Name: Nhi Luong
FINAL EXAM Question 1: According to the book, the three major perspectives of sociology are functionalist perspective, conflict perspective, and interactionist perspective. The functionalist perspective assumes that society is an organized and stable institution, where all of its entities contribute to its survival. This theory views the society as a unity structure that every each part of it interacts and supports each other. Functionalist perspective divides into manifest functions, latent functions, and dysfunctions. Manifest functions are the obvious functions that are conscious as the consequences of an aspect of society. In contrary, latent functions are the unintended functions that express hidden purposes of an aspect of society. For example, the manifest function of college is broadening education in humanities, sciences, and arts to human being; and its latent function is a place for people to find their marriage partner. Dysfunctions are sabotage behaviors of aspects that diminish society’s stability, but depending on ones’ own value. For example, violent crimes, aggravated assaults, or property crimes are dysfunctional part of society. But in the other hand, the danger created by them requires more surveillance, then increasing occupations for guards. The conflict perspective’s assumption is the struggle between competing groups in society for resources, such as money, services, and representation. Consequently, inequality always exists in society. As a part of everyday life, conflict is learned to know who benefits, who suffers, and who dominates, between male and female, Blacks and Whites, etc. Since the late 1960s, conflict perspective has become the emphasis in the United States. This is the result of the extensive of civil rights battles and the rise of the feminist and gay liberation movements. Only in the 1970s, feminist perspective was accepted by sociologists. Feminist perspective focuses on the inequality in gender in macro level, thus it is considered conflict perspective. The radical theorists view that women can’t avoid men’s suppression in capitalist, socialist, or communist; meanwhile the contemporary theorists view women’s subordination as inevitable in capitalist society only. While the functionalist and conflict theorists analyze macro level of sociology, the interactionist perspective concentrates on generalizing daily forms of social aspects’ interaction as a whole. Symbolic interactionism is a form of meaningful objects included material things, other people, relationships, and symbols. These objects are shared and understood among members of society. For example, dress code symbolizes your manipulation: National Basketball Association has a dress code for professional basketball players when they are representing the league: no indoor sunglass, chains, and sleeveless shirts; or you can’t go to the church in shorts or hat on. Nonverbal communication, included gestures, facial expressions, and postures, is the symbolic interaction that people use to express their feeling; it is specific and different between different cultures. For example, in Vietnam, to show your respect to the other, you have to lower your head before them; while in the United States, this gesture is supposed to be a greeting.
Viewing family as an aspect of society, in functionalist perspective, family performs these functions: reproduction, protection, and socialization, regulation of sexual behavior, affection and companionship, and provision of social status. In conflict perspective, family is viewed as the reflection of wealth and powerful inequality. Men are the dominance who has more resources with more power and money. Family also contributes social injustice. The social class of children is inherited of their parents, because it is influent by their family’s healthcare, education opportunities, housing and other aspects. Therefore, social mobility in United States is restricted by