Theories of Sociology: A Bug's Life Essay

The functionalist perspective would emphasize the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. (Schaefer, 2011) A functionalist may point out the manifest functions of video games as a

Lord of the Flies Man vs Society, Man vs Man, and Man vs nature Illustrate Humanity

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)

Functionalism is a theory by Durkheim that conveys that all aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary for the survival of that society. In this way, society is like an organism. If all institutions work properly it contributes to the

Structural Functionalism, also known as functionalism, sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society. The way that applies to the ant colony society in the film is through biological needs of survival through offerings, and social needs if contribution to the colony as a whole. The power hierarchy starts with Hopper, and his grasshoppers, down to the Queen ant with other speciality ants, with the lowest being worker ants, which includes the protagonist Flik. The grasshoppers advertise that they protect the ants and allow them to live in peace only if they are given a sacrifice annually which the ants fulfill. This allows the agreement and structure of the contract to be stable. The system is so ingrained into the ants that when a leaf blocks the way to the offering stone, the worker ants immediately panic until someone higher up in the social order is able to redirect them. Another example of this collective conscience is when the ants panic when the alarms for the grasshoppers sound off. Unable to to make an individual decision it is up to the Queen to step in and restore order. The stability is dependent on the relationship of the ants, the Queen, and the Grasshoppers.

Moreover, Societies are held together by both consensus with values and coercion. The functionalist view is that the balance of harmony among the society is held up by societal institutions. For example, schools, church and family are seen as the most significant foundation for an adequately functional society.

Functionalism developed out of the positivist observation that 'all positive speculations owe their first origin to the occupations of practical life' (Comte, 1865, pg 11) and the boundaries of scientific knowledge can not go further than empirically observable truths and views societies as holistic systems where 'the whole is greater than the sum of its parts' (Taylor et el, 1997, pg 662). Functionalist analysis draws on three assumptions essentially seeking to transform society into a theoretical system of reality. The first assumption is that there are zero independent parts operating within

Functionalism views society as the stability and assimilation of a range of forces that function within it. While society is a separate entity with a life of its own, there are individual elements contributing to that stability. Functionalism as a sociological theory emphasizes assimilation rather than the dissociation of society. Therefore, the society is seen as a whole that is compromised of parts which give one another their identity and their function. The part, whether that is education, such as a school, or sports, such as a football team, operates in relation to the other parts, and cannot be entirely understood in isolation from the other parts. All the parts are interrelated, and when there is a disturbance in any one of the

Functionalism looks at society in aspects of how it contributes to the steadiness/cohesion of the whole society (Anderson, Taylor, & Logio, P. 18). There are many institutions that are looked at that include the economic system, government, education, religion, health care, and family. All of which have different roles and perform different functions to ensure that society operates in a well-ordered manner. An example of this would be how family reproduces, takes care of children, exposes children to culture and heritage, supports other family members, and shares life experiences. Shared values and social stability are keys to this perspective. When this system breaks down it is because people’s needs are not being covered and shared values are deteriorating. When this occurs, it affects all parts of functionalism and the society must achieve

Everyone is familiar with the state of armed conflict that is war, and for as long as there has been civilization there has been war. Upon first glance, Henry David Thoreau’s “The Battle of the Ants” seems like a simple descriptive story of a battle between two different species of ants, one red and one black, but if one were to further inspect the text, they could see that Thoreau uses the ants and their battle as a satirical allegory for human conflict. Thoreau chooses to use ants as a metaphor to make it clear to the reader that war is futile, pointless, and a waste of life.

Critics of this theory state that it focuses too much on order and stability and presents somewhat of a conservative and idealistic view of society. It does not encourage individuals to take an active role in changing their social environment even when such a change might be beneficial to them. "Instead, functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate naturally for any problems that may arise." (Zgourides 12). It also fails to take into consideration differences in power among and between groups.

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

Functionalism is a consensus perspective, whereby society is based on shared values and norms into which members are socialised. For functionalists, society is seen as a system of social institutions such as the economy, religion and the family all of which perform socialisation functions.

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.

Comparable to some degree with the struggle of the early civilizations (i.e. Greek and Roman slavery) to break out their condition of being slaves, the classic animated movie "A Bug 's Life" depicted in a similar way, but in different causes to bring the system down. In the mentioned movie, various societal form and structures of interest are exposed in this paper.