Society’s Theories
There are many theories and viewpoints that today’s societal world is viewed through, but there are three major perspectives that are used in sociology when explaining how society functions. Each of these theories have something in common; they all have to do with how today’s society is made. Depending on how a person believes society was created there are three ideas they can side with; conflict, social interactionism, and structural functionalism.
The first theory, conflict theory, which originated from Karl Marx is the theory that believes the world and society cannot progress if there are not groups in competition with each other. According to Schlee, “Conflicts are often explained in terms of the interests of the groups …show more content…
Another explanation that relates this theory to how an organic body works is, “the parts and pieces of an organism contribute to the functioning whole of the organism” (Chilcott, n.d). For a micro-level example of structural functionalism envision this scenario; there is a rancher, trucker, and butcher. The ranchers job is to raise cattle for beef, the trucker’s job is to transport these cattle and the butchers is to collect and sell the cow’s meat. The rancher completes his job but can’t get his cattle to the butcher without the trucker. The trucker can’t make a living without the rancher’s business and the butcher needs beef to sell and he can only get that from the rancher and trucker. Thus, each of these men have their own roles, but these roles are useless if they are not coming together to create an interdependent …show more content…
I think we all have our own parts to play in the world and we work together to complete them. Like the rancher example above I think while people have their independent roles, those jobs are meaningless if we cannot come together and make society better with our own specialized skills. Structural functionalism theory makes the most sense to me because I have a strong belief that each person is their own individual and no person is alike. This carries over into how I view the world around me and I like to compare it to a puzzle; each individual part must come together and fit to create the bigger picture. I think I view the world this way because my parents were always emphasizing that working and playing with others was important, but that I must also be my own person and not follow just because I was told to. In my eyes society would be useless if it was always fighting, or just connecting through shared beliefs, those actions do not create a society but are just parts that never truly make a whole. With structural functionalism there is a whole society created through much smaller and specialized
There are many theories and viewpoints that today’s societal world is viewed through, but there are three major perspectives that are used in sociology when explaining how society functions. Each of these theories have something in common; they all have to do with how today’s society is made. Depending on how a person believes society was created there are three ideas they can side with; conflict, social interactionism, and structural functionalism.
The first theory, conflict theory, which originated from Karl Marx is the theory that believes the world and society cannot progress if there are not groups in competition with each other. According to Schlee, “Conflicts are often explained in terms of the interests of the groups …show more content…
Another explanation that relates this theory to how an organic body works is, “the parts and pieces of an organism contribute to the functioning whole of the organism” (Chilcott, n.d). For a micro-level example of structural functionalism envision this scenario; there is a rancher, trucker, and butcher. The ranchers job is to raise cattle for beef, the trucker’s job is to transport these cattle and the butchers is to collect and sell the cow’s meat. The rancher completes his job but can’t get his cattle to the butcher without the trucker. The trucker can’t make a living without the rancher’s business and the butcher needs beef to sell and he can only get that from the rancher and trucker. Thus, each of these men have their own roles, but these roles are useless if they are not coming together to create an interdependent …show more content…
I think we all have our own parts to play in the world and we work together to complete them. Like the rancher example above I think while people have their independent roles, those jobs are meaningless if we cannot come together and make society better with our own specialized skills. Structural functionalism theory makes the most sense to me because I have a strong belief that each person is their own individual and no person is alike. This carries over into how I view the world around me and I like to compare it to a puzzle; each individual part must come together and fit to create the bigger picture. I think I view the world this way because my parents were always emphasizing that working and playing with others was important, but that I must also be my own person and not follow just because I was told to. In my eyes society would be useless if it was always fighting, or just connecting through shared beliefs, those actions do not create a society but are just parts that never truly make a whole. With structural functionalism there is a whole society created through much smaller and specialized