Theories of Social Change and Functionalism - Essay Example

? Chapter Seven: Legitimacy refers to acceptable behaviors recognized by law, and in a functionalist perspective; behavior and reaction of the audience contribute to the stability of the society. When a child faces abuse, what is the behavior of those close to him/ her, and how do they react? Child mistreatment increases the probability of the child committing crime, and this is unacceptable since there are various channels of which a complaint can be made regarding an abuse. Child abuse can be prevented if the society are sensitive to the welfare of the children and condemn practices that undermine their welfare. There is no legitimacy for a child to commit murder because of an abuse and age is not an excuse. According to functionalism, the society needs to have a shared conscience and beliefs for the well-being of the society (Purvis, 12). The establishment of institutions such as the criminal justice system is a proponent of functionalism and if a child is abused, these institutions enjoy the legitimate right of protecting them by taking legal actions against the offender thus protecting the society and achieving the objective it was created for. On this note, there is no legitimacy in committing crime by a child since the institutions established can prevent the occurrence of such an abuse. According to functionalism, murder is a socially constructed deviant behavior. It is created by the society and it is not natural or theological inspired, therefore it cannot enjoy legitimacy on whatever aspect you put it at (Purvis, 25). Therefore a child committing murder at the pretext of an abuse is not legitimate and this action needs to be condemned and corrected through the various institutions of functionalism such as religion or the criminal justice system. Chapter Ten U.S. English Inc. is an action group dedicated to preserve the role of English as a unifying factor in America and was formed in 1983 by U.S. Senator Hayakawa. It has a membership of 1.8 million with Mauro Mujica, as current chairman of the board of its directors. Through the efforts of Mujica, he has succeeded in making the organization an influential interest group that advocates for the unification of America through speaking of English (U.S English Inc, 1). The institution believes the passage of English as the official language of United States of America will expand opportunities for immigrants to learn it. Through extensive activism by the group, the US congress is currently working with the members of the House of Representatives to pass the Official English Legislation Act in the 111th congress. Through lobbying, the U.S English Inc. was instrumental in passing the Emerson English Language Empowerment Act of 1996 and 31 states have enacted English as their official language and some States resist the initiative due to differences in politics (U.S English In, 2). The institution, through various editorials advocates for the use of English as an official language in America and among the newspapers the institution targets are the New York Times, The Baltimore Sun and the Fox News Latino. From a theoretical perspective, functionalism best explains the role of this institution. To functionalists, consensus is an important aspect of the society that leads to power (Purvis, 32). Through lobbying, U.S. English Inc. seeks to achieve consensus on the adoption of English as the official language of America. The use of media by U.S. English Inc. to achieve its objective is driven by the functionalist notion on the role of media whose main aim is to reflect the interest of the audience. U.S. English Inc helps immigrants to learn English and know the various legislations governing its use. It provides various video tutorials on English usage making it easier for immigrants to understand the language and apply it. The institution protects the English language from extinction and this is depicted by its reaction to the recently enacted law by the state of Puerto Rico that sought to recognize indigenous languages as opposed to English. Question one Sociologists in defining deviance are concerned with particular kind of behavior as opposed to the characteristics that all types of deviant behaviors have in common. Sociologists apply an abstract concept that can be in use to define the notion of deviant phenomena in general. According to the study by J.L Simmons (p.32), he describes deviant as a social phenomenon that has different diversities, and that what one person will consider deviant is not what the other person will consider deviant. Sociological differences in the definition of deviance focus on two aspects of the phenomenon, namely normative and relativistic notions of deviance. In normative approach, deviance is a behavior that infringes on the social norms, while the relativistic notion refers to behavior of persons referred to as deviant by the social audience. This approach defines deviant on the basis to how people react on the behavior. Psychologists in their approach of defining deviance are interested in the thought process that results in the normal and deviant behavior (McKinty, 37). Factors that influence a person’s behavior according to psychologists are early childhood development. This explains how people adapt to behavioral boundaries and depression. Basing on this analysis, psychologists define deviance as a departure from normal standards put in place by psychologists such as betraying confidence, breaking boundaries or oaths of office (McKinty, 46). Differences in definition of deviance between sociologists and psychologists arise in that sociologists believe that society defines deviance while psychologists view it from a person’s mind and the thought process. The notion of deviance arises out of social construction. To fully understand this term, we need to look at the three aspects of deviance which are expectations, violations and reactions. Expectations are the procedures and rules that the society expects an individual to follow. Reaction refers to the consequences that arise out of the violation of the rules. According to these three aspects of deviance, they depict deviance arising from the social structure of the society, and these structures create a situation in which people learn what is good or bad in the society. A person learns on how to acquire these good or bad things in the society, and there is a legitimate way of acquisition and an illegitimate way. If the individual attains them in an illegitimate way, he is considered a deviant. From this analysis, it can be said that deviant is socially constructed. There are differences between functionalists and conflict theory. Conflict theory emphasizes on political, material or social inequality of a social group, while functionalism emphasizes on the social structure and function of the society addressing issues such as societal norms, traditions, customs and institutions put in place for the benefit of the society. Conflict theory draws attention to power differences such as class conflict while functionalism views the society as a complex system that has different parts and their main aim is to benefit the society by promoting solidarity and stability. Labeling theory asserts that deviance arises from the actions of the majority to negatively depict minorities as acting against the standard cultural norms. This theory takes into account the self-identity of an individual and how the behavior of an individual may be influenced by the terms used to describe them. Negatively describing a particular behavior among a particular group amounts to stereotyping, and over a period of time, the behavior sticks on the group. The aspect of self in the emergence of a deviant behavior arises on the notion that each and every one of us is conscious on how the society views us. According