...P1: explain the principal sociological perspectives. In sociology there are six main principal perspectives and these are Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism, Interactionism, Postmodernism, Collectivism and New Right. Functionalism In 1951, Talcott Parsons introduced the Functionalist view and this studies the social structure as a whole of how it functions as well as how each social structure is crucial in the interests of society. Functionalism believes that humans and the society have basic needs, institutions and governments might be responsible to meet the required needs of people also the functionalist may consider that they are different kinds of sources that could limit the individual’s behaviour within the chosen society, meaning that the society will behave appropriately based on one’s behaviour while having the same values, on the other hand the functionalist view does recognise that there may be errors or inequalities within the society but bearing in mind this can be functional for the society. However there have been criticisms against functionalism as some may believe that it is not a realistic way of living and not considering one’s own choices also functionalism may seem to ignore conflict and diversity within individuals in the society. Parsons sees inequalities as a well function to society as it helps in the running of society or community. The main key idea of functionalism is to ensure smooth running of the society and this is done through the structures...
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...Assess the contribution of Functionalism and New Right theories and research to our understanding of society today. (33 marks) Functionalism, devised by Durkheim and Parsons, is a structural theory focusing on the needs of the whole social system and how these shape society’s main features (e.g. social institutions, humans’ behavioural patterns). It is a consensus theory, seeing society as based on value consensus (agreement) between its inhabitants about their values, goals and rules. The New Right is a conservative, political perspective that shares similarities with Functionalism (e.g. believing some people are more naturally talented than others) but contradicts it in arguing that the state should have less involvement in society (e.g. by cutting welfare). Durkheim saw modern industrial society as based on a complex division of labour which promotes differences between groups, weakening social solidarity. He argued that the resultant freedom to the individual must be regulated by society to prevent extreme egoism from destroying all social bonds. Resultantly, he saw society as external and independent to individuals, being made up of ‘social facts’ that constrain and shape people’s behaviour to meet society’s functional prerequisites (needs). Durkheim further believed that if any one thing (‘social fact’) exists, it has a function which will help meet society’s needs, the key ones of which are goals (met through political institutions, e.g. parliament), adaptation (meeting...
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...Define types of Racism e.g Barker and new racism, institutional racism – McPhearson report on murder of stephen lawrence – racism in met police. Jenkins suggests recruitment to jobs is more word of mouth and disadvantages ethnic minorities. Modood 1994 28% of african caribbean people surveyed said they felt they had been refused a job on grounds of race. AO2 There are many government acts such as Race relations acts which should prevent discrimination AO2 However because racism is implicit (hidden) now it can be difficult to prove in court. AO1 Marxists such as Westergaard and Resler argue that race is a distraction from the real issue which is social class. It is capitalism which disadvantages certain groups and ethnic minorities are more likely to be in lower classes. AO2 However this ignores the existence of racism in society e.g in education where black boys have the highest exclusion rates in school. AO1 Another marxist explanation by Castles and Kosack is that ethnic divisions in society ensure that there is never enough solidarity for the proletariat to form a revolution – this is termed divide and rule principle. Ao2 However Britain is multicultural society and ethnic minorities are becoming more integrated in every walk of like, many are middle class. AO1 Castles and Kosack also argue that ethnic minorities make up a...
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...Outline and assess Marxist perspectives on crime and deviance [50 marks] The term defiance covers a wide range of behaviour which deviates from the normal expectations of society and is viewed as ‘wrong’ and ‘bad’ but does not necessarily break the law however, some deviant acts may also be criminal. Crime is any activity that breaks the law of the land and is consequently subject to official punishment. Marx himself wrote very little about crime, but a Marxist theory of crime was first developed by Bonger as early as 1916 and then developed by writers such as Chambliss (1975). The overall background to the Marxist approach to crime was based on the Marxist analysis of society, which argues that society is best understood by examining the process by which the majority of the population are exploited by the owners and controllers of commerce and industry. The traditional Marxist approach to crime and deviance argues that the fundamental fact of exploitation provides the key to unlock the explanations for the workings of society. The beginning of the Marxist analysis is that all laws are essentially for the benefit of the bourgeoisie, and that criminal law reflects their interests. For example, property ownership laws largely concern those with significant amounts of property i.e. the ruling class. For those who are poor, there is little to steal. Personal violence is a dangerous act and the ruling class wants to control the right to use violence within society through their...
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...Using the material from Item A and elsewhere assess the usefulness of functionalist approaches in explaining crime. (21 Marks) Crime is the act which breaks the criminal laws of society. The functionalists approach to crime and deviance gives us some insight into how society copes with deviant behaviour. However it has limitations for example it only looks at the functions of deviance and not the causes. Durkheim says that to allow social solidarity to occur in society there are two key mechanisms which are socialisation and social control. He states that crime and deviance is inevitable and that it is needed in society as it preforms two positive functions; boundary maintenance and adaption. In Durkheim’s view, the purpose of punishment is to reaffirm society’s shared rules. As it states in Item A the publicity given to crime highlights the boundaries of acceptable behaviour and this reinforces social solidarity through for example court rooms which dramatizes the wrong doing and stigmatises the offender and therefore discourages others from breaking society’s rules. For individuals that want adaption, there must be some scope for them to challenge and change the existing norms and values which is deviance. However, in time there values may give way to a new culture and morality. For example gay marriage would be seen as deviant but in current times it has become less deviant in countries such as the United Kingdom because it has become more popular over the last decade. If...
