Viacheslav Sovanrithy
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Sociological Perspectives
Author: Bradford J. Lehr
Sociology is the scientific study of society. The field has only recently been developed. Although some earlier philosophers argued about social behavior, it wasn’t until about one hundred years ago that the philosophers used systematic observations and scientific methoRAB to prove their theories. The use of these studies then transferred them into sociologists.
In sociology there are three major perspectives to look at society. Each sociologist has there own belief in which perspective they feel is correct, although not just one perspective is correct. The three major perspectives are functionalism, conflict theory, and syrabolic interactionist perspective.
The first perspective, functionalism, believes that society lives in social order. All the institutions religion, school, workers unions, sports teams, etc. work together to keep society working as a whole. The family, for example, raises children and provides them with the love and nourishment children need. The family is not expected to thoroughly teach children about god. The church is there to provide the child with a religion to believe in. With both of those institution working together the child wouldn’t get both a good home and a healthy spiritual up bringing. Each one of the institutions is interdependent on the other.
Another example is schools and the work force. The schools have to prepare people to be able to work in society. People would not be able to work if they weren’t first taught how to work. The schools help to keep social order, preparing people to work. Then the work force can make money. Not only do they make money, but they then spend the money. This helps keep a state of good economic standing. Once again this shows how each institution depenRAB on one another.
Social consensus is said to be a condition in which most merabers of society agree on what is good for society and they cooperate to achieve it. Social consensus is what enables all the parts of society to remain in social order according to funtionalists.
One funtionalist Herbert Spencer described society as a living organism. Each part institution of society was like a heart, brain, lungs, etc. All the parts have their own job to do but they also have to work together in order for the organism to survive. This is the best way to see how the funtionalists feel society works.
All right now that the functinalist view is explained it is time to move on to the next view. The conflict perspective is the next view. Conflict is a totally different type of perspective than functionalist view. Unlike the functionalist conflict sociologists believe that society is constantly in conflict with each other. The constant conflicts change and shape society every day. The social order is only kept by people’s willingness to compromise and cooperate with one another.
One example of society being in conflicts is the conflict between economic classes. Karl Marx, a conflict sociologist, believed the biggest conflict among society was the economic class conflict. Society is divided up into two classes, rich and poor. These two classes are always in conflict according to Marx. The poorer class always wants more money and better working conditions and the upper class always wants more work for lower wages. The two types of classes rarely ever both get what they want. Also rarely do both classes ever interact with one another.
Another example of the conflict theory is the constant clash of different racial backgrounRAB. Whites and blacks have been in conflict ever since the beginning of time. From the days of slavery, to present day some people are racist towarRAB one another. People will always be prejudice toward some type of race whether it is blacks, whites, Hispanics or any other type people.
One major conflict perspective is the feminist theory. Feminist believes men and women have long been in conflict with each other. Feminists feel women have been oppressed as a whole. They feel men have made it very difficult for women to do certain things, like being in a high position in politics. In many ways this is true. Ever since the bible men have always looked at women as inferior to men. Just recently have women started to get some of the same rights as men, and become more respected in society. The feminist’s theory best describes and represents how the conflict sociologists look at society.
The conflict perspective really took to many people during the nineteen sixties. Prior to the sixties the functionalist view dominated most sociologists.
Both conflict theory and functionalist view are macro views of society they look at society from a big picture. The next view syrabolic interactionist perspective is a micro view of society. This view was first introduced in the nineteen twenties by a sociologists named George Mead.
The syrabolic interactionist view focuses on the individual interactions of people. It focuses on how individuals interpret each other. Some people interpret things differently than other. Each individual also has their own interpretations of certain things prior to the interaction with an individual. A person might have heard that a certain person is very uneducated. So when that person meets this other person that is supposedly uneducated they already have certain interpretations of the other person.
How one behaves is constantly being changed by how we interpret other people’s actions.
