...Asses the Marxist View of Society Marxists believe that the ideas that people hold are formed by their position in society, and ideology is therefore seen very clearly as the ideas of particular social groups reflecting their interests. The Marxist view is most associated with the view that there is a dominant ideology in society. This is a set of ideas and beliefs held by the most powerful groups and, in particular, of the ruling class in society. Mannheim (1985 1936) generally associated the dominant ideology with the deliberate obscuring of facts in order to conceal the inequalities of capitalist society and to prevent existing patterns of inequality and the privileged position of the dominant class, and to prevent any social change that might threaten their interests. Althusser (1971) suggested the dominant ideology was spread through a series of ideological state apparatuses – social institutions like the family, the education system, the mass media, the and religion, which justified the power of the dominant social class. Gramsci (1971) further developed the Marxist view of ideology with his development of the concept of hegemony. Hegemony refers to process whereby the ruling class, through the dominant ideology, maintains its power by persuading other social classes, and particularly the working class, to adopt ruling-class ideology as part of their own beliefs and values, and therefore to consent to the rule of the dominant class rather than being forced to obey. An...
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...Using material from Item and elsewhere, asses the different Marxist view of the relationship between crime and social class (21marks) Marxist believes that in a capitalist society inequality and exploitation of the working class is inevitable. When assessing the relationship between crime and social class Marxist believe because of this exploitation crime inevitable. However there are two main views to this theory traditional and neo Marxist which believes in the same functions of crime (that is inevitable) however has conflicting views on how this occurs. Traditional Marxist believe capitalist society explains crime in 3 main functions criminogenic capitalism, the state and law making, and the ideological functions of crime. Criminogenic capitalism explains that the working class have no other option but to commit crime this may be because; they live in poverty so have no choice but to commit crime, lack of control over their lives therefore due to frustration commit non ulitarian crime such as vandalism, or Ulitarian crime may be the only way they can obtain goods that are advertised in capitalist culture. Traditional Marxism state it is not only working class that commit crime they state that a capitalist society encourages greed therefore promotes white collar crime such as corporate crime. From this the relationship between crime and social class is fairly equal as they both are victims of a capitalistic society. Gordon explains this as a ration response to the capitalist...
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...Asses the Marxist view that the main role of the family is to serve the interest of capitalism. Within sociology there are many different perspectives on the family. Each different perspective sees different things as the main role of the family. Marxists view the family in a very critical way. They believe that the main role of the family is to serve the interest of capitalism. They also believe that the family is seen as an institution which serves to maintain the position of the ruling class. Karl Marx's view on the capitalistic approach shows the unequal nature of the economic system. He shows how the middle and upper class take advantage of the working class and their labour; and that the working class are a tool used to create profit and to keep profit margins at acceptable levels. Marx also argues that the monogamous upper class nuclear family is developed to help solve the problem of the inheritance of private property. The men needed to know who their children were in order to pass on their property on. The family was therefore thought to be designed to control women and protect property. It encourages male power and dominance through the inheritance of property. Marxists argue that the families function is to socialise us into the ruling class ideology. They see the family as an institution which serves and maintains the position of the ruling class. As a result of this they see the family class split into two categories, a small powerful ruling class dominated by...
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...Outline and asses the Marxist view of the role of education in society. The Marxist view on the role of education in society is a critical one. Marxists see education as a system of reproducing inequalities between working and middle class. Society needs skilled and unskilled workers, so Marxists see education as responsible for providing these types of workers, in the interest of the economy. However, there are other sociologists like Paul and Wills, David Reynolds and Henry Giroux who had another opinion on the role of education in society. For example, Paul and Wills, who criticized Althusser, believes that the Marxist view is over deterministic and it fails to consider the power that students have to resist against the system. Firstly, Bowles and Gintis believe in the importance of the hidden curriculum, rather than the content of the curriculum, because students learn to accept the norms and the values of the capitalist society. For example, they learn how to be competitive and work hard for rewards. Bowles and Gintis saw a strong correspondence between what students learn in schools and what is required from workers. They found that pupils who get higher grades are those who follow the system, without questioning and the success is not necessarily related to intellectual ability. These qualities are valued in workers as they will accept the authority of their employers, and not question their orders. They also argued that these are the norms and values of the ruling...
