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Comparing Durkheim's Functionalist Theory To The Conflict Theory

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This essay will discuss the theoretical approaches of both Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim. In this essay it will show evidence of support that both of these Sociology founders theories are still relevant to current social issues present today. The essay will compare and contrast the Functionalist Theory (Durkheim) to the Conflict Theory (Marx). In this essay the solutions according to both theories will be applied to the social issues present in our society today. Emile Durkheim believed that people and how they interact with one another and react to different situations should be studied in the same manner how scientists study nature, empirically. This idea had been influenced on him by Auguste Comte who was also a founder of sociology. However …show more content…

This was also known as moral solidarity, which means a group of people who share the same beliefs and values and connect with each other as one. Going against the beliefs and values of the group would have made the deviant open to punishment.“ Solidarity is maintained when individuals are successfully integrated into social groups and are regulated by a set of shared values and customs” (Giddens.2009 p 14) Durkheim established two different types of solidarity that occurred in society, Organic and Mechanical. Mechanical solidarity, which is in more traditional cultures, is the coming together of the people of society who have shared values and beliefs. The values and beliefs initiate a “collective conscience” that works in individuals to cause them to follow the social norms and beliefs. There is a much lower divide in labor and people work in the same roles which is the basis of their values and beliefs. Organic solidarity is different to Mechanical solidarity as it is dominant in industrialized societies. Instead of people working together as one because of their shared values or beliefs , people work together because they are dependent on each other economically. (P. Halligan, Class Notes, …show more content…

(Giddens.2009 p 15) This then led Durkheim to study the act of suicide in dept. He believed that the change in soceity was causing individuals to feel withdrawn and leaving them without fulfillment in their lives causing people to feel detached from society. This was known as anomie. (Giddens 2009 p 15) Durkheim’s approach to sociology is known as Functionalism. It is the study of how society works. Durkheim’s theory influenced Talcott Parsons ideas and he applied and developed the Functionalist theory to more modern societies in the 1950s. Parson’s theory argued that order and stability had more of an impact on values in societies rather than structure and he believed that supportive families were the key to successful socialization. Parsons also believed that everyone had a role to play in society and also in the family. According to Parson’s the man’s role in the family was to be the breadwinner and the financial support this was called the instrumental role. The woman’s was an emotional role and they should provide care and security for the children (P. Halligan,

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While Durkheim calls modern society a disconnective collectiveness conscience, because everyone depends on themselves. Durkheim called the progress from traditional to modern society a “natural evolutionary progression.” He

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We look are homelessness and functionalism and  how on a macro leave how it affects homeless. We also look at the programs that available for people.        Explanations using sociology theory    The functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology.   Edward Durkheim, was the regional person who was greatly interested in seeing how social order is possible or how society remains relatively stable.

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However, Emile Durkheim understands the complications of his ideas because unstructured division of labor demands equability of external forces that he knows can never occur. The way that anomie would be define is the way that people or a crowd is in constant conflict with each other. Furthermore, anomie affects a group or people when they are struggling to follow the current norms, which causes people to feel separated from society

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The concept has been widely used by sociologists since. Anome is a French word which means normlessness or a state without rules or regulations. One of Durkheim 's most famous studies was concerned with the analysis of suicide. Durkheim showed that social factors employ a fundamental influence on suicidal behaviour. Durkheim defined suicide as "every case of death resulting directly or indirectly from a positive or negative act performed by the victim himself, which he knows will produce this result" (Aragwal, 2012).

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It has its origins in the works of Emile Durkheim, who was especially interested in how social order is possible or how society remains relatively stable. As such, it is a theory that focuses on the macro-level of social structure, rather than the micro-level of everyday life. Notable theorists include Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, and Robert K. Merton. Functionalism interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole

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Capitalism is understood to be the “economic and political system in which a country's trade and industry are controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state.” In modern society, capitalism has become the dominant economic system and has become so integrated that it has resulted in a change in the relationships individuals have with other members of society and the materials within society. As a society, we have become alienated from other members of society and the materials that have become necessary to regulate ourselves within it, often materials that we ourselves, play a role in producing. Capitalism has resulted in a re-organization of societies, a more specialized and highly segmented division of labour one which maintains the status quo in society by alienating the individual. Karl Marx and Emile Durkheim theorize on how power is embodied within society and how it affects the individuals of society.

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The four famously known theorists are Emile Durkheim, Max Weber, and Karl Marx. Each studied and viewed social behavior in a way they believed was the way it should be viewed; hence, they came up with different theories that categorizes society in many different aspects. Emile Durkheim was a father of sociologist who was famous for his views on the structure of society and its functions. His work was majored on how traditional and modern societies evolved and operate. Durkheim's theories were based on the concept of social facts.

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Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) believed that the social connections

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In other words, functionalists like Durkheim believed that for a society to survive, its various social processes must come together to meet the system’s needs. Functionalists implement Durkheim’s outlook of a unified social scheme with various elements having a function within

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Emile Durkheim developed a theory called functionalism, which explained how the individual and society were related and how society changed over time. According to functionalism, society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole. Durkheim believed that society should be analyzed and described in terms of functions. Society is a system of interrelated parts where no one part can function without the other. These parts make up the entirety of society and therefore, if one part changes, society is impacted.

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Durkheim, thus wishes to be more scientific in his approach and wants to observe moral facts that are constantly changing to formulate sociological theories as opposed to just accepting a set of “ideal type” morals that were formed at a specific

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Emile Durkheim’s theories on social solidarity have been leading the debate on the effects of a shift between two types of solidarity for decades. Solidarity can be seen as the bonding force that hold our societies together. One type of solidarity is mechanical solidarity. Mechanical solidarity is a society that functions as a collective, like a machine, with the same goals, dreams and fears that are driven by the ideals of a god or religious figure. In the modern world we have transitioned into organic solidarity.

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The conflict theory can be connected on both the full scale level and the miniaturized scale levels. Conflict theory tries to inventory the courses in which people with significant influence look to stay in force. In comprehension conflict theory, rivalry between social classes has key influence. For Marx, the conflict unmistakably emerges in light of the fact that all things of significant worth to man come about because of human work (Cross, 2011). As indicated by Marx, business people misuse specialists for their work and don 't share the products of these works similarly.

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