Functionalism Blog Post #8

Functionalism is one of the three major theories of Sociology. Introduced by Emile Durkheim "functionalism" can be defined as a theory that interprets each part of society in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole society (sociology.about.com). This term is like looking at society from the  bigger perspective and society is made up of institutions. The way this idea balances out is by the facts and institutions, everyone is dependent upon one another. Emile Durkheim explained the theory as a "living organism." He also said the society functions are inter-related parts that work together, and the institutions are a basic response to a basic "need in life." The balance of this theory comes from social homeostasis which is the stability to coordinate the institutions. To explain this theory take for example the government, it provides free education up until high school for children in turn the family pays taxes to keep it all running smoothly. When a problem arises adjustments are made to keep the society running smoothly. There are also two types of functions in the Functionalist theory; latent functions, and manifest functions. A manifest function can be attending church the latent function to that could be helping the people understand their reason for going. Manifest functions are easier to identify than latent functions because of the approach. Functionalism is the social change in a society which isn't desirable to people because they don't like change.

Crossman, Ashley. "Everything You Need to Know About Functionalist Theory." About.com Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2015.

Free writing Blog: what determines social class

I often wonder how your social class is determined. Many Americans are considered to be middle class Americans, but how? Why is such a small percent deemed upper class just because of money and why do they control "the means of production" when the middle class workers who run their corporations keep their money flowing in. Why do they put up with it?
Karl Marx and Max Weber analyzed the issue of determining social class. Karl Marx called it the "means of production." Money determines your wealth and what social class you obtain. He believes the capitalist own the means of productions and the proletariat people ran the means of production but did not own it. He argued the distinctions among people like clothing, speech, education, and a paycheck determine why you are who you are. While the capitalists keep growing the proletariat stay where they are on the social ladder. The distinction between owner and worker decides everything, Marx stressed property determines people's lifestyles which in time determines the relationships you have with , and in the end shapes their ideas.

 Max Weber understood the social classes much differently than Marx. Instead of wealth by title, he believed one could obtain wealth by property,power, and prestige. Property is a person's material possessions like assets. Power is the ability to carry out your will even over the resistance of others. Prestige is respect, whether it's the respect you hold or give to another. So unlike Marx, Weber didn't believe the position you held determined wealth but rather your power, prestige, and property.
So as you can see Social Class has evolved over many years, and many different ideas of people. To "change classes" for instance to bump from middle class wealth to upper class would be difficult. It would take years. That's why people usually stay in their class, and stay satisfied with what they have because to change your social class would be extremely difficult.

Henslin, James M. "9." Sociolgy a Down to Earth Approach. 12th ed. N.p.: n.p., n.d. 234-35. Print.

Symbolic Interationism

Have you ever made a decision based on what other people think or made a decision that you wouldn't normally make when you're around certain people? Symbolic Interaction is a term that best describes this behavior, Max Weber called it stage play (Henslin 28). George Herbert Mead introduced this sociological term in the 1920's to help explain why people act the way they do (about.com).
Think about it if you were to move to a new school and you are a smart kid, you finish your homework, but you also like to hang out with people on the weekend, you're not going to choose to hang around the people who are a bad influence e.g. people who skip class, smoke cigarettes, and don't care about their outcome in life. Instead you are going to center yourself around people who act and perform similar to your liking.
This type of interaction is noticed everyday. Symbolic Interaction is a micro level analysis, or small-scale patterns of social interaction. A german word best describing symbolic interaction is "verstehen" which literally means the empathetic understanding of human behavior. "Industrialization and urbanization changed marital roles and led to a redefinition of love marriage, children and divorce (Henslin 28)"
Symbolic Interaction will always shape how we as people make decisions everyday. To better understand it ask yourself "how do I act differently when I'm in the presence of someone?"

Henslin, James M. "13 Symbolic Interactionism." Sociology: A Down-to-earth Approach. 12th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, 2011. 28. Print.

"What Is Symbolic Interaction Theory?" About.com Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Oct. 2015.

Institution of Education

The act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life is the definition for education (Dictionary.com). In the world today education is key to living a successful life. Education is important in every aspect; it ultimately gives a person control of their life, if effects how that person makes a decision, and it also makes one appreciate life.
 As you learn you become more knowledgeable and soon making decisions will be an everyday occurrence. Having a good education make this process much simpler. When you can relate to a topic, or you know the facts decision making can be simpler.
If you have already "grown up" I'm sure you know a lot about having control of your life. With the proper way of obtaining knowledge you can have control of your life. For example this year I moved out of my parents house the summer after I graduated. I'm renting my own apartment, filing taxes, making payments on my own car, and paying for everything I want/need. I couldn't have done this without education, without it I wouldn't understand the economy and making poor decisions and honestly I'd would probably be living in my parents house still.
Having and education has definitely made me appreciate life more too. Not everyone in the world gets this kind of opportunity. High school is free, take advantage of that because when you get to college it is not free. Now with education I can go on and make a life for myself.
Social institution change aspects of life in individuals such as social stratification, deviance, cultural activities and socialization. The sociological theories (functionalism, conflict and interactionism) have influenced education as a sociological institution with each of them influencing both the individual and the society’s view hence creating a social change in the education (orderwriters.com).
Without education the world would be in utter chaos. As a social institution it is an important element that governs the behavior of social life.

