The Sociological Theories: Weberianism And Functionalism

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Sociology is a social science that studies how humans interact with their society’s as well as the processes that allow those societies to be altered or preserved (Britannica Encyclopaedia, 2015). It does this by closely examining important structures of the societies for example institutions, communities, gender, populations, age groups or race (The Australian Sociological Association, 2016). Sociology also studies social stratification or social status, social movements, along with social change (Britannica Encyclopaedia, 2015). The study of sociology correlates with the social theories ‘Functionalism’ and ‘Weberianism’. Functionalism is a macro social theory focusing on society in which individuals inhabit (Marshall, 2013) developed by a …show more content…
Functionalism focuses on each aspect of society being independent however, each aspect relies on each other to create a social equilibrium (CliffNotes, 2016). Functionalism also ignores dysfunction of stratification for example poverty, as well as, fails to recognise the negative impact of low income, lack of education, morality and life choices have on ones’ life and the drastic circumstances for the individuals trapped in the less fortunate social cycle (CliffNotes, 2016). Weberianism focuses on the rationalization of individuals circumstances in relation to their social status, Max Weber criticized the idea of depending on abstract theories and suggested tangible research work based on history, realistic observation, facts and patterns (Theories of Max Weber made simple, n.d). It was also enforced by Weber that if an individual is sick he or she has the right the with draw from everyday duties for example going to work or school, it is crucial that the unwell individual is not criticised for being sick as it is not believed to be their fault, However, he or she must be actively seeking medical attention in order to make a fast and whole recovery (Germov, 2014) Weber believed we should show empathy for individuals as understanding the meaning behind how a being behaves is important when determining their position in

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