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Explain The Three Main Theoretical Perspectives

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Sociology is the scientific study of human social behavior. The sociological perspective gives sociologist viewpoints that can be used to look at human behaviors and interactions as they relate to individuals and groups in societies. Sociology understands humans, not by what is inside of them, but by the outside factors determining them, which is what should be observed. There are three main theoretical perspectives in sociology that are used to understand social relationships and behaviors in groups and/or by themselves. The three main theoretical perspectives are structural functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. Structural functionalism is a macro sociological perspective that views society as a complete unit. The theory of Functionalism is a huge perspective in social science which directs its attention to the social structure and its components. Those components are called norms, values, status and role. This theory or perspective enables us to …show more content…

It focuses on how humans use symbols like, signs, gesture and language, to develop their views of the world, others and themselves and see this as an important aspect in social interaction. Interactionists believe that humans use these symbols to define themselves by comparing them to the others around them and regularly change the view of themselves. For example, if Ashley and Mike were best friends but Ashley sees Mike as a potential boyfriend but he doesn’t have those same feelings, they will act differently with each other. If Mike were to do something nice for Ashley, she may take that as a sign that he likes her the same way she likes him but he still sees her as just a friend. But what if one day Ashley were to develop the courage to tell Mike how she feels will the way, then she might change the way he sees her since he now knows how she

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From 1940 to 1970, peaceful tactics such as the NAACP lawsuits, Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the Birmingham Children’s Crusade were most effective in bringing about change during the Civil Rights movement. Starting in 1940’s, The NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People) utilized peaceful lawsuits in the courts as well as in local legislature to challenge racial discrimination in education to bring about change (Norton, 767). The peaceful manner utilized by the NAACP to influence the Civil Rights movement allowed the African American community to effectively garner admission to professional as well as graduate schools at formerly segregated schools. In 1954 the NAACP continued to influence the Civil Rights movement by

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Mean Girls is a movie filled with unique words and weird gestures that we as watchers can understand. Symbolic interaction theory emphasizes face-to-face interaction and thus is a form of microsociology. In our textbook, symbolic interaction is described as a theory that human interaction and communication is facilitated by words, gestures, and other symbols that have acquired conventionalized meanings. An example that captures the essence of symbolic interaction theory involves Cady, Janis, and Damian at the beginning of the movie.

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Structural Functionalism is a theory that explains the reason why we as a society act the way we do and why we choose to focus on the relationships between the various social institutions and that help make up society. Race is something we see every day of the week and month. Many people try ignore and pretend it not there in their face but the truth is something we cannot escape due to who we are. In other words, the difference that we make between each other and our races has nothing to do with our genetic obvious characteristics. Race was used socially, primarily by people who perceived ideas based on where an individual was born as well as how they spoke.

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Sociology is the study of the development, structure and functioning society. Sociology is all around us, it 's what we say, what we do, what we watch on TV, and what we see in our everyday lives. Sociology is a broad term, because there are many different words that associate with Sociology including family, relationships, media, gender, and crime. While sociology is all around us, a common place where we might witness ideas that come from sociology is right at home on our televisions. A popular show that displays a perfect example of sociology right now is Keeping up with the Kardashians.

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386 Words | 2 Pages

Looking at society as a whole with individual units that work together to make society function efficiently is the structural functionalism concept. Each unit has a part and is describe as institutions such as family, religion, education, politics, economy and inequality. Because structural functionalism looks at social structure and patterns of behavior it is able to create values for society. As well as, distinguish between visible and suppressed problems within the social structures that may need to be addressed. For instance, homelessness is indication of dysfunction in structural functionalism system.

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Structural-functionalism or functionalism, are groups of individuals who advocate, or work according to the principles of functionalism. The show however, portrays behavior that is clearly not functional and could be considered dysfunctional for society. But, there are examples of groups of people or individuals who work together for the well-being of the town. For instance, Quahogs news crew which consist of anchors and reporters work together the provide news for the town. The Quahog Police Department.