"Education." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

"Social Institution of the Family - Essays - 2401 Words." StudyMode. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Oct. 2015.

Conflict Theory compared to the song "Where is the Love" by the black eyed peas

There's winner and there's losers Conflict Theory is defined as "A theory propounded by Karl Marx that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity. According to conflict theory, those with wealth and power try to hold on to it by any means possible, chiefly by suppressing the poor and powerless. Conflict theory also ascribes most of the fundamental developments in human history, such as democracy and civil rights, to capitalistic attempts to control the masses rather than to a desire for social order (Investopedia).
The song "Where is the Love" strongly shows Karl Marx's theory in clear content. The song starts off saying "what's wrong with the world mama,  people living like they ain't got no mamma?" that's a very strong line for this time because in the early 2000 era the world faced many problems. They mention terrorism, gangs, discrimination, murder, war, and many other topics of hatred.
The idea of the Conflict Theory is the world is split into two types of people the capitalist and the bourgeoisie. Will.i.am states "overseas, yeah, we try to stop terrorism, but we still got terrorists here livin' in the USA the big CIA The Bloods and The Crips and the KKK," this line right here shows the conflict theory well comparing the gangsters and the racists to the CIA. The song goes on to talk about people who only care about their bank account compared to children who fight for their lives every day for a war that's unknown. The world is an uneven playing field, and this song expresses that in many ways.
Society is still split up like this today, many of us only care about the material things in life, although we will all end up the same place-the ground. While so many people are worried about having the latest and greatest Ferrari they could helping people in ways they don't even know is possible, but we as a society are selfish and we "rig" the rules ourselves to keep the wealthy people even more wealthy and more powerful. "We've only got one world," why can't we change the means of production and help out more people?
Link for the lyrics: https://play.google.com/music/preview/Tvwgltfftxzgtndoxsdjjkpnlem?lyrics=1&utm_source=google&utm_medium=search&utm_campaign=lyrics&pcampaignid=kp-lyrics


"Conflict Theory Definition | Investopedia." Investopedia. N.p., 10 July 2013. Web. 08 Oct. 2015.

Fergie, Will.i.am, and Taboo. Where Is the Love. Black Eyed Peas. Ralph MacDonald, 2003. CD.

"Mississippi Burning" a view on racism

Racism is a belief or doctrine that inherent differences among the various human racial groups determine cultural or individual achievement, usually involving the idea that one's own race is superior and has the right to dominate others or that a particular racial group is inferior to the others (Dictionary.com). The movie "Mississippi Burning" depicts just that through the lives of black men and women. As three young teens fighting for equal rights are killed in Mississippi in the late 1960's investigators question the acts of white men in the community.
While the search for the three boys' killer's continues anyone who talks to the authority pays the price. From gunshots through their families windows, and even as extreme as burning a whole families house down and hanging the father. It took a lot of questioning but soon the detectives work together and get all the men who helped in the killing of the teens put away.
The term racism fits heavily into this movie for obvious reasons. The white's don't want to tolerate the black people so they put them on the low end of the triangle. They separate themselves by jobs, social outings, and even water fountains. Finally the dominator in this movie is clearly the white people because they feel blacks were inferior to them
This movie brutally shows the treatment of black people not just performed in this decade, (1960s) but it even shows how the blacks have been treated over centuries. Many people in the south still feel the same way about the blacks; just because of the color of their skin we considered the "unclean and dirty." Many days we as Americans would like to think that racism doesn't exist, but even this year police officers have dealt with the title of a "racist." Racism isn't always black vs. white,it occurs everyday with many different kinds or races like: Jews, Arabs, and Mexicans. I don't know how anyone could ever be proud about killing someone just because of the color of their skin.


Mississippi Burning. Dir. Alan Parker. Perf. Gene Hackman and Willem Dafoe. 1988. Videocassette.
Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com, n.d. Web. 01 Oct. 2015.      

                   

State as an Institution

The definition of State is "a political entity that claims monopoly on the use of violence in some particular territory; commonly known as a country ( Henslin 423)." A social institution however is a system in which people's behavior's and relationships that link with the society. To sum it up a state as an institution is the way society reacts in a territory or in each country. A good way to look at the state as an institution is compare it with the Conflict Theory.  This theory was introduced  by Karl Marx, and was also put into the category of macro level of analysis. State as an Institution definitely fits into this category because the Conflict Theory follows the pattern of capitalism. People were divided into bourgeoisies and the proletariats (factory owners and factory workers). This made society an "uneven playing field," and made it look as if the rules were rigged for the workers. Because they relied on each other the owners would soon have to play by the workers rules to make money. One offset and it would change the means of production which is where the power of state is applied. If the state didn't cooperate then everything would fall out of place.

In my opinion we are the ones who make the world operate like it does. We let the bourgeoisies control what we buy, what we get paid, and when we buy the product. While we are out blowing our money on material things that we think we need, they are sitting there making up to thousands of dollars per hour, because that's how the state of an institution works.

Henslin, James M. "Chapter 15." Sociology ;a Down-to-earth Approach: Core Concepts. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2012. 423. Print.