SOC ∙ Wiley ∙ The Sociological Perspectives, D___
Summary: Sociologists analyze social phenomena at different levels and from different
perspectives, or theories. These perspectives provide us with different lenses through
which to view our social world. Sociological theories help us to explain and predict the
social world in which we live.
Name:
2 Visuals Below:
A Functionalist Approach to
Education and Deviance
A theory is a set of interrelated propositions or principles designed to answer a question
or explain a particular phenomenon; it provides us with a perspective, which is a way of
looking at the world.
Sociology includes three major theoretical perspectives: the functionalist perspective,
the conflict perspective, and the symbolic interactionist perspective. Each perspective
offers a variety of explanations about the social world and human behavior. We’ll look
at research from all three approaches throughout the course, but will spend most of our
time in the conflict theory, as this is the approach that dominates the field of sociology
today.
Functionalist Perspective

Sees society as a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to
maintain a state of balance and

_________________________________________
Institutions were created for _________________________________________;

people were then socialized into roles/behaviors that fill the needs of society
Studies how each part influences and is influenced by other parts





Family: provides context for reproducing, nurturing, socializing children
Education: offers way to transmit a society’s skills, knowledge, culture to its youth
Politics: provides means of governing members of society
Economics: provides production, distribution, consumption of goods and services
Religion: provides moral guidance

Social elements are functional if they contribute to social stability or dysfunctional
if they disrupt social stability
Identifies two types of functions:
o _________________________________________ functions are consequences that are intended and commonly
recognized; _________________________________________ functions are consequences that are unintended

Functionalists view society much like
a human body. The different parts
(institutions/organs) are
interconnected and work together to
achieve balance.
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o


Example: Manifest function of education is to transmit knowledge/skills to society’s youth, but schools also serve as
babysitters for employed parents and offer a place for young adults to meet potential mates
Tends to be _________________________________________ about change
o Example: Rise of single parent and dual-earner families, along with and same-sex parents “bad for society”
 Yields _________________________________________ (if both parents are working, they have less
time to transmit appropriate values, supervise homework, etc.)
Dominant perspective in the field until the liberalism of the 1960s and the Civil Rights Movement
Functionalist Perspective—Crime/Deviance

Deviance is normal and _________________________________________; contributes to social stability and cohesion:
o _________________________________________ of cultural norms and values: punishment for deviant acts
reinforces what a society sees as acceptable behavior
o Clarification of right and wrong: responses to deviant behavior help individuals distinguish between right and wrong
o Promoting social change: deviance can encourage the dominant society to consider alternative norms/values (example:
civil disobedience  end to segregation)
Conflict Perspective

Views society as composed of different groups and interests
_________________________________________ and access to limited resources

Focuses on which groups have power and which do not (the
_________________________________________)
Historically, the haves have used their power to control the institutions of society to their
advantage
o Seeks to explain
___________________________________________________, etc. that
persists because of this historic trend
Investigates how power of one group is maintained at the expense of other groups


Conflict Perspective—Crime/Deviance

Power elite passes laws designed to
_________________________________________


Both the haves and the have-nots commit acts of deviance, but the system the haves
created permits crime from the haves while inequitably punishing crime from the havenots
The criminal justice system judges and punishes each group
_________________________________________


Elites can afford expensive lawyers and are sometimes on a first-name basis with the
individuals in charge of making/enforcing the laws
Have-nots do not have these advantages
The roots of conflict theory can be
traced to Karl Marx’s Communist
Manifesto (1848), which argued
that society is in a state of perpetual
conflict due to competition for
limited resources. In Marx’s view,
this problem could only be solved
through [communist] revolution.
Symbolic-Interactionist Perspective

Views society as a product of everyday social interactions of individuals
o We learn behavior not through groups/institutions, but through



Studies how people use _________________________________________
Society is fluid; meanings/values change with interactions
Humans do not sense their environment directly; instead, they define the situation they are in
o An environment may exist, but it is our definition of it that is important

