Download Understanding Social Problems

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SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES – LECTURE
OUTLINE

Functionalism
 Robert
Merton – manifest, latent, and dysfunctions
 Davis and Moore Thesis

Marxism
 Communist

Manifesto
Symbolic interactionism
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES – LECTURE
OUTLINE

Functionalism (structural functionalism)
 Robert
Merton – manifest, latent, and dysfunctions
 Davis and Moore Thesis

Marxism
 Communist

Manifesto
Symbolic interactionism
FUNCTIONALISM
Functionalists think of institutions and human
activities by analyzing the relationship of each
individual part as it relates to the whole.
 Uses the analogy of the human body in
assessing the role of each part of society in the
continuation of society as a whole
 One possible criticism of functionalism might
be that societies are just as often in conflict as
they are stable.

DYSFUNCTIONS -- DISCUSSION

Some parts of society are dysfunctional
(Merton)
 E.g.,

religious diversity
However, seemingly dysfunctional parts may be
functional
 E.g.,
the poor (Herbert Gans)
 E.g., prostitution (Kingsley Davis)

Discussion: How can seemingly dysfunctional
parts of society be functional? How is poverty
useful?
MANIFEST AND LATENT FUNCTIONS

Robert Merton believed that sociologists need to look
at not only how our institutions were intended to work,
but also the unintentional effects of those institutions.
 manifest functions
 the
 latent
 the

intended consequences of an activity or institution
functions
unintended consequences of an activity or institution
Example:

the Interstate Highway System facilitated efficient movement of traffic in
and around urban areas (manifest function). The decline of the central
city was the latent consequence of the highway system.
SCHOOL EXAMPLE

Manifest (intended) functions
 providing
low-cost educational training to the public
at large
 teaching our children the values of our society
 teaching the citizenry of the country the basics of
subjects such as math and science
 providing free education to everyone possible

Latent (unintended) functions
 training
kids to obey authority and grow up to
become obedient workers
“SIZE DOES COUNT, AT LEAST FOR FRENCH
FRIES: MINNESOTA’S STRAIGHT RIVER”

Latent functions
 the
threat to trout fishing on the Straight River
 the increasing amount of toxic chemicals in shallow
wells where potatoes are grown
 the loss of water in the aquifer that feeds the
Straight River
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES – LECTURE
OUTLINE

Functionalism (structural functionalism)
 Robert
Merton – manifest, latent, and dysfunctions
 Davis and Moore Thesis

Marxism
 Communist

Manifesto
Symbolic interactionism
DAVIS AND MOORE THESIS

Kingsley Davis and Wilbert Moore argued that:
a
system of unequal rewards is necessary
 ensures
that at least a few people will occupy the most
“unpleasant” positions
 creates competition which ensures that the best and the
brightest occupy those positions most important to
society

Criticisms (specific to Davis-Moore thesis and
to functionalism in general)
 Conservative
(supports status quo)
 Rationalizes inequality
FUNCTIONALISM -- DISCUSSION
Is it because it is necessary that the system of
unequal rewards exists?
 Think about the job that you would like to have
in the future. Is the salary that you will make
too high, too low, or just right?
 Think about the people that occupy that
position. Do they have more skills, education,
talent, and experience than someone that
makes less than them?

SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES – LECTURE
OUTLINE

Functionalism (structural functionalism)
 Robert
Merton – manifest, latent, and dysfunctions
 Davis and Moore Thesis

Marxism
 Communist

Manifesto
Symbolic interactionism
MARXISM

Focuses on power and inequalities
 sociological
research and analysis framed in the
context of power and inequalities

Importance of economic base
 Marx
focused on how society produced and
distributed goods.
 Marx argued that societies are shaped by economic
power rather than ideas, religion, beliefs, or values.
THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO

Human history is the history of class struggles
 Karl
Marx thought that society was primarily divided
by social class.
 Marx and Engels looked at societies in the past and
present, they saw social divisions between the
powerful and those who served the powerful
 Karl Marx believed that class struggles were what
led to historical progress and development.
THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO

