Sociological Perspective

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Sociological Perspective

• A Breakdown of Functionalism, Conflict Theory and
  Symbolic Interactionism

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Comparing the Theoretical Perspectives
Functionalism Conflict Theory Symbolic Interactionlism
Level of Analysis Macro Macro Micro
Core Questions What keeps society functioning smoothly? What are the parts of society how do they relate? What are the intended and unintended outcomes of an event? How are wealth and power distributed in society? How do people with wealth and power keep them? Are there groups that get ahead and why? How are societys resources and opportunities divided? How do people co-create the society? How does social interaction influence, create, and sustain human relationships? Do people change behavior from on setting to another? If so why?
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Functionalism

• Theoretical Paradigm 1
• Components Theorists

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Functionalism

• Functionalism views society as a system of
  interrelated parts
• It is a macro (large scale) orientation because
  it studies how social structures affect how a
  society works

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Functionalist Theorists

• Auguste Comte
• Herbert Spencer
• Emile Durkheim

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Comte Functionalism

• Although few sociologists use Comtes original
  theories today, his basic ideas are the
  groundwork on which functionalism is based.

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What is Functionalism?

• According to functionalists, society is
  relatively stable, which means that things occur
  in society for a specific function and those
  functions help maintain stability.
• Social institutions such as the family, economy,
  educational system, and political system are
  critical for society to function properly.

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• Functionalism suggests that a societys values
  and norms provide the foundation for the rules
  and laws that it creates.
• These norms regulate the relationships between
  social institutions.

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• Functionalists, however, have differing views
  about how these structures cooperate with one
  another.
• Some compare society to a living, breathing
  organism others analyze the expected and
  unexpected outcomes of a social event while
  still others wonder what exactly it is that holds
  a society together.

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Solidarity

• Solidarity integrates, or holds society together
  because people see themselves as unified.
• He points out that the type of society influences
  the type of solidarity.

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Mechanical Organic

• Solidarity divided into two categories
• Mechanical solidarity refers to the state of
  community bonding in traditional societies in
  which people share beliefs and values and perform
  common activities.
• Organic solidarity occurs when people live in a
  society with a diverse division of labor, this
  forces people to depend on one another for
  survival.

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Mertons Functions

• One of Mertons greatest contributions to
  functionalism was the understanding that social
  realities have both intended and unintended
  functions.
• Social factors that affect people in society.

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Manifest Latent

• Merton identified two types of functions
• Manifest functions are factors that lead to an
  accepted consequence or outcome.
• Latent functions are factors that lead to an
  unforeseen or unexpected consequence.

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• Merton suggested that when looking at any social
  event, sociologists should ask the question, For
  whom is this functional?
• By doing this, well do a complete analysis
  because well consider both manifest and latent
  functions

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Criticisms of Functionalism

• Critics of functionalism sometimes claim that
  this paradigm does not take into account the
  influence of wealth and power on the formation of
  society.
• Functionalists are accused of supporting the
  status quo, even when it may be harmful to do so.

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• Functionalists may argue that society works for
  the greatest number of people.
• Change will arise when problems become big
  enough.
• However, critics would argue that this belief
  results in many minorities being ignored.

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• Functionalist perspective often fails to
  recognize how inequalities in social class, race,
  and gender perpetuate imbalance in our society.

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Conflict Theorists

• Theoretical Paradigm 2
• Components Theorists

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Conflict Theorists

• Karl Marx
• Harriet Martineau
• W.E.B. du Bois

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Conflict Theorists Worldview

• Conflict theory is a theoretical framework that
  views society in a struggle for scarce resources.
• Studies issues such as race, gender, social
  class, criminal justice, and international
  relations.
• Two main concerns for conflict theorists are
  economic wealth and power.

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• In either case, conflict theory suggests that
  were all struggling for more stuff, whether
  that stuff is power in a marriage or wealth in
  the world.

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• In general, the essence of conflict theory
  suggests that a pyramid structure of power an
  wealth exists in society.
• The elite at the top of the pyramid determine the
  rules for those below.

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• The study of inequality in sociology always
  involves a consideration of conflict theory.
• Therefore, the paradigm applies to social class,
  race, gender, marriage, religion, population,
  environment, and a host of other social phenomena.

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• If you believe that discrimination, ageism,
  sexism, racism, and classism occur in society
  because some people have the power to promote
  their desires over others then you think like a
  conflict theorist.

