06 Jun Sociological Perspectives

Have you ever wondered what holds a society together or what potentially tears it apart? Sociological perspectives seek to explain how society and people influence each other. Three of the major perspectives are structural functionalism, conflict, and symbolic interactionism. Each perspective provides insight to the social world and human behavior dynamic.

Structural functionalism

Society is viewed as a social, integrated system that generally serves the basic needs of people. It’s often compared to the human body which is made up of many different parts that have a specialized function to support it as a whole. Society is also composed of different parts that work interdependent to maintain an acceptable way of living. In order for society to survive, the parts must work together in harmony to avoid upsetting the perceived natural balance. The foundation of functionalism is consensus and cooperation as it relates to social norms and values. However, if there are any sudden changes, it will disrupt the entire social system.

Social institutions are the specialized structures within a society. Some examples are family, education, government, economics, and religion. The institutions are interdependent and they have a function that contributes to maintaining society as a whole. Usually, the family institution is at the core of everything. A child will begin to experience society through the family, which creates a sense of identity for further assimilation. Education institutions provide the foundation for individuals to expand their knowledge and learn skills that will enable them to contribute to society. The government oversees and make decisions for society as a whole, economics provides the means for goods and services, and religion provides an outlet for individuals to express their beliefs as it relate to a higher power.

To take functionalism a step further, sociologist Robert Merton identified two functions known as manifest and latent. He viewed manifest functions as consequences that are usually intended and beneficial. In contrast, latent functions are often unintended and unknown. Let’s use education as an example, the intent of the institution is to assist individuals in expanding their knowledge and learning new skills. However, at the same time, unknowingly schools double as a babysitter for younger children with parents who are employed. Colleges provide an environment for young adults to meet a potential companion. When you think of education, you don’t associate it with a babysitter or finding a companion, which are ultimately latent functions of the institution.

Conflict

Opposite of functionalism, conflict perspective views society as being composed of different groups with different interests who are competing for power and other resources. It originated from the works of sociologist Karl Marx and it provides further insight about the groups that have power and how they use it to exploit others for financial gain. Societies transitioned from agricultural to industrial, which paved the way for the capitalist system. Now, you have two different classes of people emerging, which ultimately creates conflict. Marx identifies the classes as the bourgeoisie, who owned the means of production and the proletariats, who worked and earned wages.

The division disrupted the interdependent cohesiveness of society because one class had power over the other. Typically, if you control the means of production, you have access to more resources. The ruling class used their power to maintain inequality and reinforce their dominance. Conflict continues to exist in today’s society. For example, the people in Flint, Michigan do not have access to clean water, which is a resource that benefits everyone. However, the powers that be have access to the resource but can’t seem to find the means to correct the issue so everyone can have the same access. It creates conflict on multiple levels because basic needs aren’t being met and it compromises the health of individuals mentally and physically.

Symbolic Interactionism

This particular perspective takes a look at society from a micro level. Overall, it seeks to explain how society is created and maintained through individual interactions. Language, meaning, and thinking are identified as three core principles of the perspective. It’s believed individuals’ behavior towards things are based on the meanings of the things as they pertain to them. The meanings may be based on social interactions experienced repeatedly.

An extension of symbolic interactionism is constructivism; which suggests from a cognitive perspective, reality is what individuals construct it to be . This ties into the idea we are what we focus on and we have the ability to change our reality at any given time. Social constructs created from interactions with others tend to last for a substantial amount of time. The meanings associated with the interactions are generally accepted by most of society. In some instances, this approach is used to determine what behaviors are deviant within a society. There is no universal definition for deviance; therefore, the meaning and behaviors will vary in each society.

Social interactions are also believed to shape our identity or sense of self. Sociologist Charles Cooley referenced this phenomenon as the “looking glass self.” The theory seeks to explain how individuals develop their self concept by observing how others interact with or view them. Cooley identified three principle elements of the theory: the imagination of our appearance to others, the imagination of the judgment of the appearance, and self feeling as it may relate to pride.

Exploring the theory further, I believe individuals have the power to influence how others interact with them based on how they view themselves. The energy an individual puts out will always be reflected back to them. For an example, if an individual has low self esteem, then others may be able to sense the energy and align their interactions with it. Inadvertently, the individual reinforced their view of themselves by emitting low vibrational energy that ended up being reciprocated back to them. It’s important to base your sense of self on your inner being and not on outside sources to avoid experiencing unpleasant social interactions.

Wrap Up

Sociological perspectives seek to explain society from a macro (group) and micro (individual) level. Structural functionalism and conflict perspectives tend to address society from a macro level, while symbolic interactionism focuses on the micro level. Understanding the perspectives will assist you in navigating society and realizing the impact you make as an individual and as apart of a group. We are all interdependent and our interactions work together to shape the society we live in. As we know from conflict perspective, many things are unequal and it continues to breed division. We have to change our outlook to create the reality we desire to live in as a collective.