Evaluate the Significance of Socilogy To Understand Social Work Practice.

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EVALUATE THE SIGNIFICANCE OF SOCILOGY TO UNDERSTAND SOCIAL WORK PRACTICE.

Sociology comes from the Latin word ‘socius’, which means people and the Greek word ‘logos’, that means study of. Macaronis and Plummer (cited in Cree 2001:1) describe sociology as “the systematic, sceptical study of human sociology.” By studying sociology we can gain an insight into why people have social problems and make sense of them by not necessarily blaming the individual. We can achieve this by looking at the societies that people live in and the roles that they play in that community.

I will briefly describe the three main sociological perspectives and some more recent contemporary ones. I will also evaluate the significance of sociology to social work practice, in particular to older people and discuss ageism as a social problem.  

Sociology covers many subjects such as religion, class, ethnicity, sex, race, education and crime to name but a few. Society is made up of social institutions such as the family, law and peer groups. These institutions are made up of different and diverse cultures that may share common values. Cultures are made up of values, norms, customs and each having their role and status in society. People are born into society and go through a process called socialisation. This is where cultures are taught and norms and values learned and become internalised, or taken for granted. Primary socialisation is the early years of learning, normally taught by parents or older siblings. Secondary socialisation is learned at school, though media, and peer groups and continues throughout life. Secondary socialisation is the process through which people develop their social identity and learn the roles they play in society. These roles are forever changing throughout life, such as daughter to wife and worker to retiree.

There are many sociological perspectives, the main three being the functionalist perspective, the Marxist perspective and the social action theory. Each theory or perspective is a different way of viewing society and individuals within society. However, a social worker needs to be aware that in some cases one generic theory cannot always be applied. I will explain briefly the three main classic perspectives and how each views society, I am aware that each perspective has its criticisms but due to a limited word count, it is not an area I can discuss in detail.

“Functionalism is a structuralist theory. This means that it sees the individual as less important than the social structure or organisations of society.” Moore et al (2001:6) Functionalists study society at the macro level. They view society as a system whose parts are interrelated and form a whole and that the individual is a product of society.

People are influenced by social institutions, such as their family and peer groups and usually act accordingly to established norms and rules. Order and stability are essential for the survival of the social system as a whole. Social systems have their functions- hence functionalism that maintain the stability of the whole system. Cree (2000)  

Emile Durkeim, Auguste Comte, who first termed the word sociology and Talcott Parsons were the most influential functionalists. Parsons thought that “socialisation is the key to understanding human behaviour patterns” Moore et al (2001:7) and is understood by the process of socialisation. Durkeims aim was to “create a new understanding of society” (Cree 200:11) and thought that behaviour may be comprehended by the social structures and not by the individuals personal preferences. For instance we are heavily influenced to act in certain ways due to laws, policies and religion. Therefore our behaviour is governed by the rules of society and the roles that we assume throughout our lives. Parsons viewed the nuclear family as the ideal for children to be socialised into, with one instrumental leader, which was the male breadwinner for the family and an expressive leader, which was the term he used for the role of the housewife and mother. The family was the main instrument to socialisation and not just to maintain the health of the family but “met “the needs of society and industrial economy for a mobile and adaptable workforce”. Moore et al (2001:41) His argument was that whilst the division of labour was split, family decisions are solved easier, without disagreement as each member of the family had their specific role in the structure of society.

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Marxism is based on the ideas of Karl Marx. It is a perspective that is based on a class system, split into two categories, the worker, which he called the proletariat, and the bosses, or employers as the bourgeoisie. He called the bourgeoisie the ruling class. Marxism, like functionalism is a structuralist theory and concentrates on the macro level. Marxism sees the economic organisation of societies as responsible for the behaviour of individuals. This is because Marxism claims that individuals are the products of class relationships that characterise economic life”. Moore et al (2001:10).The Bourgeoisie were the owners of ...

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