Organization of relationships Essay Example for Free

Organization of relationships EssayFunctionalism Functionalism is perhaps the oldest, and still dominant theoretical perspective in sociology. This paradigm is ground upon two related emphases application of the scientific method to the objective neighborly world, and use of analogy between the individual organism and society. The perspective was developed by Emile Durkheim, and expanded by Talcott Parsons in the 1950s.The perspective assumes 1) that the application of the scientific method extends to the cordial world, 2) values provide general guidelines for behavior in terms of roles and norms, 3) institutions are generally composed of interrelated roles and norms, and 4) the society is a functioning organism composed of functioning institutions. Functionalists perceive the social world as objectively square observable with methods such as surveys and interviews. Rules and regulations assist in the organization of relationships between members of the social body. These institutions of society such as the family, religion, the political system, even the economy are interwoven. They function congruent to social contracts and aspirations. They are directed to the attainment of social objectives.Functionalism has the following assumptions 1) the interrelatedness of institutions, roles, and norms is congruent with social needs 2) social need is not necessarily physiological in orientation (it can be in the form of status acquisition) 3) gradual change is the main motor of social change (abrupt change is seen as something unnecessary and leading to social dislocation of actors) 4) objectivity is the primary qualification of social research (functionalism, later structural functionalism is passing correlated with the empiricist approach to social research) 5) the social world is generally governed by social actors.Functionalism addresses the following issues 1) the evolution of roles and norms in a particular social setting, 2) the study of interrela ted institutions, 3) the efficacy of long-term change, 4) the cohesive functioning entity, and 5) the importance of role-making and empiricist research. From the five sociological paradigms discussed, conflict theory seemed to be the least useful because1) It fails to answer the evolution of roles and norms in the society (it views morality as something created by power politics) 2) While it explains the efficacy of short term (abrupt) change, it fails to fully substantiate the saliency of long-term (gradual) social change 3) It saw conflict as the only effective means of altering social arrangements, roles, and norms of the society here, conflict is seen as a positive military strength of social change (the word positive here is morally neutral).