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...Asses different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class (21 marks) Class is directly associated with economic, social and political power. Therefore meaning that people on the top of hierarchy tend to have more resources and therefore no need of stealing any more money or committing crimes. On the other hand this is not true as this is neglected by the fact as upper/middle class commit crimes often but they are not prosecuted for them the same way as working class or unemployed. The link between social class and crime and deviance is so significant that it is incorporated in many theories such as the traditional Marxists that view working class crime as motivated by inequalities and bourgeois crime by greed. They sympathise with working class victims of ruling class crime but not vice versa and believe the criminal justice system favours the ruling class. From their point of view they see that the Laws are made by the state, which represents the interests of ruling class meaning that they are less likely to commit crimes as they will adapt them to their advantage. This line of argument forms the basis of a theory of widespread crime and selective law enforcement; crime occurs right the way through society, but poor criminals receive harsher treatment than rich criminals. Marxists emphasise white collar, corporate crime. They note that crimes of the upper class exert a greater economic toll on society than the crimes of the ordinary people. Corporate...
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...Asses the view that the education system serves to maintain a capitalist society. The education system can be seen to support the capitalist system. Education trains us for the workplace and it teaches us skills that make us employable which is part of the capitalist system. Also it teaches us to be punctual and to obey rules so we are compliant in the workforce. It teaches us to accept our status and authority figures in life and stick to the role we are in. The capitalist system shows that there are winners and losers, just like in education. Marxists see the state as Capitalist dominated. Althusser says the state consists of two elements which serve to keep the bourgeoisie and these are the repressive and ideological state apparatuses. The repressive state apparatuses include police and the army and when necessary use physical force to control the working class. The ideological state apparatuses are the bourgeoisie controlling the people’s ideas, beliefs and values. His theory ensures that working-class pupils will end up in working-class jobs and accept their roles. The capitalist society need people to do the low paid, hard labour, gritty jobs, they need students to fail, as high achieves would want to continue their education and aim for higher paid jobs . Bowles and Ginntis argue that capitalism requires a work force that has the right attitude and behaviour for that role and in their view the role of the education system in a capitalist society is too produce...
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...Outline and asses marxist theories on social inequalities. Marxism is a political, social, and economic philosophy derived from the work of the 19th-century historians Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. It views human history as a struggle between social classes and asserts that capitalism is inherently exploitative. According to Marxism, social inequality is an unfair situation, in which some individuals or groups have more money, influence and power etc over others, usually referring to the bourgeoisie, who use this advantage to oppress the proletariats. Marxists would argue that social inequality is caused by false class consciousness, and that eventually would lead to a revaluation. Marxism is a conflict theory, focusing on inequalities and divisions within society. According to Karl Marx, all stratified societies have two major classes, the bourgeoisie (rich) and the proletariats (poor). The rich owns the means of production, such as land capital, machinery etc, while the poor does not, this gives the ruling class the power to exploit the lower class, through the use of the superstructure, e.g. the legal and political system to justify their actions and maintain social order, due to the fact that the ruling class have more influence compared to the working class. According to Karl Marx, the rich exploits the working class who have to sell their labour to survive, thus creating huge inequalities, furthermore, due to the fact that many working class people rely on this...