Read and respond to the four statements regarding the symbolic-interactionist perspective below
_________________________________________
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1.
Why would young people smoke cigarettes even when all objective medical evidence points to the dangers of doing so? The
answer is in the definition of the situation that people create. Studies find that teenagers are well informed about the risks of
tobacco, but they also think that smoking is cool, that they themselves will be safe from harm, and that smoking projects a
positive image to their peers. So, the symbolic meaning of smoking overrides that actual facts regarding smoking and risk.
Record your thoughts, reactions, questions, etc. in response to this argument about why teens smoke:
2.
Both race and gender are social constructs that function based on what we believe to be true about people, given what they
look like. We use socially constructed meanings of race and gender to help us decide who to interact with, how to do so, and to
help us determine, sometimes inaccurately, the meaning of a person's words or actions. Did you know that it is possible for you
to have more in common genetically with someone of a different race than your own? To what extent does someone’s race and
gender impact how you will interact with them?
3.
Symbolic interactionism also suggests that our identity or sense of self is shaped by social interaction. We develop our selfconcept by observing how others interact with us and label us. By observing how others view us, we see a reflection of
ourselves called the “looking glass self.” Is there a difference between how you see yourself and how others see you? How do you
think other people label you?
4.
Want to study race? A symbolic-interactionist approach would encourage observing how blacks and whites interact in different
settings; this would be a micro, or bottom up, approach. Meanwhile, the more macro, or top down, approach of conflict theory
would look at census reports that show differences in how whites and blacks are paid across the nation. Which do you think is a
better approach to understanding the role of race/race relations in this country? Why?
Symbolic-Interactionist Perspective—Crime/Deviance

Deviance is a
_________________________________________—people
learn it from the different groups with which they associate; it is
not biological or due to certain inherited personality traits
o People commit deviant acts because they associate with
individuals who act in a deviant manner
o Come to feel
_________________________________________
o


