SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
Description:
CONFLICT THEORY
Asks how societies
Description:
carry out the functions
they must perform.
Identifies roles and
rules that define social
structures. Society is a
system and consensus is
the societal norm.
Assumptions: Stability and harmony
essential for the system
to function. Change
through evolution adaptation of social
structures to new needs
(elemination of
dysfunctional
structures). With
emphasis on harmony,
"Keeping the peace",
functionalism often
called consensus
theory.
Addresses the points of
stress and conflict in society
and the ways they contribute
to social change. Power
struggles are inevitable due
to competing interest
groups. Competition is the
societal norm.
Assumptions: The dialectic: change
through conflict: Thesis->
Anthithesis -> Synthesis
(Karl Marx). Power just as
important as shared values
in holding society together.
Economic determinism:
economic competition at
root of all relationships.
Social criticism as first task
of social analysis.
SYMBOLIC-INTERACTION THEORY
Description:
Studies how social
structures are created in the
course of human
interaction. Addresses the
subjective meanings of
human acts and the
processes people use to
develop and communicate
shared meanings. Society is
a network of interacting
individuals, social
structures, and groups.
Assumptions: Importance of symbolic
meanings: what behaviors
mean to participants of a
group. Development of
symbolic meanings through
interaction: meanings grow
out of relationships.
Changing relationships
change symbolic meanings.
Social process: negotiation
(individuals are active).
Who benefits from the
exercise of power and who
loses? Is inequality built
into the social structures of
society? What tensions are
inevitable? How does
power affect the distribution
of scarce resources? Who
are the "haves" and the
"have-nots"?
Questions
Raised:
How do people behave in
intimate groups? What are
the symbols that give value
to the social order? How
are social roles
"constructed" and changed
through interaction? How
does individual behavior
affect social situations?
Questions
Raised:
Do parts of the system
work in harmony?
How do social
structures contribute to
the maintence of
society? (What is their
function in society?)
What are the shared
values of a society?
Questions
Raised:
Application:
Study of formal
organizations.
Development of social
policies.
Application:
Study of policies, social
movements, corporate
power structures, and
hierarchies of power.
Application:
Educational practice,
courtroom procedure,
therapy.
Evaluation:
Focus on conflict alone
ignores issues related to
societal stability, a critical
view of society can overlook
positive consequences of
order.
Evaluation:
Has limitations for study of
large social organizations.