David Epps
Professor Christopher
SOCI1101
18 February 2017
Applying Sociological Perspectives: Poverty
Sociological perspectives allow individuals within societies to look at issues and common social phenomena of everyday life from different points of view. Functionalism was thought of by English philosopher and biologist, Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). He compared the interrelated parts of the body to parts of a fully functional society. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) took this a step further by applying Spencer’s “Structural-Functional Theory” to explain how societies change over time. Functionalists looked beyond the individuals of a society and started examining society’s social facts. Robert Merton (1910-2003) noted that even though social …show more content…
According to the functionalist perspective, every part of a society, including poverty, contributes to the society’s overall stability. Functionalists believe that stratification and inequality actually benefit society, because they ensure that the most qualified individuals are near the top of the hierarchy while the less qualified individuals are located near the bottom. The individuals that are located near the top are there because they can do things that most people can’t, therefore, they are rewarded with power, status, and money; this is incentive for individuals to improve themselves every day and make the most of their abilities. For example, if a young child grew up in poverty seeing homeless people on the streets every day, that image may stick with him/her for a long time, because it is scary to be without a home; this would motivate the child pay attention during school and pursue college in order to obtain a rewarding career which would not only benefit the child but also the society he/she is within. Another example is if an already wealthy man lives in a town along with individuals that live in poverty, it will keep him motivated to keep producing and improving whatever it is that made him wealthy. Poverty is functional in societies because it motivates the society’s individuals to continuously improve themselves and as a result, improve
Professor Christopher
SOCI1101
18 February 2017
Applying Sociological Perspectives: Poverty
Sociological perspectives allow individuals within societies to look at issues and common social phenomena of everyday life from different points of view. Functionalism was thought of by English philosopher and biologist, Herbert Spencer (1820-1903). He compared the interrelated parts of the body to parts of a fully functional society. Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) took this a step further by applying Spencer’s “Structural-Functional Theory” to explain how societies change over time. Functionalists looked beyond the individuals of a society and started examining society’s social facts. Robert Merton (1910-2003) noted that even though social …show more content…
According to the functionalist perspective, every part of a society, including poverty, contributes to the society’s overall stability. Functionalists believe that stratification and inequality actually benefit society, because they ensure that the most qualified individuals are near the top of the hierarchy while the less qualified individuals are located near the bottom. The individuals that are located near the top are there because they can do things that most people can’t, therefore, they are rewarded with power, status, and money; this is incentive for individuals to improve themselves every day and make the most of their abilities. For example, if a young child grew up in poverty seeing homeless people on the streets every day, that image may stick with him/her for a long time, because it is scary to be without a home; this would motivate the child pay attention during school and pursue college in order to obtain a rewarding career which would not only benefit the child but also the society he/she is within. Another example is if an already wealthy man lives in a town along with individuals that live in poverty, it will keep him motivated to keep producing and improving whatever it is that made him wealthy. Poverty is functional in societies because it motivates the society’s individuals to continuously improve themselves and as a result, improve