from the larger society and end up relying more on the
deviant group to which they feel they most belong
Members of the deviant group often become the
primary source of social interaction
Example: People released from prison often find that the
dominant society does not welcome them back with open arms, and they
often drift toward other ex-convicts to attain a sense of belonging and
Visual: Recidivism in CA, 2007
purpose, thereby forming a subculture. This deviant subculture helps to
explain why rates of recidivism, or repeated offenses by convicted criminals, are so high. The ex-convict subculture sanctions
and encourages further acts of deviance.
What could be done to offset this trend?
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Sociological Perspectives Through Music:
We’ll be taking a look at Tupac Shakur’s “Changes” to explore social issues with the sociological imagination.
We’ll also try to locate one or more of the perspectives outlined above. Read the lyrics before viewing the video:
Changes Lyrics
1st Verse
I see no changes
I wake up in the morning and I ask myself
Is life worth livin' should I blast myself?
I'm tired of bein poor and even worse I'm
black
My stomach hurts so I'm lookin' for a purse
to snatch
Cops give a damn about a Negro
Pull the trigga, kill a *****, he's a hero
Sell the crack to the kids, who the hell
cares?
One less hungry mouth on the welfare
First ship 'em dope and let 'em deal the
brothas
Give 'em guns, step back and watch 'em kill
each other
It's time to fight back that's what Huey said
Two shots in the dark now Huey's dead
I got love for my brotha, but we can never
go nowhere
Unless we share wit each other
We gotta start makin' changes
Learn to see me as a brotha instead-a two
distant strangers
And that's how it's 'pose to be
How can the Devil take a brotha if he's
close to me?
I'd love to go back to when we played as
kids, but things change
And that's the way it is.
Chorus:
thats just the way it is
things will never be the same
thats just the ways it is
aaw yeah
thats just the way it is
things will never be the same
thats just the ways it is
aaw yeah
2nd Verse
I see no changes, all I see is racist faces
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races
We under, I wonder what it takes to make
this
One better place, let's erase the wasted
Take the evil out the people they'll be actin
right
'Cuz both black and white is smokin' crack
tonight
And the only time we chill is when we kill
each otha
It takes skill to be real time to heal each
other
And I know it seems heaven sent
We aint ready to see a black presidant, uh
it aint a secret don't conceal the facts, the
penitentiaries packed
And it's filled with blacks
But some things will never change
Ya try to show anotha way but ya stayin in
the dope game
Now tell me what's a motha to do
Bein' real don't appeal to the brotha in you
You gotta operate the easy way
"I made a G today," , but you made it in a
sleezy way
Sellin crack to the kids, "I gotta get paid"
Well hey, well thats the way it is
Come on, come on
Chorus:
thats just the way it is
things will never be the same
thats just the ways it is
aaw yeah
thats just the way it is
things will never be the same
thats just the ways it is
aaw yeah
3rd Verse
You gotta make a change
It's time for us as a people to start makin'
some changes
Let's change the way we eat let's change
the way we live
And let's change the way we treat each
other
You see the old way wasn’t workin, so its
on us to do what we gotta do, to survive
(3rd Verse)
And still I see no changes
Can't a brotha get a little peace
There's war on the streets and war on the
Middle east
Instead of a war on poverty,
They got a war on drugs so the police can
bother me
And I ain't never did a crime i aint have to
do
But now I'm back with the facts givin' it
back to you
So don't let 'em jack you up, back you up,
crack you up, and pimp smack you up
Ya gotta learn to hold ya own
They get jealous when they see ya with ya
mobile phone
But tell the cops they can't touch this
I don't trust this, when they try to rush I
bust this
It's the sound on my tool, you it ain't cool
My mama didn't raise no fool
And as long as I stay black, I gotta stay
strapped and i never get to lay back
'Cuz I always gotta worry bout the payback
Of some ruff that i ruffed up way back
Comin back after all these years
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat
That's the way it is
Chorus:
thats just the way it is
things will never be the same
thats just the ways it is
thats just the way it is (you're my brotha
your my sister, yeah)
things will never be the same(neva be the
same yeah, yeah aaw yeah)
thats just the ways it is
Some things will never change
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1.
What social issues/ills are addressed in this song? Which do you think are most relevant in our
society today? Why?
2.
How does 2Pac justify the unsafe/immoral acts that impoverished people resort to? What is
your reaction to these justifications?
3.
How/why does 2Pac suggest making a change?
4.
Should the “war” 2Pac describes be on drugs or poverty? Explain.
5.
Pick one of the issues mentioned in the song and discuss how a sociologist might look at the issue from the three different
sociological perspectives.
6.
What theoretical perspective(s) is most applicable to this song? How and why?
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THE THREE SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Functionalism
Conflict Theory
Symbolic Interactionism
View of Society
Key Concepts
History/Context
Relationship of Individual
to Society
View of Inequality
Basis of Social Order
Source of Social Change
Research Method/Approach
Strength
Weakness
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Instructions: Read each descriptor (on education or prostitution) and record an
F for Functionalist Perspective, C for Conflict Perspective, or S for Symbolic
Interactionist Perspective.
Regarding Education:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
_____ Argues that education perpetuates social inequality and benefits the
dominant class at the expense of others.
_____ Education is crucial for promoting social solidarity and stability in
society.
_____ Functions to socialize, transmit culture, exert social control, and
bring about innovation.
_____ Access to quality education is closely related to social class.
_____ Education is a vehicle for reproducing existing class relationships.
_____ School legitimates and reinforces the social elites by engaging in specific practices that uphold the patterns of behavior
and the attitudes of the dominant class.
_____ Children with less cultural capital (social assets that include values, beliefs, attitudes and competencies in language and
culture) have fewer opportunities to succeed in school.
_____ Finds that when teachers expect a particular performance or growth from a student, it occurs.
_____ Standardized tests that are used to group students by ability and assign them to classes often measure students’ cultural
capital rather than their natural intelligence or aptitude.
_____ [Economic] Class-based factors affect which children are likely to be placed in high, middle or low tracking groups.
_____ Focuses on classroom communication patterns and educational practices, such as labeling, that affect students’ selfconcept and aspirations.
_____ Compares the individualism that is emphasized in
American classrooms with collectivism in other countries.
_____ Tracking is one of the most obvious mechanisms
through which students of color and those from lowincome families receive a diluted academic program,
making it much more likely that they will fall even further
behind their white, middle-class counterparts.
_____ For students from dominant groups in society, the
way they are treated and what they learn in school tend
to enhance their self-esteem and expectations that they will attain success.
_____ Typically limits their analysis of education to what they directly observe happening in the classroom or conversations with
students.
_____ Focuses on how teacher expectations influence student performance, perceptions, and attitudes.
_____ Studies how placement of students in a class may affect performance.
_____ Focuses on how teachers form their expectations or how students may communicate subtle messages to teachers about
intelligence, skill and so forth.
_____ Explores the latent roles of education, such as meeting lifelong friends or mentors (teachers, coaches, etc.).
Regarding Prostitution:
20. _____ Argues that since prostitutes are overwhelmingly from lower classes, opportunity has broken down for the
disadvantaged.
21. _____ Studies the stabilizing or destabilizing effect of prostitution on marriages.
22. _____ Argues that statistics regarding sexual harassment and rape would likely
increase if prostitution was eradicated.
23. _____ Focuses on the labeling of people in such a career and how prostitutes
are treated by those who support them and those that look down on the
institution.
24. _____ Some members from this theoretical approach might argue that women
should be able to choose whether or not they want to engage in prostitution
(so government regulation is a violation of their right to privacy).
25. _____ Explores various labels associated with prostitution.
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