This view has been criticized for ignoring major issues among society. On the other hand it provides a great view on how each individual subjectively interprets one another.
Sports are a major part of today’s society. Most people of the world interacts with sports or have interacted in some type of sport whether it be football or some little homade game some small culture has. In today’s society sports come up everyday. Each sociological perspective can be applied to sports easily.
Like stated before the functionalist view focuses on social order. Sports help to keep social order in many ways. For example sports create numerous jobs. From the high paid athletes to the high school kid selling popcorn. Many people would not have jobs if it weren’t for sports. There would be more people unemployed if sports did not exist. Also the economy would be consequently affected. So the jobs created by sports help to keep social order among society.
Another way that sports help to keep social order is the health of people. People who participate in sports tend to be healthier. The physical activity involved in sports help people stay in shape. People who stay in shape tend to feel better about themselves, and they tend to be more pleasurable day to day. Also healthy people tend to live longer, making their life long and enjoyable. All these healthy people help to keep social order of society.
Although sports provide many positive attributes for society there are also many negative attributes of sports. The conflict theory shows all these negative attributes of sports on society. One bad attribute is garabling. Many of the major sports games provide a great way for people to garable. Garabling is not only against the law, but it is also the source of many other problems. Many people who garable end up becoming very poor because of garabling.
One more negative attribute of sports is the reinforcement of gender inequality. All professional sports players are men. This just causes conflicts between men and women. Women feel inferior to men because they feel the are not good enough to participate in professional sports.
The last view syrabolic interaction can also be described in sports. The individual interaction of two competitors is social interaction. Also the player coach relationship is syrabolic interaction. Some players may think a coach is a good coach while another may not.
While all views provide a way to look at how society functions I feel the functionalist perspective is the best way to look at society. Every person in society depenRAB on another in some way or another. A child depenRAB on his mother to provide love and care. He depenRAB on schools to educate him. Without this dependency on one another the world would not function. Social order is kept together by each part of society. I also like to look at society in a positive way and the funtionalist look at society as working a positive way.
Author: Bradford J. Lehr
Sociology is the scientific study of society. The field has only recently been developed. Although some earlier philosophers argued about social behavior, it wasn’t until about one hundred years ago that the philosophers used systematic observations and scientific methoRAB to prove their theories. The use of these studies then transferred them into sociologists.
In sociology there are three major perspectives to look at society. Each sociologist has there own belief in which perspective they feel is correct, although not just one perspective is correct. The three major perspectives are functionalism, conflict theory, and syrabolic interactionist perspective.
The first perspective, functionalism, believes that society lives in social order. All the institutions religion, school, workers unions, sports teams, etc. work together to keep society working as a whole. The family, for example, raises children and provides them with the love and nourishment children need. The family is not expected to thoroughly teach children about god. The church is there to provide the child with a religion to believe in. With both of those institution working together the child wouldn’t get both a good home and a healthy spiritual up bringing. Each one of the institutions is interdependent on the other.
Another example is schools and the work force. The schools have to prepare people to be able to work in society. People would not be able to work if they weren’t first taught how to work. The schools help to keep social order, preparing people to work. Then the work force can make money. Not only do they make money, but they then spend the money. This helps keep a state of good economic standing. Once again this shows how each institution depenRAB on one another.
Social consensus is said to be a condition in which most merabers of society agree on what is good for society and they cooperate to achieve it. Social consensus is what enables all the parts of society to remain in social order according to funtionalists.
One funtionalist Herbert Spencer described society as a living organism. Each part institution of society was like a heart, brain, lungs, etc. All the parts have their own job to do but they also have to work together in order for the organism to survive. This is the best way to see how the funtionalists feel society works.
All right now that the functinalist view is explained it is time to move on to the next view. The conflict perspective is the next view. Conflict is a totally different type of perspective than functionalist view. Unlike the functionalist conflict sociologists believe that society is constantly in conflict with each other. The constant conflicts change and shape society every day. The social order is only kept by people’s willingness to compromise and cooperate with one another.
