Theories And Nature Of Human Behavior

In my opinion, the functionalist theory is the most accurate. Functionalism views society as interdependent parts that work together to keep everything stable. By definition, sociology is the study of the structure of society. The functionalist theory views society as different parts, so it is the perspective that is most close the definition of the word sociology. If you asked someone to observe and make conclusions about a large group of people, they would naturally most likely look at them through a functionalist lense more than any of the other 2 options. For example, if you were studying a school, you would observe people as groups such as cliques, classes, grades, etc. It makes gathering information and coming to conclusions about people

Theoretic perspectives have been used for years now to try and explain why people behave and interact with others, the way they do. Three common perspectives that are used are structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. Structural functionalism is a theory that sociologists use to describe human behavior by studying different institutions and how they correlate with one another and function together within a society. The structural functionalism can be explained using the human body for example. The body is made up of many organs, and each of these organs play a specific role. When the organs (which portray different institutions) operate successfully, they make up a healthy and appropriately functioning body

Everyone in the world has a theory about why something happens or how it happens, but in sociology there are many different types of theories that often contradict each other. Theory is defined as “a statement of how and why specific facts are related” (Macionis, 2013). Most theories explain why people act in certain ways and explains why a person in a group may act different than someone that is alone. When building sociological theories most sociologist ask their selves two different questions: “What issues should we study?” and “How should we connect the facts?” (Macionis, 2013). By answering these questions the sociologist is led to a road map, or a theoretical approach. Theoretical approach is described as “a basic image of society that

During my research and readings I definitely gravitated towards Symbolic Interaction more so than Structural Functionalism or Conflict Theory. Structural Functionalism is the thought that society is very complex and all the parts of it work together. Herbert Spencer compared

Sociological theories are the core and underlying strength of the discipline. They guide researchers in their studies. They also guide practitioners in their intervention strategies. And they will provide you with a basic understanding of how to see the larger social picture in your own personal life. Theory=a set of interrelated concepts used to describe, explain, and predict how society and its parts are related to each other. The metaphor I’ve used for many years to illustrate the usefulness of a theory is what I call "The goggles metaphor." Goggles are a set of inter-related parts that help us see things more clearly. Goggles work because the best scientific components work together to magnify, enlarge, clarify, and expand to our view the

Haralambos and Holborn (2008) defined a theory as a set of ideas that seek to explain the way things work. A Sociological theory is therefore a set of ideas which seek to explains how society, or how

In addition too, Symbolic Interactionism perspectives, there is Functionalism Perspective. The idea of the Functionalist perspective leads back to Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist whose writings form the core of the functionalist theory (McClelland, 2000). Functionalism is what happens when social structures have positive effects on the constancy of society. It is the frame work for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote harmony and stability. There are also three assumptions behind functionalism theory, Stability, Harmony, and Evolutions. Those who use social structure theory focus on studying the nature and the consequences of social structures. It also focuses on a relatively state pattern of social behavior. This gives our lives shape in

Sociologists use the three major paradigms of sociology to define social problems considering that they are complex in nature. Functionalism focuses on the entire social system and how well it is unified. It deals with how society offset issues when problems occur, nevertheless other components help to restore balance. On the contrary, Conflict Theory corresponds to functionalism due to the fact that it targets the entire social system. Its only difference is conflict theory centers multiple groups fighting to gain power, furthermore it just shows inequality. Symbolic Interactionism focal point are how the interactions of individuals between people influence their behavior and how society is impacted by it. Each of the paradigms have their

In this class, we covered many theories. One theory is called “Structural Functionalism” and it focus centers on reducing the chance of riots or revolution. This theory works well in modern society but it did not work well in the 17 century when it was invented. Then, there were few people who believed that this is true because they were mostly living in cities and the plague was the top priority. For these reasons, I won’t be covering this theory in my paper. Another theory is “Interactionism” and they oppose the structure theories because they say that “reality is constructed” so they do not work in the confines of structures at all. “What men believe is true, becomes true in the consequences.” (Miller).

A theory may explain human behavior. All theories enforce each other, theories work as links of a chain, for example behavioral theory seeks to explain human behavior is the way we associate with others to unite a positive or negative relationship which can lead to conflict theory if the relationship goes negative. The strongest interventions may be built from multiple theories. Negative relationships between young people can lead to misunderstanding which can result in incarceration (a system no one wants to see their children in). When combining theories, it is important to clearly think through the unique contribution of each theory. Conflict theory helps explain how power structures and power disparities impact people’s lives. Consistency and pronounced family structure and can help someone empower themselves to do better if the family is not structured the way society thinks is normal.

Sociological theories are in fact statements of how and why and how facts about the social world are related in a particular way. Ranging in scope from clear and concise descriptions of a singular social process to examples for analysis and explanation. Many sociological theories would explain certain aspects of the social world and enable the prediction of future events, while many others would function as broad perspectives in which, guide the further sociological

This is part of the macro level analysis. It was made from the works of Karl Marx. Symbolic interaction theory is the major groundwork or the base of the sociological theory. This is more focused on micro level analysis. It’s contingent on the figurative meaning that folks develop and rely on through the stages of social interaction.

Structural-Functionalist theory. This theory states that everything in society is but a small part of a much larger, more complex system and that all things are related meaning that when the whole 's needs are met, the individual 's needs are also met (Schaefer, 2015). The idea is that individualism is allowed, although deterred and closely watched because if the individual is to stray too far, the whole will suffer in turn causing other individuals to suffer. Another explanation for this theory given by Witt (2013a) is that:

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).

Focusing on the structural functionalist perspective, the idea that everything that happens in a society is either functional, dysfunctional, or both, is actually quite interesting. I was quite interested in learning how, crime of all things, could be considered functional and dysfunctional at the same time. If you look at crime as