Sociology Lecture 2

Prepared By: Jeremiah A.T. Kwenah

INTRODUCTION TO SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY

Emile Durkheim

Emile Durkheim's work focuses on two main themes: prioritizing the social over the individual
and the idea that society can be studied scientifically. Durkheim argues that society is made up
of social facts that exceed our intuitive understanding and must be investigated through
observations and measurements. The term sociology was coined by Auguste Comte in the late
nineteenth century, and Durkheim argued that sociology should be concerned with studying
social facts, phenomena irreducible to individual psychology, and oriented towards empirical
research to separate it from philosophy. Social facts are social structures, cultural norms, and
values that are external to and coercive of actors.

Durkheim's concept of social facts distinguishes sociology from psychology by defining them as
external constraints rather than internal drives and general throughout society. He used the
Latin term sui generis to describe these facts, asserting that they have unique character and
cannot be explained by individual consciousness.

Durkheim also referred to language as a social fact, stating that it is a thing that must be studied
empirically, external to the individual, coercive of the individual, and can only be explained by
other social facts. This idea established sociology as an independent field of study and provided
a compelling argument for studying society as it is.

Material social facts, such as styles of architecture, forms of technology, and legal codes, are
easier to understand due to their direct observation. Nonmaterial social facts, on the other
hand, often express larger and more powerful moral forces that are both external and coercive
over individuals. Durkheim recognized that nonmaterial social facts are found in the minds of
individuals and can be found in relational realism and structural components like bureaucratic
norms.
Durkheim was a sociologist of morality, believing that morality is a social fact and driven by his
concern about the moral health of modern society. His studies on morality were based on his
belief that morality is a social fact and his concern for the moral health of modern society.

Durkheim's work on morality and freedom emphasized the importance of moral bonds, which
he believed would be enslaved by ever-expanding passions. He developed the concept of
collective conscience, which refers to the general structure of shared understandings, norms,
and beliefs. Durkheim argued that primitive societies had a stronger collective conscience than
modern societies.

Collective representations, such as religious symbols, myths, popular legends, and group
memories, represent collective beliefs, norms, and values and motivate conformity. These
representations cannot be reduced to individuals and can be studied more directly than
collective conscience.

Social currents, which are social facts that are not crystallized, are less concrete but can be
explained intersubjectively in terms of interactions between individuals. They can be viewed as
sets of meanings shared by members of a collectivity and can only be explained
intersubjectively in terms of interactions.

Durkheim traced the development of the modern relationship between individuals and society,
highlighting the moral crisis due to the increasing division of labor. In simpler societies, people
shareon experiences and values, while in modern society, everyone has a different job and
specialized tasks, leading to a loss of common experiences.

The Division of Labor by Karl Marx argues that modern society is not held together by shared
moral beliefs but by the division of labor itself. This division of labor forces people to be
dependent on each other, leading to a diminished collective conscience. Durkheim argued that
primitive societies had a stronger collective conscience, but the increasing division of labor has
caused a diminution of this conscience.

Durkheim also identified four dimensions of the collective conscience: volume, intensity,
rigidity, and content. Dynamic density refers to the number of people in a society and the
amount of interaction that occurs among them, which can be differentiated on four
dimensions: volume, intensity, rigidity, and content.

Durkheim argued that a society with mechanical solidarity is characterized by repressive law,
where a wrongdoer is punished severely for any action that offends the collective moral
system. In contrast, a society with organic solidarity is characterized by restitutive law, which
requires offenders to make restitution for their crimes.

Durkheim derived the idea that crime is normal rather than pathological, as it helps societies
define and delineate their collective conscience. He used the idea of pathology to criticize some
of the abnormal forms the division of labor takes in modern society, identifying three abnormal
forms: anomic division of labor, which celebrates isolated individuality and refrains from telling
people what they should do; and the repressive division of labor, which is characterized by the
lack of regulation in a society that celebrates isolated individuality and refrains from telling
people what they should do.

Durkheim's theory of suicide focuses on four types of suicide: forced division of labor, justice,
justice, and suicide. Forced division of labor refers to outdated norms and expectations that
force individuals, groups, and classes into positions they are ill-suited for, while justice is held
together through differences that promote interdependence. Durkheim predicted that society
would succumb to the division of labor and break down into specialties.

Suicide is studied because it is a concrete and specific phenomenon with good data available.
Durkheim assumed that only social facts could explain why one group had a higher rate of
suicide than another. He proposed two ways to evaluate suicide rates: comparing different
societies or other types of collectivities, or looking at changes in the suicide rate in the same
collectivity over time.