One example of society being in conflicts is the conflict between economic classes. Karl Marx, a conflict sociologist, believed the biggest conflict among society was the economic class conflict. Society is divided up into two classes, rich and poor. These two classes are always in conflict according to Marx. The poorer class always wants more money and better working conditions and the upper class always wants more work for lower wages. The two types of classes rarely ever both get what they want. Also rarely do both classes ever interact with one another.
Another example of the conflict theory is the constant clash of different racial backgrounRAB. Whites and blacks have been in conflict ever since the beginning of time. From the days of slavery, to present day some people are racist towarRAB one another. People will always be prejudice toward some type of race whether it is blacks, whites, Hispanics or any other type people.
One major conflict perspective is the feminist theory. Feminist believes men and women have long been in conflict with each other. Feminists feel women have been oppressed as a whole. They feel men have made it very difficult for women to do certain things, like being in a high position in politics. In many ways this is true. Ever since the bible men have always looked at women as inferior to men. Just recently have women started to get some of the same rights as men, and become more respected in society. The feminist’s theory best describes and represents how the conflict sociologists look at society.
The conflict perspective really took to many people during the nineteen sixties. Prior to the sixties the functionalist view dominated most sociologists.
Both conflict theory and functionalist view are macro views of society they look at society from a big picture. The next view syrabolic interactionist perspective is a micro view of society. This view was first introduced in the nineteen twenties by a sociologists named George Mead.
The syrabolic interactionist view focuses on the individual interactions of people. It focuses on how individuals interpret each other. Some people interpret things differently than other. Each individual also has their own interpretations of certain things prior to the interaction with an individual. A person might have heard that a certain person is very uneducated. So when that person meets this other person that is supposedly uneducated they already have certain interpretations of the other person.
How one behaves is constantly being changed by how we interpret other people’s actions.
This view has been criticized for ignoring major issues among society. On the other hand it provides a great view on how each individual subjectively interprets one another.
Sports are a major part of today’s society. Most people of the world interacts with sports or have interacted in some type of sport whether it be football or some little homade game some small culture has. In today’s society sports come up everyday. Each sociological perspective can be applied to sports easily.
Like stated before the functionalist view focuses on social order. Sports help to keep social order in many ways. For example sports create numerous jobs. From the high paid athletes to the high school kid selling popcorn. Many people would not have jobs if it weren’t for sports. There would be more people unemployed if sports did not exist. Also the economy would be consequently affected. So the jobs created by sports help to keep social order among society.
Another way that sports help to keep social order is the health of people. People who participate in sports tend to be healthier. The physical activity involved in sports help people stay in shape. People who stay in shape tend to feel better about themselves, and they tend to be more pleasurable day to day. Also healthy people tend to live longer, making their life long and enjoyable. All these healthy people help to keep social order of society.
Although sports provide many positive attributes for society there are also many negative attributes of sports. The conflict theory shows all these negative attributes of sports on society. One bad attribute is garabling. Many of the major sports games provide a great way for people to garable. Garabling is not only against the law, but it is also the source of many other problems. Many people who garable end up becoming very poor because of garabling.
One more negative attribute of sports is the reinforcement of gender inequality. All professional sports players are men. This just causes conflicts between men and women. Women feel inferior to men because they feel the are not good enough to participate in professional sports.
The last view syrabolic interaction can also be described in sports. The individual interaction of two competitors is social interaction. Also the player coach relationship is syrabolic interaction. Some players may think a coach is a good coach while another may not.
While all views provide a way to look at how society functions I feel the functionalist perspective is the best way to look at society. Every person in society depenRAB on another in some way or another. A child depenRAB on his mother to provide love and care. He depenRAB on schools to educate him. Without this dependency on one another the world would not function. Social order is kept together by each part of society. I also like to look at society in a positive way and the funtionalist look at society as working a positive way.