Functionalism Theory
The functionalism theory views the society as a system that comprises interconnected components that work collaboratively so as to satisfy the desires of the society. The functionalism theory draws inspiration from ideas of Emile Durkheim. Durkheim wanted to know how societies maintain internal stability and survive; thus, he sought to explain social stability and also the concept of solidarity. According to Durkheim, modern societies rely on the organic solidarity (Gold, 2013). Because of the wide division of labor, the society members are forced to exchange and interact with each other so as to provide the things they need. Robert Merton founded the functionalism theory. Merton defined functions as the positive consequences based on the actions of humans that benefit the society.
The functional theorists tend to view the society as being a living organism composed of a variety of interconnected structures, which carry out various functions so as to survive and thrive. The functionalist perspective tries to explain how the societies maintain stability and internal cohesion essential to ensure the continued existence over time. As functionalists consider the society to function as organisms, the various parts of the society are normally assumed to work automatically and naturally in maintaining social equilibrium (Taylor & Andersen 2007). The theory does emphasize on the interconnectedness of the society through focusing on how each part is influenced or influence others. The functionalist usually is the terms functional and dysfunctional in describing effects of social elements on society.
The society elements are functional if they contribute to the social stability and the dysfunctional if they disrupt the social stability. Functionalists also look at the two types of functions, which are latent and manifest functions. Functionalist sociologists Robert Merton divided human functions into two, manifest functions and latent functions. The manifest functions are intended functions of institutions in the society. The latent functions are unintended and unrecognized functions in the social processes and institutions. Functionalists tend to realize that just like the body, the society gets sick and through studying the parts and processes of the society, the functionalists may better understand how the society remain stable (Taylor & Andersen 2007). Functionalists claim that an institution exists because it does serve a vital role in the society functioning. If it does not serve any role, an institution will die.
Conflict theory
The conflict theory originated from Karl Marx’s writing on the class struggles. Marx is the father of the conflict theory and other sociologists associated with the theory include Jane Adams and W.E.B Du Bois (Gold, 2013). The conflict theory focuses on the negative, ever-changing, and conflicted nature of the society. The theory purports that tension and conflict arise when the status, resources, and power are unevenly distributed between the groups in society and the conflict become the motivating factor for social change. The theory originated from Marx who focused on the causes and consequences of the class conflict between proletariat and bourgeoisie. Marx suggested that all societies usually go through stages of economic development (Taylor & Andersen 2007). As the societies evolve, concerns over meeting survival needs tend to be replaced by concerns over making the profit. The conflict theory tends to explain various aspects of the social world through the look at the groups that have power and benefit from social arrangements.
The conflict theories normally challenge the status quo and encourage social change, and they believe that the rich and powerful people do force social order on the weak and the poor. The conflict theory does assume that the institutions and interaction in the society do foster competition and inequality, but when challenges, it can result in beneficial social change (Gold, 2013). Today, the conflict theorists do find the social conflict between any group in which the potential for inequality exists such as economic, political, racial, and gender. Thus, it is a macro-level analysis of the society that does view the society as being an arena for inequality generating conflict and social change. The theorists claim that unequal groups tend to have conflicting agendas and values that cause them to compete against each other. The constant competition between groups does form the basis for the ever-changing nature of the society. The broader social structures and the organizations do reflect competition for resources. The conflict theory does make many assumptions about the social world. It paints a picture of self-interested individuals operating to maximize their rewards in a competitive world.
The conflict theory does not look at how the social structures help society operate; however, it looks at how social patterns may cause some people in the society to be dominant and others oppressed.
Symbolic Interactionism Theory
The Symbolic Interactionism tends to be a theoretical perspective where the society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use in establishing meaning, communicating with one another, and developing, views of the world. Examples of the symbols include relationships, language, family members, and workmates. Based on the theory, if there were no symbols in our lives, we would not know who we are related to or who does give authority. In the family setting, symbols include sisters, brothers, mother, aunts, father, uncles, etc. The theorists who contributed to the idea of this theory are Charles Hortan Cooley and George Herbert Mead (Gold, 2013). The main emphasis of interactionist perspective is symbols as the theory focuses on objects and what the objects mean within the society.
Social Interactionism focuses on creating a framework for building the theory that sees society as a product of the everyday interaction of individuals. The society tends to be nothing more than the shared reality that people construct as they are interacting with each other. According to the theory, the behavioral pattern of people is based on the descriptive meanings because people do behave based on their descriptive beliefs instead of objective truth (Taylor & Andersen 2007). The descriptive meanings and beliefs tend to be nothing, but interpretations that people were given; hence, the theory suggests that the society is based on interpretations of people. The theory is usually rooted in phenomenological thought. Based on this theory, the objective world does not have reality for humans as only subjectively defined objects have meaning. Meanings are not entities given to humans, but meanings can be altered through creative capabilities of humans and people can influence many meanings that do form the society. Hence, the human society is a social product.
