Three Major Sociological Perspectives

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The field of sociology is a broad, yet specific practicum that utilizes systemic and driven researched theories to study and explain the whole make up of society. It is the fleet that attempts to explain and answer the why and how of human action. For example, a sociologist may research if women employees are treated differently in a workplace that consists of mostly male workers or if playing violent video games are linked to violent life tendencies. In my mind, sociologists attempt to answer the questions most people ask daily: why do people do what they do? In attempt to understand the complex interplay of a person’s actions, those who research sociology utilize the “social imagination”. This model views human action as a multifaceted production of one’s personality, personal biography, and the push of many social factors that ultimately patterns human behavior. To help guide sociologists in observance of the social world, three major sociological perspectives on social order are used. These are noted and defined as: structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and symbolic interactionist perspective. Each perspective has a specific view of society and what holds a society together, therefore producing a different outlook on the assigned topic of interest. • Structural-functionalism, is the belief that …show more content…

Society as a whole has deemed certain deeds or actions as acceptable and not acceptable. Therefore, if a person disobeys these actions or“laws”, a person must pay a price to society and be punished in some way. Many crimes such as murder or theft are considered taboo in most societies because acceptance of such crimes would ultimately lead to the society’s destruction. Yet, one act such as polygamy in American may result in a man being sentenced to prison whilst the same act in another country may be completely

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