Talcott Parsons saw society as working like a human body, arguing that institutions in society were like organs in the body — each performing specific functions which were necessary to the maintenance of the whole. Parsons argued that parts of society should be understood in terms of what they contribute to the maintenance of the whole.
Just like human beings need certain things to survive, so every society has to have certain things in order to function properly. For example, a society must produce and distribute resources such as food and shelter; there has to be some kind of organization that resolves conflicts, and others that socialize the young.
According to Parsons a social system has four needs which must be met for continued survival — These are adaptation, goal attainment, integration and latency.
In advanced industrial society, these needs are met through specialized sub systems:. Parsons believed that American society generally worked for most people, and thus preserving the social order preventing conflict or revolution was particularly important. Parsons argued that social order was mainly achieved not through the rule of force, but through institutions promoting Value Consensus — which is agreement around shared values.
Parsons argued that commitment to common values is the basis for order in society. Parsons believed the nuclear family was the best type of family for providing a stable upbringing for children, and the best type of family to provide moral guidance the difference between right and wrong.
Later on in life , education integrates individuals into wider society — providing individuals with a sense of belonging and identity to the wider society. Parsons argued, for example, that education does this through teaching us a shared history and language. Two of the most important shared values in industrial societies include a belief in the work ethic and a belief in meritocracy the idea that people are rewarded on the basis of their ability and effort , both of which are taught through education.
Parsons argued these were both vital to modern society because a work ethic ensures people value working rather than lazing about and meritocracy means that those people who end up in lower paid jobs accept inequality in society because they believe they at least had a fair chance to do better in life. The conflict perspective, or conflict theory, derives from the ideas of Karl Marx, who believed society is a dynamic entity constantly undergoing change driven by class conflict.
Whereas functionalism understands society as a complex system striving for equilibrium, the conflict perspective views social life as competition.
According to the conflict perspective, society is made up of individuals competing for limited resources e. Competition over scarce resources is at the heart of all social relationships.
Competition, rather than consensus, is characteristic of human relationships. Broader social structures and organizations e.
Wright Mills is known as the founder of modern conflict theory. In his work, he believes social structures are created because of conflict between differing interests. Sociologists who work from the conflict perspective study the distribution of resources, power, and inequality.
While functionalism emphasizes stability, conflict theory emphasizes change. According to the conflict perspective, society is constantly in conflict over resources, and that conflict drives social change. For example, conflict theorists might explain the civil rights movements of the s by studying how activists challenged the racially unequal distribution of political power and economic resources.
As in this example, conflict theorists generally see social change as abrupt, even revolutionary, rather than incremental. In the conflict perspective, change comes about through conflict between competing interests, not consensus or adaptation.
Conflict theory, therefore, gives sociologists a framework for explaining social change, thereby addressing one of the problems with the functionalist perspective. Predictably, conflict theory has been criticized for its focus on change and neglect of social stability. Some critics acknowledge that societies are in a constant state of change, but point out that much of the change is minor or incremental, not revolutionary.
For example, many modern capitalist states have avoided a communist revolution, and have instead instituted elaborate social service programs. Although conflict theorists often focus on social change, they have, in fact, also developed a theory to explain social stability.
According to the conflict perspective, inequalities in power and reward are built into all social structures. Individuals and groups who benefit from any particular structure strive to see it maintained. For example, the wealthy may fight to maintain their privileged access to higher education by opposing measures that would broaden access, such as affirmative action or public funding.
Symbolic interactionism looks at individual and group meaning-making, focusing on human action instead of large-scale social structures. Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical approach to understanding the relationship between humans and society. The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication or symbols.
In this approach, humans are portrayed as acting, as opposed to being acted upon. The main principles of symbolic interactionism are:. This approach stands in contrast to the strict behaviorism of psychological theories prevalent at the time it was first formulated the s and s. According to symbolic interactionism, humans are distinct from infrahumans lower animals because infrahumans simply respond to their environment i. Additionally, infrahumans are unable to conceive of alternative responses to gestures.
Humans, however, can. This perspective is also rooted in phenomenological thought. According to symbolic interactionism, the objective world has no reality for humans; only subjectively defined objects have meaning.
Meanings are not entities that are bestowed on humans and learned by habituation; instead, meanings can be altered through the creative capabilities of humans, and individuals may influence the many meanings that form their society.
Human society, therefore, is a social product. These parts of the brain begin developing in early childhood the preschool years and aid humans in understanding how other people think. In , Charles Horton Cooley developed the social psychological concept of the looking glass self.
The term was first used in his work, Human Nature and the Social Order. There are three main components of the looking glass self:. Charles Cooley : Cooley developed the idea of the looking glass self. Cooley clarified this concept in his writings, stating that society is an interweaving and interworking of mental selves. Through interaction with others, we begin to develop an identity about who we are, as well as empathy for others.
It should be noted that symbolic interactionists advocate a particular methodology. Because they see meaning as the fundamental component of the interaction of human and society, studying human and social interaction requires an understanding of that meaning.
Symbolic interactionists tend to employ more qualitative, rather than quantitative, methods in their research. The most significant limitation of the symbolic interactionist perspective relates to its primary contribution: it overlooks macro-social structures e. Some symbolic interactionists, however, would counter that the incorporation of role theory into symbolic interactionism addresses this criticism.
The Looking Glass Self : This drawing depicts the looking-glass self. Feminist theory is a conflict theory that studies gender, patriarchy, and the oppression of women. Identify the main tenets of the feminist perspective and its research focus, distinguishing the three waves of feminist theory.
The feminist perspective has much in common with the conflict perspective. However, instead of focusing broadly on the unequal distribution of power and resources, feminist sociology studies power in its relation to gender. This topic is studied both within social structures at large and at the micro level of face-to-face interaction, the latter of which incorporates the methodology of symbolic interactionism popularized by Erving Goffman.
Feminist scholars study a range of topics, including sexual orientation, race, economic status, and nationality. However, at the core of feminist sociology is the idea that, in most societies, women have been systematically oppressed and that men have been historically dominant.
This is referred to as patriarchy. Because social institutions are functionally integrated to form a stable system, a change in one institution will precipitate a change in other institutions.
Dysfunctional institutions, which do not contribute to the overall maintenance of a society, will cease to exist. In the s, Robert Merton elaborated the functionalist perspective by proposing a distinction between manifest and latent functions.
Manifest functions are the intended functions of an institution or a phenomenon in a social system. Latent functions are its unintended functions. Latent functions may be undesirable, but unintended consequences, or manifestly dysfunctional institutions may have latent functions that explain their persistence.
For example, crime seems difficult to explain from the functionalist perspective; it seems to play little role in maintaining social stability. Crime, however, may have the latent function of providing examples that demonstrate the boundaries of acceptable behavior and the function of these boundaries to maintain social norms. Functionalists analyze social institutions in terms of the function they play.
How does it contribute to social stability? By delineating the functions of elements of society, of the social structure, we can better understand social life. Delaney, Tim, and Tim Madigan. The Sociology of Sports: An Introduction. Jefferson, NC: McFarland. Dillon, Michele. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell. Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. New York: Norton. Introduction to Sociology 2e.
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