Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology Flashcards
Theory
It is a way to explain different aspects of social interactions and create testable propositions about the society.
Sociology
Is a multipurpose science because it has a number of distinct perspectives
Paradigms
Are philosophical and theoretical frameworks used within a discipline to formulate theories, generalizations, and the research performed in support of them.
Structural functionalism
Society is seen as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in the society. Herbert Spencer was the one who led to the growth of functionalism. He saw similarities between the society and the human body. He argued that like the various part of the body help the body to function in the same way the various parts of the society help the society to function. Emil Durkheim further explained how societies change and survive over time. He said that society is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability and that society is held together by shared values, languages and symbols. Durkheim believed that individuals may make up society, but in order to study society, sociologists have to
look beyond individuals to social facts. Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society. For example, one function of a society’s laws may be to protect society from violence, while another is to punish criminal behavior, while another is to preserve public health.
Conflict theory
It looks at the society as a competition for limited resources. This perspective is a micro level approach most identified by the sociologist Karl Marx. He saw society being made up of individuals in different social classes who must compete for social, material, and political resources such as food and housing, employment, education, and leisure time. Some individuals and organizations are able to obtain and keep more resources than others and these winners use power and influence to maintain social institutions. Max Weber also agreed with Marx but believed that in addition to economic inequalities, inequalities of political power and social structures cause conflict. He noted that different groups were effected differently based on education, race and gender and that peoples reaction to inequalities were moderate by class differences and those in power.
Symbolic Interactionism
It is a micro level theory that focuses on relationships among individuals within a society. This perspective sees people as being active in shaping the social world rather than simply being acted upon. George Herbert is considered the founder of symbolic interactionism. Humans interact with things based on meaning ascribed to those things, ascribed meaning of those things comes with the interactions with others and the society. There is a face to face interaction on how people use symbols to create social life.
Historical Materialism
Historical materialism that developed from Karl Marx’s work is one of the central frameworks of critical sociology. The historical materialist approach emphasizes three components.’
Everything in society is related—it is not possible to study social processes in isolation.
Everything in society is dynamic (i.e., in a process of continuous social change).
Tensions that form around relationships of power and inequality in society are the key drivers of social change.
Feminism
The feminist perspective views inequity in gender as central to all behaviors and organizations. It is a dominant gender ideology. Gender relations are viewed as a problem, the site of social inequities, strains and contradictions. Gender relations are not immutable, they are sociological and historical in nature, subject to change and progress. Feminism is about an emancipatory commitment to change, the conditions of life that are oppressive for women need to be transformed.
