Structuralism : Structuralism And Structuralism

Structural Functionalism aims to understand society in an objective way. It views society as an entity that is “objectively real”. It emphasizes the unity of society, and how individuals perform roles and how these roles are vital in meeting the needs of the collective whole. For instance, because every society has stratification, stratification must have certain functions and these functions can contribute to the survival of the social system as a whole. Furthermore, structural

Sociology is the “systematic or scientific study of human society and social behavior” (Ferris and Stein, 2016, p. 9). The study of an individual society and its behaviors can have contrast due to a 20th century event. In the essay Racism and Research: The Tuskegee Syphilis Study, the unethical experiment took place in the year 1932 in Macon County, Alabama. This case can discuss the topics of culture, socialization, deviance, and race. All of which can become visible in a society through the structural functionalism lens. This sociological perspective theory is “a way of looking at the world” through a specific lens (Ferris and Stein, 2016, p. 10).

To fully understand the sociological implications of the issue on government surveillance, it is critical to examine the social problem using Structural Functionalism Theory, and Conflict Theory. Structural Functionalism explains the issue on government surveillance by viewing the society as a living organism with "organs," or social institutions, that work together to keep the society stable. The social institution that is closely related to the issue on surveillance is the government. In a different perspective, Conflict Theory explains the social problem by looking at the society as an entity that constantly changes due to conflicting values.

The structure and agency debate is a common one in the field of sociology and different theorists come up with different ways of accounting for the actions of social actors. This essay takes the position that structuration solves the problem of this much contested debate. Initially key concepts and elements of structuration will be pointed out .These elements include structure, agency, social systems and power amongst many others. Subsequently, there will be engagement of a discussion of different schools of thought and finally it will be demonstrated how structuration prevails over the structure-agency debate.

The relationship between structure and agency is a key discussion point in sociology. The concept was brought to life by the sociologist Georg Simmel, but has been discussed by many other famous theorists, such as Emile Durkheim and Max Weber. The partnership between structure and agency are crucial to the development of society, and the process of individualization.

From my perspective on structure and direction I have come a conclusion that there are many ways to interpret structure

My chosen contemporary social problem is drugs and alcohol abuse. Structural-Functionalist perspective on drug abuse is a response to weakening societal norms. Drugs and alcohol abuse is one of the most significant social problems not only in the United States but also around the world. As a matter of facts, drugs and alcohol abuse is a problem with innumerable effects both on the body and mind of a person. Many times, these adverse impacts affect the families, friends, and acquaintances of the addict whereby, for instance, the latter may lose their jobs or cause chaos. For individuals that abuse psychoactive drugs it can affect the body in many different ways, such as behavioral, cognitive and physiological problems, these problems occur when a person that abuse psychoactive drugs on a regular basis. Consequently, I chose this topic because it is a major problem that has affected the lives of the individuals and those around them in the communities. Not a single day has ever ended without me coming across a drug addict begging for money. To my dismay, some of these people are usually so drunk that they cannot even communicate or stand properly. Therefore, I have come to conclude that drug and alcohol is a problem that can cause long-term effects. I desire to learn more about the issue and help individuals with addiction problems now and in future.

In my opinion both of the theories structuralism and functionalism involved the study of the human mind and how it works and they were both concerned with the mind at the conscious level. Personally, my feel of the two is that functionalism is more important than structuralism. I believe that functionalism is far better school than structuralism as it is more flexible and scientific in nature which I can relate myself with. I happen to think that functionalism is an object that is designed to determine solely by its function. These are a few of the similarities between structuralism and functionalism. Throughout this paper I will further explore some of the differences between these

Ever since slavery was abolished, there has been a continuous struggle in the United States between African Americans and Caucasians involving social class, poverty and equality. Although blacks have suffered terribly in the past, they are still commonly looked down upon and even placed in a lower class category. The struggle over slavery opened to flood gates to the Civil War, Reconstruction, segregation, Jim Crow laws, the Civil Rights Movement and is still something we are overcoming as a Nation.

Structural Functionalism sociological perspective sees a human society as a system. In a system, many interconnected parts work together with a common objective. In a society, all individuals have specific roles. In addition, things like beliefs, rituals, values, rules, morals and ethics all determine the specific behavior expected of all members in a community. The interactions between individuals depend on the role of the individuals and the collective social values and rules in the society.

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).

Key features of language include its words and their sub structures such as morphemes, graphemes and syllables at the writing level as well as reading or speaking, words, their meanings and contexts in which the words get spoken or read. Language has to be interpreted as a whole, and not just as the specific word. There must be an explicit pattern or structure. In order for language to be understood correctly, the meaning of words must be arranged in a given context. This is what constructs language; even though words are arbitrary themselves, in order to integrate as a language, they must be used in the appropriate context. This pre-established cultural context is what will enable effective communication. (Daniel Willingham, 2007, p. 1).

Among the most important concepts to emerge are those relating to dialects and language standards. Sociolinguists have documented the presence of dialects in every language. These dialects, all of which are legitimate, are associated with educational, economic, social and historical conditions. Hence, even if an individual scrupulously studies all the possible dictionaries of a random language, he would still be somewhat of a stranger to that language since he is unaware of all the dialectal changes.

The rising power of transnational terrorist organizations post 9/11 has weakened the state-centric framework of the international system and challenged the structural realist’s conception of power. As one of the major theories, one would assume that the premises of structural realism would be more applicable in the 21st century. However, leaders of today are enveloping countries in a globalist mindset, contesting a state mentality that honors sovereignty. 9/11 represents a historical turning point; in which clashes between state and non-state actors increased the vulnerability of state actors and challenged their internal sovereignty. This paper will examine the premises of structural realism and explain how the rise of non-state actors

Basically, Structuralism was firstly set up in Europe by Ferdinand de Saussure, a structural linguist. It is a kind of methodology which discusses hat elements of human culture must be understood in terms of their relationship to a larger, overarching system or structure. It works to uncover the structures that underlie all the things that humans do, think, perceive, and feel. In fact, structuralism is aimed to find the inner structure logic behind millions of words. In literary, structuralism the narrative dimension of literary texts because Structuralism Criticism deals mainly with narrative.(Tyson, 219)