Symbolic Interactionism Sociology

In an ever changing world, sociology as a discipline works to keep up with the shifting climate of today's world and how people fit into it. A key way sociologists organize research is by looking at it from varied levels and standpoints. The major perspectives sociologists focus on are interactionism, conflict theory and functionalism. Each of these perspectives helps explain the influence people have on society and vice versa. Every one of these perspectives hones in on a scaled view of different groups; these views go from looking at individual relationships of families, all the way to analyzing an entire population within a big city.

Interactionism focuses on the basis of social life. Social life, on a whole, is comprised of the constant communication and exchange between people in various ways as well as settings. The center issue of this theory is symbolic interactionism, which works to explain the individual in a society and their interaction with others. Symbolic interactionism takes symbols of any all kinds amongst people (linguistics and extra-linguistics) and puts it under a microscope to understand the meanings people assign to things and the role it plays in the way they interact. A society is able to maintain order through shared

Conflict theorists unlike functionalists, do not hold the belief that certain groups in society exist to function together but are more competing for power. Sociologist that follow this view understand that with power comes control. The central question within conflict theory is: who is gaining and losing with use of power? The widely influential German philosopher of the 19th century, Karl Marx, and his theories on the conflict are central to this perspective. Marx contended that with individuals separated into classes dependent on the way they make a living, creates conflict and that conflict will later sabotage the structure of