What Are The Three Major Sociological Perspectives

The three major sociological perspectives, functionalism, conflict theory, and interactionism, are perception lenses which Sociologists utilize to answer the two basic questions in building theory; what issues should we study? And how should the facts be linked? Essentially, each perspective conceptualizes and analyzes how society influences people as well as how people can influence society.
Functionalism or structural-functionalism is sociological perspective that analyzes society on a macro level. The functionalist perspective asserts the idea that every aspect of society is interdependent and how each aspect is functional for the stability of society as a whole. It was best described by Herbert Spencer, who compared the society to the human body; the muscles, skeleton, and various internal organs are all necessary in the continuation of life for the entire organism. The comparison conveys how social structures function together to preserve society or the social consensus. The social consensus, two forms created by Emile Durkheim, was the basic for structural-functionalism cohesion; mechanical solidarity, where people maintain similar values and beliefs and
engage identical types of work. Organic solidarity describes an interdependent society, but holds to varying values and beliefs and engage in varying types of work.
The social conflict theory, as founded by Karl Marx, focuses on the negative conflictions within a society.
Karl Marx focuses his theory around the two different social classes within a society; the capitalists (who hold majority of the wealth) and the proletarians (the working class). The social conflict theory though can easily be applied to numerous cases including the differential between male in correspondence to female and the differential in white man to minorities. The conflict theory primarily focuses on how certain social patterns benefit certain people (capitalists) while hindering others (proletarians). Karl Marx exerted the idea that revolution was the only way to reform the social structure; that the proletarians needed to realize their position of weakness and revolt against the
capitalists. The interactionism perspective or symbolic interaction approach is the only perspective of the three which explores the use of a micro level analysis on society. This approach delves into the concept that people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their interpretation of the symbols. The ability to attach a symbol to just about anything allows us, as human beings, to create our own sense of “reality” and how we base our own sense of identity. Interactionism at its core is essentially people interacting. The symbolic interaction theory allows a person to create and sustain what we experience as the reality of a particular social situation. Karl Marx makes a very bold and challenging question when he surveys industrial capitalism. He compares the capitalists and proletarians as equals to the masters and slaves in the “ancient world.” Marx would contrasts the two social classes with the use of the Agrarian nobles and Serfs, who were bound together by traditions and their mutual obligations; Marx argues that proletarians have no obligation to their capitalists’ oppressors. He felt that industrial capitalism completely diluted any loyalties with self-interest. The concept that the proletarians could reshape and mold the social structure by overthrowing their capitalists’ oppressors was quite the fascinating though. Though Marx has his roots within communism and socialism - his theory was more than noble; which brings me to compare his thoughts of revolution to the most recent “Occupy Wall Street,” in which the working class turned against their capitalists’ oppressors. The “Occupy Wall Street” movement conjured a number of supporters in which the 99% (proletarians) took a stand against the 1% (capitalists who hold majority of the wealth) in an attempt for equality. In a broader scope, the social-conflict theory perspective accounts for a number of inequality concepts, which leads to the most realistic and accurate portrayal of the social world. The social-conflict theory views the forest rather than just the tree.