Sociological Perspectives

Sociological Perspectives are different perspectives of how to view the world. The three sociological perspectives are the functionalist theory, the conflict theory, and the interactionalist theory. Robert Merton and Emile Durkheim are considered to have founded functionalism. Functionalism emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability. Functionalists believe that all parts of society are linked together. Functionalism is a theory about the nature of mental states. A mental status is not what something it is made of but what it does. Functionalism was a major influence on the education system. It is believed that the functionalist perspective functions just like an organism. This meaning that each

This creates conflict and creates a quest for social change. A society with conflict is subject to continuous change and inconsistency. This theory was hypothesized by Karl Marx who studied the existence of a powerful minority class and suppressed majority class that are at a conflict because resources were not distributed evenly among them. He focused on the consequences and causse of conflicts in each social class. Others have expanded the conflict theory to create other types of theories within the conflict theory. The feminist theory and race theory are two examples of sub-theories. Conflict theories do not have to be violent. An example of a non-violent conflict perspective is a competition between religious groups or a dispute over the federal budget. Conflict perspective highlights the struggle of resources that are limited and power as a permanent aspect of a society resulting in a big change in parts of a

An example of these are an educational institution. Interactionism only studies a smaller scale of society or group. Symbolic interactionism and functionalism are alike because they both categorize relationships in society, in institutions, and communication systems. Symbolic interactionism brings people together by similar symbolic relationships. Functionalism views society as broken down parts of society that work together as a whole but the conflict theory sees those broken down parts of society and assesses them while they compete. Both founders of the conflict theory, Max Webster and George Herbert, based their perspective as being humans themselves and not off of society much like the functionalism theory does. Functionalism and symbolic interactionists are positive perspectives while the conflict theory is mostly negative. Although, conflict theory does not always have to be negative. Most people want to understand their role in a society. The sociological perspective helps you to try to understand your place in the