Sociology and Health. Within this assignment I will use a range of sociological terminology in order to describe each of the following sociological perspectives; functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism, collectivism, postmodernism and the new rig
Task 1 Criteria - P1, P2 P1 Within this assignment I will use a range of sociological terminology in order to describe each of the following sociological perspectives; functionalism, Marxism, feminism, interactionism, collectivism, postmodernism and the new right. Throughout this assignment I will refer to culture, values, beliefs, norms, socialisation, social status, social roles and social class. "A society is made up of key institutions or building blocks, including the family, the education system, work and the economic systems, the political system, religious groups and the mass media. Sociologists are concerned with the way these institutions relate to each other and influence our behaviour." Quote taken from; Sociological perspectives PowerPoint Sociologists look closely at the ways in which the different groups within a particular society influence individual behaviour. Society can be defined as; a group of individuals living in one area that pursue different attitudes and beliefs about different things. Sociologists believe that an individual's behaviour is learnt merely through the process of socialisation. There are two types of socialisation; primary and secondary which I am going to look at in more detail within this assignment. Socialisation is defined as; "The process of learning the usual ways of behaving in society." Stretch. Beryl. (2007). BTEC
Sociological accounts on individuals acquiring their identities.
Sociological accounts on individuals acquiring their identities. The concept of identity has been defined as 'A sense of self that develops as the child differentiates from parents and family and takes a place in society' (Jary and Jary, 1991.) Through the process of socialization, individuals acquire their identities, but this issue cause different understandings according to sociological accounts. Here, I will show these accounts, and make an analysis understood by me. The definition refers to the sense that some one has or who they are, of what is most important about them. Important sources of identities are likely to include nationality, ethnicity, sexuality (homosexual, heterosexual, bisexual), gender and class. (Collins Haralambos and Holborn, < Sociology Themes and Perspectives>, chapter 12, p 885) The main sociological accounts on this issue are: Functionalism, Symbolic Interactionism, Marxism, Feminism and Giddens' concept of structuration. Functionalism Functionalism is too deterministic. It emphasizes the roles and identities to relatively passive human are shaped by the needs of the social system. It tends to see all the identities as passive identities (e.g., class identity) and give no choice to individuals about how they behave. Functionalism has a conservative view despite of social change. It neglect the impose roles in society, which force people to do
All the world’s a stage - How is Social Order Possible?
All the world's a stage . "How is social order possible?" The way in which social order is achieved has been the subject of many theories presented by respectable sociologists such as Emile Durkheim, Thomas Hobbes, George Herbert Mead, and Karl Marx. Among the most prominent of these theories are Hobbes' "Social Control" theory and Meads' "Symbolic Interactionism" theory. Through these two theories, it is possible to gain a better understanding of how social order can be achieved. The social control theory of Thomas Hobbes has five basic ideas to it. The first idea is that humans are egotistical beings that will do anything to fulfil their wants and desires. The second idea is based on the idea that because humans are egotistical, crime and deviance are a natural occurrence and do not need to be explained. Instead, those who are not criminalistic or deviant are the ones who need to be explained. The third idea is that humans conform to societal values and norms through rational choice. They do this by weighing the consequences of bad actions with the apparent benefits of good actions, then decide whether to proceed in the direction of good or bad. The fourth idea is that social control is a response to deviance and crime; rebellious forms of social control can regulate or reduce crime and deviance. This is possible through the final idea, which is that the fear of
How Does Theory Help Us To Understand Crime.
HOW DOES THEORY HELP US TO UNDERSTAND CRIME Theory helps us to understand the world because it provides us with a fundamental pattern, which explains a variety of situations, which can be use for interpreting new situations. In this essay, I will look at positivism and interactionism and the methods and methodologies they deploy to explain crime. Positivism emerged in the early nineteenth century, although it has its roots in the enlightenment philosophies of the seventeenth century. It argued that social relations and events could only be understood through observation and data collection. By using these methods, early scientists and philosophers argued that causal laws could be discovered enabling us to explain and predict future patterns of social behaviour. These laws represent inalienable 'truths' by using methods derived from natural sciences. In the early years of its discovery, positivism provided a radical alternative to the dominance of power. It was also a product of socio-economic changes, where it became closely associated with the development of industrial capita, for example, As mentioned above, the key characteristics of positivism is the application of the methods of natural sciences, "unproblematically", to the study of the social behaviour to gain objective, value-free 'facts'. It has generally involved the search for 'cause and effect' relations
Examine the usefulness of functionalism for an understanding society
Sociology Essay Examine the usefulness of functionalism for an understanding society. This question asks me to look at how functionalism affects everyday society in Britain. This also requires me to look into depth at several other ways of society: Marxism, Feminism and interactionism. Functionalism is a structural theory which highlights the inter-relation of inter-dependant parts that concentrate on the family, education, economy and government. A structural theory is often described as a machine controlling everyone, looks at society in a macro view and the rules in the concepts of structural theory are followed to keep culture stable between generations of people. Functionalism blindly sees society perfectly and examines a society of people rather than individuals. Sociologists often describe this theory as the human body that links the brain to religion, the family to the heart, the lungs represents the economy, the liver is the legal system, the intestines represents the education and the bladder represents the health system. The idea behind this concept is: if any of the institutions break down then the whole of society breaks down. Functionalism occurs through out everyone's life, at the beginning when norms and values are passed on to children using primary socialisation and even during secondary socialisation at school. Functionalism can mean positive. The
