Human Behavior: A Sociological Analysis

The idea of society is structured around how individuals interact as a whole. When looking at these human interactions, a sociologist develops theories. A theory is defined as sets of ideas, which best explain the known facts about a topic in a way which makes sense. (Claerbaut, 2015, para. 3) Theories are testable, and when dealing with human behavior, can show how humans conduct themselves differently in groups than they do individually. Examining theories one step further leads to a theoretical perspective, which is how one sociologically views the world. The three theoretical perspectives of structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism are all valid, but the world is best represented by structural functionalism …show more content…
It’s a constant struggle as to which one will win. And one cannot exist without the other.” (Eric Burdon, n.d.) When viewing the world using structural functionalism, it is apparent that both good and evil are present, and operate in such a way that one may be more prevalent, but will eventually be balanced out by the other. This system almost operates like a roller coaster, where there are a series of steep climbs, the improvements and good works in society, but also a series of large drops, the evils and harsh acts in society, but at the end of the ride it all balances out and you return back to flat ground. Basically society goes through good and bad moments but always ends up balancing out in the end. One paper that describes this constant up and down of society is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, “Letters for a Birmingham Jail”. In this paper Martin Luther King, Jr. explains the issue of racism facing the black population, a plague, which they face even in church, a place where many believe everyone should be loved. This paper specifically addresses the eight pastors who opposed the protests occurring, but as the attacks on blacks kept rising, and segregation continued, the balance between peaceful protests and battles was teetering. However, King believed that the fight for equality didn’t necessarily have to be a violent one. (Martin Luther King, Jr, 1963) As the balance of society was on the edge, both sides …show more content…
Conflict theory is purely based upon society interacting negatively and constantly competing for power and wealth. This theory doesn’t account for the beneficial and positive interactions, which occur in society. For example, if we look at the amount of wars that have occurred a conflict theorist’s would state that the amount of wars proves the constant battle for power and wealth present in society. However what the conflict theory doesn’t account for is the years in which the world has been at peace, and even if it may not be a lot, it still proves that the world is not always in a battle over power, wealth and prestige. The opposite is the case for symbolic interaction, which is based upon the idea that constantly building and contributing ideas hold the individuals/groups in society together. If we look at the advancements in military weapons we can see this concept, for example when the U.S has a plane, which is the fastest, and most advanced, the Russian military may try to create a new plane building off this technology. Looking at this in a symbolic interactionism way, one could state that this proves that society is constantly contributing and making advancements based on social interaction, but it fails to look at the negative interactions and larger social events which took place for it to occur, like war and espionage