A strength of the functionalist theory is that it a macro level structural theory which uses an organic analogy- using the body as a way to describe the different parts within society. Parsons identifies three similarities; System, System Needs and Functions. The System being organisms such as the human body, and society which fit together in fixed ways. For example in the body, organ cells, in society the parts are institutions and individual roles. The system needs meaning just as organisms have needs such as nutrition; society has needs which need to be met in order to survive, and lastly, functions. Functions involve the contribution something makes to meet the systems needs; so as the circulatory system of the body carries nutrients and oxygen to the tissues, the economy helps maintain the social system by meeting the needs for food and shelter. An example using this analogy would be the brain would be the politics and the family the heart. This analysis clearly looks at the whole of society; all while making it easier to understand sociologically and visually shows how all the different functions of society link and work together.…
One of the criticism of functionalism is that they tend to ignore conflict, however it also ignores inequalities of gender, class and race which causes conflict. Another criticism of functionalism is that Durkheim’s work has developed a more…
The changes in Germany society between 1918 and 1933 can be accounted for by a multitude of reasons. After World War 1 the Kaiser abdicated and new liberal republic was formed known as the Weimar Republic. After this due to the Treaty of Versailles, France occupied the Ruhr leading to a period of hyperinflation crippling the standard of German society. Recovering from this during the Stresemann years allowed a new rise until the Great Depression caused a massive change in German society. The rise of the Nazi Party afterwards caused a large stir and this was shown completely once Hitler became chancellor causing a complete shift in society.…
Post WWII, the economic situation was very difficult for Germany, as East Germany was captured by the Soviets and West Germany, which is now known as Germany. Partition of the country between West and Soviets created a huge gap within the economy as West specialized in industry and East specialized in agriculture. In order to fix Germany’s economy, United States agreed to finance The Marshall Plan. It is an aid program for Europe of $13 billion, of which $2 billion will go to Germany. However, the amount Germany received was less compared to $2.4 billion that Germany had to pay to their Allies.…
In 2007, there were some 200.000 persons living in Germany without health insurance coverage. With the health insurance reform of 2007, the German government has now implemented a new insurance law which makes insurance mandatory for everybody living in Germany. When living in Germany, this law will also apply…
Interestingly Organic analogy used often by functionalists such as Comte and Durkheim involves the idea of comparing the working society to that of a living organism. Moral Consensus is where many people hold the same values and this is known to give rise to strength and stability in societ and is strongly emphasized by functionalism. Strenght and stability is thought to be the norm of society (Giddens (2001)). Giddens (2001) states that functionalism is currently in the firing line suggesting that immoderate stress factors have lead to social cohesion at the expense of those producing conflict. Haralambos and Holborn (1995) explains from a functionalist`s perspective society makes a system.…
Before beginning this essay, let’s imagine that I am currently an ordinary college freshman living and writing in the 1960s. As people generally know, this period stands as a moment of great political and economical change. However, change isn’t always positive. In fact, this change, as Guy Debord believes, is a spectacle, which began in the 1920s. The spectacle itself is a combination of advanced capitalism, the mass media, and the types of government that promote commodity fetishism. In this sort of society, which Debord calls “The Society of the Spectacle”, the commodities rule the workers and consumers instead of the other way around. Advanced capitalism, which defines this society, encourages predictable and monotonous experiences of everyday life for the citizens. This society degrades human life, human knowledge, and hinders critical thought. As a result, a basic situationist practice known as the “derive” came into existence, which gives these people an opportunity for a new, authentic, and fun experience of the different surroundings and emotions generated by the urban landscape. The majority of this essay will be about my experiences of “deriving” around the city of Los Angeles, and how those experiences reflect the society of the spectacle, as well as the city’s mechanisms of social control and self-reproduction. However, we will be exploring the essential concepts of situationism before dwelling into these experiences.…
The functionalist view focuses on the role of social objects or actors, that is, on what they do. Durkheim believed that harmony, rather than conflict, defined society. He examines social phenomena with regard to their function in producing or facilitating social cohesion.…
Urban neighborhoods around the world, past and present, have behaviors that differ from the ones living in rural areas. On one hand, rural neighborhood has every individual who’s bound to his neighbors; his contacts are meaningful and personal. Their community is traditional, and relationships are intimate. On the other hand, in urban neighborhoods, it is very possible that people may not know each other for their community is very large. In the Philippines, there are also some differences of what is then and now in terms of urban life. For example, in the movie “Anak”, when Josie(Vilma Santos) arrived from Hong Kong to Manila, which is the Capital City of the Philippines, her neighbors joined their family in a “salo-salo”. They also talked with one another as if they’re really close. But that was then. Today, there’s an element of anonymity among the people due to the increasing population. With increased population, it becomes possible for subgroups of the population to establish themselves---- each with their own norms, values and lifestyle----as separate from the rest. That leads to the different urban cultures. Urban culture refers to a city’s sense of fashion, music, and way of life. They vary in types of people. An example of which is teenager’s urban culture. In the movie, Carla(Claudine Barretto) emphasized the difference in the way of living of a city teenager and a country teenager. She, living in a big city, was influenced to smoke, drink beers, and take illegal drugs. Aside from this, you can also see in the movie some situations of the people living in the city that characterized urban life. For example, people who are less fortunate try to engage themselves in living in squatters or work as a callboy.…
These conditions of a city life can pose a great threat to social harmony and advancements. A society that’s filled with crime and violence can make it difficult for some to grow and be successful. In the city it’s easier to be surrounded by all these corruptions than in the mild and calm country life.…
The researcher aims at exploring the “contemporary reflections” in the short stories of Amy Hempel, for it contains all the short stories in a single book known as The Collected Stories. Contemporary reflections include all the chaotic issues rising in the existing modern societies. Contemporary reflections and metropolitan theory are the two non identical terms for an identical phenomenon. The term metropolitan theory refers to all the problems which are existing in all the metropolitan areas of the present age. This theory includes all the problems like increase in crime rate, drug addiction, illegal relationships, abortions, lack of human rights and values and lack of awareness and education. Metropolitan areas are those areas which consists of densely populated urban core. So metropolitan theory highlights all the problems which are rising because of the dense population of the area. This metropolitan theory can be easily implemented on Amy Hempel’s short stories.…
Functionalism is an intricate system of fractions in society. Functionalism is a demanding system whereas a change in the system will be seen as disorderly intake. This kind of society was initially established for a long period of time that influences individuals way of thinking and acting towards themselves and others. Its main focus is to maintain the structures, functionalism has two main structures institutions and social facts. Institutions focus is to have society needs met. Social facts is the influence on society. Although with the two structures comes two main functions manifest and latent, to meet the community's needs to balance social influences. Manifest function is to make laws, education and business that contribute to the community. For example laws were made to keep order and businesses…
However, without them realizing it, there are many disadvantages of living in the city. This is because the people living in the...…
Following the development of technology, the quality of life becomes better off. It is attractive enough to live in cities, because people can enjoy a lot of convenient facilities. However, some people believe that many people do not know their neighbours and the sense of community has been lost with the increasing number of people in cities. In this essay the effect of the modern urban lifestyle in cities will be discussed.…
More and more people in city feel aggravated and are more exposed to stress and melancholy than people living in the countryside. A mounting antagonism can be felt almost substantially. On the other hand, a city also may cause segregation because it possibly makes circumstances in which we are in the mass of people who are totally strange, unfamiliar and extremely apathetic. The next cause of stress in a city is, undoubtedly, a large number of its residents, accumulated on a relatively small area. The research shows that such a feeling of…