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...Using material from Item A and elsewhere, assess the usefulness of functionalist approaches in explaining crime (21 marks) Deviance is defined as the state of diverging from usual or accepted standards whereas crime is defined as an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law. Usually, we would expect that functionalists would regard crime and deviance as wholly negative. However, functionalists such as Durkheim see the “beneficial effects of crime for society” whether there are “limited” or not. Additionally, functionalists see crime as inevitable and universal. Every known society has some level of crime and deviance. Within this essay, I will be exploring the ways key functionalists such as Durkheim, Merton, Cohen, Cloward and Ohlin view crime and criticisms towards their ideas. Durkheim states “crime is normal… an integral part of all healthy societies.” There are two reasons why crime and deviance are found in all societies. Which are; not everyone is equally effectively socialised into the shared norms and values and, therefore, some individuals will be prone to deviate. Secondly, in complex modern societies there is a diversity of lifestyles and values. Different groups develop their own subcultures with their own norms and values. The mainstream culture may regard their norms as deviant. Durkheim’s perspectives highlights that crime is not just inevitable but it also fulfils two important functions. Firstly, boundary maintenance. Crime...
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...Social Inequality Unit 04 [pic] What are Marxist theories of inequality? Learning targets: • Marxism is concerned for the poor and powerless. • It claims that society is in conflict between the rich who control everything and the poor who must work for the rich and gain little in reward for their work. • The rich are able to maintain their position of power through control of the law, the police and other forms of authority. • The rich also control the manufacture of ideas about society through controlling the media and education so poor people are taught to believe that capitalism is a good thing. Key questions (AO1) What is the Marxist view of society? (AO1) What causes inequality according to Marxists? (AO2) What are the strengths of the Marxist view? (AO2) What are the weaknesses of the Marxist view of inequality? Summary of Key Points Karl Marx (1818 - 1883) was an economist, philosopher and journalist who was motivated by concern for workers who were experiencing terrible poverty while all around was great wealth and power. He was a revolutionary who believed in working for a classless society. Marxism was not a powerful force in sociology until the 1960s and 1970s when it formed the basis of a challenge to functionalism. It offered a better account of the divisions of society at that time than functional sociology did. Marxism also triggered many of the ideas that were...
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...in fixed ways. In the body these are organs; in society they are institutions, such as family and education. Both organisms have system needs for example an organism needs nutrition without which it would die. Social systems have basic needs for example members of society need to be socialized. Both society and organisms function to contribute to meeting the systems needs and thus ensure survival. For example the circulatory systems delivers oxygen to cells, similarly the economy in society helps meet the needs for food and shelter. Parsons argues the central question sociology tries to answer is how is social order possible? Parsons argues social order is achieved through the existence of a shared value system. A culture is a set of norms, values, beliefs and goals shared by members of society. It provides a framework enabling individuals to cooperate by laying down rules about how to behave and what others expect of them, defining goals they should pursue and so on. Social order is only possible so long as members of society agree on these norms and values. This agreement is called value consensus. Value consensus is the glue that holds society together. The basic function of value consensus is to make social order possible. It does this by integrating individuals into the social system so directing them too meet the systems’ needs. Parsons argues the system has two mechanisms to ensure individuals conform to shared norms and meet the systems’ needs. One of the mechanisms is...
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...P2 Explain different sociological approaches to health and ill health There are different approaches to health and ill health in sociology, and these include Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism and Interactionism. The World Health Organisation (WHO) in 1974 defines positive health as a state of complete physical mental, social, spiritual and well-being not merely the absence of disease. The holistic approach is based on addressing the individual’s physical, social, emotional and spiritual health needs. The functionalist approach to health and ill health In the functionalist model, Parsons argued that illness is a form of deviance that disturbs the social function of a society; within the functionalist approach to health it studies the relationship between a sick individual and the society as a whole. Parsons stated that for the society to function efficiently the members of the society must be free from illness and must be of well health. Functionalists argued that stability and cooperation are very crucial for a society to function efficiently; functionalists explain that through the process of socialisation we learn our society’s general norms, values and social roles. An example of this is, saying “thank you or please” these are some of the values that are treasured within societies, and an example of a social role would be a grandmother fulfilling the role as a grandmother. For the grandmother to fulfil her role, the individual has to look after the grandchildren so...
