A Closer Look at Sociological Theories

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Recommended: What does culture mean to you

Culture refers to spiritual, intellectual and aesthetic development of an individual, group or society. It captures a variety of products and activities that determine and define the way of life of a people. Cultural theories are thus tools that give understanding to values, codes, norms discourses, ideologies and pathologies. Theory offers a model of influence through which culture exerts on social life and social structures. Theories play a role in the provision of stability, opportunity and solidarity or as in this article means to understand and resolve conflict (Burton et al.). This writing focuses on sociological theories in the cultural setting of Jena in Louisiana (A Town in Turmoil). Social Conflict Theory Social conflict theory sees the society as an arena. This arena is responsible for the generation of conflict and change within the society. Many factors in this society are interrelated including race, class, power, education and prestige. This article presents a society that has become a playground or an arena where all the above factors are displayed. Whereas the bigger picture focuses on the racial bias that is seen in this culture, the arena still holds all the other factors. The idea of power display, for example, is seen when the black students stand up to represent and voice their complaints against insults from the white student community. They are met with brutal power display from white district attorney’s office plus the white judiciary. Each of these social elements plays on the same stage in the same society. The white students, for example, are accused of being overrated. Most of them are football and sports students with scholarships awaiting them and as such feel like they are above the board. On the... ... middle of paper ... ...at need to be instilled to bring about attitude change in color bias. The theories also reveal the conflict in systems, structures and individuals that are the drive for change. The theories have also been used to consider how cultures and societies attach meaning to symbols and how the definition of boundaries and coexistence is pegged on understanding and maintaining unity with these symbols. Works Cited Burton, Linda M et al. “Critical Race Theories, Colorism, and the Decade’s Research on Families of Color.” Journal of Marriage & Family 72 (2010): 440–459. Kovach, Gretel, and Arian Campo-flores. "A Town in Turmoil." Newsweek [newsweek.com] 20 Aug. 2007, 2007 issue ed., sec. print article: 1-5. newsweek.com. Web. 2 Apr. 2014. Smith, Philip. Cultural theory: an introduction. Malden, Mass.: Blackwell, 2011. Print.

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