4. Discuss the similarities and differences between conflict/Marxist theories and functionalist theories in sociology. Marxism was founded by Karl Marx. Marx saw society as divided into two major parts, the economic base otherwise known as the infrastructure and the super-structure. Functionalists see society as a set of parts which work together to form a whole.
Structural action, in other words structuralism, is a perspective which is concerned with the overall structure of society and sees individual behavior molded by social institutions like the family, the educations, the mass media and work. The relationship between individual and society in structuralism is referred as a macro approach which is focusing on the large scale structure of society as a whole. For example, the effects of industrialization on older people's status, or how gender and income affect older people's well-being. Functionalism and Marxism are two main varieties of structuralism. Functionalism, is a sociological perspective, which sees society, as made up of parts which work together to maintain society as an integrated whole, like a human body.
As sociologists our main goal is to understand social situations and look for repeating patterns in society. Sociologists are engaged in rigorous scientific endeavour which requires objectivity and detachment. The main focus of sociology is the group and not the individual. Sociologists attempt to understand the forces that mold individuals, shape their behaviour and thus determine social events. Through a variety of experiences we develop a set of ideas about the world and how it operates.
Social structure has to be seen as comprising both institutions and relations. There are two major approaches to ‘contemporary social theory’, the Marxian materialist approach and the structural functionalist approach. The materialist approach was developed from the work of Karl Marx (1818), who believed that the economic order shapes society. The functionalist approach was developed from the work of Comte and Durkheim, stating that is the combination of all of society's institutions that shapes
Functioning is all a part of life but, can it work in a sociologist standpoint? According to the You May Ask Yourself by Dalton Conley its possible. Throughout Colney’s works in chapter one he explains three major theories. Including the Functionalist theory, conflict theory, and Symbolic Interaction. In the position as a student of sociology, I believe the Functionalist theory best describes society.
Browne once said "sociological perspectives centre on how much freedom or control the individual had to influence society" He goes on to comment on the two main approaches "structuralism is concerned with the overall structure of society and the way social institutions act as a constraint, or limit and control individual behaviour". Structuralism offers a view of the individual being controlled by the society they live in, Marx and Durkheim are similar in that they can both be described as structuralists, however their individual ideas are somewhat different. Functionalism was developed by Emile Durkheim, he believed like Comte that sociology should be viewed as a precise science and that society should be studied objectively. Durkheim placed an enormous amount of emphasis on social facts which he saw as ways of acting, thinking or feeling that are external to individuals and have their own reality outside the lives and perceptions of individual people. This is known as the macro approach, which places a great emphasis on the structure of society and how an individual operates with that society.
3. Distinguish between micro-sociology and macro-sociology. 4. Explain how the industrial revolution contributed to sociology. 5.
Sociological theories are complex theoretical and methodological frameworks used to analyze and explain objects of social study. Each theory has its strengths and weaknesses. The focus of this essay will be on functionalism and its contributions to the understanding of society today. Functionalism goes back a long way in history with its views and theories on society, with the work of Spencer and Comte. Its theories were then taken on within the work of Emile Durkheim and a lot more recently by Talcott Parsons in America 1940-50's.
FUNTIONALIST THEORY AND THER MAJOR TENENTS The functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, is one of the major theoretical perspective in sociology. It has its origins in the works of Emile Durkheim, who was especially interested in how social order is possible or how society remains relatively stable .A perspective is a point of view. Major tenants are people who contributed in the theory example Herbert Spencer Talcott Parsons, Robert K. Merton. A concept is a fundamental category of existence. In contemporary philosophy there are least three prevailing ways to understand the concepts.
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.