Sociology and Perspective
Sociology-Family
Page 1. Family
A family is “a set of people related by blood, marriage or some other agreed-upon relationship, or adoption, who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society.” (Schaefer, 2009) A family is considered a social institution. This social institution is one that can be applied to all three sociological theories which are functionalism, conflict, and interactionism.
The first sociological theory is functionalism. A functionalism perspective is a “sociological approach that emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability.” (Schaefer, 2009) This simply means for in the instance of a family that the family in a whole is stable because each family member has a role that they must fulfill. They are dependent on each other to help fulfill their role. If one family member was to leave then there would be dysfunction until the family finds someone to fill that empty role or learns how to deal without that role being fulfilled. Dysfunction is “the element or process of a society that may actually disrupt the social system or reduce its stability.” (Schaefer, 2009) Another dysfunction for a family could be a new member being introduced into the family. The new member would then have a new role to play for the family and the family would have to figure out how to deal with this new role. Until the new role is figured out dysfunction will leave the family unstable.
The second sociological theory is Conflict. Conflict perspective is “a sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation.” (Schaefer, 2009) This perspective relates to a family in two ways.
Page 2. Family
The first is inner structure of a family. Within a family you have members that sometimes fight for
Page 1. Family
A family is “a set of people related by blood, marriage or some other agreed-upon relationship, or adoption, who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society.” (Schaefer, 2009) A family is considered a social institution. This social institution is one that can be applied to all three sociological theories which are functionalism, conflict, and interactionism.
The first sociological theory is functionalism. A functionalism perspective is a “sociological approach that emphasizes the way in which the parts of a society are structured to maintain its stability.” (Schaefer, 2009) This simply means for in the instance of a family that the family in a whole is stable because each family member has a role that they must fulfill. They are dependent on each other to help fulfill their role. If one family member was to leave then there would be dysfunction until the family finds someone to fill that empty role or learns how to deal without that role being fulfilled. Dysfunction is “the element or process of a society that may actually disrupt the social system or reduce its stability.” (Schaefer, 2009) Another dysfunction for a family could be a new member being introduced into the family. The new member would then have a new role to play for the family and the family would have to figure out how to deal with this new role. Until the new role is figured out dysfunction will leave the family unstable.
The second sociological theory is Conflict. Conflict perspective is “a sociological approach that assumes that social behavior is best understood in terms of tension between groups over power or the allocation of resources, including housing, money, access to services, and political representation.” (Schaefer, 2009) This perspective relates to a family in two ways.
Page 2. Family
The first is inner structure of a family. Within a family you have members that sometimes fight for