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You are commenting using your Facebook account. Notify me of new comments via email. Notify me of new posts via email. Functionalism versus the Conflict Theory versus Symbolic Interactionism Functionalism, the conflict theory and symbolic interactionism are three distinct and common sociological perspectives that share differences and similarities due to the methods in which they evaluate society. Theory Origin Many helped formulate and grow the functionalist, conflict and symbolic interactionism theories.
Personal Opinion I appreciate functionalism the most and disapprove some aspects of the other theories. Works Cited Mustapha, Nasser. Share this: Twitter Facebook. Thus, they are necessary for the survival of that society. Furthermore, functionalism is a perspective created by Emile Durkheim. Thus, functionalism depicts that each aspect of the society, either those defined as good or bad, are essential for the society to continue.
Therefore, all these aspects have a role in keeping the society stable and maintain its social order. For example, the government provides chemicals and manure for farmers and they can succeed in agriculture and can contribute to the overall economic development of the society, by providing people with healthy food and also by paying tax to the government to continue this procedure.
Similarly, farmers can support their families from the income they get. Hence, the farmers are dependent on the government for manure and other agricultural support; the government is also dependent on the farmers for the healthy food they provide. Thus, functionalism highlights that it is the inter-dependency among these varied functions or the elements that eventually lead to the maintenance of the society in a more successful manner.
Figure 1: Functionalism or Structural Functionalism. It advocates that if all these aspects function well, then the society will be more efficient and more stable with high productivity. Yet if these aspects do not function well, several parts or elements of the society should adapt to recapture and survive the new order and create productivity out of it.
For example, consider the above example. In addition to weather issues, manure aids provided by the government also fail to give optimum results. Therefore, it will lead to direct instability in the food production of the people. Marxism highlights the significance of the economic factor. According to Karl Marx , conflicts in society arise due to inequalities among different social classes.
Another interpretation of conflict theory stems from Max Weber , who highlights that other than the economy, factors such as power and status are also important. As you can see both functionalism and conflict theory presents a point of view in approaching the society. However, there is a difference between the two perspectives. This can be summarized as follows. Functionalism: In functionalism, the society is understood as a system consisting of different subsections that have specific functions.
Conflict Theory: Conflict theory comprehends the society through the social conflicts that arise due to the inequality that prevail among different social classes. Functionalism: The society is viewed as a system that consists of different parts. Conflict Theory: The society is viewed as a struggle between different classes due to inequality. What is Functionalism — Definition, Characteristics, Examples 2.
What is Symbolic Interactionism — Definition, Characteristics 3. Functionalism or structural functionalism is a framework for the sociological theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability.
In other words, functionalism looks at each part of the society in terms of function and how it contributes to the stability of the whole society. According to this theory, all parts of society are dependent on each other. These different parts usually refer to various institutions in society, which fulfil different needs of people; each of these has a particular role and contribute to society as a whole.
Early sociologists like Herbert Spencer used the analogy of a human body to describe society. According to these theorists, understanding any organ in the body involved an understanding of its relationship to other organs and its contribution towards the maintenance of the organism.
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