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The functionalism theory is a macro-level theory. It sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote equilibrium and stability. These parts may be functional, which means that the society has beneficial consequences. They may also be dysfunctional, which means that society will have negative consequences. Both of these together will create equilibrium among the society, which

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Structure functional theory views society as a whole, a complex system of integrated, interrelated parts working together to keep society balanced. Each section of society has a certain task to fulfill in order to meet the needs of society. Therefore, functionalists stress order and stability. If a part of society is dysfunctional the peace is disturbed and the system is weakened. Each social institution plays a major role to the function of society, family provides an environment of reproducing, nurturing, and entertaining the children, education paves a way to pass on knowledge and values to one’s child while, politics provide means of leading members of society.

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By way of example, all three of the theoretical perspectives notably have idiosyncrasies about one another. As an illustration, structural functionalism is defined as Due to the fact that society consists of vital parts and systems they work in unison with each other to run smoothly. The people in the society contribute in myriad areas of interest in the process of structural functionalism. David Claerbaut states that these areas of interest, incorporate into society with: religion, economics, education, politics and family. On the other hand of living among each other actively working to create a seamless community we have the conflict theory.

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Structural Functionalism is a sociological theory that tries to clarify why society functions the way it does by concentrating on the connection between the different social institutions that make up society (e.g., government, law, education, religion, etc.). In Animal Farm the first example of structural functionalism is when the boar thinks the ordinances of their society are ruled by the oppressor humans. The second example is when the traditional structure is arranged to keep the animals in captivity. Lastly, the third example is when the arrangement allows humans to always be on the receiving end.

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a. Sociology is the study of the social relationships that affect the humans as well as institutions. It involves many fields of study that include crime, religion, family, race, culture and society among others. It is the primary purpose of sociology to provide linkage to all of these different subjects to help in understanding how humans behave (Smith, 2016). b. Sociological enquiry is the careful analysis of the motivational factors as well as the behavior of a certain individual within a particular group of people. The primary objective of sociological inquiry is to reveal an understanding of the social world that is readily observable.

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Structural Functional Theory Structural functional theory is a macro sociological theory that is based on the characteristics of structures, social patterns, social systems and institutions such as education, religion, leisure, media, economy and politics. If all these social institutions are organized and co-operate with one another around a set of core values functionalist theorists assume that the entire social system will function properly and efficiently. Society in structural functional theory has a view that it is an organized system of interrelated parts that are held together by shared values and established social arrangements that help maintain the system to be in a state of balance and equilibrium. Structural functional theory is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions (Vibha Desai, 2013).

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In today’s modern society, everyone is largely affected by society. From multiple social institutions like the government and economy for instance or even the effects of education and mass media; these all play a huge role in an individual’s relationship, behavior, and actions in their society. For an individual to understand things like a “culture” or why every society has a ‘social class hierarchy,’ they will be directed to “Sociology”. Sociology is the systematic study of the structures of human society and social interaction. Sociology attempts to understand how things like society, social events, interactions, and patterns influence the way humans think, act, and feel.

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According to the Dictionary, Sociology is defined as the study of the development, structure, and functioning of human society. This means that people are willing to study social problems throughout the world and the society that they live in. In my life, I deal with my social class, Gender, Race, Religion, and the time I was born. Because of who I am, I definitely have been a part of a different upbringing and lifestyle that many sociologist may find interesting.

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Sociology is the scientific study of human social relationships and interactions. Sociology 's subject matter is diverse. Subject matter for sociology ranges from the micro level of an individual and interaction to the macro level of systems and the social structure. At the society level, sociology examines and explains matters like crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and discrimination, schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social movements. We can see these subject matters crystal clear as sociology ranges from crime to religion, from the family to the state, from the divisions of race and social class to the shared beliefs of a common culture and from social stability to radical change in whole societies.

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