Essay on Sociological Perspectives to Understand Society

Submission refers to at least six sociological concepts covered in the lectures or textbook reading

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.

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:

In this blog I will be explaining the principal sociological perspectives (Marxism, Interactionism, Functionalism and collectivism). The open view in sociology can cause debates, disclosure and sometimes even controversy as we will see in the blog.

T. Parsons is probably the most important functionalist theorist of socialization. Parsons believe that through the socialization process, the individual is able to internalize society's values and these values then becomes a part of their personality. Through socialization, individuals are able to take on aspects of society's culture, their behavior becomes largely predictable and they contribute to the maintenance of social order. The family is seen as the most important agent in the socialization process, so it is classified as a primary group. However, Professor Alvin Gouldner believes that T. Parsons underestimated the

Sociologists develop theories to explain and analyze society at different levels and from different perspectives. Sociologists study everything from the micro level of analysis of small social patterns to the “big picture” which is the macro level of analysis of large social patterns.

A key part of engaging in sociology is to adopt a sociological viewpoint or 'think sociologically'. Etymologically, sociology is the 'study of society' but this doesn't differentiate sociology from other forms of social study. Hence, many begin to describe thinking sociologically by what it is not - it is not thinking politically, thinking anthropologically, thinking historically or thinking psychologically, for example (Berger 1966: 11-36; Reiss 1968: 2-3). Others try to determine the nature of sociological thinking by detailing practical phenomena which can be thought about such as social systems and their subsystems, social institutions and social structure, and social aggregates, relationships, groups and organisations (Reiss 1968: 1),

Sociological Perspectives and Theories Sociologists try to explain how society orders itself but there are many different theories for this, which often conflict with one another. Some of these classic theories include Marxism, Functionalism, and Interactionism. There are also more modern or contemporary theories such as Feminism. Each sociological perspective has different beliefs.

Explanation of common sense and sociological approaches to the study of Human Societies, with examples.

The sociological imagination raises three core questions. Firstly, what is the structure of the society being studied? Secondly, what relevance does its context in history have? And thirdly, how does it influence and shape those within it? (Mills, 1959: 6-7). The consideration of these questions enables the greatest understanding of the relationship between society and an individual’s position and circumstance, and is what makes the concept sociological.

The issue I have chosen is the use of social networking websites and how the three sociological perspectives apply to them. The use of social networking website has become a social norm in the way our society communicates with each one another. I believe that there are benefits with using social networking websites in your private and public life. On the other hand, I do believe that with social networking websites, the boundary between our private and public life merge and become difficult to separate.

Sociological theory creates ways to understand the social world by having different theories to explain understand social life. It aids to make sense of this social world. It draws together a wide range of perspectives to help provide the fullest picture. (Macionis & Plummer p.36) It shows that one theory can explain something that another cannot. My aim is to answer this question with reference to both functionalism and conflict theory. This will be done by comparing and contrasting both theories in relation to their perspectives on both suicide and gender discrimination as social issues relevant to this day and age. Functionalism and conflict perspectives are both macro theories. This means that they focus on the big picture, for

One other strength of functionalism is the belief that society is held together by social consensus, or cohesion, in which members of the society agree upon, and work together to achieve, what is best for society as a whole. Talcott Parsons believe that order, stability and cooperation in society are based on value consensus; that is a general agreement by members of society concerning what is good and worthwhile. He further believes that the stratification system is derived from common values it follows from the

The paper should be typed, double-spaced, 11-point font, 1” margins. Both the write-up and your typed journal should be saved as ONE document with page numbers. Remember to include a citation for any resources referenced, in proper APA format, and make sure your name is on your paper.

The sociological inquiry is the methodical analysis of the inspirations and behaviour of individuals within a group. It is the study of the social world as a whole and focusing on how elements such as the family, religion, school, community and government effect it. Sociological inquires most standard goal is to simply obtain a more clear understanding of the observable social world that we live in. In this essay I will be looking into the sociological theories of Marx, Weber and Durkheim, and recognising if their approaches are still relevant today.