Durkheim's theory of suicide can be seen more clearly by examining the relation between the
types of suicide and his two underlying social facts: integration (the strength of attachment to
society) and regulation (the degree of external constraint on people). Egoistic suicide is more
likely to occur in societies or groups where the individual is not well integrated into the larger
social unit, as these factors produce distinctive social currents that cause differences in suicide
rates. Altruistic suicide is more likely to occur when social integration is too weak, as individuals
commit suicide in the name of a greater good.

Lastly, anomic suicide is more likely to occur when the regulative powers of society are
disrupted, leaving individuals dissatisfied due to little control over their passions. Rates of
anomic suicide may rise whether the disruption is positive (e.g., an economic boom) or negative
(e.g., an economic depression).

Durkheim's sociology of religion focuses on the enduring essence of religion through an analysis
of its most primitive forms. He argues that the moral bond becomes a cognitive bond because
categories for understanding, such as classification, time, space, and causation, are also derived
from religious rituals. The sacred, which is set apart from the everyday form, brings out an
attitude of reverence, awe, and obligation. The rest are defined as profane, the commonplace,
the utilitarian, and the mundane aspects of life.

Durkheim's theory of religion requires three conditions: the development of a set of religious
beliefs, a set of religious rituals, and a church or a single overarching moral community. Rituals
and the church are important to Durkheim's theory of religion because they connect the
representations of the social to individual practices. The major sources of his data were studies
of a clan-based Australian tribe, the Arunta, who Durkheim considered primitive culture.

Durkheim's study of religion within a primitive culture was motivated by the belief that it
provides insight into the essential nature of religion and the existence of intellectual and moral
conformity. He argued that religion in a nonmodern society is an all-encompassing collective
conscience, but as society grows more specialized, religion becomes a narrower domain.

Durkheim divided the life of a clan into two phases: the first phase, where the clan separates
into small groups, and the second phase, where members gather for religious ceremonies.
Collective energy, such as song and dance, becomes a shared symbol, and the totem serves as
an excellent example of this collective representation.
Totemism, a religious system, is another approach to understanding the symbolic aspects of
religion. It involves sacred animals and plants being considered emblems of the clan, with
totems representing the nonmaterial force at their base, which is society. In totemism, three
classes of things are connected: the totemic symbol, the animal or plant, and the members of
the clan.

Philosophy proposed two models for how humans develop concepts from sense impressions:
empiricism, which claims that our concepts are generalizations, and apriorism, which asserts
that we must be born with initial categories of understanding. Durkheim's Elementary Forms
presents an argument for the social origin of six fundamental categories of understanding: time
comes from the rhythms of social life, and space develops from the division of space occupied
by society.

In totemism, classification is tied to the human group, force is derived from experiences with
social forces, imitation rituals are the origin of causality, and society itself is the representation
of totality. Durkheim's sociology of knowledge argues that concepts and even our most
fundamental categories are collective representations that society produces.

Moral education and social reform are integral components of Durkheim's philosophy. Morality
involves discipline, attachment to society, and autonomy, which are essential for modern
morality. Education is defined as the process by which individuals acquire the physical,
intellectual, and moral tools needed to function in society. Durkheim viewed the classroom as a
small society and believed that its collective effervescence could be made powerful enough to
inculcate a moral attitude.

Occupational associations are essential for workers, managers, and owners in a particular
industry. Durkheim believed that any conflict occurred only because the various people
involved lacked a common morality, which was traceable to the lack of an integrative structure.
A moral system with derived rules and laws would counteract the tendency toward atomization
in modern society and help stop the decline in the significance of collective morality.
Durkheim's criticisms include his focus on social facts, his criticism of socialism, resistance to
the feminist movement, emphasis on morality, and criticism of Marxism. His ideas have inspired
microsociologists such as Erving Goffman and Harold Garfinkel, and have also figured
prominently in the development of the concept of social justice.

KARL MARX

Karl Marx, a highly influential social theorist, lived from 1818 to 1883 in various countries and
was an active revolutionary. His theory focused on the economy, particularly exploitative class
relations. Marx's work, known as historical materialism or dialectical materialism, argued for
the primacy of economic forces as driving forward history. He believed that man's
consciousness is conditioned by his material, economic conditions, and their social being
determines their consciousness.

