What are Sociological Theories? (Functionalism, Conflict Theory, Symbolic Interactionism)

hello everybody and welcome to the

online sociologist

my name is ryan in this video we're

going to look at the topic of theory and

we're going to introduce three major

theoretical approaches that sociologists

use when studying social phenomena the

approaches i'm going to focus on

are titled functionalism conflict theory

and symbolic interactionism

now before getting into what these

approaches are let's attempt to define

what a theory actually is

a theory particularly a social theory

can be defined as a logically organized

system of ideas

used to explain the causes relationships

organization impacts and trajectory of a

structure

institution or phenomenon in other words

theories provide

researchers with a specific lens to view

and understand the world

in a particular way for example you can

look at the same object through a

microscope

or a telescope and come away with a

totally different understanding of what

that object

is scholars come to their theories in

multiple ways

one way is a top-down approach in which

scholars simply adopt an already

existing theory and apply it to a

phenomenon in question

now this strategy has a multitude of

advantages

for one the scholar really doesn't have

to exert any effort in coming up with a

theory because it's

already there also in adopting a theory

scholars can link their study up to a

larger body of already produced

knowledge

this knowledge provides a sort of

guidebook containing research questions

to ask

how to organize that research as well as

what conclusions can be drawn

moreover this knowledge provides

something that scholars can compare

their own findings and analyses to

another way theories are come to is by

taking a bottom-up approach

or what scholars call grounded theory

while the top-down approach

looks at data through specific lenses

scholars utilizing grounded theory

collect

review and analyze data on their own

through this process data points are

connected and grouped into categories

which are then forged into wholly new

sets of relationships

these relationships become the basis of

an entirely new

theory or perspective of looking at that

phenomenon

while grounded theory is definitely

worth exploring

this video is going to concentrate on

already established

theoretical frameworks to better

understand the specific theories of

functionalism conflict theory and

symbolic interactionism

it would be useful to first talk about

different levels of analysis

in doing so let's bring back the

metaphor of the microscope

and the telescope and the ways of seeing

that each provide

sociologists usually label microscopic

ways of studying phenomenon

microsociology the micro sociological

approach focuses on small scale

interactions between individuals and

groups

this approach provides studies that are

richer in detail

thus allowing one a more concrete

understanding

of the phenomenon being analyzed such

depth of study however

positions this phenomenon as unique

making its findings

difficult to be applied to other cases

now the telescopic approach or

macro sociology looks at phenomenon

through a more extensive

institutional and systemic parameters

such studies are not focused on concrete

details but instead connections and

relationships between things

through this approach phenomenon studies

are seen as more

abstract in general thus given the

ability to

be applied and compared to similar cases

across

space and time so

let's move into our specific approaches

to explain these approaches more

effectively i'm going to structure this

explanation through a particular

phenomenon which is economic poverty

and that's defined as the lack of

financial resources

needed to achieve a minimum standard of

living

in other words i'm going to assume how a

functionalist

conflict theorist and symbolic

interactionist would study poverty

functionalism which in some instances is

labeled as structural functionalism

is a macro sociological approach that

looks at how

different parts come together to create

and maintain the functioning of society

in other words social relationships

practices institutions and phenomena

are all explained through their

functions to that larger society

early sociologists such as herbert

spencer and emile durkheim

based their sociological studies around

the notion that societies are larger

organisms

whose organizational patterns and

systemic relationships

bring together different functioning

parts to maintain that organism

the functionalist theory saw its apogee

in the mid 20th century

particularly with the theories of noted

american sociologist talcott parsons

and robert k merton these theorists not

only looked at

how certain groups and institutions

adapted and integrated into society

but the functions that they served and

the intended

and unintended consequences of their

operations

while functionalism is still practiced

today this theoretical perspective came

under intense scrutiny

in the latter half of the 20th century

and the reasons for this criticism

were mainly due to studies that were

considered too abstract

detached from reality too focused on

orderliness

as well as an inability to explain

social change

this is why functionalism is considered

by many to be a conservative

theoretical framework a functionalist

who looks at poverty then wouldn't see

poverty as problematic per se but

instead would look at how poverty is

functional to the operation of that

society

the sociologist herbert gans published

an analysis in 1994 entitled

positive functions of the undeserving

poor

uses of the underclass in america in the

article he looks at how

american society has stereotyped the

poor as being undeserving

lazy immoral and even a threat however

the article isn't so much about how the

poor are labeled

but the larger function of those labels

here he provides numerous functions for

one

impoverishment creates multiple types of

employment geared towards modifying the

poor's behavior

such jobs include people working in the

criminal justice system

education social services rehabilitation

centers among others

moreover the poor function as a