The Interactionism theory claims that people develop a complex set of symbols that do give meaning to the world and the meanings are molded from interactions with the society. The theory focuses on symbols and language, which help us give meaning to experiences in life (Gold, 2013). When interacting with the world, we tend to change how we behave based on the meanings that we give social interaction. Interactionist believes that interactions and communications do form the reality. In this case, the reality is socially constructed through thoughts, conversations, and ideas. Based on the theory, individuals are powerful in shaping the world and not just victims conforming to societal forces. The individual shape and create the society and the change happening are ongoing and constant. Symbolic Interactionism tends to suggest that our identity and the sense of self-care normally shaped by the social interaction (Taylor & Andersen 2007). We tend to develop our self-concept through observing how other people interact with us do label us. Through observing how others view us, we tend to see a reflection of us. Some aspects of our social identities and experiences can be understood through the Symbolic Interactionism, theory. We tend to use socially constructed meanings of race and gender in deciding who to interact with and help us determine the meaning of a person’s actions and words.
Social constructionism theory
The social constructionism theory is usually concerned with ways we think about and use categories in structuring our experiences and analysis of the world. The theory does examine the development of constructed understandings of the world that do form the basis for shared assumptions about reality (Teater, 2014). The theory claims that human beings do rationalize their experiences through creating models of the social world and share these models through language.
Social constructionism does regard individuals as being integral with the political, cultural, and historical evaluation in particular places and times; thus, resituates psychological processes cross-culturally in the temporal and social contexts. Other than the developmental and inherited aspects of humanity, the theory hypothesizes that all aspects of humanity are maintained, created, and destroyed in our interactions with others (Taylor & Andersen 2007). Social constructionism shows the importance of the way of socialization and enculturation among people we know and the current influence of those we now know are most active in shaping our existence with others (Teater, 2014). The interest of the theory is in discovering the different ways that groups and people create shared perceived reality. The theory involves examining ways social phenomena are created, institutionalized, and made to tradition by people. Social constructionism tends to focus on the description of institutions and their actions and not on analyzing the causes and effects. The theory tends to describe the subjective instead of objectives, which involves the reality as we perceive it instead of reality as defined by society.
Difference and similarities
Both functionalist and conflict theories are macro-sociological insights that comprehend the larger elements of the society such as institutions. Although functionalism theory assumed that institutions alter themselves so as to create stability, conflict theory claims that capitalist uses institutions like religion in manipulating others. The inequality tends to be different from symbolic Interactionism’s support for the individuals believing in similar symbols and meanings (Taylor & Andersen 2007). Symbolic Interactionism does share the similarity of dependency with functionalism as both Interactionism and functionalism do assign the society’s interdependence on institutions and ascribed communications. Interactionism does attribute situations to the human meanings whereas functionalism does emphasize on the general functions that play a role.
The functionalist perspective claims that everything in the society has a role essential for the functioning of the society. Thus, according to the theory, poverty, and economic inequality tend to play a role in keeping the society stable. However, Interactionism does not ask about the big picture of why poverty persists but looks at how people react (Taylor & Andersen 2007). The functional theory does see the society as being a complex system whose parts do work together in promoting stability and solidarity. On the other hand, conflict theorists see society as an arena of inequality that does generate change and conflict. Symbolic Interactionism does see the society as being a product of the everyday interaction of individuals. The interactionist perspective is based on meaning while functionalism perspective views the society as being a body which each part plays a role in the society survival. There is a major difference between Interactionism and social constructivism. The social constructivism tends to be on a macro level where ‘we’ as a society do assign labels to things and associate those things with meanings (Teater, 2014). For instance, money is just paper; however, as a society, that paper can be used in trading for services and goods. Contrary, Symbolic Interactionism is on a micro level whereby we tend to define certain things and also associate them with meanings, but in a smaller setting.
Conclusion
In sociology, it is necessary to follow the theoretical perspectives as a framework in understanding phenomena. In this paper, I focused on the four main theories of sociology including conflict, functionalism, symbolic Interactionism, and social constructionism theories. The theories do provide us with perspectives for viewing our social world. These sociological theories do assist us in explaining and predicting the social world that we live. Without theories, we would have a list of individual tendencies, type of people, or decisions that people make, without a way of organizing the field. The sociology theories aim at explaining why people choose to perform particular actions and how the societies function or change in a particular way. Studying these theories provides insight and understanding regarding each point of view in regards to the society and people.
Reference
Gold, M. (2013). Principles of sociology. McGraw-Hill Companies
Taylor, H & Andersen, M (2007). Sociology. Cengage Learning
Teater, B (2014). An introduction to applying social work theories and methods. Open University Press
Sherry Roberts is the author of this paper. A senior editor at Melda Research in best nursing writing services if you need a similar paper you can place your order for custom nursing papers.
No comments:
Post a Comment