The modern era is shaped primarily by
capitalism
 Capitalism
would lead to conflict between two
social classes the people who profit from the
ownership of property (bourgeoisie) and the people
who work for a wage or a salary (proletariat)
 conflict
is inevitable because it is in the interest of the
ruling class to exploit the working class and in the
interest of workers to overcome that exploitation
CHARACTERISTICS OF CAPITALISM
 Capitalists
control the state
 “the
modern State is but a committee for managing the
common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie”
 Constantly
 According
expanding
to Marx and Engels, those who control the
economy of a capitalist society are constantly in search
of new global markets
CHARACTERISTICS OF CAPITALISM
 Ideology
is critical to the success of capitalism
 Ideology:
shared set of ideas or beliefs that justify the
interest of dominant groups

The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch the ruling ideas,
i.e., the class which is the ruling material force of society is at
the same time its ruling intellectual force . . . The ruling ideas
are nothing more than the ideal expression of the dominant
material relationships. -- Marx
REVOLUTION


According to Marx, under capitalism, working people
and the wealthy will struggle, and from this struggle a
new kind of society will emerge.
When those who own the economy can no longer
effectively manage the forces they have created,
workers will take over and run the economy for the
good of everyone in society
 the modern ruling class has created the conditions
for its own destruction. The working class they (the
ruling class) created will become their grave-diggers
REVOLUTION

Rejection of capitalist ideology necessary for
revolution
 Class
consciousness: the ability of the working
class to see that they are being exploited by the
capitalist class.
Workers unite
 Creation of communist society

MARX ATTEMPTED TO CHANGE THE WORLD

Instead of simply describing the world, Marx’s
research was used with the goal of improving
society.
 As
a sociological theory, Marxism is unique in that it
is supposed to also generate a program for radical
political change.
 Marxists believe that sociology should be a science
used to bring about radical social change, with
particular emphasis on power and ideology.
MARX NEGLECTED OTHER DIVISIONS

His focus on class conflict risked minimizing or
ignoring other social divisions like those around
race and gender.
MARXISM -- DISCUSSION

Was Marx right?
 Does
your employer keep the profits you created for
them? Or do they fairly share them?
 Do you keep the profits that your employers made
for you? Or do you fairly share them?
 To what extent is the owner-worker relationship that
you are in as Marx described it? To what extent is it
not?
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES – LECTURE
OUTLINE

Functionalism
 Robert
Merton – manifest, latent, and dysfunctions
 Davis and Moore Thesis

Marxism
 Communist

Manifesto
Symbolic interactionism
 George
Herbert Mead
 The social construction of reality
GEORGE HERBERT MEAD
George Herbert Mead reasoned that language
allows us to become self-conscious beings—
aware of our own individuality.
 George Herbert Mead believed that studies of
human behavior should focus primarily on how
we construct meaning.

THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF REALITY

We create the world that we live in
 E.g.,
female breasts, “Becoming a marijuana user”
(see next slide)

Our definitions of the world influence how we
behave
 E.g.,

“The body and bathing” (see next slide)
Our definitions of the world affect those that
are defined by us
 E.g.,
high suicide rates of LGBT youth (see next
slide)
BECOMING A MARIJUANA SMOKER

According to Howard Becker:
 Marijuana
smokers must first learn the technique
involved in smoking marijuana
 Marijuana smokers must also make the connection
between the effect and the use of the drug
 Marijuana smokers must also define the
experience as pleasurable
“THE BODY AND BATHING: HELP WITH
PERSONAL CARE AT HOME” BY JULIA TWIGG

The meaning of bathing
 bathing
has been connected with
 luxury,
pleasure, to some degree, eroticism
 well-being of the experiential body
 social transitions
“THE BODY AND BATHING: HELP WITH
PERSONAL CARE AT HOME” BY JULIA TWIGG

The meanings of assisted bathing
 less
pleasurable
 body as unattractive
 back washing as pleasurable
 respondents preferred non-friend, non-relative care
workers for personal care
 gender differences
DISCUSSION

Discuss the items on
the list. Are they social
constructions or do they
exist in reality as an
objective condition? To
what degree are they
social constructions? To
what degree are they an
objective condition?





Gender
Race
Sexual orientation
Crime
Attractiveness
SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES – LECTURE
OUTLINE

Functionalism
 Robert
Merton – manifest, latent, and dysfunctions
 Davis and Moore Thesis

Marxism
 Communist

Manifesto
Symbolic interactionism