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...Why is the concept of freedom so contested in political theory? (Word maximum: 1,500) Freedom is an important concept in Western politics, strongly entwined as it is with ideas of liberalism. Yet, as suggested by the question, the concept is one which is hotly debated. Indeed, political agents attempt to control the political agenda through promotion of their particular definition. This essay will look at the ways freedom has been defined by different theorists over the years. It will also look at how freedom is linked with and explained through different theo-ries and ideologies. It will then go on to look at how these different theories and ideologies may shape the conceptions of freedom we find in our daily lives. Different political theorists, writing in different times, often of political turmoil, have considered freedom in many different ways. Three influential writers who took a normative approach were Thomas Hobbes, John Locke and Jean-Jacques Rousseau. An important part of their arguments turned on their notions of a ‘state of nature’ – where natural law applied in absence of any organised political state. Hobbes (1651, cited in Brown, 2005), writing shortly after the English Civil War, argued that in a ‘state of nature’ individuals would be fearful for their own interests, resulting inevitably in war of all against all. To obviate this, Hobbes suggested that individuals should voluntarily accept restrictions – and invest their will in an absolute power...
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...between crimes: * CORPORATE CRIME - carried out on behalf of the organisation (e.g. tax evasion). * OCCUPATIONAL CRIME - benefits the individual at the expense of the organisation (e.g. embezzling money). White collar crimes are more technical, complex and discrete and often receive more lenient punishments than blue collar crimes. For white collar crimes, there is a fine line between what is acceptable and what is not. It is often about what is morally wrong rather than legally wrong. Occupational/Corporate crime: The study of these crimes developed from the work of Sutherland in the 1940s. He used the term white collar crime to refer to crime committed by people who worked in offices. His work overlaps with the interests of Marxists who were interested in the crimes of the powerful. They share the concern that these types of crimes have been largely ignored, whereas much work has centred on working class crimes. The problem in the debate about what is a occupational/corporate crime is some are not strictly illegal - for example low safety standards at work may meet the minimum legal criteria. As Nelken...
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...After studying this section, you should be able to understand: • trends and patterns in ownership and control of a range of mass media • the theoretical perspectives on the relationship between ownership and control of the media Trends in ownership and control KEY POINT - Recent trends in media ownership and control suggest that the number of companies controlling global mass media has significantly shrunk in recent years. Bagdikian (2004) notes that in 1983, 50 corporations controlled the vast majority of all news media in the USA, but by 2004 media ownership was concentrated in seven corporations. Curran (2003) notes that ownership of British newspapers has always been concentrated in the hands of a few powerful ‘press barons’, e.g. in 1937 four men owned nearly one in every two national and local daily newspapers sold in Britain. Today, seven powerful individuals dominate the ownership of British national daily and Sunday newspapers. The content of commercial terrestrial television is mainly controlled by one company, ITV plc, whilst access to satellite, cable and digital television in Britain is generally controlled by two companies – News Corp, (owned by Rupert Murdoch) which owns BSkyB, and Virgin Media (owned by Richard Branson). Global conglomeration KEY POINT - The major difference in media ownership and control compared with forty years ago is the movement of media corporations into the global marketplace. The major media companies are now global conglomerations...
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...as that provided by the ‘World Health Organisation' (WHO) in 1974, with its positive and negative concept of health and the definition of disease and its connection to the social model. It will then be followed by the study of Mildred Blaxter (1990). I will also be explaining the definition of the ‘sick role' which was introduced by Talcott Parsons, with its positive and negative effects on the society. Following by an explanation of the doctor-patient relationship with the theory of the functionalist approach by Barber (1963) and by also critically evaluating ways in which the medical profession exercises social control as well as their contribution to ill health and their strengths and weaknesses. Finally, I will analyse the key issues relating to the political economy of the health industry. Over the year's sociologist have tried to come up with a good definition of health, however, they were all elusive. According to the ‘World Health Organisations' (WHO) (1946), good health meant "Health is a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity" its definition was seen as a positive concept as it focused not only on being free from any diseases but it emphasised in a mixture of physical, mental, emotional and social well-being, this was seen to be so complete but yet unachievable. The negative concept of health is opposed to a positive concept of health, it was defined as ‘the absence of disease’ this focused more...
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...Evaluate the usefulness of labelling theory to our understanding of crime and deviance (40 marks) Synopticity – Crime & Deviance and Theory Labelling theorists such as Becker and Lemert argue that because of the diversity of different values in society, there can never be a universally agreed definition of what constitutes ‘normal’ or ‘deviant behaviour’. What is deviant for one person may not be deviant for another. Labelling theorists argue that social reactions means labels are attached to certain people. For example, studies of the media by Cohen, Young etc. indicate that media social reaction may result in groups such as gays being labelled folk devils (such as aids carriers etc.). Fundamental to labelling’s traditional belief is that negative social reaction, in the form of labelling, causes an actor to become one with the deviant activity placed upon him, and, in many cases, leads to development of further deviance. Theorists believe that the stigma people feel from this labelling propels them toward, instead of away from, future deviance. Lemert made a distinction between Primary deviance and Secondary Deviance that labelling truly acquire prominence. Primary Deviance refers to an individual committing any norm-violating behaviour, usually without personal or social consequences. Secondary Deviation is deviant behaviour generated when one is placed in a deviant social role as a result of negative social reactions – having been processed and labelled as deviant...
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