Marx identified the clash of economic classes within economic development as the key driving
dialectic of human history. The history of all existing society is the history of class struggle, with
freeman and slave, patrician and plebeian, lord and serf, guild-master and journeyman, and
oppressor and oppressed standing in constant opposition. Class was centrally defined in terms
of the ownership or non-ownership of the means of production.

A certain form of production would give rise to class formations (one exploitative, owning the
means of production, and one exploited, without ownership). The political and legal
superstructure erected by the dominant class initially supports the development of production,
but as production develops into a new mode, the old superstructure becomes a "fetter" on
economic development, leading to revolutionary pressures based on class conflict.

Marx identified capitalism as the mode of production following feudalism. However, there are
ambiguities and inconsistencies in his work, such as between younger and older Marx and his
co-author, Engels.
Capital is the primary means of production in capitalism, with the bourgeoisie or capitalist class
owning the means of production and the proletariat or working class owning their own labor.
Capitalism involves the systematic creation of profit and reinvestment in further capital to
generate further profit. Marx identified the creation of profit as lying within the exploitation of
labour, and capitalists only employed labor if they could extract surplus value from that labour.

Marx applied dialectical materialism to capitalism, seeing several dynamics leading to its
downfall and replacement by communism where exploitation would be ended. He argued that
capitalism provided the conditions for its own downfall by bringing together the exploited en
masse within work, forcing them to join together, see their common interests in ending their
exploitation, and overthrow the capitalist class.

Work within capitalism is often analyzed through the lens of exploitation and alienation. Work
in capitalism is exploitative, potentially fraught with class conflict. Strikes can be interpreted as
forms of class conflict, but Marxists argue that there are many other forms of class conflict,
such as withholding effort or taking absence days when not sick.

Alienated labor under capitalism has four main elements: workers are divorced from the
products of their labor, the process of production becomes fragmented, people become
alienated from others, and humans are alienated from their "species being" due to more work
being made mindless and uncreative.

Work intensity, which refers to how hard people work, is often a key issue in everyday class
conflict, as employers want more surplus value from workers' labor. Examples of conflict about
work intensity include Pauline and Molly in an ethnographic study of a Midlands factory, where
workers argue that they cannot work faster without absences. In January 2023, Amazon
workers in the UK began a strike at the Coventry warehouse. The workers reported high work
intensity, strict toilet breaks, and supervisors' focus on minimizing idle time. The strike
highlights the importance of addressing these issues to ensure fair treatment and prevent
future strikes.
MAX WEBER

Weber's interest areas include method problems in science, religion, sociology of religion, and
political conditions. He aimed to be between positivists and subjectivists, focusing on empirical
events rather than historical ones. Weber was a methodological individualist, arguing that
individuals drive actions and forces change over time. He studied social systems as patterns of
actions and interactions, examining the meaning behind actors' actions.

Weber was skeptical of total explanations and isms, preferring methodological collectivism. He
also had a causal understanding of society, distinguishing it from nature. He believed in
sufficient and probable causality, which involves making sufficient and probable explanations
about the relationship between social phenomena.

Weber's big questions revolved around what accelerated the economic process in Europe from
the 17th century, starting with the 15th century and continuing through the industrialization of
modern society at the end of the 18th century. He compared this to Marx's explanation of the
rise of capitalism and the death of capitalism.

Weber's analytical concepts included tools for understanding, current and interpretive
understanding, values, ideal types, stratification, action, and authority. He used ideal types to
explain the development of capitalism, such as Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism,
and the rational iron cage.

Weber's pessimistic approach to change, unlike Marx's optimistic outlook, saw change as a
positive outcome, leading to socialism. In contrast, Weber saw change as sad and tragic,
characterized by bureaucracy and lack of logic and humanity.

Weber's concept of understanding is crucial in research and understanding enough to make

objective conclusions. He distinguishes between current understanding, which is directly
derived from knowing the rules of a particular behavior, and interpretive understanding, which
involves understanding the person's motive for action. This type of interpretive understanding
is what Weber believes science should work with.
Value is another key concept in Weber's philosophy. Researchers are value-charged, and their
research is influenced by their interests and cultural values. This means that there can never be
an objective scientific analysis of the cultural world. The social sciences are value-relevant and
value-neutral, and they try to be only value-neutral. Science can only state facts, not values,
and value choices are subjective. Therefore, science cannot comment on true values but must
limit itself to analyzing the effects of different actions.