Sociological Theories and Educational Achievement
Unit Title: Socio-Economic Factors and Educational Achievement Kayleigh Giles-Johnson ________________ Sociological Theories and Educational Achievement In this essay we will be analysing three types of sociological theories, firstly looking at functionalism then the contasting views of Marxism and Interactionism, explaining how each theory works and how they can each affect educational achievement. Functionalism is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. It focuses on the idea that education is merocratic, meaning that social rewards are earned by talent and effort and that success or failure is based on the ability of every individual. Functionalists believe that not only people born with advantages can get a high position in society, but everyone can if they put the work in. The founder of functionalism, Durkheim, argues that the function of school is to 'sift and sort' people into allocated roles based on their ability. It is also said that education plays a part in socialising children, teaching them core values which they may either resist or embrace (Parsons, 2004, p.54). However, the functionalist theory can be critised by looking at different ideas, such as those of the Marxist theory. Bowles and Gintis (1976) say that meritocracy is in fact a myth, as some people start education with benefits such being born into a middle-class
Assess the usefulness of interactionist approaches to the study of society
Assess the usefulness of interactionist approaches to the study of society. (33marks) Interactionism is an action approach, which focuses on the individual, and tries to understand and interpret human behaviour. They focus on the study of individuals, and how society is constructed by members’ interactions and meanings. They also focus on how human action is meaningful and can be interpreted by an observer. Therefore they take an opposite approach to structural theories and believe individuals have the ability to create society through choice, meaning and action. Symbolic interactionism is concerned with explaining social actions in terms of the meanings that people give to them. Interactions are based on meanings we give to situations. We express these meanings through symbols, especially language. Meanings and symbols allow people to carry out human action and interactions. Language and communication deepens our capacity to become self-aware and aware of others. In addition to ‘talking to others’ we engage in talking to ourselves’, that is, engaging in internal conversations when we are making decisions. Mead (1863-1931) states that humans use symbols as a mean of interacting. Without these symbols there would be no human interaction and human society. Symbolic interaction is necessary since humans have no instincts to direct their behaviour. Mead recognized that
Assess Interactionist theories of crime and deviance.
Sociology Chad Walker Assess Interactionist theories of crime and deviance. In this essay I am going to assess Interactionists theories of crime and deviance such as Becker's labelling theory, theories of how agents of social control amplify deviance and assess how Interactionists influence social policy with evaluation. Interactionists study the effects that labelling has on people. They are critical of Right Wing theories such as the New Right, Right Realism and Functionalism as Right Wing theories claim that agents of social control, like the police, are unbiased, fair and just although Cicourel's study shows how police hold typifications which can lead to a self fulfilling prophecy. Interactionists have similar views to Marxists, believing that Right Wing theories are biased against the working class and believe that official statistics are invalid and reveal more information about the people compiling the data rather than the statistics themselves. Interactionism is a social action theory which opposes social structural theories held by Right Wing theories as it believes that people have free will - instead of passively reacting to society, people stop to interpret a situation before choosing how to act. Lemset notes that there are two types of deviance: primary and secondary. Primary deviance is not important as it does not affect a person's self-concept and is not
Sociological Theory - Explain what is meant by the 'actors point of view' in interactionist sociology.
Sophie Baker Sociological Theory 3. Explain what is meant by the 'actors point of view' in interactionist sociology. Before undertaking the concept of the 'actor's point of view', it is important to illustrate that there are different perspectives within social theory. Interactionists see society somewhat differently from sociologists such as Functionalists and Marxists because they focus more on small-scale interactions, often known as a micro approach. Whereas Functionalism and Marxism concentrate on society as a whole, seen as the macro theory, with individuals being shaped by the social system and therefore Interactionism is seen as a crucial aspect of sociology since the perspective differs. The idea of the 'actor's point of view' stems from interactionist sociology, in particular symbolic interactionism, where many elements of small-scale interactions are given meanings by individuals, i.e. the social actors. A background of interactionist sociology will be given here with the term being explained and critically examined with reference to influential symbolic interactionists. Prior to explaining the phrase the 'actor's point of view', one must initially understand the theory behind it. Interactionism, also known as social action theory, is concerned with the process of interaction between individuals and the meanings that actors attach to actions thus defining given
Sociology can be defined as the study of human beings as social animals, it is a scientific study of social phenomenon, human interaction and culture, and it attempts to explain the social worlds of individuals and groups and how they interact
Introduction Sociology can be defined as the study of human beings as social animals, it is a scientific study of social phenomenon, human interaction and culture, and it attempts to explain the social worlds of individuals and groups and how they interact. Sociological theory attempts to look beyond common sense explanations. Sociology as with other social sciences has its roots in philosophy and has developed theories to explain behaviour and relationships within society. Sociology can be divided into two main camps, structural and action theories. This essay will attempt to explain these theories within different aspects of society, how they affect society as a whole. It will then go on to evaluate the strengths and weakness within the theories. The consensus theory is a study of society as a whole (the Macro sociology). It focuses on what binds society together and existence of consensus (agreement) with societies made up of various social institutions. Emile Durkheim (1855-1917), the founder of the functionalist theory believed that society was a complex economic system with a sophisticated division of labour; he saw the division of labour as social institutions. Durkheim sought to comprehend the utility of social and cultural traits by explaining them in terms of their contributors to the cooperation of an over all system, the cohesive bonds of social order and
