Throughout the course, I have acquired a number of different ideas that will contribute to my knowledge and understanding of sociology. First, I was able to learn about what a social problem was in general. What defines a social problem, how they are constructed, and the four stages of a social problem. It may be obvious to many, but an important note about social problems is that they are socially constructed. This means that people decide if societal condition is a social problem. Natural things like earthquakes and hurricanes are not social problems. I was also able to learn about the three sociological perspectives theories: Functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. These three theories make up a large part of how these social problems are viewed and why they occur. Functionalist compare society to a self-adjusting machine and each part of the machine has a function. When parts of the machine are working accordingly, it contributes to the well-being of the society. The conflict theory states that everyone is competing with one another for a limited amount of resources. There are only so many resources to go around, and the competition for them is so severe that conflict is barley kept in check. Symbolic interactionism is the theory that focuses on how we make sense out of life. It states that we see the world through symbols that we attach meaning to and that we use to communicate with one another. With this better understanding of what a social
A problem that faces many college students face is college debt. This social problem is a continual problem with more students registering at colleges and universities. A social problem is defined as “any condition or behavior that has negative consequences for large numbers of people and that is generally recognized as a condition or behavior that needs to be addressed (Barkin 6).” Members of the Seton Hall University community along with other students worldwide experience this. Based on people I know, they use loans to pay for school because they can’t afford to pay for it themselves or their parents can’t afford it. Along with that, I know from personal experiences, I have two very close friends who are paying for school
Sociology has its unique perspectives and each perspective makes sense on its own basis. From the three perspectives which are called conflict theory, symbolic interactionism, and functionalism the one that makes most sense to me is symbolic interactionism. Symbolic interactionism as stated in the book is, “[A] theoretical perspective in which society is viewed as composed of symbols that people use to establish meaning, develop their views of the world and communicate with one another.” The sociological perspective of symbolic interactionism was developed by Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead. Symbolic interactionism is analyzed at a microsociological level unlike conflict theory and functionalism.
Sociology 101 has changed my view on human interaction and has opened my eyes to polar views on the world we live in. Over the course of the semester, we utilized advanced sociological methods to evaluate some of the most controversial topics facing our generation. This class has impacted my life in numerous positive lights through the teachings that Dr. Morlock has provided us.
After taking a Sociology class this semester, I learned a lot of about the different topics and concepts in this course and how they are related to our society, which has changed my perspective as well as how I view and see the meaning of my surroundings. I would also think about what would be going on inside a specific person's mind and how he or she was feeling. After learning about different concepts in Sociology and watching the videos presented in class, it became easier to just stop and think about a person, wonder who that person was, and be curious about that person's life story. We pass by people all the time every day, but we never really know what is going on with them and don't really think about it or care since it is so
In the world of sociology there are many different ways that humans interact with the world. Although we are all human beings, we do not always see the world the same way that others do. Even though not many are aware of the different ways they can see the world, there are three sociological perspectives. Using structural functionalism, the conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism one will be able to decide which view best represents the way they see this world. When asked about my perspective on the world, I view it using the conflict theory due to the examples that society gives us based on events that happen frequently. Even though all three of these theories are socially correct, the conflict theory defines my view of the world more than structural functionalism and symbolic interaction.
For this final reflection for Intro to Sociology, I will cover several topics that I learned throughout the course of this class. I will cover topics that I can relate to as well as those that I can’t. Part of the reason this class is so important for students to take is so that we can take the outlook of others and allow it to possibly change the views that we have on certain topics. Topics such as culture, race and ethnicity, gender stratification, and education are a part of our daily life, but we get in such a rut of living day to day life without taking in the opinion and outlook of others that we don’t know what we truly feel because we are only one sided. By learning these different ideas and beliefs, we may not feel the way
Growing up, my life was somewhat sheltered compared to the lives of other people my age. I was raised by both my mom and dad in a Christian household, in which I was taught morals based upon our faith. As a result of this upbringing, my parents and I made the decision to enroll me in a private Christian school in sixth grade. In this setting I was protected from the influences of the outside world. All of the language, violence, and temptations were around me, which I began to recognize as I entered my freshman year of high school. Even the walls of the highly respected establishment could not keep the real world out.
One question that a sociologist might ask is: “Why has the society deemed this a problem?” A sociologist may ask something like this because they want to know why something that was not thought of as bad is now a hot-button issue. They are also aware of the fact that social problems are a result a society recognizing something as bad and not just an individual seeing something as bad. Another question may be something along the lines of: “What purpose does this social problem serve?” this might be a question that a sociologist asks for the purpose of getting to the root of why there is a social problem to begin with. A Structural-Functionalist would argue that everything existing in our society, both good and bad, serves a purpose. If you could
Danial F. Chambliss is a professor of sociology who wrote an article on human talent. The article Mudanity of Excellence, was made from research observing competitive swimming. Two perspectives of the sport included different levels of the sport. One perspective included novice swimmers who swam for different goals to world class olympic swimmers who competed for gold. The study included a second view that entailed an analysis of swimmers career spans. This showed swimmers growing and training before they were recognized to have talent.
Sociology is the function of the human society, and social problems among us. There are three different theories that I will be discussing in this essay. The theories are symbolic interactionism, The conflict theory and functional analysis perspectives. These perspectives help make up the way society thinks as a whole. All three of these perspectives are alike, as much as they are different.
What are the three major sociology perspectives in regards to social issues? They are Symbolic Interactionism perspectives, Functionalism perspectives, and Conflict Theory perspectives. These perspectives offer sociologists abstract examples for explaining how society affects people, and vice versa. Each perspective individually theorizes society, social forces, and human behavior.
Throughout the course of this semester, I have learned there are many different terms and theories about society that I feel like I can relate to and have a much better understanding about the concept of sociology. For the last paper of this class I would like to talk about the last three sociological concepts that I feel have helped me improve my understanding of the relationship between society and myself. The three concepts that I will talk about are: fictive kin, agenda setting theory, and lastly, bystander effect or diffusion of responsibility.
At the beginning of the semester, I knew very little about sociology or even what it was about. I just knew I needed to take the class for my degree plan to transfer to a four-year university and that I would be doing a lot of reading about different terms and theories of society. However, this first month of class has helped me improve my understanding of what sociology is about and shown me how my personal society has impacted the way I view society. Not only did I learn about the relationships between society and myself, but I have also learned different concepts that have helped me gain a better understanding of how society works. There are three specific sociological concepts that has helped me improve my understanding of the relation
Sociology includes three major theoretical perspectives: the structural-functionalist perspective, the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective. Each perspective offers a variety of explanations about the causes of and possible solutions for social problems (Rubington & Weinberg, 1995).
Throughout the semester, we have learned about a variety of things that have changed the way I perceive people and the world around me that I never did before. One thing we learned about is sociological perspective. This is a perspective on humans and society as a whole. It means looking at society and how it is affected by humans, then looking at humans to see how the different changes in society have affected us. Before our Soc 101 class, I thought stuff just happened. The way perceive things and act as humans is because of the way society has socialized us. The three main sociological perspectives are the functionalist perspective, conflict perspective, and symbolic interactionism. The functionalist perspective claims that all parts of society