To address this problem, Weber developed the concept of the Ideal Type, an instrument that
reduces the value in research. The Ideal Type is an abstract model or concept that researchers
use to apply to reality, similar to Tonnies and normal types. He uses the Ideal Type
methodology to reject the idea that science can capture reality objectively, but he sees it as
possible to reduce value.

Ideal types are dangerous if they are considered empirically valid or expressions of actual forces
in reality. They can be used to measure something, but they cannot say that reality is wrong.
For example, the Gemeischaft of Geselschaft is a picture of the world, and it serves as a
standard for comparison.

Social scientists construct ideal-typical concepts based on their interests and theoretical
orientation to capture essential features of social phenomena. They derive these types from
historical data and compare them with the actual world, looking for divergences and causes of
deviations. Researchers must first immerse themselves in historical reality before determining
the ideal types for social action.

There are four ideal types for social action: traditional action, emotion-driven action, value-
rational action, and purpose rational action. Traditional action is characterized by habits and
customs, while emotion-driven action is driven by emotions and is unconscious. Value-rational
action is based on overriding goals or ideals, such as political or religious character, and purpose
rational action is based on rationality and efficiency assessments. Purpose rational action is the
only form of action based on rationality and strategic evaluation.
These ideal types are explanatory understanding (scientific). Weber's class analysis uses various
ideal-typical categories that must be traced back to the acting individual. Society is
characterized through conflicts based on power and resources, and not only class applies but
also status and party. Class, status, and party are overlapping elements in the layering process.
Marx discusses the glass ceiling that separates capitalists and proletariat, but Weber believes it
is not just class that separates them.

Class is a concept that arises not only from control over production means but also from
economic inequalities that do not directly affect real estate. Resources such as skills and
competencies affect the types of work people can obtain, and class is determined by factors
such as finances, merits, and knowledge.

Status, according to Weber, has a strong impact on an individual's life chances and mobility.
Managerial and professional occupations often have better working conditions and
qualifications, making them more sought after in the market. Weber's view of status refers to
differences between social groups, and it often varies regardless of class division.

Party is defined as a group of individuals working together due to common backgrounds, goals,
or interests. Party formations are an important aspect of power and affect layering regardless
of class and status. Both status and party can influence economic circumstances in which
individuals live.

Authority structures, according to Weber, are domination and power given, and individuals can
be controlled by accepting the controlling authority. Three ideal types of legitimate authority
are: traditional authority, which is rule by others based on old customs and patterns of action;
and ecclesiastical authority, which is based on traditional actions like kings, popes, priests, and
medicine men.

Weber's concept of authority is divided into three types: charismatic authority, legal/rational
authority, and bureaucratic rationalization. Charismatic authority is based on a person's
qualities and charisma, while legal/rational authority accepts governance on a formal legal
basis. This form of authority is modern society's form of authority, and Weber fears that society
would end up in an iron bridge with rules that are not reasonable in contexts.

Rational authority, the ideal type of bureaucracy, is organized through regulations, divided
between administrative units, hierarchically organized offices, technical or legal rules, written
forms of administrative actions, and strong distinctions between system and individual
resources. This type of bureaucracy is the cleanest type, as regulations decide on the grounds.

Weber believes that social action is more than external behavior, and everything is related to
action. An action is social in that the individual attaches a subjective, introverted meaning to
their behavior. In a rational bureaucratic society, regulations govern, and actions fill up other
types of opinions and structures.

Social action must always be interpreted with regard to meaning, and Weber seeks a concept of
rationality that is free from evaluative aspects but as neutral as possible. Bureaucratic
rationalization is built into the social structure and appears to individuals as something external
to them, causing alienation.

The development of modern capitalism in the West was driven by the rise of bureaucratic
rationality, which included targeted, controlled, and planned activities built on legal authority.
This led to the development of a calculable legal system for what is allowed and what is not
allowed, as well as an open system of rules and sanctions that apply equally to everyone. This
system was designed to include the legal aspects of actions in the action calculation.

Weber used these ideal types to answer his fundamental question about why Europe became
the dominant force in the world and why certain people began to act capitalistically. He sought
an interpretive understanding by examining the connection between Protestant ethics and the
spirit of capitalism. The core of Weber's theory is that the behavior influenced by the spirit of
capitalism is developed from religion, specifically Christianity, Protestantism, and Puritanism.
Calvinists contributed to this theory, as early capitalism originated in areas of Europe that had
undergone religious reform.
Weber created two ideal types to explain this: Protestant ethics and the spirit of capitalism,
which was the beginning of capitalism. This approach to capitalism emphasized the importance
of rationality and a calculable legal system in determining the legality of actions.

