Theoretical Perspectives Of Sociology Essay

Sociology is broken up into three main ideas that can help people understand it. The three theoretical perspectives of sociology include symbolic interactionism, structural functionalism, and the conflict theory. The first theoretical perspective of sociology is symbolic interactionism. Henslin (2011) says, “The central idea of symbolic interactionism is that symbols—things to which we attach mean-ing—are the key to understanding how we view the world and communicate with one another” (pg. 13). The idea of symbolic interactionism was originally developed by two gentlemen by the names of Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Meade. They noticed that symbols are what bind society together and make people who they are, influence how they behave. Language is perhaps the most important symbol of all as it is the one that binds individuals into a society. Without language, an individual would be stuck, isolated. Viewing society through the lens of someone who believes symbolic interactionism can help an individual understand something that maybe they did not understand previously. Society itself depends on symbols. Without symbols, we could not

Marriage used to represent a lifelong commitment, it was seen as a duty. But now, it is different. The symbol of marriage has changed, and it has led to more divorces. Symbolic interactionism helps us view the world as what the world is, a society held together by symbols. The second theoretical perspective of sociology is structural functionalism. Structural functionalism is basically the idea that society is a unit, with parts that work together to function. August Comte and Herbert Spencer developed this theory. Henslin (2011) says this, “Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer viewed society as a kind of living organism, similar to an animal’s body. Just as a person or animal has organs that function together, they wrote, so does