Taylor Gowen
03/08/15
Sociology Essay Exam
1) Describe the sociological perspective. Provide examples of what it does and does not look like. Discuss why a sociological perspective to individual and societal success. The sociological perspective is a when human behavior is observed and its connection to society as a whole is shown (Henslin 3). There are three factors that influence human behavior. This includes symbolic interactionism where we use symbols or face-to-face interactions to communicate with others. People attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols (Henslin 12). An example of symbolic interactionism is waving hello to a person. This is a gesture, showing
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Think about putting a child through school. The child gets the education needed provided by the state, in return we pay for taxes to the state to keep the education funded. The significance of functionalism is it keeps everything balanced. When schools run out of money the budgets must shrink and activities would be cut to balance out the lack of funds. The last factor is conflict theory in which there is a competition for scarce resources (Three Major Perspectives in Sociology). Sociological perspective invites us to look for the connections between the behavior of individual people and the structures of the society in which they live (Henslin 17). The sociological perspective is a particular way of approaching a phenomenon common in sociology, by applying all three factors that have been discussed. It involves maintaining independence, not by stripping oneself of values, but by critically evaluating and testing ideas, and accepting what may be surprising or even displeasing based on the evidence. (Henslin 18). The sociological perspective often assumes that “official” explanations are incomplete or self-serving. It involves a conscious effort to go beyond the obvious and question what is accepted as true or common sense. This is important because common-sense assumptions are usually based on very limited observation. Moreover, the premises on which common-sense assumptions are based are seldom examined. The sociological perspective
A sociological perspective is a framework for thinking about, describing, or explaining how human activities are organized and how people relate to one another and respond to their surroundings.
These three sociological perspectives make it easier to view and understand from different perspectives. There is first, symbolic interactionism. This perspective is how we interpret certain symbols to communicate with each other. (Example: Champagne can be attributed to one being wealthy.). Social Interactionists believe we as individuals within a society, act a certain way towards a specific gender because of how we were taught. For example, in western society, men are viewed as strong and natural born leaders. Even though for each individual male, this may not be
The sociological perspective (Berger, 1963) helps us to see general social patterns in the behavior of particular individuals (the general in the particular).
Sociological perspectives give us a variety of explanations about the social behavior and social interactions of human in society. It also helps us understand ourselves better. Without the sociological perspective, humans see the world through their very small groups of family, friends or coworkers. I will be comparing two sociological perspectives, Functionalist Perspective and Conflict Perspective, and how they would assess the role of culture in society.
The last sociological perspective and the most challenging to recognize is symbolic interaction. Symbolic interaction focuses on how human beings interpret symbols and communicate and forge a sense of self ( Halperin, 2/13/15). Symbolic interaction has five/six questions that need to be answered “What communication is taking place? What symbols are being used &/or how is the communication taking place? How does the communication shape perception? How are the parties being influenced by their interaction with one another? What social roles are being played out? (Halperin. 2/13/15).
The Functionalist theory emphasizes the contributions (functions) that all parts of society (e.g., social institutions) make within society. This theory has contributed to sociology by providing a view “which emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain stability.” (Schafer 2013, pg13)
In sociology, functionalism is one of the main theoretical perspective. The father of the sociology Emile Durkheim was the promoter of functionalism. Functionalism mainly focusing on the stability and order of the society. This gives a variety of elaboration about the society or human behaviour. All the parts of the theoretical perspectives connected and influenced each other, this all works together in maintain the society healthy. All of these parts depends one to another, if one of the parts not working properly, that will affect all the system or that all circles.
1. Describe how you can use your newly developed sociological perspective in your everyday life.
I choose the symbolic interactionism for my theoretical perspective. From sociological perspective, symbolic interactionism most concerned with the face-to-face interaction between members of society. Symbolic interaction reminds us that culture is a human creation.
Sociological perspectives are used to understand and describe the way societies function and the different behaviours of individuals within these societies. These perspectives can be used to explain the organisation of different areas of society, including social stratification, social mobility, social diversity, socialisation, and social institutions as well as the way each element fits into society. In this assignment I will be focusing on explaining each of the main sociological perspectives in society. The perspectives that I will be focusing on in this assignment are:
The purpose of this paper is to construct an essay and define the sociological perspective. To be able to explain how my knowledge of the Sociological Perspective has helped me to understand the social world on both a macro and micro level. This essay will include the definition, discussion and application of specific sociological terms, concepts and theories.
Emile Durkheim came up with the functionalist theory. Functionalism sees society working together like a system. Society consist of interconnected parts that work together that keeps everything in a balanced state. Herbert Spencer gave the idea that societies are living organisms that grow and evolve. This theory emphasizes how different groups of society influence other parts of society. This could be a positive The two main principles of functionalism; The first would be that society is perceived as a functional system made of intertwining parts/groups. The second function is that each structure its own purpose that contributes to continue societies stability. If something does not contribute to society in a positive way and throws off its balance its considered dysfunctional. An example of dysfunctional would be things such as crime.
way a human does. This is of course not the case, as it is the
"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
A sociological perspective on human behavior is connected to the society as a whole. It invites us to look for the connections between the behavior of individuals and the structures of the society in which they live. (Appendix 1)