Three Primary Sociological theories
Question
File attached. There are three primary sociological theories discussed in Chapter 1 of the text, Sociology: Beyond Common Sense. After reading Chapter 1 of the text, briefly describe each theory and the major differences across the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interaction perspectives. If there are specific sociologists affiliated with these perspectives please name them so that you can start to make connections between theorist and theory. Be sure to discuss the weaknesses and strengths of each theory.
Your initial post should be at least 280 words in length. Support your claims with examples from required material(s) and/or other scholarly resources, and properly cite any references.
Answer
Three Primary Sociological theories
Theories play a crucial role in explaining how certain phenomena occur as they do. In the first chapter of the text, three primary sociological theories discussed include conflict, functionalist, and symbolic interaction theories. In this paper, the researcher describes these three theories and their major differences and highlights theorists that are affiliated with them.
The functionalist theory entails the interpretation of different elements of the society based on how they contribute towards the stability of the entire society. Accordingly, the society is viewed as an organism with different parts that must operate for the organism to be considered whole. Institutions in any given society such as families, schools and government must perform their respective roles for the society to be deemed stable.The theory is largely affiliated with Emile Durkheim, Robert Merton, Herbert Spencer and Talcott Parsons.It calls for different institutions to step up in their contributions in the society for it become and remain stable. The theory, however, seems to exaggerate the roles of the institutions, sometimes to the point of appearing to ignore possible conflicts of interest.
Conflict perspectives emphasize on the political, material or social inequality of a social group and largely serve to critique the inequalities. Sears (2008) posits that the perspective defines society by inequalities that produce conflict. The theory is largely affiliated with Karl Marx, Ludwig Gumplowicz and Lester Ward. While the theory explains the harsh inequality realities in the society that breed conflict, one of its main weaknesses is its disregard for the capitalist systems, and this is demonstrated by its strong critique of it.
The symbolic interactionism perspective is derived from practical considerations that allude to people’s particular utilization of dialect to make normal implications or images when engaging with other (Denzin, 2008). It focuses on the role of human beings in the society as active participants and is open to variation. The theory, however, disregards human emotions while overestimating their powers to make their own realities. The leading theorists affiliated with symbolic interactionism include Charles Horton Cooley, George Herbert Mead, John Dewey and David Middleton.
The three theories are similar in that they try to explain the nature of societies. However, they differ in terms of their main tenets. The functionalist theory, for instance, focuses on the society as an organism or whole made of different parts that must operate fully for it to be considered stable unlike the conflict and symbolic interactionism theories that focus on social inequalities leading to societal conflicts and the role and impact of human beings in any given society respectively. Unlike the other two theories, symbolic interactionism provides room for societal modification and interpretation.
References
Denzin, N. K. (2008).Symbolic interactionism and cultural studies: The politics of interpretation. Oxford: Blackwell.
Sear, A. (2008). A Good Book, In Theory: A Guide to Theoretical Thinking. North York: Higher Education University of Toronto Press.
