Unfortunately, this perspective ignores minorities and is unable to explain inequality except to say that it must have a social function-it must make society more adaptable-simply because inequality has always existed. One of its basic premises is that society is structured to do the greatest good for the greatest number of people. It also describes the various elements of society that maintain that balance. However, Functionalism sees the social structure as creating equilibrium or balance. This paradigm, like the Conflict paradigm, is very interested in the structure of society and how it impacts people's lives. The Functionalist paradigm does a very good job of explaining the ways in which the institutions of society (the family, education, religion, law/politics/government, the economy, medicine, media) work together to create social solidarity (a social contract in which society as a whole agrees upon the rules of social behavior and agrees, more or less, to abide by those rules) and to maintain balance in society.įunctionalism, or Structural Functionalism, or the Functionalist paradigm describes the elements in society that create social stability FOR THE GREATEST NUMBER OF PEOPLE. This is a macro-level paradigm that describes large-scale processes and large- scale social systems it is uninterested in individual behavior. Functionalism argues that a stable society is the best possible society and any element that helps to maintain that stability must add to the adaptability (functionality) of society. Functionalism argues that the social structure is responsible for all stability and instability, and that that the social structure is continuously attempting to maintain social equilibrium (balance) among all of the components of society. The Functionalist paradigm describes society as stable and describes all of the various mechanisms that maintain social stability. The Functionalist Paradigm (Structural Functionalism) The Conflict Paradigm’s Explanation of Socialization Thus, the terrorists (as representatives of the Proletariat), attacked, or attempted to attack, the centers of American power: the World Trade Center (economic power), the Pentagon (military power), and the U.S. and Western Europe have supported dictatorial regimes, ignored human rights abuses, and generally turned their backs on the plight of the majority of Middle Easterners and Muslims in general throughout the world. The Bourgeoisie (the United States and most of Western Europe) has exploited for decades the people and natural resources of the Middle East without offering economic and educational support to the people. TheSeptemterrorist attack was caused by American foreign policy vis á vis the Middle East as a whole, the first Gulf War, American support of the Israeli government and Israel’s treatment of its Palestinian population. The war in Iraq which began in 2003, according to the Conflict paradigm, was being fought in order to extend the power and control of the United States, and to create an American empire in the non-white, non-Christian world. When we are analyzing any element of society from this perspective, we need to look at the structures of wealth, power, and status and the ways in which those structures maintain the social, economic, political, and coercive power of one group at the expense of all other groups. Every society is plagued by inequality based on social differences among the dominant group and all of the other groups in society, according to the Conflict paradigm. SES is an abbreviation of socio economic status and is comprised of the combined effects of income, education, and occupation. Conflict is particularly interested in the inequalities that exist based on all of the various aspects of master status-race or ethnicity, sex or gender, age, religion, ability or disability, and SES. The Conflict paradigm describes the inequalities that exist in all societies around the globe. The Conflict paradigm does a very good job of explaining racism, sexism, ageism, socioeconomic inequality (wealth and poverty), etc.
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