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Criticism of Conflict Theory

• Critics of conflict theory often accuse it of
  being too radical.
• This paradigm often becomes synonymous with the
  idea that powerful people oppress the weak.
• A simple reading of conflict theory can also seem
  to make the notion of conflict seem like a bad
  thing.
• Doesnt competition breed excellence?

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Symbolic Interactionism

• Theoretical Paradigm 3
• Components Theorists

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Symbolic Interactionists

• George Herbert Mead
• Herbert Blumer
• Erving Goffman
• Howard Becker

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Symbolic Interactionism

• Symbolic Interactionism focuses on how
  communication influences the way peoples
  interactions with each other create the social
  world in which we live.
• Symbolic Interactionists believe that the root of
  society comes from its symbols.
• They suggest that the symbols we use are
  arbitrary, meaning that they vary from culture to
  culture.

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• Our definition of what has value depends on our
  understanding of it.
• Context and setting affects our understanding of
  a social event.
• Social order results when the members of society
  share common definitions of what is appropriate.

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• Disputes arise when we do not share the same
  definitions.
• Symbolic interactionism is the most micro of
  sociological approaches, as it often studies the
  activities of individuals and then draws
  connections to larger society from these.
• Studies of relationships, race, deviance, and
  even social movements can all use a symbolic
  interactionist approach.

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• Interactionists argue that individuals have the
  power to co-create the world, to make it what
  they want it to be.
• People develop standards and norms through a
  process of interacting with others.
• Symbolic Interactionism is a distinctly American
  way of looking at the world.

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George Herbert Mead

• Symbolic Interactionism is the brainchild of
  George Herbert Mead.
• In Mind, Self and Society, Mead suggests that the
  root of society is the symbols that teach us to
  understand the world.
• We then use these symbols to develop a sense of
  self, or identity.

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• It is this identity that we then take into the
  world and interact with other identities to
  create society.
• Thus, building blocks of society start with our
  minds, where we interpret symbols.

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• Mead suggests that we do this through micro
  interactions we have every day.
• Mead argues that all these various symbols enter
  our minds, where their meaning is interpreted and
  we are told how to react.
• Mead suggests that this process is never-ending,
  therefore, we have a fluid sense of who we are.

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• Our selves can change, and they do change based
  on how we interpret the symbols thrown our way.
• In this way, your self develops.
• Self is your identity, its what makes you who
  you are and separates you from others.

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Self Evaluation

• According to Mead, you couldnt have a self
  without symbols or without someone to pass those
  symbols to you.
• In other words, you learn who you are through
  others.

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Erving Goffman

• Goffman developed a theory called dramaturgy, a
  theory of interaction in which all life is like
  acting.
• Goffman uses this theory to compare daily social
  interactions to the gestures of actors on a
  stage.

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• People are constantly acting in order to
  convince people of the character they wish to
  portray to the outside world.
• Not to say that people are faking it, but rather
  that people are concerned about what the rest of
  the world will think of them and they adjust
  their social interactions accordingly.

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Criticisms of Symbolic Interactionism

• Critics of symbolic interactionism suggest that
  his perspective ignores the coercive effects of
  social structure, focusing too much on the power
  of the individual to co-create his or her world.

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How are the three paradigms interrelated?

• No single paradigm fits every situation.
• To get a complete picture, many sociologists use
  all three paradigms.
• In this way, the three paradigms are interrelated
  and work together to help us figure out why
  society is the way it is.

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Max Weber- The Conflict Theorist?

• Max Weber is a special sociologist because he
  cannot be labeled under just one theory.
• Because he wrote partly as a response to some of
  Karl Marxs ideas, many consider him to be a
  conflict theorist.
• Weber accepted that social classes influence our
  outcomes, however he felt Marxs social class
  system was too simple.

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• Weber proposed that all people have economic,
  political and cultural conflicts that are related
  to their relative social position.

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Max Weber-The Functionalist?

• In other ways, Weber appeared to take a more
  functional approach.
• Weber proposed that rational and ideal
  bureaucracies naturally occur because we need
  them.
• They provide clear lines of authority, divide
  tasks so workers can specialize, and clearly
  define rules and expectations.

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Max Weber-The Symbolic Interactionist?

• Webers ideas seem to lay the foundation for the
  symbolic interactionist school of thought.
• He pointed out how values influence our goals and
  affect our behavior.
• In his book, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit
  of Capitalism, Weber clearly linked a persons
  religious value to the societal creation of a
  capitalist economy.