In Sociologist there are three major theoretical perspectives in sociology today.
They are the structural functionalist, the conflict perspective and the symbolic interactionism. Each aspect explained human behavior. The structural-functionalist is a macro level and focus on the relationship between the parts of the community. Functionalist perspective is sometimes called functionalism. Functionalists also use the terms functional and dysfunctional to describe the effect of the social impact of the social element on society. The functionalist perspective is base on the work of Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton. The functionalist perspective views society as creating of different parts working together.
Some aspect of society can be both functional a dysfunctional. For example, lawbreaking is dysfunctional in that associated with physical violence and loss of property and fear. According to Durkheim, a violation is also functional for society because it leads to increase recognition of shared moral bonds and increased social unity. According to lumenlearning.com Durkheim believes that society holds together by share value, languages and symbols. He thought to examination society, and a sociologist must look beyond the individual to the social fact such as laws, morals, values and religious belief. He also believes that individual may make up society but to stay in society sociologists have to look further individual to social fact.
Example, one function of a society law may protect society from violence, while another is to punish criminal behavior and while another is to present public health. The conflict, perspective is a macro level, and it focuses on how the rich control the poor and weak. Symbolic interactionism is a micro level, and it focuses on resources, power, and inequality. Conflict perspective views society as building a different group interest participate for power and resources.
The conflict makes clear the various aspect of our society by looking at which group have and benefit from an individual social arrangement. The conflict focus on the negative, conflict and ever-changing nature of society. People accept rich and powerful people force social order on the poor and the weak. According to khanacademy.com, conflict theory is based on the idea of Karl Marx from the 19th century who believed a society involved through several states the most important of which were feudalism, capitalism, and socialism.
The rich upper classes were called bourgeoisie. The penniless level was called Proletariat. Bourgeoise owned a factory that produced everything people need. They sold what the factory make to earn a living.
The proletariat only sell their work to make a life depend on the factory owners to get paid. Symbolic interactionism is a micro level and its center of attention on the use of symbols and face to face interaction. According to course.lumenlearning.com symbolic interactionism focuses on the connection among individual within a society. A symbol is believed to be the way in which people make sense of their social world. The study shows that the use o symbolic interactional perspective is more likely to use quantitive research methods, such as the in-depth meeting or participant observation because they seek to understand the symbolic words in which research subject live.
According to George Herbert Mead, people become different based on their interactions with objects, events, ideas and other people. A Symbolic interactionism spotlight that human behavior impact by definition and meaning that are created and maintain though symbolic interaction with other. It also suggested that we identify or sense of self-appearance by social interaction. We start our self-concept by observing how others interact with us and by seeing how others view us, we see a reflection ourselves that which called ” The looking glass self.”