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...Asses the view that the introduction of capitalism in developing countries liberates women… By taking different perspectives to approach the assessment that capitalism in developing countries liberates women, we can gain an insight of the arguments justifying the view and those opposing. This essay will proceed to demonstrate how the modernisation theory and marginalisation liberate women, and then add conflicting suggestions such as that of a Marxist Feminist. Perhaps most significantly, modernisation theorists such as Walt Rostow blame internal cultural factors for women’s subordination in the developing world; it can be seen that in many cultures it is within the norms, values and customs of society to be patriarchal, causing status to be ascribed on a basis of gender. Van de Gaag argues that the birth of a boy is often celebrated, whereas the birth of a girl is commiserated. Modernisation theorists would argue that this is a matter of development towards capitalism and the final stage of Modernity –which Rostow argues UK and USA sit at – where women experience full liberation and equality. The view that capitalism may help ‘liberate women from the oppression they suffered in traditional society’ (item A) can be supplemented further by highlighting the lack of status that they have in developing countries. In underdeveloped countries (Traditions Societies – Stage 1 – Rostow), females have less human rights than males, such as the last of healthcare and education (Boserup)...
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...Asses the view that education in modern industrial societies is meritocratic Not all theorists agree that in modern industrial societies education is meritocratic. Although functionalists argue that education is meritocratic and allows person earn what they work for, the Marxists present another argument; that meritocracy is a myth. This essay will show how meritocracy is true to a certain point however it is not always seen. Functionalist argues that modern industrial societies have to perform a range of functions ad as a result a sophisticated mechanism is necessary to select individuals according to their talents and train them for jobs best suited to their talents. Parsons agrees stating that schools are a neutral filtering mechanism allowing the most talented and suited persons to filter through the education system. Through this way only those who are hard working will be able to succeed. Parsons has seen an increase in specialized jobs in modern industrial societies and he argues that this reward system is necessary as it allows only qualified persons to fill those positions. Davis and Moore agree that education is a process by which selection and role allocation takes place. They argue that not everyone is as equally talented and therefore education and society need to offer high rewards for those persons so as to motivate them to work harder and therefore excel. Education is a proving ground for students to prove their worth to society and through this society sifts...
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...social control over the members of society’ (June2006) b) Identify and briefly explain some of the ways in which functionalists see religion meeting the needs of society and / or individuals. (June 2007) New syllabus: 12 mark questions a)Using material from item a and elsewhere, briefly examine the extent to which religion can still be said to be functional for individuals and society (June 2002) b) Briefly examine the evidence and or arguments in favour of the view that religion can act as a force for change in society (June 2006) c) Briefly examine post-modernist views on the nature and role of religion (June 2007) NEW SYLLABUS: 40 mark essay questions • Assess the role and functions of religious institutions and movements in contemporary society. (40) Sample A2 paper (Issued May 2000) • Evaluate the view that religion acts as a conservative force in modern society (40) Jun 2001 “The main function of religion is to provide people with a code of behaviour which regulates personal and social life.” Assess the extent to which sociological arguments and evidence support this view of religion in modern society (40) January 2002 Assess and evaluate the relationship between religion and social change. (40) Jan 2003 Assess the view that in most societies, religion functions more to cause conflict than to bring about harmony and consensus. (40) June 2003 Assess the view that sociological arguments and evidence...
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...structured societies; criminal behaviour is , then , the inevitable expression of class conflict resulting from the exploitative nature of economic relations. Criminality is simply not something that people have or don’t have; crime is not something some people do and others don’t. Crime is a matter of who can pin the label on whom and underlying this socio-political process is the structure of social relations determined by capitalism. Using material from item A and elsewhere asses the usefulness of the Marxist approaches to an understanding of crime and deviance (21 marks) Marxists essentially see crime and deviance as defined by the ruling class and used as a means of social control – if you don’t conform then you will be punished. Institutions such as the police, the justice system, prisons and schools, the family and religion are there to encourage you to conform. They argue that white collar crimes (which tend to be committed by the more powerful in society) are ignored, while crimes committed by the less powerful in society such as burglary and street crime are focussed on and seen as more serious. Marxists would also argue that different social classes are policed differently, with the working class heavily policed in the expectation that they will be more criminal and therefore raising the chances of their crimes being detected. Classical Marxists argue that this fundamental fact of exploitation provides the key to unlock the explanations for the workings of society. They...