Protestant ethics, such as Jean Calvin's Creed, emphasize God-determined human destiny and
the control over ethics and behavior. This led to psychological insecurity and a focus on hard
work and asceticism. In contrast, Catholicism encourages people to spend money and live
ascetically, believing they are chosen for salvation.

The religious appreciation of restless, systematic work became a powerful means of asceticism
and a surest proof of rebirth and true faith. Avlat, or indulgences, are remissions of temporal
punishment that people must atone for sinful acts committed. The Catholic Church believes
that sin leads to guilt, which must be confessed, and punishment that must be served.

Protestantism, against Catholicism, was fueled by the sale of a letter of forgiveness (indulgence)
to raise money for the construction of St. Peter's Church in Rome. Without indulgence, the
punishment would remain, and one had to die in purgatory to atone for sin. By buying a letter
of indulgence, one could shorten the painful cleaning period in purgatory.

The spirit of capitalism, as emphasized by Benjamin Franklin, is linked to hard work and a moral
and ascetic life, with the focus on increasing money being linked to a moral and ascetic life.

Weber posited that while the ideal types of cultures are different and based on different
assumptions, they lead to the same actions. Protestant behavior is value-rational, focusing on
saving and hoarding money, while capitalist behavior is goal-rational, seeking effective means
to achieve wealth. This transition was facilitated by Protestant ethics, which led to the
relentless pursuit of economic interests and the belief that such behavior was an ethical duty.
Calvinism, on the other hand, encouraged conscientious and hard-working workers, leading to
increased exploitation. Calvinism legitimized an inequality-forming system by assuring
capitalists that the unequal distribution of goods was a special dispensation given by God.

The Puritan form was highly regulative and gradually became internally controlled, but it was
eventually abandoned by the capitalist spirit, which no longer needed ethics as a driving force
for capital accumulation. This led to capitalism continuing without petrol from Protestant
ethics.

The historical course of capitalism can be explained through the act of people, with the West's
peculiar economic development based on its unique rationalization process. The reasons for
modern Western capitalism lie in its unique rationality, which is influenced by the spread of
science, which makes the world systematically calculable and predictable, creating a new
worldview. In a planned economy, the role of bureaucracy increases, and life becomes subject
to calculation and planning.

The rational iron cage refers to the loss of lofty ideals and meaning in life due to increasing
rationalization under industrial capitalism. This has led to people mastering nature, developing
technology, and creating administrative bureaucratic systems for regulating social life.
However, the existential basis for life disappears, with the choice of values and ideals
disappearing. This paradox and tragedy of our time is that modern man is stuck in an iron cage
of schemes, losing his humanity while believing he has reached the highest stage of
development.

Sociology, science, and politics are intertwined, with the role of the social sciences in modern
society being to interpretive understanding. Sociology cannot reach true knowledge, but must
focus on clarifying the most fundamental values in social life, such as the basic action-driving
conditions. This will form the basis for theories that will be scientifically verified, gaining
sociology status as a full-fledged science.

Critics of sociology include understanding methodological individualism and large-scale

structures, lack of theorizing macrosociology, lack of critical theory, and Weber's pessimistic
sociology. There are different species of ideal types, such as historical ideal types, general
sociological ideal types, action ideal types, and structural ideal types, which reflect the effects
of social action.
MAJOR THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVES IN SOCIOLOGY

Sociology uses theories to understand, explain, analyze, and interpret social phenomena. A
theory is a general statement about how parts of the world fit together and work. It is a set of
interconnected hypotheses that offer general explanations for natural or social phenomena.
Three major theoretical perspectives in sociology are structural functionalism, social conflict
theory, and symbolic interactionism. However, there are also theories that challenge these
major ones. The terms perspectives and schools of thought are often used interchangeably with
theory.

THE STRUCTURAL-FUNCTIONALIST THEORY

Structural-functionalist theory, also known as functionalism, is a dominant theory in

anthropology and sociology that focuses on the creation and functioning of relationships
among societal parts. It sees society as a complex system with parts working together to
promote stability and solidarity. Social structure, which are stable patterns of social behavior, is
understood in terms of social function, which are consequences for the operations of society.
All social structure contributes to the operation of society.

