Republic of the Philippines

University of Antique
Sibalom, Antique
Graduate School

Remy C. Abong MA-Ed Social Studies

March 29, 2014

1. Functionalist Perspective

A. In the functionalist perspective, societies are thought to function like organisms, with
various social institutions working together like organs to maintain and reproduce societies.
According to functionalist theories, institutions come about and persist because they play a
function in society, promoting stability and integration. Functionalism has been criticized for
its failure to account for social change and individual agency; some consider it conservatively
biased. Functionalism has been criticized for attributing human-like needs to society. Emile
Durkheim's work is considered the foundation of functionalist theory in sociology.

Conflict Perspective

Conflict theory sees society as a dynamic entity constantly undergoing change as a result
of competition over scarce resources. Conflict theory sees social life as a competition, and
focuses on the distribution of resources, power, and inequality. Unlike functionalist theory,
conflict theory is better at explaining social change, and weaker at explaining social stability.
Conflict theory has been critiqued for its inability to explain social stability and incremental
change. Conflict theory derives from the ideas of Karl Marx.

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Symbolic interactionism is a theory that analyzes patterns of communication,

interpretation, and adjustment between individuals in society. The theory is a framework for
understanding how individuals interact with each other and within society through the
meanings of symbols. Role-taking is a key mechanism that permits an individual to appreciate
another person's perspective and to understand what an action might mean to that person.
Role-taking emerges at an early age through activities such as playing house. Symbolic
interactionists explore the changing meanings attached to family. Symbolic interactionists
argue that shared activities help to build emotional bonds, and that marriage and family
relationships are based on negotiated meanings. The interactionist perspective emphasizes
that families reinforce and rejuvenate bonds through symbolic rituals such as family meals and
holidays.
B. View of Social Order

Functionalist

"Status groups" can be based on a person's characteristics such as race, ethnicity, sexual
orientation, religion, caste, region, occupation, physical attractiveness, gender, education, age,
etc. They are defined as "a subculture having a rather specific rank (or status) within the
stratification system. That is, societies tend to include a hierarchy of status groups, some
enjoying high ranking and some low." One example of this hierarchy is the prestige of a school
teacher compared to that of a garbage man. A certain lifestyle usually distinguishes the
members of different status groups. For example, around the holidays a Jewish family may
celebrate Hanukkah while a Christian family may celebrate Christmas. Other cultural
differences such as language and cultural rituals identify members of different status groups.

Conflict Perspective

Conflict theories are perspectives in sociology that emphasize the social, political, or
material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that
otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism. Conflict
theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast
historically dominant ideologies. It is therefore a macro level analysis of society. Karl Marx is the
father of the social conflict theory, which is a component of the 4 paradigms of sociology.
Certain conflict theories set out to highlight the ideological aspects inherent in traditional
thought. Whilst many of these perspectives hold parallels, conflict theory does not refer to a
unified school of thought, and should not be confused with, for instance, peace and conflict
studies, or any other specific theory of social conflict.

Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Symbolic interactionism is a theoretical approach to understanding the relationship

between humans and society. The basic notion of symbolic interactionism is that human action
and interaction are understandable only through the exchange of meaningful communication
or symbols. In this approach, humans are portrayed as acting, as opposed to being acted upon.
The main principles of symbolic interactionism are. According to symbolic interactionism,
humans are distinct from infrahumans (lower animals) because infrahumans simply respond to
their environment (i.e., a stimulus evokes a response or stimulus response), whereas humans
have the ability to interrupt that process (i.e., stimulus cognition response). Additionally,
infrahumans are unable to conceive of alternative responses to gestures. Humans, however,
can. This understanding should not be taken to indicate that humans never behave in a strict
stimulus response fashion, but rather that humans have the capability of responding in a
different way, and do so much of the time.
 C. View of Social Change

Functionalist perspective

The functionalist perspective attempts to explain social institutions as collective means

to meet individual and social needs. It is sometimes called structural-functionalism because it
often focuses on the ways social structures (e.g., social institutions) meet social needs.
Functionalism draws its inspiration from the ideas of Emile Durkheim. Durkheim was concerned
with the question of how societies maintain internal stability and survive over time. According
to Durkheim, more primitive or traditional societies were held together by mechanical solidarity;
members of society lived in relatively small and undifferentiated groups, where they shared
strong family ties and performed similar daily tasks. Such societies were held together by
shared values and common symbols. Durkheim argued that modern industrial society would
destroy the traditional mechanical solidarity that held primitive societies together.