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...Using material from item a and elsewhere asses the functionalist view that religion benefits both society as a whole and its individual members (18 marks) Functionalists believe society is built up of different institutions that work together to make society work, religion is one of these institutions and helps society with its need for solidarity and social order. Like mentioned in Item A functionalists view religion as a positive thing and argue that it uses a shared set of norms and values to bring people together into a community. They say this gives everyone a sense of belonging which benefits both individuals and the community as a whole. Durkheim said the thing we need to understand is the difference between the sacred and the profane as this was a key element to religion. The sacred are items that are set apart from the others and inspire awe, fear and wonder whereas the profane are mundane everyday objects. He suggested the sacred objects represent society, and in turn, when they are being worshiped through rituals the members are worshipping society itself. He thought by looking at studies of the Arunta clan he could observe the features of religion. He found the clan members’ sacred item was the totem and when they gathered together to worship it through rituals they were worshipping society. The totem was a recognisable item and gave the members a better sense of belonging. Durkheim said the sacred symbols represent society’s collective conscience. This helps the...
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...Asses the contribution of postmodernism to sociologists understanding of crime and deviance in todays society. Some sociologists believe that we now live in a post-modern society that has a distinct set of characteristics in comparison to modern society; Postmodernists reject the views of the modernist theorists as they claim that they are metanarratives (big stories). They believe that sociology needs to develop new theories so we can fully understand postmodern society, as society is constantly changing it is marked with uncertainty and therefore society is split into a variety of groups. This essay will discuss the changes that have taken place in postmodern society and how this impacts upon our understanding of crime and deviance. Postmodernity has brought changes from modernity these changes include independence and choice. There is less focus on science, postmodernists reject scientific research methods in their research therefore postmodernists are criticised for being subjective. Lyotard argues that society is expanding due to the economic and scientific growth, knowledge is no longer a tool of the authorities, and we now have choice and freedom to believe what we want. Whereas Baudrillard argued that we are isolated and knowledge is filtered through businesses such as the media. We pursue the images attached to products; we now live in hyper-realities in which appearances are everything. This has lead to ‘death of the social’ which is a breakdown in social solidarity;...
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...Critically asses the usefulness of the functionalist perspective to our understanding of society (33 marks) The functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. Functionalists take a structural approach towards society that concentrates on the way society controls the individual. Functionalists believe there are forces that influence our behaviour as well as the way we think. These are said to be as a consequence of the society we live in. There are many functionalists theorists who try to explain society which will be discussed below. A main Functionalist is Emile Durkheim who believes that sociology is a science. He is a structuralist and positivist and thus disagrees with empathy, meanings and the social action theory. Functionalists believe that society is based around a value consensus and social solidarity, which is achieved by socialisation and social control. Other theorists such as Marxists and feminists would argue against this. Durkheim sought to explain social stability through the concept of solidarity, and differentiated between the mechanical solidarity of primitive societies and the organic solidarity of complex modern societies. According to Durkheim, more primitive or traditional societies were held together by mechanical solidarity; these societies have people involved in similar roles so labour division is simple. Therefore, a similar lifestyle is lived with common shared norms and values...
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...Asses the view that the main function of the education system is to reproduce and legitimise social inequalities. Functionalist writers such as Parsons have suggested that social inequality in contemporary societies is based on the principal of meritocracy and equality of opportunity. In meritocracy, social inequality is based on the different abilities, talents and skills individuals have. For most people today, their abilities and talents are demonstrated by their educational qualifications, and everyone should have an equal opportunity to develop and achieve these educational qualifications, regardless of their social class background, ethnicity or disability. However, there is significant evidence that Britain is not meritocratic, and the link between educational qualifications and pay levels is relatively weak. Most sociologists argue that not everyone has the same chance of developing their talents and skills, and that there opportunity in education. Marxists adopt the idea that education serves the needs of the economic foundation of society, along with other principles such as family, mass media, religion and politics. They also believe that the education system does not maintain and reproduce existing social class, ethnic and gender inequalities from one generation to the next. The evidence for this lack of equality of opportunity in education is that, even for students of the same ability, there are wide differences in educational achievement which are closely...
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