A Comparison of Marxist and Functionalist Views on Society There is a division between functionalists and Marxists over the functions of the society. Marxism was founded by Karl Marx. Marx saw society as divided into two major parts‚ the economic base otherwise known as the infrastructure and the super-structure. Functionalists see society as a set of parts which work together to form a whole. Functionalism is also called a consensus theory. Marxism and functionalism are similar
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Assess the strengths and weaknesses of the functionalist view on society. Functionalism is a consensus perspective‚ whereby society is based on shared values and norms into which members are socialised. For functionalists‚ society is seen as a system of social institutions such as the economy‚ religion and the family all of which perform socialisation functions. A strength of the functionalist theory is that it a macro level structural theory which uses an organic analogy- using the body as
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Assess the functionalist view of the medical profession. Functionalists have a consensus view on the medical profession; they support the occupation‚ as they believe all groups in society work together like a human body. Other groups such as feminists and Marxists believe that the medical profession does not take into account the social model. Both Marxist and feminists have a more conflict approach around the medical occupation. Functionalists believe that doctors and the likes of have an
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claim that the main function of education is to maintain a value consensus in society. Through education social solidarity is promoted; this is when individual members feel like they are part of the community. According to Durkheim without social solidarity cooperation would be impossible and every individual would go out and pursue selfish desires. The education system helps to promote/create social solidarity by transmitting ‘society’s culture’ of shared norms and values passed down generation to generation
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Deviance is an action or behavior that violates social or cultural norms. It can be categorized into two categories‚ formal and informal. Formal deviance is a criminal act as dictated by the law. Social norms dictate informal deviance. The functionalist perspective of deviance is that crime is inevitable because not everyone can or will be equally committed. A lot of social change seems to begin with a form of deviance. For example‚ the Civil Rights Movement. People such as Rosa Parks who spoke
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behaving‚Functionalist theory assumes that a certain degree of order and stability is essential for the survival of social systems.Without it‚society may expose to chaos and disorder.An example showing that society cannot function due to chaos is the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina‚looting ‚violence and other criminal activity become rampant in the state of confusion and lawlessness.Therefore‚social order is essential for society to function in harmony‚Value consensus is on agreement about values by members
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thinking in the sociology of the family for many years. Functionalists are interested in how the functions for the greater good of society and how it contributes to the maintenance of social order. (Moore‚ 2008). Functionalism defines the family as having its part or function within society. Functionalists suggest that if a social institution is apparent then it must have a role or function. The family is looked at in terms of its functions
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society as a whole. Positivists stress greater importance on society rather than solely focussing on the individual within as society influences individual human behaviour. This has resulted in a variation of different social structures e.g. family‚ education system and religion. Positivists believe the collection of data should be collected objectively and categorised. Data should be expressed in numerical form‚ e.g. percentages‚ statistics‚ questionnaires etc. This means that it can be quantified
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Assess the usefulness of the Functionalist view of the family (24 marks) Functionalism is a macro theory and so looks at things on a large scale they consist of structural theorists. They see society as being similar to a human body‚ in that the essential organs in the body perform specific functions. This is like society as one of the essential organs in society is the family‚ as it performs essential functions which serve the needs of the family. And that each part of the body works in harmony
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crime‚ are: consensus view‚ conflict view‚ and interactionist view. Consensus view is basically‚ crimes that are not tolerable in a society. These crimes are usually viewed as forbidden or corrupt. The consensus view of crime‚ are crimes that everybody views as punishable. Some crimes include‚ rape‚ robbery‚ murder‚ and etc. Social harm is linked to the consensus view of crime. According to Siegel‚ social harm is what sets deviant behavior from normal behavior. An example of a consensus view‚ is the
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