Chapter 2

• Perspective


  A way of looking at the world
• Theory


  A set of interrelated propositions or principles designed to answer a question or explain a particular phenomenon; it provides us with a perspective
• Major theoretical perspectives in sociology


  • Functionalist perspective
  • Conflict perspective
  • Symbolic interactionist perspective
• Functionalist perspective


  • Society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole
  • Emphasizes the interconnectedness of society by focusing on how each part influences and is influenced by other parts
  • Uses the terms functional and dysfunctional to describe the effects of social elements on society
• Manifest and latent functions


  • Manifest functions are consequences that are intended and commonly recognized
  • Latent functions are consequences that are unintended and often hidden
• Conflict perspective


  • Views society as composed of different groups and interests competing for power and resources
  • Explains various aspects of our social world by looking at which groups have power and benefit from a particular social arrangement
• The origins of the conflict perspective can be traced to the classic works of Karl Marx
• Marx suggested that all societies go through stages of economic development, and as societies evolve from agricultural to industrial, concern over making a profit becomes the hallmark of a capitalist system
• The division of society into two broad classes of people—the "haves" and the "havenots"—is beneficial to the owners of the means of production
• Symbolic interactionist perspective


  • Concerned with the social psychological dynamics of individuals interacting in small groups
  • Emphasizes that human behavior is influenced by definitions and meanings that are created and maintained through symbolic interaction with others
  • Suggests that our identity or sense of self is shaped by social interaction
• Looking glass self


  The self-concept developed by observing how others view and interact with us
• George Herbert Mead


  Described how the individual mind and self arises out of the social process, rather than approaching human experience in terms of individual psychology
• Mead's view of the self


  • The self is a social emergent, a product of social interaction and not a precondition of that interaction
  • The self develops in the individual as a result of their relations to the social process as a whole and to other individuals within that process
• Self-consciousness


  The result of a process in which the individual takes the attitudes of others toward herself, and attempts to view herself from the standpoint of others
• Symbolic interaction and the emergence of the self


  • Language, play, and the game are forms of "symbolic interaction" that are the major paradigms in Mead's theory of socialization and the basic social processes that render the reflexive objectification of the self possible
  • Language is communication via "significant symbols" that allows the individual to take the attitudes of others toward herself