This essay will critically discuss the key sociological perspectives of Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism and how they relate to the way relationships are structured within society. In addition to this it will aim to discover which of the three perspectives have the most relevance in modern life.
Functionalists believe that all people share the same values and norms, a value consensus and this leads to the achievement of social solidarity, a sense of unity. Functionalism suggests that society needs to be thought of as a whole and in order for it to function all of the parts, social institutions need to work together. Durkheim used an organic analogy to describe this, comparing society to a human body. The organs all have individual roles,
…show more content…
Functionalism relies on consensus, the belief that all people share the same values and norms, whilst Marxism and Feminism recognise the conflict that can occur and shape society and the relationships within it. Marxists feel that the conflict occurs between the Proletariat, who are oppressed by the Bourgeoisie, while Marxist feminists agree to the cause of oppression, they feel that it is women who are exploited in society. The other Feminist perspectives believe that the conflict arises as a result of a patriarchal, male dominated society. Functionalism places great importance on the role of family as a social institution. Family life should teach children their values and norms and enable them to become productive members of society. In order to do this, the family structure should contain a married mother and father. They believe that a breakdown of the family unit would have an adverse effect on society and is therefore something to be avoided, whereas Feminists are more critical of the traditional family structure, which they feel is more beneficial to men. In fact Radical Feminists are supportive of same sex parents, single parent families and divorce. Feminists and Marxists also differ from Functionists in the way they view the government. They view laws as another tool of oppression; in contrast Functionalists will view laws as being made in order to benefit society as a whole and encourage a value consensus. Feminism and Marxism both have weaknesses in the fact that they focus too heavily on one aspect of society and ignore other conflicts in society. It could also be said that they place too much of an emphasis on conflict, in contrast, Functionalism faces criticism for not acknowledging that conflict can occur. Despite criticisms of all three perspectives, evidence can be found to support their theories. (Haralambos, 2013; Haralambos and Holborn,
Structural Functionalism is the sociology theory that emphasizes how everything and everyone has a purpose in society. That each and every one of us is a puzzle piece that comes together in order to form a society, any missing puzzle piece would result in the downfall or shortcomings of the whole society. Whether this may be religion, education, economy, etc, all of these structures much work together in order to have a flourishing society where everyone works uniformly. Stability is achieved when everyone fulfills their duty is society.
Both the functionalist theory and the conflict theory could shed light on the problem by looking at it with a macro view rather than a micro view. A functionalist would look at gender inequalities as a helpful way to divide labor that in turn maximizes resources and efficiency. The conflict theory is structural and can help us to better understand the power struggle between men and women which advocates for the situation. When there is conflict between a subordinate group and a dominant one things happen that create social change.
Functionalism is a theory in which various social institutions and processes in society serve a significant function in order for society to continue
Derived from the works of Durkheim Functionalism theory emphasizes the role each social institution plays in society and how society as a whole seek equilibrium when one dysfunctions. His idea was that society is more than the sum of its parts similar to how each organ serves a specific role and contributes to the body as a whole that is how social institutions work in society. High school for example is one of the major social institutions of society serving the primarily purpose of education. In High school the primary goal is to prepare students for extended education after graduation such as college or a technology oriented school. If students do not wish to attend any further educational institutions they can instead fill in service and minimal skill jobs in society. On a smaller scale high schools also aims to give students a more extensive overview of sexual education and contraceptive or abstinence approaches to sexual relations. Since education up to a high school level is mandatory in the United States high school provides a common ground and minimal standard for society educationally speaking. Without educated and well informed voters our system of government would fail due to the major part voters have in government decisions. If we had fewer people entering the higher level workforce since they didn’t continue with their education past high school our soc...
Functionalist state they do not concentrate on conflict or division within society. However, Durkheim does mention society is together by certain parts of the social system sharing values. If any of the above fails to work together, functionalists explain this as a ‘loss of social solidarity, a lack of integration or a loss of equilibrium’ (Jones 2003 p.38) the key conc...
The functionalist paradigm focuses on the integration of society, and how society how its own groups which has their own functions to help improve the peoples lives. Functionalist paradigm fits in the category of macro-sociology, because it focuses on the patterns that shape an entire society. Functionalists believe that society is maintained through the thought of trust and consensus on moral values for ideal behavior. Working together will result in a stable social environment that will create equality. Conflicts or dysfunctions will be view as a disease in the social system. Social conflict paradigm believes that society is divided into many groups that have their own goals, and that certain parts of the world have the luck of benefiting economic dominan...
