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Functionalist Theory And Micro-Level Analysis

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Sociologists have studied and created three common paradigms, a typical example or pattern of something, which detail specific patterns and behaviors of society. These include functionalism, which is a mid-level analysis that focuses on how each part of a society works together to be conducive to the whole, conflict theory, a macro-level analysis that studies the inequalities and how they contribute to social differences as well as how they perpetuate differences in power, and symbolic interactionist theory, a micro-level analysis that focuses on individual interaction along with communication. Functionalism “Functionalists argue that society should be understood as a system of interdependent parts. They believe that there are specific requirements …show more content…

His student, Herbert Blumer, created an outline of SI (symbolic interactions). He stated, “The position of symbolic interactionism is that the “worlds” that exist for human beings and for their group are composed of “objects” and that these objects are the product of symbolic interaction” (Blumer 1986). This meant people interact with things because of the meanings or interactions attributed to those things and the attributed meaning of those things come from our interactions with society. Social scientists use SI to find patterns between people and uses qualitative research methods. Constructivism is branched from SI and states that reality is what people mentally create it to be. This approach is used to find the deviance in society even though there isn't an absolute definition, as it varies from societies. Criticism Because this theory has trouble remaining objective, it has also received criticism. Another issue is the limitations this theory experiences due to its excessive focus on symbolic interaction. Conclusion In brief, the three sociological perspectives have shown the different ways

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Finally, the three sociological perspectives can be seen. Functionalist can be observed in the way

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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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The three main Sociological Perspectives are Structural Functionalist, Social Conflict Theory, and Symbolic Interactionist, all of which are quite different but also similar in many ways. The study of sociology began when humans began to wonder about human social relationships and institutions during the nineteenth-century revolutions. As sociology has grown in popularity, many different sociologists have developed diverse perspectives on human social relationships and institutions. Structural functionalists study the existence of humans in society as part of sociology and many other social sciences such as relationships, institutions, and roles that make up a society. The main point of structural functionalists is that society works together to build structures and institutions such as education, family, economy, religion, and health care for them to evolve towards increased differentiation, where institutions become increasingly specialized in the functions they perform.

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In sociology, there are three theoretical perspectives; symbolic interactionism, functional analysis and conflict theory. The major point of symbolic interactionism is to use symbols to help understand how we as a society view the world, and how we communicate with one another. In functional analysis, the major point is to look at society as a whole, constructed of various parts, or groups, that all have their own function. Lastly, conflict theory is the opposite of functional analysis. In this perspective, society is viewed as different groups, each competing for power, or dominance.

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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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“The central idea of symbolic interactionism is that symbols—things to which we attach meaning—are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one and another” (Textbook -pg.13). In this, the symbols are the things we attach meaning to and different people have different meanings. This is what makes social life. For example, Jess dreams to become a football player like David Beckham. She says “I didn’t ask to be good at football, Gura Nanak must have blessed me”.

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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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My research paper is about the timeline of the Symbolic Interactionism Theory. An American philosopher named George Herbert Mead had introduced the perspective in the 1920s to American Sociology. It relies on the symbolic meaning that people had developed in which they, relied upon the process of social interactions. A Symbolic Interactionism on short-term interactions is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology.

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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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In this essay, I will discuss the key premises of symbolic interaction as well as consider the ways in which symbolic interaction promotes the view that people have agency. I will then put forth the argument that conflict theorists make with respect to schools reproducing the culture of the dominant class. In relation, I will mention in what ways this perspective promotes the view that people are constrained by social structure. Finally, I will discuss the dialectical relationship between structure and agency "Symbolic interactionism has come into use as a label for a relatively distinctive approach to the study of human group life and human conduct."

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Mead is known as the founder of the Symbolic Interaction theory in sociology, which serves to explain hypothesis of this study. Symbolic Interactionism is a theory that “sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are not inherent but are created through interaction” (Ferris & Stein, 2014, p.29). This sociological theory was founded mainly by the teachings of George Mead, however there are several other contributors to the theory. After Mead’s death, Herbert Blumer took over his work and gave the theory its name. Blumer summed up symbolic interactionism into three main principles: first, “we act toward things on the basis of their meanings”, second, “meanings are not inherent; rather they are negotiated through interactions with others” and third, “meanings can change or be modified through interaction”

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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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It’s often known as the consensus theory due to the fact that in functionalism everything works together, there is complete agreement. It doesn’t take into account social factors that may affect aspects of life. On the contrary, it views society as a system in which all parks work together to make everything work in consensus (Dottin). Emilie Durkheim said, “There are two types of men: the great and the small” (Durkheim). This leads us into the discussion of the inequality of functionalism.

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While studying sociology, every individual will have a distinct perspective and depending on the particular subject, not everyone will have the same viewpoint on the topic at hand. With this, Sociology consists of many different approaches, commonly known as “Sociology theories” These theories are distinctive and diverse, providing a different perspective for understanding different situations in society. With there being a wide variety of approaches such as “Feminist,” “Labelling,” and “Critical,” for instance, the top three major approaches representing Sociology are, “Structural Functionalism,” “Conflict Theory,” and “Symbolic Interactionism.” This paper will be comparing the differences and similarities between “Structural-Functionalism” approach and the “Symbolic Interactionism” approach. To start

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