When it comes to comprehending or understanding any concept to why individuals may do some of the things they do, there are social theories out there to help better explain those actions. Sociological theories help to focus more on the aspect of social life, as well as explain behaviors that can be driven by passion, tradition, self-interest, religion, and the laws we have set out today in stone. “Unlike scientific theories, social theories tend to be more evaluative and critical than the theories in the natural sciences” (Appelrouth A. S.; Edles D. L 2012) Today, an analytical frame is used to help guide the comparing and contrasting of the several theoretical perspectives and traditions. In simpler terms, this four way frame is basically used to help compare and contrast theorist better. There are four main cells that make up this analytical frame which include, individual-rational, individual-nonrational, collective-rational, and collective-nonrational. Also included into this basic theoretical orientation or framework, are the core classical theorists. Those influential theorists included into the framework are Mead, who falls into the individual-nonrational side, Durkheim whom falls into the collective-nonrational side, Weber whom falls into the collective-rational side, and Marx who is also included into the collective-rational side. Two of the four coordinates that are completely opposite from each other on this theoretical framework include “Individual” and “Collective.” According to classical theory, “Individual are the patterns of social life which are seen as emerging from ongoing interaction, and Collective are the patterns of social life which are seen as the product of existing structural arrangements” (Appelrouth... ... middle of paper ... ...ch each person is independent with others, forming a complex web of cooperative associations” (Appelrouth A. S.; Edles D. L 2012). In simpler terms, organic solidarity can also be seen as sort of like a basketball team. Each individual on the team differs from one another talent wise, but they all come and form together to play a part and get that win for the good of the whole team. Now, the type of city where organic solidarity would be most prevalent is the modern industrial societies. Durkheim believed that organic solidarity, based on the specialization of tasks, is a characteristic of a large industrial society like New York, or Chicago. The reason being is because within a larger city the division of labor is more spontaneous and free, where in a smaller city people are more likely to engage in all the same work or share some of the same beliefs and ideas.
Durkheim was concerned with what maintained the cohesion of social structures. He was a functionalist, he believed each aspect of society contributes to society 's stability and functioning as a whole. He theorised that society stayed united for two reasons “mechanical solidarity” and “organic solidarity.” Premodern societies were held together by mechanical solidarity, a type of social order maintained through a minimal division of labour and a common collective consciousness. Such societies permitted a low degree of individual autonomy, Social life was fixed and there was no sense of self. They had retributive legal systems so no individual action or deviance from the common conscience was tolerated. In industrialised modern societies Durkheim says Mechanical solidarity is replaced with organic solidarity. In organic solidarity capitalist societies their is a high division of labour which requires the specialisation of jobs people do, this allows for individual autonomy
In this paper will be talking about the three sociological perspectives as it pertains to the fraternities and sororities in today’s world. I have chosen this topic because it can be easily understood in all three perspectives.
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
One of the sociological theories is conflict theory. The conflict theory deals with people's level on wealth, or class. The conflict theory says that social change is beneficial, contrary to focuses on social order. In the story of the woman and her children, the conflict theory plays a big role on the situation. Police of higher class are threatening the homeless woman. The conflict theory is a constant struggle of people of higher class over powering people of lower class, or the weaker. The police are trying to over power the woman by telling her to leave. Even though the woman and her children were doing nothing wrong, the police used their power to tell her to leave. Also the people of the area showed their conflict theory by telling the police officers to come. They must have felt embarrassed to have a woman of such lower class to be around them. They used their power of class to have the woman removed from their community. The woman wants to be there because she has no home and it is a good community to be in, but the people look at it as an embarrassment to them because it makes their area look bad for someone of such lower class to be around them. The conflict theory is unique to all other theories because it separates people into categories determined by their wealth and standards. Their status is the element that categorizes them, weather it is class, race, or gender. The conflict theory do not always use class, race, and gender all at once. In this situation race and gender is not a main issue, although gender could be a reason, but it would fall under the feminist theory. This story is mainly dealing with class. Through all this conflict the woman feels over powered and domina...
When studying in the field of Sociology everyone is going to approach topics in a different manner. No two people are going to have the exact same view on a particular subject. There are however, three major categories in which people might choose to approach topics. The approaches are know as sociological perspectives and are the functionalist, conflict, and interactionist perspectives. These perspectives name different ways in which different people choose to analyze a subject, and how they look at a society as a whole. The following paragraphs compare and contrast the three, and identify major characteristics of each.
Blau, Peter M. 1977. “A Macrosociological Theory of Social Structure” American Journal of Sociology 83(1): 26-54. Retrieved March 20, 2014 (http://www.jstor.org/stable/info/2777762).
1 Most sociologists interpret social life from one of three major theoretical frameworks or theories: symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, or conflict theory. Describe the major points and key concepts of each framework. List at least one sociologist who is identified with each of these three frameworks.
