believe social consensus is what holds society together; social consensus being a condition in which most members of the society agree on what would be good for everyone. Structural functionalists view society as a web of social structures, each structure being functional to fulfill it’s own needs, but dependent on all other structures for survival (Vago, 2012).

In this paper, I will discuss three different schools of thought that, while they may seem to explain the inner workings of society, by themselves they fail to satisfy completely. For each theory, I will discuss the basics and cover the main tenants of each. Then, I will discuss the ambiguities, inadequacies and irrelevance to reality based on our current understanding of modern society.

According to functionalism, the society is connected, and relates that the stability of society. The different parts of the society are collected of social practices, which help the different needs and problems in the society. (Crossman, 2018, para. 1). Like mentioned before, functionalism indicates the framework of the stability of the problem. One of the main reasons problems occur is that societies are always changing.

Sociology is the study of human group behavior, it looks at society as a whole. This group is sometimes called the sociological perspective (Ballantine & Roberts, 2007). Many different people view the world differently; either as structural functionalism, conflict theory, or symbolic interactionism. Each one of these refer to the world inversely. Some view the world as situations just work out, or it is continuously in conflict, or the world is just primarily a place where people have relationships. Structural functionalism best describes the view of the world and varies roles that are played by different people.

Conflict Theory was "influenced by Karl Marx's socioeconomic view of the elite exploiting the masses." (Parillo 12). The conflict perspective focuses on the inequalities that create racial and ethnic tensions between groups. In contrast to the fundamentalist's emphasis on stability, conflict theorists maintain, "Racism has much to do with maintaining power and controlling resources." Society is seen as being continually involved in struggles and disagreements as diverse groups struggle over limited resources. The system is hierarchical and characterized by social inequality. Conflict theorists argue that the rich and powerful force social order on the poor and weak and that existing social patterns benefit some people while depriving others. "Conflict theorists

Sociology is a social science that studies human societies, their reactions, and the processes that preserve and change them. Sociology also studies social status or stratification social movements, and social change, as well as societal disorder in the form of crime, deviance, and revolution. Its attention is mostly going to the collective aspects of human behavior. There are and have been a discipline in which there is a body of ideas that all accept are valid. It is about our own lives, our own behavior and is therefore complex and difficult to study. The practice of sociology involves the ability to think imaginatively and to detach oneself from any preconceived ideas about social life. It can also increase self-understanding and influence our own futures from what we learn. Sociology embraces a variety of theoretical views. The disagreement between theoretical viewpoints can occasionally be quite radical and these differences can occasionally produce complex issues die to the problem of subjecting our own behavior to study.

Functionalisms reign was dominant through earl 1950s through late 1960s. August Comte, Herbert Spencer, and Emile Durkheim played important roles in the development of the theory. Talcott Parsons, another important writer of the functionalist theory, attempted to develop concepts that would help organize our perception of reality. He also developed a fourfold classification scheme, Adoption, Goal attainment, interagation, and latency. Adaptation refers to the idea that systems are embedded in environments to which they much adapt in order to survive. Goal attainment is described as the need in any system to define its primary goal and the methods used to obtain the goal. Interagation refers to the need to coordinate the component parts of the system so that they contribute to the maintenance of the whole. Latency is described as the structures that serve to maintain and revitalize the motivation of individuals to perform their roles according to social expectations (Farganis, 20111). Spencer compared society to the telegraph, with wires running to and from the central nervous system and it nerves, as well as a social organism. He viewed evolutionary schema based on social functions and survival of the fittest, relating to simple and complex societies. Knigsley Davis and Wilbert E Moore developed Some Principles of Stratification (1945) and described stratification as a functional necessity. They

The conflict perspective views society less as a cohesive system and more as an arena of conflict and power struggles.

Sociology is the study of society and how people interact with each other. Functionalism and Conflict are theoretical perspectives created by a sociologist. I can relate to these when it comes to my family. At times having a family and striving to improve your living is quite challenging. Due to our modern daily lifestyles, we find ourselves spending less time with our loved ones. Studying these will help understand the different areas of social life.

Functionalism: religion gives us values and norms to follow, which in turn keeps us “in line” and ultimately serving the greater good of humanity. Conflict theory: there will never be only one religion, so there will always be religions constantly at war with each other, trying to obtain power over the others to become the “ultimate” religion. Symbolic interactionism: religion is something people attach themselves to. It’s a symbol we use to define who we are and what we believe. A lot of people view their religion as their master status.

Sociology is the scientific study of human social life, groups and societies. Sociological studies are extremely wide based, looking at everything from how people create social connections with each other through interactions all the way to investigation of social processes. Sociology is not just a routine process of acquiring knowledge, it also requires breaking free from personal perspectives and seeing things in a wider aspect. Sociology demonstrates the need for a much broader view of our nature and our actions. Learning to think sociologically helps us develop a sociological Imagination. Sociological Imagination forces us to “think ourselves away” from our daily routines in order to look at the situation from another point of view.

Functionalism and conflict theory tries to explain the purpose for or why social stratification exists; however, symbolic interactionism discusses differences the social stratification creates in everyday life. Functionalism assumes that the structure of society and the processes exist because they both have an important for society’s stability and continuity. Functionalists assume that stratification exists because it also has important functions in society. Functionalist view provocatively argues that poverty exists because it serves certain positive functions for our society. According to the functionalist perspective, there are many functions of poverty such as (1) the poor folks will do unwanted jobs, (2) since the poor have to work at

Sociology focuses on understanding the social and cultural aspects of human behavior as well as deducing how our lives are influenced by the social relationships around us. At the

Sociology is the study of the behavior of people and groups within society. This helps out how society works and thinks, If people understand how society thinks we can improve it. With this in mind, you can apply sociology theories and ideas to any scenario of daily life dealing with person to person interaction or even to an individual in regards to the society.

Sociology is a very rewarding and interesting subject to delve into and I thoroughly enjoy all that it has to offer. Sociology helps us to look objectively at our society and other society’s, as well as to better understand individual interactions between other people. When first deciding to immerse yourself into sociology, I think that there are three sociological perspectives one must be familiar with to better his or her understanding of general sociology and to allow the learning process to progress naturally and in a more fluid manner. Symbolic interactionalism, which simply put, is the use of symbols and face to face interactions specifically involving linguistic or subjective communication. Another sociological perspective that I think is incredibly vital to learn is functionalism. Functionalism; briefly put, is the relationship between different parts of society and how those aspects function. Lastly, we have conflict theory. Conflict theory is simply the competition for scarce resources and how the elite controls the weaker groups. These are the three theoretical perspectives that I believe will immensely help your understanding of sociology, as they can be related to almost every concept in this field.