The purpose of this essay is to reveal the different sociological perspectives that exist. In addition to that, these different sociological perspectives shall be discussed and their significance shall be established. As such, a research question shall also be formulated and the sociological perspectives shall be used to discuss more on the research question that will have been formulated. Based on that, the general research topic that will formulate a topic for discussion in this paper is: “What are the contributors to poverty in the United States”. Common sociological theories The three (3) major sociological theories include: symbolism (which relates to the use of symbols and/ or face to face interactions); functionalism (which relates to matters that are associated with the society and how these variables are functional to one another) and conflict theory (which related to conflicts that are associated with the competition for limited resources and how the wealth people deprive the poor and/ or weak people the right to access these resources for their needs) (Mooney et al., 2010). Symbolic interactionist perspective is a sociological theory that basically implements the use of symbols and/ or direct facial interactions. This is due to the reason that, people in their normal daily lives and routines are always using symbols to communicate as well as interact with one another on a one on one basis. Through this trend, people tend to attach meaning to the symbols that they use. Moreover, they can also act in accordance to the meaning that these symbols reveal to them. Based on that, the symbolic interactionist perspective can be demonstrated in matters such as verbal communication, written music and art. Sociologists use this p... ... middle of paper ... ... in rural America. Moreover, the same factors have also revealed that people who endure poverty always look into the possibility of moving to urban areas so as to try and find work to survive. As such, that is the other reason why poverty levels in rural America are higher as compared to those of urban America. The sociological perspectives that best address the research question include the symbolic interactionist perspective, functionalism perspective as well as the conflict theory perspective. This is due to the reason that different authors take different perspectives and/ or approaches to communicate their ideologies based on the research question. Lastly, it can be concluded that the best approach to be used while conducting this research study would be to employ a literature review study since the material already exists in scholarly databases online.
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
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”).
With structural functionalism, change is viewed as threatening or disruptive (Larkin, Ch.2), but there is constant change (whether it be technology or new discoveries). Also, society is deals more with competition over power or resource rather than how people work together as a unit. Symbolic interactionism focuses too much about roles; not everyone has a role because there is homeless and ill people that may not be able to benefit or play a role in society. According to Larkin, symbolic interactionism doesn’t see society as a whole but by the interactions that share a meaning. Conflict theory is more realistic to the world today because it is based on the challenges people go through and does not focus on relying on one
When studying in the field of Sociology everyone is going to approach topics in a different manner. There are three categories in which people use to understand society. The approaches are known as sociological perspectives and are the functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist perspective. Each perspective explains about the social world and human behavior. None of them is right or wrong they just have different viewpoints.
The three theorectical perpectives in sociology are symbolic interactionism, conflict theory and functional analysis. Symbolic interactionism are symbols that we use to define our relationships with people in society. It can refer to our parents, friends, siblings, employees, teachers, and so forth. These symbols will help us to determine our behavior towards an individual and how we treat them. For example, the way we communicate with our friends will be different from how we talk to our teachers because we are aware that our relationship with our teacher is professional and our relationship with our friends is personal. We separate those relationships and have acted differently to a certain group within society. Conflict theory is when
Symbolic interactionism perspective is defined as “the study of how people negotiate the meanings of social life during their interactions with others” (Rohall, Milkie, and Lucas, 2014, p.27). It asserts that “we construct meaning about things that are important in our own lives and in our society” (Rohall, Milkie, and Lucas, 2014, p.28). These meanings derive from social interactions among individuals which
This topic became and importance because many programs link many factors to poverty but unfortunately these pragmas are not fully long
Have you ever wondered what causes poverty in America? Poverty in America is caused by the lack of jobs in a city or state. The following facts from the article “Causes of Poverty in America” leads to lack of basic necessities and a lack of security. Also “uncertainty as to where a person is going to get food, and an uncertainty as to how a person will pay his or her most basic bills”.(pursueGod.org)
Fascinatingly, this poverty trend has continually grown for the past few decades, not just growing larger during this economic recession. This validates the fact that poverty is a serious problem in America, one that doesn’t just became apparent with extreme circumstances, but rather is always present. The solutions for this poverty have also existed for some decades, encountering many changes over the years. The continual increases in poverty demonstrates their effectiveness in treating it
There are three main types of sociological perspectives in which you can perceive different sociological issues and concepts; structural-functional, symbolic-interaction, and social conflict. Structural-functional looks at society as a whole and how it works together. Symbolic-interaction is how different symbols spark particular thoughts and emotions by examining the meanings that people impose on objects, events and behaviors. Social conflict studies how power and coercion affect social order. Based off these types of perspectives, an analysis on teen depression and suicide can be evaluated from a sociological standpoint.
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.
Blackburn, L. McKinley “International Comparison of Poverty.” The American Economic Review. Academic search complete. Web. 10, September 2015. The author gives us an idea of the different poverty levels that exist around the world. By doing this, the author helps you comprehend poverty, how it works, and the level of poverties in many societies. The author states, “In this paper, I use the household level data on annual income to make comparisons of the level of poverty in 11 industrialized nations in the mid 1980’s” (371). The author supports their information by using equations, charts, graphs, and uses six recourses.
Poverty in Our Society In this assignment I intend to show an awareness of the concepts,
Symbolic Interaction is the individual interactions between people and how that influences their behavior. Those individual interactions between people is what influence society. Social institutions are what influences, creates, and sustains relationships. They attach meaning to symbols, body language, words, gestures, images, and how we interplay with each other from those meanings. Symbolic interaction is also considered the labeling theory. Symbolic is micro-sociology with individual interactions. In contrast, structural functionalism is macro-sociology dealing with the people who compose a community. A social institution is an ordered system of interrelated parts in a society. Structural functionalism all work in sync to make a society function. There are hidden and
Social issues are problems in the society today that are described as wrong, widespread and changeable. A category of conditions that people believe need to be changed. Poverty is a serious social issue in the society today. According to Peilin (2012), poverty brings hardships to families and individuals as well as political thereby negatively affecting the social stability and social development and posing a severe threat to human security (p. 243). This paper focuses on poverty as a social issue in today’s society. First, it gives a succinct introduction of the social issue, and then describes how it fits into the field of sociology. It also evaluates the sociological theories and terminology that relate to the social issue. The section that follows evaluates what is known and unknown about the particular social issue. This is followed by a discussion regarding the value of sociological research into the issue determining the available or possible practical implications of the sociological inquiry. The information presented here is strongly supported by the concepts and theories derived from reliable sources.