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Strengths and weaknesses of functionalism
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In attempts to explain and understand the social world, sociologists utilize a wide variety of social perspectives which provide different frameworks for analyzing various social phenomena. Thus, different sociological perspectives can be applied to various social issues facing society such as poverty, crime, or modern dating. In this paper, the sociological perspectives of symbolic interactionism and functionalism will be utilized to explain various issues of modern dating. These issues include lying on dating profiles, the anonymity of online dating, and the rise of the “one night stands”. The first perspective functionalism, is a macro perspective which focuses on how society is kept stable through the interaction of various social institutions which work together to keep society functioning. Generally, functionalists view dating as being an instrumental role in bringing individuals together in hopes of starting a family. Symbolic interactionism is a micro perspective which focuses on small scale interactions between individuals in society and through those interactions individuals interpret and act according to the meanings as well as the symbols they attach to those behaviours. Likewise, symbolic interactionist recognize the importance …show more content…
Preventative practices are adopted to prevent others from gaining a negative perception of an individual while Corrective practices are implored when an individual feels that his/her competency or positive self-image is being threatened, correct negative images so that we are left with a positive impressions. For example, individuals will use preventative measures to ensure that their profiles highlight the positive aspects of their persona, and if they accidently give off a negative impression they will use corrective practices usually in the form of a text message to ensure the individual that they are better than
Dating back to the early 1900’s and all the way through to the present, romantic relationships have been viewed differently. From strict unwritten dating regulations to not having regulations at all, recent generations have become more liberated in making their own decisions. The progressing times have made us become a more accepting society and have caused a decrease in the strong practice of religion and class. Even though differences such as religion and class in relationships were more than an issue they were not always a complete deterrence.
Symbolic interactionist’s like to understand the world through understanding the specific meanings and causes that society attributes to particular events. When analyzing health and illness symbolic interactionist’s like to look at individuals or groups and how they give meaning to their particular illness. Then they take that information and see how it affects their relationships with others and how it makes them view themselves. The symbolic interactionist theory also claims that we socially construct health and illness much like we do with race. For instance if someone spends his days staring at the sun and goes blind people blame him for staring at the sun. They believe that if they do not engage in sun staring then they will not go blind. The same reasoning usually follows people who get lung cancer or AIDS. The person is blamed for having the illness regardless of how they got it; people assume the sick brought it upon themselves.
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...
We understand and perform on social objects. Our most important form of social objects are people. Symbolic interactionism is also called symbolic interaction perspective, the major framework of sociological theory as we know it today. People rely upon interaction with others; socializing has become the key factor of our everyday lives. Symbolic Interactionism is the meanings that we impose on objects, people, and sometimes even behaviors. Our society is a huge structure built by human interpretations.
The main points of the Symbolic Interactionism perspective is that symbols are what shape how we communicate and how we view the world. Our changing ideas affect how we understand and view different things around us. Without symbols society would be not be very coordinated, people wouldn’t be able to specify a specific time for school or where to meet for lunch. The main points of the Functional Analysis perspective, is that society is made up of several individual parts that work together for society to function properly. Each of these smaller parts has functions that are beneficial consequences of people actions and dysfunctions that are harmful and threaten the equilibrium. In this perspective the smaller parts are look at to see how they
The practice of online dating has become an increasingly popular and acceptable method of dating in modern society and looking at this social behavior from the perspective of a functionalist and a symbolic interactionist would involve very different focuses.
Functionalism is a materialist stance in the philosophy of mind that argues that mental states are purely functional, and thus categorized by their input and output associations and causes, rather than by the physical makeup that constitutes its parts. In this manner, functionalism argues that as long as something operates as a conscious entity, then it is conscious. Block describes functionalism, discusses its inherent dilemmas, and then discusses a more scientifically-driven counter solution called psychofunctionalism and its failings as well. Although Block’s assertions are cogent and well-presented, the psychofunctionalist is able to provide counterarguments to support his viewpoint against Block’s criticisms. I shall argue that though both concepts are not without issue, functionalism appears to satisfy a more acceptable description that philosophers can admit over psychofunctionalism’s chauvinistic disposition that attempts to limit consciousness only to the human race.
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
Developed in the late 19th century, symbolic interactionism dealt with people and how they hold the relationship with one another. George Herbert Mead even though never published his work, is said to be the founder of symbolic interaction (Introduction to sociology 2015). This theory deals with the relationships we have with one another. If an individual is trying to use symbolic interaction in a scientific manner, they would observe the patterns someone faces. Certain patterns all come back to a certain event any individual has had in the past. Events in the past could be, positive or negative. A positive effect could be, someone reading daily because his or her parents used to read to them before they slept (Introduction to Sociology 2015). A negative effect would be someone eating constantly for a coping mechanism. How an individual reacts to a situation gives personality. Symbolic Interactionism also can be a symbol, such as gun to cop or paintbrush to painter. Symbolic Interaction is more of a personal theory dealing with more of a small scaled group rather than large groups of people. Understanding how humans
MSLC will focus on how relationships are shaped or established as it relates to the individual and societal interactions. If Jennifer does not acclimate to the changes in her life, Jennifer may go throughout life blaming others for the way her life turned out. A healthy intervention plan such as MSLC, could help Jennifer grasp a clear perspective of the changes and how they are affecting her life and the decisions that she is makes. Applying the symbolic interactionism theory will provide a plan of action to understand Jennifer’s societal perception and how it has shaped her life (Murphy-Erby et al.,
On a micro level symbolic interactionism instills itself with in society when it comes to the sex of the person. By constantly seeing social rules enforced it perpetuates an imagined set by society. Men are interpreted as gentlemen by opening doors for women or paying for dinner. This interpretation of men is set as the norm according to the society. This concept of male is frequently being depicted in the media in the form of movies, novels and etc. The same thing goes for women, what if a woman wanted be a firefighter? Her coworkers would probably harass her. Society would tell her that she is going against her gender role. Society is teaching females the rules of social behavior and if you deviate from it there are consequences. All these
Dualism is the idea that the mind is a separate entity that has no connection to the physical body.
Functionalism, largely influenced by Talcott Parsons, can be interpreted in several ways, creating the different versions of functionalism such as biocultural functionalism and structural-functionalism, which have different main aspects of belief. Bicultural functionalism expresses the belief that because of physiological needs social institutions were created in order to fulfill these needs. This belief suggests that functionalism, the belief that anything simply occurs because it serves a function, is based upon the individual's needs which include reproduction, food and shelter. Alternatively, the social structure and society as a "system of relationships" is also part of functionalism as the structural-functionalism view. According to the structural-functionalism it is not the individual that is important, but society as a whole. "He suggested that a society is a system of relationships maintaining itself through cybernetic feedback, while institutions are orderly sets of relationships whose function is to maintain the society as a system." Overall functionalism in the idea that there is a disconnect between the mental states and the physical, and that mental states can only be identified through their functional role ("Functionalism." Web. N.p.). Parsons "[…] contributed to the structural-functionalist school conceptualized the social universe in terms of four types and levels of '...
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.
phenomena in terms of the functions they perform. The society conceived in functionalism is a