Sociology Theory
Ashley McCollum
11/05/12
Term Paper
There are many theories people create and analyze on how we as a society would become obsolete. If we lived in a perfect world, there would probably be one solution or sociological theory that could solve all our problems. With all of the sociological theories created over centuries, I believe that the three main theories, structural functionalism, the conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism, are all important attributes to what make us successful as individuals and society, play an important part in what makes us fail and all consist in the United States today.
The structural functionalism approach is a framework for all parts of society to work and function together. This theory points to social structure, which gives our lives shape in families, workplace, classroom, community, etc., and is the pattern of our social behavior. As one pioneer of this approach, Herbert Spencer, began to explain in more detail how social structure works was by using an example of the human body. He argued his point by stating muscles, bones, and organs in our body work interdependently to help the entire body to survive. He compared this to social structure by exclaiming that just like the functions of our organs, bones and muscles help the body to survive, social structures work together to preserve society. How one can say how this theory is beneficial today is by the way we control our actions with our decision making. If we do work together as a whole in governmental, environmental, community, and individual decisions, we could form a somewhat less chaotic society, instead of just focusing what is important to just us as individuals. One thing that is a disadvantage on having a structural functional society is by social dysfunction which is any type of social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society. So in addition what is helpful for one category of people in a society may be functional and for the other category it may be
11/05/12
Term Paper
There are many theories people create and analyze on how we as a society would become obsolete. If we lived in a perfect world, there would probably be one solution or sociological theory that could solve all our problems. With all of the sociological theories created over centuries, I believe that the three main theories, structural functionalism, the conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism, are all important attributes to what make us successful as individuals and society, play an important part in what makes us fail and all consist in the United States today.
The structural functionalism approach is a framework for all parts of society to work and function together. This theory points to social structure, which gives our lives shape in families, workplace, classroom, community, etc., and is the pattern of our social behavior. As one pioneer of this approach, Herbert Spencer, began to explain in more detail how social structure works was by using an example of the human body. He argued his point by stating muscles, bones, and organs in our body work interdependently to help the entire body to survive. He compared this to social structure by exclaiming that just like the functions of our organs, bones and muscles help the body to survive, social structures work together to preserve society. How one can say how this theory is beneficial today is by the way we control our actions with our decision making. If we do work together as a whole in governmental, environmental, community, and individual decisions, we could form a somewhat less chaotic society, instead of just focusing what is important to just us as individuals. One thing that is a disadvantage on having a structural functional society is by social dysfunction which is any type of social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society. So in addition what is helpful for one category of people in a society may be functional and for the other category it may be