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Functionalist Theory Of Stratification

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Functionalism
• Stratification is necessary to induce people with special intelligence, knowledge, and skills to enter the most important occupations. For this reason, stratification is necessary and inevitable.
Conflict
• Stratification results from lack of opportunity and from discrimination and prejudice against the poor, women, and people of color. It is neither necessary nor inevitable.
Symbolic interactionism
• Stratification affects people’s beliefs, lifestyles, daily interaction, and conceptions of themselves.
The Functionalism
The functionalist theory assumes that the various structures and processes in society exist because they serve important functions for society’s stability and continuity. In line with this view, functionalist …show more content…

By extension, we might not have enough people filling society’s important jobs unless they know they will be similarly rewarded. If this is true, we must have stratification. This all sounds very logical, but a few years after Davis and Moore published their functionalist theory of stratification, other sociologists pointed out some serious problems in their argument (Tumin, 1953; Wrong, 1959).Tumin, M. M. (1953). Some principles of stratification: A critical analysis. American Sociological Review, 18, 387–393; Wrong, D. H. (1959). The functional theory of stratification: Some neglected considerations. American Sociological Review, 24, …show more content…

Many different explanations grounded in conflict theory exist, but they all assume that stratification stems from a fundamental conflict between the needs and interests of the powerful, or “haves,” in society and those of the weak, or “have-nots” (Kerbo, 2009).Kerbo, H. R. (2009). Social stratification and inequality. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. The former take advantage of their position at the top of society to stay at the top, even if it means oppressing those at the bottom. At a minimum, they can heavily influence the law, the media, and other institutions in a way that maintains society’s class

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I quickly realized that many sociological studies are subjective, and different people will perceive a study in a different way. An example of this would be my reaction to the functionalist view on social stratification in Unit 7, which we discussed to be a view that supports the idea of social stratification. Initially, I felt this was wrong, because we should be striving for equality. After our discussions on the issue, I came to the realization that there are different ways to view this situation, as explained by the perspectives of functionalists, conflict theorists and interactionists.

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They also attempted to shape thinking, to make acceptable difference in income that would otherwise be odious”(395). In economic and political fields, people who are in charge take advantage of the authority, in other words, the dominance to consolidate and bolster their superiority. They influence (or manipulate, to some extent) the public’s thoughts and convey the idea that the difference in income is reasonable and justifiable to the public. Both Ho and Stiglitz mention people’s desire to maintain and strengthen the status.

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All individuals have certain social roles that when working together, form society, this allows for there to be inequality amongst individuals. Functionalism also says that social order is maintained through public consensus. So, the adjustments that the public makes in response to deviant behavior, allow for change within this theory. About Mean Girls, functionalist would view all the different groups in this movie as necessary to the functionality of high school. There are many different groups in the movie, for example the lunchroom scene shows us these separate groups.

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Conflict Theory American society today is made up of all three of the theories. In my opinion, these theories all thrive off each other as a whole. I feel that the chain is something like this, Symbolic Interactionism, as well as Functionalism, lead into Conflict Theory. However, I feel that Conflict Theory is by far the largest component American society is made from, here is why! First I would like to touch on Symbolic Interactionism, symbols we attach value or meaning.

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Classism is a major issue that plagues American society. Classism separates groups by their economic status in society. America is perceived to be a middle class society, however in reality the middle class does not hold majority of the nation’s wealth. Most of the nation’s wealth is held by 1% of the population in America which consists of 34% of the nation’s wealth, meanwhile “the richest 20% of Americans hold nearly 85% of the total household wealth in the country” (Adams et al, 2013, p. 151). American citizens that are a part of the upper class are privilege because they have access to majority of the resources.

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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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Functionalism Functionalism emphasizes how social structures maintain or undermine social stability in macrostructures (Brym,

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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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Argued Davis and Moore thesis states that social stratification is universal because of its functional consequences. in caste system, people are rewarded for performing the duties of their position of birth, in class systems, unequal rewards attract the ablest people to

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The individuals classed in the higher strata of society are the ones who are better treated, and therefore, are the ones who get the most benefits from society. It is not the individuals’ fault that society is formed this way. All societies are formed in a way that some percentage of the population is ranked in the higher pay range as well as some portion is ranked of the bottom pay range of the scale. There is no way that the social stratification of a society could be present because of the individuals themselves. There will always be a percentage of homelessness in a society and that is due to the larger societal forces rather than being the individual’s

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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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Therefore, in a stratified society, the individual’s opportunities are always determined by his or her social class. In this essay, I will be arguing that even though mobility exists in the social class system, the opportunity to change status is relatively open for everyone but the distribution of opportunities among the members of a social class is not relatively equal to all. I will demonstrate this point by showing how participation of an individual in a specific social class will decide the opportunities in terms of attaining education and achieving a well-paid job. Education has a significant role in promoting social mobility; it enables people to acquire knowledge and certain skills in order to promote their social status. Nowadays, people believe that societies are based on meritocratic

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