Perspectives of Sociology

PERSPECTIVES, PARADIGMS
AND SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS

IN SOCIOLOGY
INTRODUCTION
• The pioneering European sociologists, however, also offered a broad conceptualization of the
fundamentals of society and its workings. Their views form the basis for today's theoretical
perspectives, or paradigms, which provide sociologists with an orienting framework—a
philosophical position—for asking certain kinds of questions about society and its people.
• Sociologists today employ three primary theoretical perspectives: the symbolic interactionist
perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict perspective. These perspectives
offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for explaining how society influences people, and vice
versa. Each perspective uniquely conceptualizes society, social forces, and human behavior.
STRUCTURE FUNCTIONALISM PARADIGM
• According to the functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, each aspect of

society is interdependent and contributes to society's functioning as a whole. The
government, or state, provides education for the children of the family, which in turn
pays taxes on which the state depends to keep itself running. That is, the family is
dependent upon the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so that they can
raise and support their own families. In the process, the children become law ‐abiding,
taxpaying citizens, who in turn support the state. If all goes well, the parts of society
produce order, stability, and productivity. If all does not go well, the parts of society
then must adapt to recapture a new order, stability, and productivity.
• For example, during a financial recession with its high rates of
unemployment and inflation, social programs are trimmed or cut. Schools
offer fewer programs. Families tighten their budgets. And a new social order,
stability, and productivity occur
• Functionalists believe that society is held together by social consensus, or
cohesion, in which members of the society agree upon, and work together to
achieve, what is best for society as a whole. Emile Durkheim suggested that
social consensus takes one of two forms:
ACCORDING TO DURKHEIM
• Mechanical solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when people in a society
maintain similar values and beliefs and engage in similar types of work. Mechanical
solidarity most commonly occurs in traditional, simple societies such as those in which
everyone herds cattle or farms. Amish society exemplifies mechanical solidarity.
• In contrast, organic solidarity is a form of social cohesion that arises when the people
in a society are interdependent, but hold to varying values and beliefs and engage in
varying types of work
CONFLICT PARADIGM
• The conflict perspective, which originated primarily out of Karl Marx's writings on
class struggles, presents society in a different light than do the functionalist and
symbolic interactionist perspectives. While these latter perspectives focus on the
positive aspects of society that contribute to its stability, the conflict
perspective focuses on the negative, conflicted, and ever ‐changing nature of society.
Unlike functionalists who defend the status quo, avoid social change, and believe
people cooperate to effect social order, conflict theorists challenge the status quo,
encourage social change (even when this means social revolution), and believe rich and
powerful people force social order on the poor and the weak.
• Conflict theory looks at society as a competition for limited resources. This
perspective is a macro-level approach most identified with the writings of German
philosopher and sociologist Karl Marx (1818–1883), who saw society as being
made up of two classes, the bourgeoisie (capitalist) and
the proletariat (workers), who must compete for social, material, and political
resources such as food and housing, employment, education, and leisure time.
Social institutions like government, education, and religion reflect this competition
in their inherent inequalities and help maintain the unequal social structure.
MARX IDEAS
• Marx’s version of conflict theory focused on the conflict between two

primary classes. Each class consists of a group of people bound by mutual
interests and a certain degree of property ownership. Marx theorized about
the bourgeoisie, a group that represented members of society who hold
the majority of the wealth and means. The proletariat is the other group: It
includes those considered working-class or poor.
• With the rise of capitalism, Marx theorized that the bourgeoisie, a minority
within the population, would use their influence to oppress the proletariat,
the majority class. This way of thinking is tied to a common image associated
with conflict theory-based models of society; adherents to this philosophy
tend to believe in a pyramid arrangement in terms of how goods and services
are distributed in society. At the top of the pyramid is a small group of elites
that dictate terms and conditions to the larger portion of society because
they have an outsized amount of control over resources and power.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM PARADIGM
• The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism,

directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these
symbols mean, and how people interact with each other. Although symbolic
interactionism traces its origins to Max Weber's assertion that individuals act
according to their interpretation of the meaning of their world, the American
philosopher George H. Mead (1863–1931) introduced this perspective to American
sociology in the 1920s.According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people
attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective
interpretation of these symbols.
MAIN POINTS
• Human beings act toward things on the basis of the meanings that
things have for them
• These meanings arise out of social interaction
• Social action results from a fitting together of individual lines of action
• Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory that focuses on meanings attached to human
interaction, both verbal and non-verbal, and to symbols. Communication—the exchange of
meaning through language and symbols—is believed to be the way in which people make sense of
their social worlds.
• Charles Horton Cooley introduced the looking-glass self (1902) to describe how a person’s sense
of self grows out of interactions with others, and he proposed a threefold process for this
development: 1) we see how others react to us, 2) we interpret that reaction (typically as positive
or negative) and 3) we develop a sense of self based on those interpretations. “Looking-glass” is
an archaic term for a mirror, so Cooley theorized that we “see” ourselves when we interact with
others.
• George Herbert Mead (1863–1931) is considered a founder of symbolic interactionism,
though he never published his work on this subject (LaRossa and Reitzes 1993). Mead’s
student, Herbert Blumer, actually coined the term “symbolic interactionism” and outlined
these basic premises: humans interact with things based on meanings ascribed to those
things; the ascribed meaning of things comes from our interactions with others and society;
the meanings of things are interpreted by a person when dealing with things in specific
circumstances (Blumer 1969). This sounds close to Cooley’s looking-glass self, but Mead’s
contribution was really to the development of self, especially in childhood, which we’ll
discuss in more detail when we address theories of socialization. If you love books, for
example, a symbolic interactionist might propose that you learned that books are good or
important in the interactions you had with family, friends, school, or church; maybe your
family had a special reading time each week, getting your library card was treated as a
special event, or bedtime stories were associated with warmth and comfort.

Perspectives of Sociology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Perspectives of Sociology

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Perspectives of Sociology

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PERSPECTIVES, PARADIGMS

AND SCHOOL OF THOUGHTS

• According to the functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, each aspect of

• Marx’s version of conflict theory focused on the conflict between two

• The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism,

You might also like