|
|
Functionalism |
Conflict Perspective |
Interactionist
Perspective |
View of society |
Stable, well
integrated |
Characterized by
tension and struggle between groups |
Active in
influencing and affecting everyday social interaction |
|
Level of
analysis emphasized |
Macro |
Macro |
Micro analysis as
a way of understanding the larger macro phenomena |
|
View of the
individual |
People are
socialized to perform societal functions |
People are shaped
by power, coercion, and authority |
People manipulate
symbols and created their social worlds through interaaction |
|
Key concepts |
Manifest
functions; Latent functions; Dysfunction |
Inequality;
Capitalism; Stratification |
Symbols; Nonverbal
communication; Face-to-face |
|
View of the
social order |
Maintained through
cooperation and consensus |
Maintained through
force and coercion |
Maintained by
shared understanding of everyday behavior |
|
View of social
change |
Predictable,
reinforcing |
Change takes place
all the time and may have positive consequences |
Reflected in
people’s social positions and their communications with others |
|
Example |
Public punishments
reinforce the social order |
Laws reinforce the
positions of those in power |
People respect
laws or disobey them based on their own past experience |
|
Proponents |
Emile Durkheim;
Talcott Parsons; Robert Merton |
Karl Marx; W.E.B.
Du Bois; Ida Wells-Barnett |
George Herbert
Mead; Charles Horton Cooley; Erving Goffman |