Sociological Theories Flashcards
What are the 3 Sociological Theories?
- Structural Functionalism
- Conflict Theory
- Symbolic Interaction
Structural Functionalism
Sees society as a system of interdependent and interrelated parts. Each part contributes to the functioning of the whole
Key Points: equilibrium, status quo, maintain the whole
- something that disrupts society and sees change as disfunction
Who are the famous theorists for Structural Functionalism?
Talcott Parsons and Robert Merton
Dysfunction
Anything that disrupts rather than contributes to the maintenance of the whole
- can be positive or negative
- begins negatively but has positive outcomes
When a dysfunction occurs in society, society tries to get back to a state of equilibrium and thus responds to the dysfunction in one of two ways. What are the 2 ways?
1) ignores dysfunction with hopes that equilibrium will just be maintained
2) society attempts to incorporate dysfunction into the status quo
Robert Merton
- Structural Functionalist Theorist
- developed the terms Manifest Function and Latent Function
Manifest Function
The expected/ anticipated consequences of social processes
- what we think will happen
Latent Function
The unexpected / unanticipated consequences of social processes.
- the unplanned
- Latent = hidden, unspoken, unknown
What is Conflict Theory?
- a Neo-Marxist Theory
- *- Karl Marx is not a conflict theorist and DID NOT invent Conflict Theory
- emphasizes coercion, domination, and change
- emphasizes that change is inevitable, continuous, and good
Karl Marx
- Marx advocated a communist society
- Saw Capitalism as DESTRUCTIVE to the human being
- For Marx, there is an intristic connection btw a person and his labor
- “I am my labor and my labor is me”
- Capitalism destroyed this relationship by forcing people to sale their labor
What are the 2 groups Marx divided Capitalist Society into?
- The Bourgeoisie: those who owned the means of production
- The Proletariat: those who worked for those who owned the means of production
- Marx believed in a classless society
- Capitalism creates classes — based exclusively on people’s relationships to the means of production
What is Marxism?
Means of Production
Scarce Resource
- society consists of different groups who struggle with one another to attain the “scarce resource” which is considered valuable
- scarce resource can be anything a society considers valuable: money, power, prestige, voting rights, right to marry
Symbolic Interaction
- in process of social interaction people symbolically communicate meanings to each other
- we speak/think in terms of symbols
- interaction hinges on shared meanings between individuals
- most commonly used symbols are WORDS and tone of voice
What is an important element of symbolic interaction?
SELF - through interactions we have with others we learn about SELF
What is SELF technically?
A social process which emerges as we interact with each other
- how we feel about ourselves depends on how we think or believe others feel about us
Who are 2 symbolic interactionists who spoke about the concept of SELF?
- Charles Horton Cooley
2. George Herbert Mead
Cooley
- The Looking Glass Self
- Viewed Self as a social phenomenon that is actively constructed in imagery
What are the 3 elements to ‘The Looking Glass Self’?
- Imagination of our appearance to another person
- Imagination of his/her judgment of that appearance
- We get some out of self-feeling; positive (pride) or negative (shame)
Of the 3 elements, which does Cooley consider most important?
Sees #2, Imagination of his/her judgment of that appearance
- Judgment is what bases our feelings
Cooley also spoke about a Primary Group:
- What are 2 characteristics?
- Those who are emotionally close to us
- Those with whom we usually have a sustaining relationship throughout our lives
- of the 5 pivotal institutions, FAMILY is an example of a Primary Group
