Sociological Theories

A structural view is also known as a 'top-down' approach.Structural sociology: believes that we are entirely shaped by the structure of society and argues that we internalise the norms and values of our culture and behave accordingly to them is described as a 'macro' approach, as it looks at society as a whole, instead of the choices of individuals Examples of structural theories include; Functionalism Marxism Feminism Although these three theories agree that society shapes our behaviour, they all disagree on the presence of conflict in society and what the main source of conflict is.

Social Action theory: says we have free will and choice and are not shaped by society emphasises power of individuals to create and change society through our actions is described as a 'micro' approach as it looks at society through face-to-face, small scale interactions Examples of Social Action theory:Symbolic interactionismInteractionist sociologists take a social action approach to crime. Rather than seeing crime as caused by ‘society’, they see it as the outcome of the labels people apply to others in their interactions with them. Mary Cameron’s (1964) study of shoplifting in Chicago department stores is a good example of this approach. Cameron found that stores didn’t automatically prosecute everyone they suspected of shoplifting. They were often reluctant to prosecute because of the difficulty of proving the case and the cost of releasing employees to be witnesses. They were inclined to let suspects off with a warning, particularly if they were willing and able to pay for the goods. However, not everyone was treated in the same way. According to Cameron, store detectives made assumptions about what the ‘typical shoplifter’ is like. They believed adolescents and black people were more likely to be shoplifters and kept them under surveillance when they were in the store. By contrast, the detectives were unlikely to be suspicious of people they saw as ‘respectable’. These people tended to be middle-class and white. Even when the detectives witnessed an offence, they were less likely to report it if the suspect was of a similar background to themselves.When arrests were made, the stores were more likely to press charges if the suspects were black. For example, only 9% of arrested white women were charged, but 42% of black women. Furthermore, when cases went to court, not only were black women more likely to be found guilty; they were six times more likely to be jailed than white women. Cameron’s study shows how people’s beliefs about others influence how they act towards them. In this case, the ideas of the store detectives and others about the ‘typical shoplifter’ affected which groups they chose to pursue, and this in turn criminalised more blacks than whites.

Functionalism

IntroductionFunctionalists look at the role of different parts of society, known as social institutions, of bringing about patterns of shared behaviour (or social order). They believe that social institutions must work together in order for society to function. The main function of social institutions is to socialise people into the norms and values of their culture and thus guide their future behaviour and thinking. The end result is a value consensus, where people agree on what is important and the general standard of behaviour. The value consensus produces a sense of social solidarity, where we are part of a common community, with a shared identity. A specialised division of labour is important in the social order; unskilled and skilled manual workers, professionals and managers work together to provide the goods and services needed to function as a society.

How is society like a human body? Every part of the body has a function which keeps it alive and healthy; similarly, every part of society (social institutions) are designed to keep society functioning. The human body grows and develops. Likewise, societies gradually grow and develop. All parts of the body link together, and social institutions are also interdependent. The body is able to fight disease. Society also has its own mechanisms to deal with problems when they occur, such as the police force and the legal system.

Talcott ParsonsParsons was key functionalist thinker, who argued that socialisation is key to understanding human behaviour patterns. He thought that the role of the social institutions is to ensure the passing on or reproduction of socially acceptable behaviour, so that we can predict how the vast majority of people will act in most situations. He noted that the social institutions most responsible for the socialisation process are the family, the education system and the media. Some norms and values are given sacred qualities, which help to form formal and informal moral codes. A formal moral code includes universalistic laws, which apply to everyone, such as 'don't steal.' Informal moral codes refer to social laws, such as 'don't commit adultery.' These moral codes define what immoral and deviant behaviour is, and the social institutions of law and religion help to transmit these codes. The media also reminds us what deviance is, by reporting crimes and publicising the punishments for such behaviour. The social institutions collectively encourage a sense of community, social solidarity and social integration (sense of belonging). Our behaviour is therefore controlled by the rules of the society we were born into. We don't have to be told that something is socially unacceptable, as we have been fully socialised into that culture.

Identity in FunctionalismOur identity is how we feel about ourselves, which is partially influenced by how others see us. People's identity in the roles they are in, are controlled by the value consensus, which defines and determines which role each status must adopt in order to fit in with society. For instance, there is a clear expectation of how to be a good parent. These expectations may change according to gender. It is more socially acceptable to be an unemployed mother than an unemployed father, for example. Functionalists emphasise that our experience of social control and socialisation ensures that most of us will attempt to live up to these social and cultural expectations without question.

Criticisms of Functionalism It was more popular in the 1950s. Functionalism declined in popularity because it failed to explain the diversity and conflict that arose in the 1960s. Similarly, it fails to explain social conflicts in the modern world, such as differing opinions to ethical issues like abortion. However, some functionalists have tried to explain this through subculture; a significant minority share some norms and values with wider society, but may be in opposition to others. It has been accused of overemphasising consensus and order in society. Functionalism is too deterministic, because it ignores the freedom of choice individuals have within society. People choose how to act, by what makes sense to them, and although this is affected by socialisation, their culture does not control them. Functionalism views socialisation as a positive process that never fails, but drug abuse, child abuse and delinquency are still major social problems. Marxists argue functionalism doesn't show the unequal distribution of power in society - some groups have more wealth and power to impose their norms on less powerful groups.

