Conflict Vs Functional Theory Essay

Conflict versus Functional Theory
“The difference between school and life? In school, you're taught a lesson and then given a test. In life, you're given a test that teaches you a lesson.” (Tom Bodett) What is the purpose of our education system in our society? Schools continue to educate the young by expanding their minds and providing students across the country a higher likely-hood of succeeding by furthering their education. The school system provides a platform for domestic students to compete with each other as well as international students. By becoming educated, most students will be able to find a job that can provide for their families. Thus, the democratic uplift starts taking effect. For the functionalist, education is an institution that functions to fulfill the needs of society. Most people might agree that education exists to impart knowledge to the students that they will need to function in everyday life. Functionalism acknowledges this aspect of education, but it also recognizes another purpose of education. Functionalism is a social paradigm that views society as a system of interdependent parts. For society to work, all parts of the whole must have a general consensus. For example, they must have shared values to provide societal expectations of individuals. Like functionalism, conflict theory also views society as a system of social structures. However, conflict theorists have a different opinion on the purpose of those structures. While functionalism views the sub-systems within the system of a society as entities that work together for the benefit of all, conflict theory holds that the sub-systems are in place and perpetuated in order to benefit only those that hold power. The people that hold power are the ones that have control of what are perceived as scarce resources, like money, land, and political influence.
One of the most important aspects of conflict theorists that I took away was the idea that all institutions are controlled by...