scapegoat

instead of the middle class and upper

class looking at how they are actually

complicit in the construction of social

problems

they simply blame the poor the poor are

also utilized to help reinforce supposed

norms in society

whether it relates to family structure

or recreational activities

stigmatizing the poor for broken homes

or illegal drug use

helps the middle and upper class

reinforce such things as their own

stable marriages or

the nuclear family or their own legal

drug use

let's move on the conflict theory

conflict theory is a macro sociological

approach defined as the idea that

conflict between competing interests

is the basic animating force of social

change in society

this framework is mostly derived from

the work of the 19th century scholar

karl marx who theorized that class

conflict between the owning

and non-owning classes is the central

driving force of social change

throughout history

that conflict was primarily derived

through unequal levels of power

how the only class exerted that power

and how the non-owning class resisted it

moreover such conflict not only

manifested itself in material clashes

but through the construction of

ideologies or ideas

marx's theories developed and

transformed throughout the 19th and 20th

century

as numerous scholars and schools built

upon them

to help explain the inequalities in

society

whether they are based on race class

gender

sexuality or one of a series of other

social categories

while functionalism is too heavily

focused on order conflict theory has

been criticized for its

focus on too much conflict moreover

conflict theory is heavily critiqued

because its foundational assumption is

that society is unequal

and that certain power holders in

society maintain that inequality

so such criticism is usually provided by

those power holders

who maintain that any sort of disorder

conflict or resistance is bad

and anyone who says anything differently

is actually attempting to

destroy society so how would the

conflict theorists analyze poverty well

they would do it through a class

conflict analysis they would look at the

organization and operation of the

capitalist class

and how they dispossessed people as

their livelihoods

karl marx showcases in many of his works

but most notably in his book das capital

more recent accounts mostly focus on

what is known as neoliberalism

which scholars define as an economic

regime that emerged in the late 20th

century

and is focused on the push for free

market capitalism

this shift in economic policy has led to

the implementation of more free market

measures

such as privatization or transforming

public sector industries into for-profit

industries

they also focus on other things like

deregulation or the loosening of rules

that

enterprises have to play by deregulation

has played a large

role in the dispossession of workers

especially with increased attack on

labor unions

whose focus is actually providing

protection for workers

this has in turn led to increased

offshoring or moving factories and jobs

abroad

as well as automation or the use of

machines and robots to produce goods

all of these measures though have led to

vast corporate profits

in fact the compensation for corporate

ceos has grown by 940 percent since

1978.

during that same time the average

workers wages adjusted for

for adjusted for inflation really hasn't

increased at all and in some instances

has decreased

which has led to the hollowing out of

the middle class increased

impoverishment

and more reliance on the public sector

for means of subsistence

symbolic interactionism is a micro

sociological approach

it focuses on small scale relationships

between individuals and groups

while analyzing their interactions and

the meaning constructed from them

moreover these theorists look at the

meaning and construction of symbols

within these relationships this emphasis

is

vastly different from functionalism that

sees individuals as cogs in

the machine and conflict theory that

sees individuals trapped in unequal

power relations

symbolic interactionism was primarily

developed in the early 20th century

particularly with the theories of george

herbert mead herbert bloomer

charles horton cooley and irving goffman

while this theory provides rich detailed

analysis

many have criticized it for several

reasons some argue that engaging in such

an analysis makes it difficult for

researchers to remain objective because

they grow

close to the subjects that they're

studying

others claim that symbolic

interactionists provide scholarship that

doesn't apply to other studies

and can't be reproduced so while many

critique symbolic

interactions on these tenants others

actually appraise the approach

for these very same reasons thus causing

a broader discussion about

scientific parameters of sociological

analysis

and if there are any so how would a

symbolic interactionist study poverty

well they would study those that are

impoverished or

take on the role themselves while not a

sociologist by trade

barbara ehrenreich wrote a hugely

influential book entitled nickeled and

dimed

on not getting by in america in it she

takes on the role of working numerous

minimum wage

jobs and attempting to survive on the

paltry wages that she received

other theorists like jennifer sherman

whose book those who work those who

don't

poverty morality and family in rural

america provides an in-depth long-term

study on the impoverishment of rural

residents in a small town in northern

california

her interest wasn't just in the

conditions of that impoverishment

but the identities that were constructed

in relation to it

she found that many working poor people

labeled and stigmatized those who didn't

work

and who received government aid as

undeserving in other words while

everyone in the town was impoverished

numerous symbolic distinctions were

created and drawn between those who work

and those who don't so

there you have it sociology's three

major theoretical frameworks

functionalism conflict theory and

symbolic interactionism

let me know what you think in the

comments below and if i missed anything

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