| QuestionAnswer Any discipline that studies some aspect of society Social science An attempt to understand the meanings individuals attach to their actions Verstehen The discipline that studies society and social behavior Sociology The theoretical perspective focuses on how individuals interact with one another in society Interactionist perspective The theoretical perspective that focuses on forces in society that promote competition and change Conflict perspective the theoretical perspective that emphasizes the use of symbols List examples of mores Dishonesty, murder, and fraud Shared beliefs bout what is good or bad, right or wrong, desirable or undesirable Values A group of mutually interdependent people who have organized in such a way as to share a common culture and feelings of unity Society Physical objects of material culture Artifacts The beliefs that cultures should be judged by their own standards rather than by applying the standards of another culture Cultural relativism Norms, values, symbols, language, and physical objects Culture Suspension from school, imprisonment, pay raises, and medals Formal sanctions The spreading of culture traits from one society to another Diffusion List some of the sources of resistance to social change Ethnocentrism, cultural lag, and vested interest The source of social change that brings about the greatest amount of change in the shortest amount of time Wars and conquest A norm becomes a part of an individual's personality Internalization A system of beliefs that justifies some social, moral, religious, political, or economic interests, held by a group of people Ideology Assigned according to qualities beyond a person's control Ascribed status Socially determined behaviors expected of an individual performing a role Role expectations Component of social structure that bring statuses to life Role Examples of an achieved status Occupation Forms of accommodation Compromise, truce, mediation, and arbitration The smallest possible group Dyad The first agent of socialization that people encounter usually is Family Agents of socialization Religion, family, friends, school, and mass media Total institutions Prison, boot camp Born without a personality Tabula rasa The studies of Anna, Isabelle, and Genie show that normal social development in children depends on Human interactions The sum total of behaviors, attitudes, beliefs, and values characteristics of an individual is Personality The highest teenage birth rate is found among Americans research has found that __ can result in a reduced likelihood of finishing high school Teen pregnancy __ areas have higher rates of suicide than do __ areas. Underpopulated; overpopulated Adolescence in American society generally includes e ages between __. 12-19 Factors that encouraged the rise of dating include... Industrial revolution, co-ed schools, and urbanization The tendency of individuals to marry people who have social characteristics similar to their own Homogamy Which of the following w accounts for less than three percent of American jobs? Farming An organic condition that results in the progressive deterioration of brain cells Alzheimer's disease The combination of statuses, roles, activities, goals, values, beliefs, and life circumstances that characterize an individual Life structure The amount of time a person is expected to live Life expectancy What factors are important in ensuring job satisfaction? Control over what you do, no micromanagement, using or learning new skills Research has found that the average worker over 35 looks for a new job every __ years. 5 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. Show
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 (see Table 1).  The symbolic interactionist perspective According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. Verbal conversations, in which spoken words serve as the predominant symbols, make this subjective interpretation especially evident. The words have a certain meaning for the “sender,” and, during effective communication, they hopefully have the same meaning for the “receiver.” In other terms, words are not static “things”; they require intention and interpretation. Conversation is an interaction of symbols between individuals who constantly interpret the world around them. Of course, anything can serve as a symbol as long as it refers to something beyond itself. Written music serves as an example. The black dots and lines become more than mere marks on the page; they refer to notes organized in such a way as to make musical sense. Thus, symbolic interactionists give serious thought to how people act, and then seek to determine what meanings individuals assign to their own actions and symbols, as well as to those of others. Consider applying symbolic interactionism to the American institution of marriage. Symbols may include wedding bands, vows of life‐long commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a Church ceremony, and flowers and music. American society attaches general meanings to these symbols, but individuals also maintain their own perceptions of what these and other symbols mean. For example, one of the spouses may see their circular wedding rings as symbolizing “never ending love,” while the other may see them as a mere financial expense. Much faulty communication can result from differences in the perception of the same events and symbols. Critics claim that symbolic interactionism neglects the macro level of social interpretation—the “big picture.” In other words, symbolic interactionists may miss the larger issues of society by focusing too closely on the “trees” (for example, the size of the diamond in the wedding ring) rather than the “forest” (for example, the quality of the marriage). The perspective also receives criticism for slighting the influence of social forces and institutions on individual interactions. The functionalist perspective 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:
The functionalist perspective achieved its greatest popularity among American sociologists in the 1940s and 1950s. While European functionalists originally focused on explaining the inner workings of social order, American functionalists focused on discovering the functions of human behavior. Among these American functionalist sociologists is Robert Merton (b. 1910), who divides human functions into two types: manifest functions are intentional and obvious, while latent functions are unintentional and not obvious. The manifest function of attending a church or synagogue, for instance, is to worship as part of a religious community, but its latent function may be to help members learn to discern personal from institutional values. With common sense, manifest functions become easily apparent. Yet this is not necessarily the case for latent functions, which often demand a sociological approach to be revealed. A sociological approach in functionalism is the consideration of the relationship between the functions of smaller parts and the functions of the whole. Functionalism has received criticism for neglecting the negative functions of an event such as divorce. Critics also claim that the perspective justifies the status quo and complacency on the part of society's members. Functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment, even when such change may benefit them. Instead, functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate naturally for any problems that may arise. The conflict perspective 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 theorists, for example, may interpret an “elite” board of regents raising tuition to pay for esoteric new programs that raise the prestige of a local college as self‐serving rather than as beneficial for students. Whereas American sociologists in the 1940s and 1950s generally ignored the conflict perspective in favor of the functionalist, the tumultuous 1960s saw American sociologists gain considerable interest in conflict theory. They also expanded Marx's idea that the key conflict in society was strictly economic. Today, conflict theorists find social conflict between any groups in which the potential for inequality exists: racial, gender, religious, political, economic, and so on. Conflict theorists note that unequal groups usually have conflicting values and agendas, causing them to compete against one another. This constant competition between groups forms the basis for the ever‐changing nature of society. Critics of the conflict perspective point to its overly negative view of society. The theory ultimately attributes humanitarian efforts, altruism, democracy, civil rights, and other positive aspects of society to capitalistic designs to control the masses, not to inherent interests in preserving society and social order. What does the interactionist perspective focus on?Interactionism is a theoretical perspective in sociology that focuses on the everyday interactions between individuals as the basis for the development of society. Interactionism focuses on humans as social actors rather than just focusing on the role of society.
Which perspective focuses on the individual interactions of people?Symbolic Interactionist Theory. Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory that focuses on the relationships among individuals within a society.
Which perspective views society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to produce a stable social system?Functionalist Perspective
According to functionalism, society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole.
What perspective is society the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups?The Symbolic Interactionists say that society is the sum of the interactions of individuals and groups. They focus on interactions, the use of symbols to communicate, the presentation of self, definition of the situation, the development of one's self-concept, for example.
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