Functionalism, Symbolic Imagination And Conflict Theory

The sociological imagination describes people’s lives and their social interactions. It is the study of the way people interact within society, placing them into groups within society. Of the main concepts of sociology, it includes the explanations and predictions of human behavior and interaction; sociological imagination plays a role in how these predictions are made. It gives an explanation as to why society is shaped the way it is. There are three sociological perspectives: functionalism, symbolic interaction, and conflict theory. Functionalism describes how social order and stability is developed. It simply says that society functions as a whole to promote stability within society. Symbolic interaction is the view of symbolic meaning on people’s social interactions. The third sociological perspective, conflict theory, describes society as a never ending conflict due to competition. Through conflict theory, social order is maintained by domination and power. My personal situation is a pull between financial struggle and maintaining a balance between school, work, and my social life. With me being in school I had to find a way to have time for work and play. It wasn’t until there was a change in my class’ …show more content…
I believe my race plays an important role in my place of stratification. On the sociological linear ladder, my family is of the latter. Being of the race that I am brings a lot of social conflict such as getting a job, being accepted to a school, or the overall way others see me. My race puts me in a box. This box that I am confined in has been labeled something that probably does not define me because the interaction of the persons that are of the same box. If my race or class had been of another maybe I could have attained a better job. I might even had been able to obtain an agreement that would allow me to go in to work regularly at a later