SummarySociety is a system of interrelated parts or social institutions, such as religion, education, the family and the economy. Society is like an organism, with each organ or social institution performing a different function for society to survive. In order for society to prosper, it has basic needs that must be met. For example, the family reproduces the population and performs the function of primary socialisation, while the education system equips us with the knowledge and skills needed for work. Society's most basic need is the need for social order and solidarity, so its members can cooperate. For functionalists, what makes this order possible is the existence of value consensus - a set of shared norms and values by which society's members live. Value consensus gives people a sense of social solidarity with one another, as they feel as if they belong. This enables people to agree on shared goals and work towards achieving them. Without this, individuals would pursue their own selfish desires and society would disintegrate.

Marxism

Marxists believe that society is shaped by class conflict, and that society is divided into two social classes; the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie are the rich, capitalist minority who exploit the proletariat; the poor, working class majority who have to work for the bourgeoisie in order to survive.The bourgeoisie own the means of production; eg) the land, factories and machinery, in order to make money. But the proletariat only have their own labour to sell, and so have no other means of survival than to allow themselves to be exploited by the bourgeoisie. The bourgeoisie want to extract maximum labour for minimum cost, so that they can ensure the profit margin is as high as possible. Capitalism - the social structure in which the rich minority exploit the poor majority for economic gain - arose in the Industrial Revolution (1750-1900). Rich factory owners had complete control of the means of production, such as the factories themselves, the machinery inside them, and the economic capital to start a business in the first place. The working class simply cannot earn enough money working for the bourgeoisie to set up their own businesses. The proletariat are also alienated from each other and the products they are making. The infrastructure (economic base of society) largely shapes the rest of society via the superstructure (social institutions which comprise society). Karl Marx (1818-1883) believed that the proletariat are controlled by ideology - powerful sets of ideas and beliefs that influence the way in which people think. Ruling-class ideology legitimates the bourgeoisie's position in society and reproduces inequality in the next generation, as the working class grow up believing that their social status is deserved and that they can earn a higher status with their own effort. In particular, the media, the family, the education system and religion are prominent institutions which transmit this ideology. Marx described religion as the 'opium of the people,' which eases the pain of exploitation in the capitalist regime. Most world religions advocate tolerance of suffering, and offer a promise of a reward in the afterlife if suffering is endured willingly, which Marx argues is a prime example of ruling class ideology, as it convinces the poor that their suffering is righteous. Another crucial part of ruling class ideology is meritocracy, which is the belief that you can achieve a higher social status and economic reward with your own merit; talent and effort. This encourages the proletariat to believe that their place in society is deserved and their state of relative poverty is because of their own lack of talent and effort. It also increases faith in the capitalist structure of society, as people believe they can succeed in this way within it. The mass media also helps to fuel capitalism with ideology. The media constantly advertises various goods and services, and encourages us to buy more and more material goods. We all want to be considered normal by having the latest products, which the ideology within the media makes us think we need. This then makes people believe they need a lot more money in order to have these products, so they are more inclined to work overtime for the bourgeoisie, ultimately producing more products and giving the bourgeoisie more profit.Marx believed this would eventually lead to the overthrowing of the bourgeoisie, creating an equal, classless, communist society. The communist revolution is the only way in which society can be equal, as everyone will collectively own the means of production and share the profits of production fairly.

Postmodernism

Postmodernists argue that society is split into small groups which have common subcultures, norms and values, instead of a society-wide culture shared by all. These groups are based on differences in ethnicity, age, religion, region, nationality, sexuality and so on. However, critics argue that postmodernists exaggerate how far things have really changed. In particular, postmodernists ignore the continuing importance of social inequality and the ways this limits people’s choices and shapes their lives.

Sociology as a subject first developed in response to major changes that began to take place in western society from the 18th century onwards. One key change was urbanisation – the shift from a largely rural society where people lived in villages, to an urban society where they lived in towns and cities. The process of urbanisation was paralleled by one of industrialisation, in which the workforce increasingly moved out of agriculture and into factory production. These changes had an enormous impact on all areas of social life and to understand them, many sociologists made a distinction between two types of society: l traditional society: a rural-agricultural society where there was little social change, a strong sense of community and religion dominated people’s view of the world. l modern society: an urban-industrial society with social and technological change and a belief in progress and science. However, some sociologists argue that we now live in a new type of society: l postmodern society: a post-industrial society in which change is increasingly rapid but uneven, and where people have lost faith in the ability of science to bring about progress. In postmodern society, information technology and the media play a central role. The world moves towards a single global economy and culture. Sources of individual identity become more diverse. Critics argue that postmodernists exaggerate this change and that we are still living in the modern rather than a postmodern era. For example, Marxists argue that society is still capitalist and class inequality remains its key feature.

Feminism

Radical Feminism: all societies are founded on patriarchy men are the enemy - benefit from women's unpaid domestic labour must adopt political lesbianism and separatism (women living completely independently of men) Difference Feminism we cannot generalise about women's experiences, as they are separated by ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, age and class for example, families may be patriarchal and oppressive for white women, however, for black women, matrifocal families are common, as there is a strong support system made up of the female family members