Men were in control of almost everything a woman did. Women were seen to be second best compared to men, therefore, they were treated as such. Osmond and Thorne (1993) stated that “historically male experts have controlled women’s bodies, denying them the access to birth control and abortion; the large males dominated medical field established alienation conditions for childbearing. Most of the major professions were occupied by men” (p. 613). Feminist leaders also challenged the structural functionalism theory’s concept of the nuclear families. Feminists believe that following the traditional way of having a family would continue to lead to their oppression. Smith and Hamon (2012) stated “limiting families to the traditional nuclear definition restricts women’s roles to a subordinate position and discounts the experiences of women in diverse family forms” (p. 297). Feminists believed that men and women could perform just as well as men on tasks within society, therefore they felt that there should be no division or superior/inferior rank among
Functionalism views society as the stability and assimilation of a range of forces that function within it. While society is a separate entity with a life of its own, there are individual elements contributing to that stability. Functionalism as a sociological theory emphasizes assimilation rather than the dissociation of society. Therefore, the society is seen as a whole that is compromised of parts which give one another their identity and their function. The part, whether that is education, such as a school, or sports, such as a football team, operates in relation to the other parts, and cannot be entirely understood in isolation from the other parts. All the parts are interrelated, and when there is a disturbance in any one of the parts, is when you can see the interdependence. But what is important about this theory is that “there will always be some reorganization and tendency to restore equilibrium” (Wallace and Wolf 17). Functionalist do not believe it’s crucial that the people involved in the society to be aware of this interconnectedness anymore than the brain and heart consciously realize that they work together as an organism.
The world is a very complex system with over a 100 diverse cultures and norms. Religion, wealth, poverty, and political diversity pull us apart. Since the beginning of time humans were never similar for a purpose. What if we try? Try to find our differences more alike in ways we never thought of. What will happen when these views and perspectives coincides with one another?
The foundations of Functionalism are built on food, shelter, clothing, and money. Which as stated before functionalists believe gender roles serve to maintain social order because they stabilize these four foundations.
Functionalist View on Same-Sex Families What is Functionalism? Functionalism is the belief that members of society form relationships with each other through rules and regulations i.e. the law. They also believe society is based on a consensus and there is no time for conflict, although it is acknowledged but is seen as only a temporary disturbance, which can be resolved. They believe it is the basis of social life without it there would be conflict and disorder. Society is seen like the human body, institutions within society playing a significant role to ensure its upkeep like schools.
Functionalism focuses on each aspect of society being independent and contributes to stability (Cliffsnotes, 2016.) It ignores the dysfunction of stratification such as poverty (Cliffsnotes, 2016.) Fails to recognize the negative impact of low income, education, mortality and life choices have on people’s life and what this can mean for people trapped in such life cycle (Cliffsnotes, 2016.) The main difference between functionalism and weberianism is functionalism believed that society was naturally heading towards equilibrium (check where this is from)Durkheim believed that there were two types of structures within society, (institutions and social facts), for society to maintain social equilibrium each structure must work together to create a balance (check where this is from .) For example, schools educate the children so they can get a job and put back into society, this relationship was termed ‘manifest functions’ (Brown, 2013.) Functionalism looks at society on a large scale (Moore et al, 2006.) Weberianism focuses more on individuals and how they hold the power to change their status within a competitive society. It describes how people can fight for economic gains; this is proved in history with the rise of the working class (Moore et al, 2006.) This idea later becomes the sociological theory we know as capitalism. Max Weber was interested in understanding the human behavior (Bartle, 2012.) He believed we should show empathy for individuals as understanding the meaning behind the way the individual behaves, is important when determining their place in society and the product of their behavior (Bartle,
Structural Functionalism or what I call just functionalism, is just another theory that has society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through the macro-level of orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole, and believes that society has evolved like organisms. This approach looks at both social structure and the social functions. Functionalism has society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms and customs, traditions, and institutions. There is a common analogy, popularized by Herbert Spencer that presents these parts of society as "organs" that works towards the proper functioning of the "body" as a whole. In the most basic terms, it simply emphasizes "the effort to impute and the rigorously as possible, to each feature, custom, or even practice the effect on the functioning of a supposedly stable and cohesive system.
phenomena in terms of the functions they perform. The society conceived in functionalism is a
Ø Feminists also criticise functionalists for ignoring male dominance that often is present in society. Furthermore, the sexual division of labour it describes is not universal, with the relative roles of women and men in modern families can be seen to be gradually changing. Ø Many functionalists concentrate primarily on the universal nuclear family in modern societies, with the growing diversity of family types is not considered. Ø Functionalists have a problem explaining social change.