For many centuries there has been arguments between whether a society should be collective or individualistic. In an individualistic society, the idea is that the individual's life belongs to him and he has the right to pursue what he wishes. In a collective society, the individual's life belongs to the group and the individual must sacrifice the values they hold for the “greater good” of the group. The main question asked in this debate is whether an individual's life belongs to him or does it belong to the group. By working as individuals, a society is able to achieve more than a group and can enjoy more benefits and therefore should be individualistic.
Most have heard the classical paradox of the chicken and the egg. Which came first, the chicken or the egg? The same question can apply to the individual and society. Which comes first? To answer the question, a concept of the individual must be established and the origins of society must be explored. Only then can one compare and contrast their roles in relation to the other. Two revolutionary thinkers, Soren Kierkegaard and Bertolt Brecht, will give their arguments of opposition to try to determine whether the power between society and the individual is pulled in one particular direction than the other. In conclusion, an answer will be produced to the question: the chicken, society, or the egg, the individual? The concept of the individual is difficult to define in a way that is universally accepted, due to its historical and cultural variability. Th individual is a historical being in that he developes a personality as he grows and circulates within his or her family, peer group, neighborhood and eventually within the society as a whole. He developes in the process patterns of feeling, thinking, and habits. An individual is also a cultural being. Culture includes religion, philosophy, science, technology, art, education, politics, etc within a given society. The concept of the individual emerged, across western society at the end of the middle ages (1200-1400), with the rise and expansion of a new social class: the bourgeoise. During the historical emergence of a new social class, the bourgeoisie, co-developing was a new form of society. The feudal society, which had come to an end, saw the emergence of the hierarchy of social groups, making people dependent on others. On the shoulders of the common man grew an enormous parasit...
Emile Durkheim’s view of modern society is thought of as a high division of labour in which ‘ organic solidarity’ predominates. The roles and institutions act like the organs in our body, and are dependent on each other. When it comes to the state, for example, it regulates like the brain, achieving restitory justice and solidarity over the body. This ensures that social inequality is based primarily on merit. In the state of moral and dynamic density, individualism and rationality are able to rise above “collective consciousness” and religion. However, for Durkheim despite great cohesion, there are many pathological phenomena, such as anomie and some economic conflicts too. However, these are only temporary. Emile Durkheim sees social and economic cohesion as a critical part o...
At first I didn’t know what to really expect from taking an online sociology class for class. To be completely honest, I thought I would be reading a lot of boring articles and then writing about them. It turned out that I was wrong. I was able to see what sociology pertains to and how it relates to our lives. It’s funny to think that almost everything in your life is controlled by someone else. Your interests, hobbies, and even clothes aren’t really solely your decision. You may be thinking “no way I am being influenced and I make all of my decisions consciously” but in fact that is not the case.
Sociology is a social science that enables people to understand the structure and dynamics of society. By using a scientific approach, and by critically analysing society using qualitative and quantitative methods, sociologists can find patterns and connections within human behaviour to provide explanations of how society affects people. Sociological views are based on theories that have been tested through unbiased research and attempt to take all values into account. Common sense theories are generally individualistic and naturalistic assumptions that are based on opinions than can vary depending on an individuals class or cultural background. During this essay I will aim to provide examples of the differences between the sociological viewpoint, and the common sense viewpoint of human behaviour, using theories of some renowned sociologists.
Sociology and psychology is the study of the mind and the environment around us which makes us who we are. These theories assist us to understand behaviour from individual and societal levels.
The role of theory in social research is that without a sociological theory, nothing can be sociological. Facts disconnected from theory are just facts. Theory makes the facts speak; the facts don’t and cannot speak for themselves. Without a connection to other facts, we cannot assess anything. With theory, you can relate facts to each other. Theory is the body of interrelated logical concepts or universals that connect to empirical facts and phenomena. Empirical research is okay as long as there is theory involved with it. Theory helps us select which facts are important and which are not. Theory also allows us to organize the facts. Theory helps us create a story and tell which the dependent is and which the independent variable is. Theory points us to what we don’t know, which is the point of all the research in sociology. Theory also allows different concepts of sociology to talk to each other, and that allows sociology to progress. Emile Durkheim had stated in “What is a Social Fact?” that reason develops theories and, and observation backs them up. According to Durkheim, social facts are not ideas, they are facts and they are observable. Facts without a certain theory backing them are and will be meaningless. We had talked about this in the very beginning of the semester about how stating certain statistics such as ‘men make .75 cents more than women’ might be true, but just stating that will not be enough. In sociology, what need to be done are the reasons for stating that fact, and what it means for the society as a whole. Therefore, facts cannot stand alone without theory because they complete each other in a way. Talcott Parsons gives a different example in regards to this; “Few if any empiricists are content with discre...