Sociaologist have alway attacked problems and anylized social issues that occur over long periods of time or short period of times. These ocurences usually show a trend or a pathway rather to how it has led up to a certain point of an issue occurring, or just a trend in the interaction of different groups, ethnicities, race, and culture. These anylizations differ from issue to issue, such as a micro level analysis of small social patterns to a macro level analysis of large social patterns. The foundation of sociology is based on three theoretical perspectives which are, the conflict theory, functionalism, and lastly symbolic interactionism. Being compared and contrasted in this essay will be the conflict theory and symbolic interactionism.
Firstly, conflict theory or perspective focuses on the negative, controversy, and the ever-changing nature of society, and it is considered to be macro. Conflict theorists are pro-change, they encourage change even in the means of social revolution. The wealthy and the powerful people impose social order on the lower class level people. A sociological hierachy is put into place, where it clearly illustrates that, and also it expeandes Marx’s idea that the main conflict in society was economical. This theory forms a type of competition because in todays world not only does the conflict theory targets economics, but it also targets many important issues such as race, gender, religion, and politics. The conflict theory deals with the incompatible aspect in human society. Conflict theory has many different modes. Warfare and revolution is one of the conflict theory modes. An example of warfare is that going on currently in Burma, where there is military versus population fighting for control over the country’s government. Another mode of conflict is strikes. Now days this is a typical response back to unfair acts.
A social divider has been created by modern society between workers and managers. When workers feel they have been treated unfairly, they go on strike to regain their right to power.
In conclusion, the period from 1875 to 1890 brought many attempts at bettering the working conditions, but many of the working class’s attempts at being recognized went unnoticed. This resulted in violence, frustration, and unnecessary deaths. The series of failed strikes and attempts to receive government intervention resulted in heightened anger among the employees. Without an increase in wages, decrease in working hours, and improvement of working facilities, many workers left their jobs leaving the employer angry and in need of workers. None were available, however, because they were either protesting for better working conditions, signing a contract with a better company, or blocking rail and roadways in order to get their points across to the government.
...to be achieved, years, decades, lifetimes, conflict is intended to fulfill this need. Ultimately, conflict theory is about the struggles, ideologies, representations, and power that the haves possess and the have-nots want to exert. These concepts come into play causing conflict between the groups which ends in social change.
There are many ways in which an individual is able to view the world and the three sociological perspectives, conflict theory, structural functionalism, and symbolic interactionism, represent some of these ways. These theories are an important part of sociology and help individuals put the world into their own perspectives and then draw conclusions about how society works as a whole. Once a person is able to do this, they are able to make sense of their interactions and the interactions of others, due to the reasons set forth by their sociological perspectives (Claerbaut, 2015, “Theoretical Perspectives of Sociology”).
“In sociology, a theory is the framework for analysis that outlines what to focus on and provides predictions about logical outcomes within the framework.” (Durkin & Carrothers, 2015, Ch. 1.3, para 1) Sociologists have been trying to create a single theory to give explanations and understandings towards social and human behavior. However, this has only caused more theoretical perspectives to sprout and has led to the creation of three main theoretical perspectives within sociology. These perspectives are used to explain the social behavior and phenomena that are experienced and shown by humans. The perspectives are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction. This paper will focus on conflict theory and the influence that Karl
... (Piven & Cloward, 18) Workers protest by striking against their employer, it is easier for employees to protest because they are all located and working together under one roof and are fighting for one thing, and that one thing is related to the workplace. While it is easier for employees to protest, it is not that easy for lower class employees to protest because they have little ability to protect themselves against their institutional managers. When the lower class workers have an informal organizational protest the government is eventually stepping in to disarm the protestors and make efforts to conciliate, “…mobs of unemployed were granted relief in the 1930s…” (Piven & Cloward, 29) The protests cause disruption and sometimes that disruption can make a change but when people are protesting blindly they are more prone to social injustice then making a change.
