Sociological Perspectives Of Functionalism, Conflict Theory, And Symbolic Interactionism

“All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.” William Shakespeare may have written these words in As You Like It in 1600, but Erving Goffman truly defined the phrase with his dramaturgical theory. Dramaturgical analysis is the study of social interaction in terms of theatrical performance. Unlike actors though, who use a script telling them how to behave in every scene, real life human interactions change depending upon the social situation they are in. We may have an idea of how we want to be perceived, and may have the foundation to make that happen. But we cannot be sure of every interaction we will have throughout the day, having to ebb and flow with the conversations and situations as they happen.

In this assignment I will be explaining some of the different sociological perspectives in today’s society. The sociological perspectives which I will be explaining will be Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism, and interactionism, Collectivism, Postmodernism and The New Right.

Functionalism in sociology is a theoretical framework in which society is viewed as a complex system composed of various parts that

Sociologists use one or more theoretical perspective approaches to make different assumptions about society three of the most common theoretical perspectives is the conflict, functionalist, and interactionist. Each one of these three major sociological perspectives have similarities and differences among each other.

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.

When it comes to judging internal traits, we know ourselves better than others know us. We

The functionalist is a macro perspective, meaning it focuses on society as a whole rather than individual people. Functionalists tend to think of society as a machine, and individuals as parts that make the machine work. They believe that societies tend toward consensus instead of dysfunction, which, according to a functionalist, stems from rapid social change and disorganization among structures. Functionalist belief contrast strongly

In this class I have learned a bounty of information that will forever enable me to better understand human interaction. I have always been the type of person that prefers to sit back and watch interaction, than to be the center of the interaction. In this way, I have always been more observant of how people interact and what motivates people. This class has taught me much about why people do the things they do and expanded my knowledge of how people interact and express themselves. Erving Goffman’s concept of dramaturgy explains human interaction so well: “the self is essentially ‘on loan’ to us from society; it is created through interaction with others and hence ever changing within various social contexts. For example, you may want to make

We tend to understand things by relating to them. We attribute our own qualities to

He also implies how an individual will be focussed on making a favourable show of him (a good impression) which gives another explanation to why humans can be seen as actors in situations of social interaction, they act how they think the audience (observers) want them to act. To summarise his chapter on presentation Goffman’s primary assumption is that individuals differ not by their specific qualities, but by the situations they find themselves in to which they adopt different ‘roles’ to perform for the “observer”.

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.

Symbolic interactionism is associated with two main theorists, one of these is George Mead and another is Charles Cooley (1864 – 1929). Cooley is known for the ‘looking glass self’ concept where people define themselves and others by the way that other people judge through real and imagined views. Whilst George Mead was a philosopher he is regarded as a sociologist since he influenced many of the best sociologists. He was very keen to ensure that theories would be used to solve real-life problems. Mead used the term social behaviourism to contrast his approach from more orthodox sociology.

Sociology is the study of groups of individuals within societies and the interactions involved. These studies are performed on micro and macro levels, studying the cultures and patterns of people (Keirns et al., 2015, p. 6). Sociologists use sociological imagination, a term created by C. Wright Mills, to describe cultures by acknowledging their own life experiences and assigning that to the circumstances around them (Mills, 1959). There are three main theoretical perspectives in the sociological world: functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Functionalist “see society as a structure of interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society” (Keirns et al., 2015, p.15). Conflict theorists see society “as a competition for limited resources” (Keirns et al., 2015, p. 16), while symbolic interactionist focus on the relationships among individuals within society (Keirns et al., 2015, p. 18). Sociology focuses on how a society functions and how each individual fits within that society utilizing the scientific methods as a basis for research.

Sociology includes three major theoretical perspectives: the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective. Each perspective offers a variety of explanations about the causes of and possible solutions for social problems (Rubington & Weinberg, 1995).

Charles Herbert Cooley was an interactionist because of his idea that people are shaped by society. He is most known for his idea of the looking-glass self (Columbia Electronic Encylopedia, 6th Edition). The looking-glass self explains as how individuals see themselves the way others view them. Cooley believed there is a connection between the individual and social consciousness because the individual was always aware of the social presence (Cooley). Although the looking-glass self theory was developed by Cooley, it is evident that this interaction between the individual and social consciousness has been present throughout history. Cooley made these observations more than 100 years ago, the concept remains applicable today. In today’s society, people seem to be more aware of them the way others see them. Social media has given a larger forum for individuals to reveal how they view someone. Cyber-bullying and criticism through this online human interaction affect how a person views himself or herself, and leads to low self-esteem and other sociological issues. This seems to be more prevalent among teens.