In fact, Durkheim has even defined sociology as a science of social facts. Social facts and events constitute the fundamental bases of his sociology thought. He tried to analyse and explain social phenomenon and social life by making use of this concept as his basic concept. Durkheim’s views about social facts are extensively dealt with in his second major treatise namely, “The Rules of Sociological Method”. Main Intentions of the “Theory of Social Facts”: Durkheim was in part a positivist and a believer in applying the methods of physical sciences to the study of social facts.
Along with the theories I will explore the major institutions of organised religion and education with the eventual aim of providing a clear answer to the essay question. Functionalism is a consensus theory and Functionalists believe society works as a collective consciousness. Put simply this means that functionalist thinking focuses on the theory that members of society work together with each other because it is in the individual’s best interests or that the individual is predominantly self-serving but know that in order for society to flourish they must work with others. Functionalism is also based upon the belief that every aspect of society no matter how small has a function or purpose to serve in and that in turn will keep society running efficiently and also because all members of society hold a shared consensus of norms and values. a good analogy would to be compare functionalism to motor vehicle, the engine, the petrol, the gear’s must work together in order to create fluid motion, if one were not to function efficiently the vehicle just would not operate correctly.
Religion makes society’s central values sacred and this helps to promote value consensus and social stability. Religion also provides meaning, as it is able to answer ultimate
Phenomenologists emerged from Philosophy, primary influenced by E. Husseri and M. Heidegger, it aims to describe and explore experiences which can only be done by collecting data, from individuals who have lived through those experiences. Hence, Phenomenologists often refer to the “lived experiences” and data is often limited to interviews, while findings are reported as a rich description of the experience having characteristics identified in data analyses. Grounded Theory, developed in sociology was first described by B. Glaser and A. Strauss and its aim was to generate as the name says, a ‘grounded theory’ to
This essay will compare and contrast both the Marxism theory and the Functionalism theory of topics in society. The topics of society this essay will discuss are: Families, Education, Employment and Religion. This essay will look at evidence supporting these theories and evaluate the strengths and weaknesses. In Sociology there are many theories on different society based topics. A sociological theory is the same as a sociological perspective; it is a way that sociologists look at something.
24). His thoughts on symbolism, in combination with Charles Horton Cooley’s thoughts on the matter, would be the basis for this perspective that coined its name from one of Mead’s students, Herbert Blumer. The basis of their ideas was focused around the way that symbols were used as a way for people to interact with each other and define social
Sociology is a scientific discipline which studies the complexity of human society in a social context. This discipline uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis. It examines how people interact with one another and in groups; size of group may range from small social settings (a community) to society in a global context (for example the United Nations). Sociology investigates the social causes and consequences of aspects such as romantic love, racial and gender identity, family conflict, deviant behaviour, aging, and religious faith. At the societal level, sociology examines and explains matters like crime and law, poverty and wealth, prejudice and discrimination, schools and education, business firms, urban community, and social movements.
Giddens (2009 p.6) defined sociology as ‘‘the scientific study of human life, social groups, whole societies and the human world as such’’. He argued further about sociology by suggesting that, ‘‘it is a dazzling and compelling enterprise, as its subject matter is our own behaviour as social beings’’. Hence, it is opined that sociology is an academic tool that broadly looks at human organisms’ lives in order to explain why they act the way they do. Black (1979 p.18) defines common sense as ‘‘the style of discourse by which people understand reality in everyday life”. Sociology is in one way or another related to science and common sense but it is also in many ways distinct from the two.
Therefore functionalists see religion as a positive aspect of society, helping to reduce the risk of social unrest. Durkheim explains religion in the way that it enables others to integrate better/more successfully within society and among others, appearing as a strong source of social solidarity that is keeping everyone together in harmony. His see sacred symbols within religion that makes up society's collective consciousness, which in this case is the shared norms, values beliefs and knowledge that make life as part of a wider society possible. Without this collective consciousness it would not be able to function properly and crumble. While participating in shared rituals that bind individuals together, reminding them that they are a part of a community which they owe loyalty.
Durkheim believed that the main function of religious belief is to promote social stability which is reinforced by the collective conscience. The collective conscience is the shared values and moral beliefs and without them there would be no social order, social control, social solidarity or cooperation. Durkheim says that the attitudes of respect towards the sacred is the same attitudes applied to social duties and obligations, therefore people are worshipping society and recognising the importance of the social group. Religion strengthens the unity of the group and promotes social stability by bringing them together at religious rituals. When being together in religious rituals, social groups are able to express their faith and their common beliefs and values.