P1: Use sociological terminology to explain the principal sociological perspectives In this essay I will be discussing different aspects of sociological perspectives in society. I will be mentioning three main sociological perspective; Functionalism, Marxists , The New Right and Feminism and their views on the family, the education system and gender etc. Functionalists Functionalists are positive about society. They generalise their ideas to the whole of society. For example they look at what education does for society as a whole not just certain people in society.
Durkheim sees anomie as responsible for the world’s disorder of economics- the lack of morality and regulation resulted in overpowering the weak; thus, he feels that only norms can prevent the abuse of power and calls for regulation and equal opportunity from birth- the greater the equal opportunity the less need for restraint. Marx looked at how capitalism separated humanity by making work a simple means of individual existence. In addition he describes society in terms of class and economic conflicts. Marx saw proletariat or people of a working class as being underneath the bourgeoisie or the capitalist of a modern society. Marx looked at how alienation of production of commodities by workers also leads to alienation of social life.
Pass 1 – Explain the Principal Sociological Perspectives In the document I am going to outline and explain the different Sociological Perspectives in relation to Health and Social Care. These include: Functionalism The idea behind the Functionalist approach is that everything within society and our day-to-day lives must function in a certain way to keep the natural order of things intact. A method of understanding how the approach works is by comparing it to the human body; the body’s organs and natural defences all work on an efficient interrelationship basis to keep the body running and to fight against diseases. Society woks in very much the same way, with all parts having specific contributions to make so that they can work together to use methods of social control to make sure that society functions smoothly. One person who played a vital role in the development of Functionalism as a Sociological Approach was Talcott Parsons (1902-1979), a sociologist who saw society as a system made up of interrelated factions contributing to smooth operation and continuity within society itself.
P1: Explain the principal sociological perspectives Functionalism Functionalism is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology; it is also the oldest but most dominant. It views society as a system of interconnected parts. It is described as using body parts such as the brain, lungs and heart which all work together to be able to keep the body alive. Each function within society holds its own values and policies and each plays a big part, in order to make society work, each function must work together to keep society running smoothly, if one function was to have a problem it would affect society as a whole. An example of this would be a school, police, medical and social services all being important in their own right but it
Institutions like the family, education and religion lead individuals into accepting the inequalities or capitalism. In other words, Marxists think that people are socialised into a culture based on their social class. They think people’s identity depends on their class position in the capitalist system. Criticism Not everyone agrees with the Marx’s views. The other 3 theories have different opinions on what culture
Family, Government, Education, Religion and the Legal System are all Institutions that shape our daily lives and influence how we live. Functionalists view society as a system with multiple parts. Each part is vital and must work in conjunction with the other in order for society to function. The need for unity between the Institutions is essential, so compromise is reached by all parties. Consensus provides collective agreement and moral consensus maintains social order and stability.
The concept of a classless society has been elaborated by Karl Marx, the father of Marxist philosophy which is the basis of the Communist ideology. As a member of a contemporary society under a democracy, my beliefs are rooted on a society made up of different classes. In order to get to a higher class of society, one has to work with sweat, and even blood. This idea has caused many revolutions because some who do not want the present structure of society want it to be restructured to suit the need of every individual. This essay is an attempt to discuss a classless society and to establish whether a classless society is attainable and sustainable in this century.
Crime is often the result of offering society-demeaning work with little sense of creativity. Laws that are passed on reflect the wishes and ideologies of the ruling classes. Thus for Marxists punishment for a crime may depend and vary according to the social class of the perpetrator. Modern Marxists point to education and the media as socialising agencies, which delude the working class into conforming to a social order, which works against its real interests. From a Marxist point of view laws are made by the state, which represent the interests of the ruling class.
It focuses on class conflict. A key founder of conflict theory was Karl Marx. He believed that there is/or was a bitter conflict between the bourgeoisie (those who own the capital) and the proletariat (the workers who toil for low pay). He believed this conflict could only end when the proletariat repelled aging the bourgeoisie. Functionalist division of labor Education provides society with a ‘division of labor’ this means schools help identify who will be the bin man and who will
Now, when we know the definitions, we can look at the Marxism view of education. Marxists looks at the society from a conflict perspective. They argue this with saying that education operates as an ideological tool where they manipulating people to think in certain ways to legitimise exploitation by the ruling class and inequality. Louis Althusser (1945) said that education operates as an "ideological apparatus"; in other words this means brainwashing. This idea to schools, could be argued with that the hidden curriculum transmit norms and values, such as punctuality and respect which include authority and other cultural values, whilst free thoughts gives you punishment.