What are the 3 main theoretical perspectives of sociology explain define them?

Sociologists develop theories to explain and analyze society at different levels and from different perspectives. Sociologists study everything from the micro level of analysis of small social patterns to the “big picture” which is the macro level of analysis of large social patterns.

Sociologists employ three major theoretical perspectives in sociology today. They are the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionism. The structural-functionalist perspective is done at a macro level and its focus is on the relationships between the parts of society. The Conflict perspective is done at a macro level and its main focus is on how the wealthy controls the poor and weak. Symbolic Interactionism is done at a micro and it focuses on the use of symbols and face to face interactions.

Structural-Functionalist Perspective

The structural-functionalist perspective looks at society as a complex system composed of various parts much like a living organism. Each aspect of society contributes to society's functioning as a whole. Social institutions play a key role in keeping a society stable. All societies need certain things to survive (Newman 2010).

Auguste Comte (Newman 2010) pointed out the need to keep society unified as many traditions were diminishing. He created the term sociology. Auguste Comte suggests that sociology is the product of a three-stage development.

Talcott Parson (Parsons 1951) sees society as a collection of systems within systems Parson determined that each individual has expectations of the other's action and reaction to his own behaviour, and that these expectations would be derived from the accepted norms and values of th...

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...analyzing a social issue because neither of the perspectives solely addresses all the possibly circumstances of an issue.

Works Cited

Durkheim, Emile. 1915. The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life: A Study in Religious Sociology. Translated by Joseph Ward Swain. New York: Macmillan.

Theoretical perspectives are the framework or models used by sociologists to understand the various issues and phenomenon in the society. Here is a brief overview of the same.

A theoretical perspective can be defined as a hypothetical model that provides explanation for a given point of view. It is based on certain assumptions which bring the attention to particular features of a phenomenon and thus, contribute to better understanding of it. In simple words, they are used in social sciences such as sociology and psychology to explain the human and the societal behavior as well as the various issues in society.

Main Sociological Perspectives

There are three major theoretical perspectives in sociology, namely symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, and conflict theory. Each of these make certain assumptions about the society and tries to integrate information about it. They try to provide an explanation for the various aspects of the society, and thus try to define the various social phenomenon that we see and experience around us. Here is each of the perspectives explained in detail along with some examples.

Symbolic Interactionism

The origin of this perspective can be traced back to Max Weber, according to whom, individuals act and behave in accordance to how they interpret the world around them. However, officially, symbolic interactionism was introduced to sociology by George H. Mead in the 1920s’. This perspective is based on the assumption that the way a person behaves and communicates depend upon how he defines himself as well as the people around him. For instance, when a person is in the office, around his colleagues, the way he interacts, carries himself, communicates, etc., will be completely different from how he behaves when he is with his family members. According to this theory, if symbolic interactionism is not there, human beings will be interacting the same way as animals.

Functional Analysis

This is based on the assumption that the society as a whole consists of a number of independent parts that function in conjunction with one another. For example, the state provides for education of children. The families to which these children belong pay taxes to the state. The state is dependent on these taxes to carry out its functioning. The families depend upon the school to get their children educated so that the children can in future grow up to become capable enough to support their own family. The children also, in this way, grow up to be educated, employed, law-abiding and tax paying citizens. Thus, the parts of the society function in a way to keep the society in order.

Another assumption of this perspective is that although the different parts of the society work together, there can be a whole lot of difference in how they behave or do particular things. A good example here is Emile Durkheim’s paper on the social factors that lead a person to suicide. According to him, people whose social bonds are weak are much more likely to commit suicide than those who have strong social ties. And it works the other way round too, wherein people whose bonds became too strong, are also at a higher risk of committing suicide.

Conflict Theory

This conflict perspective is based on the assumption that all the woes and miseries in the society are due to uneven distribution of wealth. This theory was derived by Karl Marx during the time when capitalism was at its peak and the workers were being exploited by the people who had control over the property and means of production. According to this perspective, the powerful people of the society resist all kinds of social change and force social order on the poor and the powerless. This leads to class struggles and inter-societal conflicts. Only if the wealth of the society is evenly distributed, there would be much more peace and harmony in it.

If you look at any of these three perspectives of sociology, none of them is complete in itself. Each of these has its own drawbacks. Still, these models have been able to bring forth the importance of sociology by very aptly describing many of the sociological issues prevalent in the society.

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