Understanding Social Problems
This week, we learned about three main ways sociologists look at social problems: functionalism , conflict theory , and symbolic interactionism . Functionalism, based on Émile Durkheim’s ideas, sees society like a living body where different parts, like family and schools, work together to keep things stable and peaceful. Functionalists think social problems happen when society is out of balance, but usually, small changes can fix these problems without shaking everything up. Conflict theory, started by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, looks at society as a place where different groups fight over resources and power. It focuses on unfairness and says that social problems come from these inequalities, like the gap between rich and poor. Conflict theorists believe big changes are needed to fix these problems. Feminist theory is part of this view and focuses on inequality between men and women. Symbolic interactionism is different because it looks at how people’s everyday actions and the...