Sociological Perspectives and Theorists, Slides of Sociological Theories

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Sociological Perspective &

Theorists

A Breakdown of Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism

What is Sociology?

• Sociology is a science guided by the basic understanding that “the social matters: our lives are affected, not only by our individual characteristics, but by our place in the social world.”

Sociology should be studied using a

Individual Choice vs. Social Forces

• Solidarity – the level of connectedness a person feels to others in the environment
• Social control —the social mechanisms that regulate a person’s actions

And is studied using one of the three theoretical paradigms…..

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 society’s resources and opportunities
    • 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?

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

Functionalist Theorists

• Auguste Comte
• Herbert Spencer
• Emile Durkheim
• Talcott Parsons
• Robert Merton

Comte’s Social Laws

• Comte suggested in order to know social laws of a society one must study social statics and social dynamics - Social statics are the existing structural elements of society - Social dynamics are the change in those elements of society

Comte & Functionalism

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

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

• 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.

Social Darwinism

• From Spencer you can see the type of thinking known as Social Darwinism. - A notion that suggests strong societies survive and weak ones become extinct.

Emile Durkheim

• Durkheim was one of the first true sociologists in that he used data to test theories.
• Durkheim’s work suggested that solidarity is a vital component that holds society together.

Mechanical & Organic

• Durkheim divided solidarity 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.

Durkheim’s Solidarity & Social

Control

• In his 1897 book Suicide , Durkheim proposed that two social forces, solidarity and social control , influence the chance of a person taking his or her own life. - Solidarity is the level of connectedness a person feels towards others in their environment - Social control refers to the social mechanisms that regulate a person’s actions