Social Theory Quiz

Functionalism

Focuses on values and social consensus

Conflict

Focuses on exploitation, power, and class interests

Symbolic Interactionism

Focuses on the importance of language

Sociological Imagination

Focuses on personal issues and public problems

Feminism

Focuses on gender-based inequality and exploitation

Postmodernism

Focuses on looking beyond a grand narrative of history

macrosociology

Focuses on the study of large-scale groups

microsociology

Focuses on the study of face to face behavior

Max Weber

Focused on the influence of bureaucracy

Emile Durkheim

Focused on anomie and social solidarity including how social factors influence behavior

Social Dwarnism

Applies principle of evolution to human society

Human society evolve through competition and survival of the fittest

Example: Students who study hard (fittest) get good grades others who don’t grade suck

Concepts of Social Darwinism

Natural Selection: Better adapted will survive and thrive while others struggle

Concepts of Social Darwinism

Lassize-Faire Competition: Minimal government interventions in the economy

Sociological Imagination

Awareness of the relationship between personal experiences and the wider society

personal lives are influence by historical and societal context

Example: Economic recession affects individual job loss losing a job seems like an personal failure but the sociological imagination helps us see the larger economic trend affecting many people

Perspectives

Functionalism, Class Conflict, Symbolic Interactionism

Functionalism

Importance of societal structure sand institutions maintain order and stability

School provides education(function) help maintain social stability by preparing individuals for workforce promote social norms and values.

Concepts of Functionalism

Consensus: general agreement among members: values, norms, goals

Concepts of Functionalism

Social Stability/cohesions: When everything works together well society remains stable

Concepts of Functionalism

Anomie: When people don’t know what is expected of them lead to social instability

Class Conflict

Competition over resources and the resulting social change through conflict

Example: Working strike for better wages conditions highlight the conflict between the working class and the owning class

Concepts of Class Conflict

Classes compete for limited resources: wealth, power, status

Concepts of Class Conflict

Social Change Through Conflict: revolution or reform

Concepts of Class Conflict

Ideology: Ruling class uses ideology to maintain dominance and control over society

Concepts of Class Conflict

Exploitation/Power: Unfair treatment of one class by another

Symbolic Interactionism

Interpretation of symbols and social interactions to communicate and understand the world around them

Wedding rings are symbols that represent marital status; the meaning of rings is created by social interaction and shared understanding

Concepts of Social Interactionism

Individuals build their identities through their interactions with other which help shape their self-concept and understanding of their place in society

Concepts of Social Interactionism

Language: Allows people to share meanings and communicate with others

Concepts of Social Interactionism

Meaning: Based on their experiences and interactions with others