The theory emphasizes the persistence of shared ideas in society and the role played by each
component part in the social system. Early founding sociologists like August Comte, Emile
Durkheim, and Herbert Spencer, as well as later American sociologists like Talkot Parsons and
Robert K Merton, follow the tradition of Durkheim's writings. Modern sociologists often follow
Durkheim's writings, as he is considered the pioneering proponent of this perspective.

However, the theory was challenged by critics, particularly those who proposed the social-
conflict theory, which emphasized stability and order while neglecting the vital role of conflict
and changes in any society.

THE SOCIAL CONFLICT THEORY

Marxism, also known as Marxism, is a theory that views society as a framework of class conflicts
and the struggle for scarce resources among different groups. It posits that the most significant
aspect of social order is the domination of some group by others, and that conflicts are always
present in society. Key concepts developed in this perspective include conflict,
complementation, struggle, power, inequality, and exploitation.

However, Marxism has faced criticism for its overemphasis on inequality and division,
neglecting the fact that shared values and interdependence generate unity among members of
society. It is also criticized for its explicit political goals and for viewing society in broad terms,
neglecting micro-level social realities. Marxism influences most conflict theorists in modern
sociology and is influenced by Marx's writings.

SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

Symbolic interactionism is a theory developed by American sociologists like Charles Horton

Cooley, William I Thomas, and George Herbert Mead in the early 20th century. It views symbols
as the basis of social life, as they hold meanings and are analyzed through how we define others
and ourselves. The theory emphasizes the individual actor as the essence of social life and
reality, focusing on detailed, person-oriented processes within larger units of social life.
Contemporary sociological theories have heavily influenced sociological and anthropological
thinking, including the following:
FEMINISM

Feminist sociology focuses on women's underprivileged status and exploitation in patriarchal

societies. It ranges from liberal feminism, which acknowledges inequalities but doesn't require
structural reform, to radical feminism, which advocates for societal change and acknowledges
the need for fundamental restructuring of the social system.

SOCIAL EXCHANGE THEORY

The theory emphasizes the benefits and costs of social interaction, such as money, goods, and
status, and suggests that people always aim to maximize benefit, but exchange processes are
necessary for this.

PUBLIC CHOICE THEORY

Collective organizations, like political parties, rationally maximize their benefits, resolving
individual differences through collective involvement, with the state playing a crucial role in
balancing large-scale interests.

RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY

The theory suggests that individuals will rationally make life choices to benefit themselves.

STRUCTURALISM

Structuralism is a theory that rejects objective social facts and the concept of society as an
external entity. It defines social reality based on the relations between events, rather than
things and social facts. The observable is meaningful only when related to an underlying
structure or order. The equivalent in anthropology, Claude Levi-Strauss, argues that universal
principles order human behavior and thought. However, this theory views societies as static
and fails to explain variation among societies, treating culture as a given order and failing to
explain the adaptive dimensions of culture.

POST-STRUCTURALISM AND POST-MODERNISM:

POST –STRUCTURALISM

Poststructuralists emphasize the role of language in constructing knowledge and identity,

arguing that humans cannot reach a universal truth due to the lack of a link between language
ideas and the real world. They deny the sociological idea that our concepts have a relationship
to the real world, arguing that attempts to arrive at a sociological truth are dangerous.

POST-MODERNISM

Post-modernism, rooted in post-structuralism, is a cultural and aesthetic phenomenon that

rejects order, progress, and universal truth, promoting the recognition of diverse forms of
reality. It celebrates chaos, disorder, diversity, and fragmentation in modern society, asserting
that there is no ultimate reason in human life. Postmodernists argue that power has become
decentralized and fragmented in contemporary societies. Three major sociological theories are
applied to health, culture, and society, with each having its own views on medicine and society.

Structural functionalism, also known as the medical ecological approach, views medicine and
healthcare systems as social institutions that maintain stability and order in society. These
institutions, whether scientific or traditional, exist to meet the needs of individuals and society.
Symbolic interactionist theory, also known as the "cultural interpretationist approach," focuses
on the social and cultural constructions of health, illness, and disease. It argues that illnesses
and health are not just things that exist, but are produced by complex social interactions.
Health and illness are highly shaped by the way people give meaning to them and respond to
them in socio-culturally sanctioned ways. Conflict theory, also known as the critical or radical
political economy approach, emphasizes the socio-economic inequality in power and wealth,
which significantly affects health status and access to healthcare facilities. This unequal
distribution of morbidity and mortality patterns often leads to better health for those in power,
while marginalized groups suffer from disease burdens.