The conflict theory is the perspective that opposition and conflict define a given society and are necessary for social evolution. It emphasizes conflict in the social life and uses it to explain social change. Conflict is inevitable, so different groups which have competitive relation will have conflicts. There are many conflicts in the movie Mulan. For example, the Huns
An example of conflict theory is gay marriage. Homosexual couples are struggling for the right to marry their significant others. However, they face opposition from heterosexual couples and traditionalists who want to keep marriage strictly between a man and a woman. Homosexual couples want to redefine the meaning of marriage while heterosexual couples desire to keep the traditional definition of marriage. I did not choose conflict theory because I dislike conflict. While I acknowledge that there will always be a power struggle between two parties, I do not see the world in a way which acknowledges a
Sociology is the study of society and the interactions that occur within society itself. There are numerous methods of analyzing societies and the way the function, nonetheless, most methods fall in micro and macro level theories. Micro level theories allow sociologist to study smaller relationships such as individual or compact groups of people. On the other hand, macro level studies permit for larger scale investigations to take place. With both of these theories there are three theoretical perspectives used in sociology. Micro level theories include symbolic interactionism which focuses in interactions done with language and gestures and the means which allow such interactions to take place. Macro level theories include structural functionalism
The book displays two social concepts, conflict theory and structural-functionalism. Conflict theory is defined as “a theory propounded by Karl Marx that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition
There are three main theories of sociology; functionalism, conflict theory and symbolic interactionism. This paper will focus on two of those theories, functionalism and conflict theory. The objective is to delineate the assumptions of two out of the three theoretical perspectives and apply these assumptions to an analysis of social stratification. How this will be accomplished will be by comparing and contrasting their assumptions and by analyzing the two theories affect on social stratification. Then I will state my opinion on which of the two better fits my personal sociological views. Functionalism is many people's way to view the world sociologically. It states clearly that the objectivity of the researcher is necessary and can be accomplished. There are three main points, which make up a functionalist theory on sociological expression. The first point is that culture is made up of interacting, interdependent parts. Each of these parts has a function in maintaining the society as a system on the whole. The second point states that shared values and expectations(or beliefs) among the members of the society help hold the society together. The third point states that these systems have a need for stability and a need to try to keep all the parts working together congruously in a sort of system. Social change in this system is uncommon, and when it does happen, it is a very gradual change. Conflict theory is centered on the tension, or struggle that goes on in everyday life. There are many different parts, which make up the conflict theorist's view on the sociological perspective. The first main part is that society promotes general differences in wealth, power, and prestige. Wealth...
By definition, conflict theory basically sees the society as a pitch in which inequality thrives in order to generate conflict and change. For instance, this theory emphasizes on the purpose of coercion in generating a social order that’s often ch...
This paper discusses three approaches that can be taken when studying Sociology. There are many subjects to be studied and discussed in the field of Sociology, and the approach chosen to study a particular subject is called a perspective. There are three different perspectives, and they are functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. This paper compares and contrasts these different perspectives with one another.
Conflict Theory is a framework for building theory that sees society as an arena of inequality that generates
Conflict theory is a theory derived from the works of Karl Marx. It enhances the role of cruelty and power in producing social order. It is the control theory that believes inequality exists because those in control of an unequal share of society’s resources actively defend their advantages. This is social control. Determining that one social class or group is more privileged then another. Control theory generally consists of four points, conflict built into society, one group becomes dominant, agreement is false, and conflict in society is desirable. Control theory suggests that each class is unequal. Lower social classes are considered to have less skill. The theory has the belief that people with high skill level will receive a higher return and people with lower skill level will get less.
Sociologists employ three major theoretical perspectives in sociology today. They are the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionism. The structural-functionalist perspective is done at a macro level and its focus is on the relationships between the parts of society. The Conflict perspective is done at a macro level and its main focus is on how the wealthy controls the poor and weak. Symbolic Interactionism is done at a micro and it focuses on the use of symbols and face to face interactions.