2. Does language "shape" our behavior, How or in what ways, Are we a "prisoner" of our
culture, In what ways are we imprisoned by our culture, Is our perception our reality, Does
culture affect our perception of the world, we are a product of our culture. Not so much a
prisoner, Not really a prisoner because you can break away from it anytime, Yes, language
definitely shapes behavior here is a way in which that happens for example: in countries where
some of the language address the elders with respect, you see that they are more respectful,
but in a country where you use the same phrase to address a child and an old man. The respect
is thin. Unless the parents take extra care to bring up their children well Prisoner to our
culture : we all arent. But some are. (or you could say they are guided by) In such a way that
some people feel the need to do whatever it is that the society (famed/popular) dictates to
belong. Not that it is bad, but you'll find that some of these people can't live without knowing
the newest development in town Indeed, the way you perceive thing are or would be your
reality, And culture definitely affects our perception of the world. You need to question two
people from quite different cultures, and you'll see how the perception has been shaped as
they. But as we grow older and more socially aware, that connection to our society becomes
stronger and gains influence on our actions and ideals. Some repell them, others completely
adopt them - but they always influence us. Either way, we were constrained by them in the
first place - and our actions are modeled relative to them. Can anyone ever truely escape this
regime, or are we all in some way constrained and influenced by our birthright society's ideals
and behavior?
3. There are many statuses and roles that people take on throughout life which guide their
behaviors. These include status, ascribed status, achieved status, master status, role, role
conflict, and role strain. Status is simply "a social position that a person holds." The term
typically implies prestige. Examples of a status would be a son, father, brother, male,
subordinate, etc. It defines our relationships with those around us. Clearly, people can and do
have many statuses, and all of an individual's statuses together are referred to as a status set.
An ascribed status is "a social position a person receives at birth or takes on involuntarily later
in life". It is a status all the same, but is specifically one that nobody has control of. Being a son
or daughter, for example, is a status assigned to everyone at birth without their choosing. Being
a senior citizen is also an ascribed status, but one that happens later in life for those who live to
see it; it is clearly involuntary (I don't think anybody actually wants to get old). Other examples
would be being American, a male or female, a blonde, possible sexual orientation, etc. In
contrast with an ascribed status, an achieved status is "a social position a person takes on
voluntarily that reflects personal ability and effort". If a person chooses to attend college for
computer programming and takes on a job in that field, their status as a programmer is an
achieved status. Other examples of achieved status include being a criminal, getting married (in
some cultures), Nobel prize winner, etc. The achieved status is voluntary, however, it is effected
by ascribed statuses. A person ascribed as a male would find it easier to become a professional
football player, and a person born into a well off family is more likely to achieve a higher
profession, such as a doctor. Because people tend to have many different statuses and
therefore, many different roles, conflict often occurs among the various roles. The concept of
role conflict is "conflict among the roles connected to two or more statuses". A good example
of role conflict lies in the working mother; she must take on the responsibilities of mothering
the children at home while taking on the responsibilities of working outside the home, away
from the children, in order to earn an income. This conflict involves roles which arise from
separate statuses, but the same sort of conflict can occur from the roles of a single status. Role
strain, then, is "tension among the roles connected to a single status". A teacher, for example,
can be friendly with his or her students, but must remain objective in grading them.

4. Assimilation would be defined by most Americans as the countrys acceptance of hard-

working immigrants who want to bring their cultural experiences to the table while
simultaneously picking up essential American values. Assimilation is beneficial to society.
Multiculturalism can refer to a demographic fact, a particular set of philosophical ideas, or a
specific orientation by government or institutions toward a diverse population. Most of the
debate over multiculturalism centers on whether or not public multiculturalism is the
appropriate way to deal with diversity and immigrant integration. Recognition in the context of
multicultural education is a demand not just for recognition of aspects of a group's actual
culture but also for the history of group subordination and its entire experience.
5. The compulsory public education system was instituted primarily to create a "unified
society", Some would argue that this helps reinforce a "good" moral standard, but it also
disenfranchises minority cultural and religious groups. As far as influencing society and culture,
the more knowledge a student has, the more that student will be able to make informed
decisions, which carries over throughout life. This is the concept of functionalism Another
institution which performs an important function is religion functionalist sociologists believe
that it helps achieve social solidarity and shared norms and values, however it could be argued
that it fails to do this as a result of increasing secularization in recent years and therefore it
creates a divide between members of society rather than binding them together. Structural
Functionalism affects the way religion plays out in society in several ways. For instance, religion
helps maintain social stability. One example of this is that rituals can help members of society
deal with the stress of everyday life. It can give people a sense of security during uncontrollable
situations, such as when a loved one is ill. Praying during a crisis tends to make people feel
better, because they feel they are being pro-active. Prayer is a personal plea to God and it
makes people believe they can exert some sort of influence over events. When the result is
positive, people will say, My prayers were answered, making them feel that they exhibited
some control over the outcome, rather than being a helpless pawn of fate. Too many people
feeling hopeless and powerless would be detrimental to society.