Main body In the e-text, Marriages and Families: Diversity and Change by Mary Ann Schwartz and BarBara Marliene Scott, it is established that sociology examines society at the Micro and Macro level phenomena. Microsociology looks at a small group within the larger society. It is small scale and centers around individual interactions. Where as, macrosociology is large scale and focuses on society as a whole. This paper will further describe the interactions that occur inside of a family and how the family as a social institution contributes to the structure of society. There are three main theories that are used to investigate the influence of society on families at the micro and macro levels, these paradigms are the structural functional
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It is fundamental to society for different groups, such as women and men, to struggle for power in order to produce meaningful social change. The main focus of the conflict theory, in relation to families is gender inequality and the usual conflict that occurs between family members. Basically, family is a social institution where there will always exist members who benefit more than others. In the book, you may ask yourself by Dalton Conley, conflict such as, “abuse, neglect, and manipulation happen across all familial relationships... husbands and wives with powerful tempers hit and control one another.”(Conley, 2017, pg. 470) Social inequality is responsible for the competition that transpires between husband and wife to maintain or to gain power/control in the family structure. Socially, men are usually better off than women. Since, a woman is supposed to be utilized for the unpaid homemaking duties, she and her offspring become utterly financially dependent of the jobholder man who attains the advantage of being the ultimate income producer. Throughout history, communities of women have gathered together to fight for their economic independence. As a result, women have proved themselves successful in acquiring more gender equality and democracy within the family structure. The impact of conflict theory …show more content…
Inside the family, “according to late sociologist Ernest Burgess (1926), the family represents a unified set of interacting individuals, that is, unity in family life comes about as a result of interactions among various family members.”(Schwartz and Scott, 2013, pg. 49). Therefore, the symbolic interactionism theory suggest that the structure of the family is not definite but instead it is socially constructed. The reason that family has become important to individuals and to society is merely due to the meaning associated with the function of having a family. For example, in families gender is socially constructed. Every member within the family structure classifies themselves as either a girl/women or a boy/man. Depending on one's gender allocation, a person will act out what is expected and acceptable for their gender. A man will do masculine activities because one and the society has designated manhood with masculinity. Women will perform feminine task because she and the society around her has related womanhood with femininity. However, not every society presumes that men must act masculine and women should act feminine. It is the people from communities inside the American culture who place such significance for family members to take part in gender roles. On the societal level, the symbolic interactionism
It is fundamental to society for different groups, such as women and men, to struggle for power in order to produce meaningful social change. The main focus of the conflict theory, in relation to families is gender inequality and the usual conflict that occurs between family members. Basically, family is a social institution where there will always exist members who benefit more than others. In the book, you may ask yourself by Dalton Conley, conflict such as, “abuse, neglect, and manipulation happen across all familial relationships... husbands and wives with powerful tempers hit and control one another.”(Conley, 2017, pg. 470) Social inequality is responsible for the competition that transpires between husband and wife to maintain or to gain power/control in the family structure. Socially, men are usually better off than women. Since, a woman is supposed to be utilized for the unpaid homemaking duties, she and her offspring become utterly financially dependent of the jobholder man who attains the advantage of being the ultimate income producer. Throughout history, communities of women have gathered together to fight for their economic independence. As a result, women have proved themselves successful in acquiring more gender equality and democracy within the family structure. The impact of conflict theory …show more content…
Inside the family, “according to late sociologist Ernest Burgess (1926), the family represents a unified set of interacting individuals, that is, unity in family life comes about as a result of interactions among various family members.”(Schwartz and Scott, 2013, pg. 49). Therefore, the symbolic interactionism theory suggest that the structure of the family is not definite but instead it is socially constructed. The reason that family has become important to individuals and to society is merely due to the meaning associated with the function of having a family. For example, in families gender is socially constructed. Every member within the family structure classifies themselves as either a girl/women or a boy/man. Depending on one's gender allocation, a person will act out what is expected and acceptable for their gender. A man will do masculine activities because one and the society has designated manhood with masculinity. Women will perform feminine task because she and the society around her has related womanhood with femininity. However, not every society presumes that men must act masculine and women should act feminine. It is the people from communities inside the American culture who place such significance for family members to take part in gender roles. On the societal level, the symbolic interactionism