to labeling theory, people attain labels from how others view their behaviors, and this builds a subjective conception of the self-identity and a negative identity of the individual results into the individuals self-image being affected resulting into the development of behaviors that the society calls deviant. According to Sigmund Freud, women engage in crime because of the perceived notion of inferiority to men. To compensate for that, they engage in activities that the society sees as deviant. William Thomas argues that the capability of women to love and give affection than men is high and if this is neglected, they resort to criminal activities to obtain what they want. The female deviant refuses to accept the socially constructed roles of a woman and seeks luxury, wealth and excitement through ways and means that are against the society accepted practices and standards. Question Two Social stratification is a notion that involves classifying of people into groups based on a common socio-economic condition, and it is a system in which the public categorizes people into a system of hierarchy. This notion is based on four principles which are, a reflection of the society, continuous since it is carried from one generation to another, it is universal but its aspects varies and it involves beliefs as well as inequality. The three major systems of social stratification are caste, estate and the class system. The caste system is a closed form of social stratification and membership is defined by kinship ties. A person at birth automatically acquires the parent caste. As a form of social stratification, the caste system intergrates aspects of social class, occupation, hierarchy and power. The estate system emerged in medieval Europe and consists of the nobles, clergy and the serfs (Purvis, 17). The nobles were the owners of the land and rulers while clergy men, under the Roman Catholic Church influenced the politics of the day, since the church owned large tracts of land. The serfs were the commoners and inclusions were farmers and servants. The class system is based on economic and occupational roles and unlike the other two systems of social stratification, an individual has control over their class position, and mobility is possible (Purvis, 26). According to Weber, social stratification encompasses class, status and power. Class denotes a person’s economic, social and political status in view of his birth and achievement. Status depicts a person’s honor, prestige and popularity in the society and power is the ability of a person to get what he wants despite resistance from the society (Appelbaum, 32) Class is an aspect of social stratification, but not a supreme factor. In analyzing this perception, Weber explains that managers of large companies are proletariat higher hierarchy of the class system. On status, Weber notes that political power is not defined by capital accumulation, and artists such as athletes, poets were able to obtain much influence without a huge economic base. According to the conflict theory, inequality arises out of capitalism. To Karl Marx, a proponent of conflict theory, the means of production consist of two economic parts, namely the substructure and the superstructure means of production (Appelbaum, 45). According to the theory, the social status of a person is depicted on whether he owns a factor of production or he produces labor. In the system, the dominant class owns the factors of production including the working class who have to offer their labor in order to survive. This, according to conflict theory precipitates inequality. The following is an example of how a person can experience an overlapping stratification system of race, class and gender. For example a woman employed in the male dominated field of construction and she is supervised by an Indian foreman who is employed by a white business man who owns the construction company. Model minority refers to an ethnic group, which achieves success despite the prejudices and racialism it faces. The members of this group achieve higher success than the population average and it compares one ethnic minority, to another ethnic minority. The term culture of poverty denotes a sociological theory that explains the cyclical causes of poverty within a particular social group. This theory asserts that the poor are not poor because they lack resources but because of a unique value system in the society that advances poverty in the selected social group (Appelbaum, 53).Oscar Lewis is a proponent of this theory. In justifying this theory, he asserts that the poor lack skills and social connections that can propel them to another class of the society. In as much as Oscar Lewis can be right, it is not the fault of the in lacking these skills that can help them achieve higher social status. According to the conflict theory, it is the established institutions which help in increasing poverty since they work for the benefit of the rich and the affluent. Functionalism disagrees with this notion, since it holds the notion that institutions are built to help the society free itself from the clutches of poverty and for the benefit of the whole community. Question Three The term ethnic group refers to a group whose members share a similar identity through culture, language/ dialect. An ethnic group may also refer to a group of people that share a common ancestry, religion or race. The term ethnicity emanates from the Greek word ethnos which refers to a nation and therefore meant a group of people with a shared ancestry and distinct culture. The modern definition of ethnicity is shaped by the industrial revolution and its impact on immigrants and indigenous people in Europe and America. The definition of ethnic from this refers to a people with distinct cultural identities who through either conquest or migration are subject to a state with different cultural ideologies. In this context, Marx Weber defines an ethnic group as human groups that recognize a particular belief they have in common, and they share numerous similarities in terms of customs and physical appearance. Social and Cultural factors promote the development of an ethnic identity. Socially, an individual’s ethnic group is defined by his family set up which part of his social life. A person is brought up by the family, raised by that family as a member of the ethnic group the family belongs to and therefore the cultures of the ethnic group in which the family belongs to is instilled in the named person (McKinty, 54). Once he grows up, he identifies himself with the ethnic group in which he was raised. Culture enhances the development of an ethnic group since it is learned and passed to generations. Elements of culture include the beliefs and values of the society and involve aspects of religion, language, dietary habits and leisure activities. For example among the Muslims, there are two different ethnic groups, the Sunni and the Shite Muslims and they are differentiated by their beliefs and interpretations of the Islamic Koran.Religion conserves the value of the society and creates a sense of belonging. Rites of passage accelerates the acceptance of an individual in an ethnic group, failure to observe them, might lead to un-acceptance of the named individual to the ethnic group while language, written or spoken is an identity of a cultural group (McKinty, 34). The intersection of prejudice and racism refers to a similar aspect that defines both of these concepts. For example racism is a different type of prejudice that justifies the superiority of a specific racial group while prejudice is a prejudgment originating from an experience and thus results to thoughts and feelings of a specific social group. The two terms intersect with each other in the sense that racism is a form of prejudice but it involves itself with superiority of a race. It is a variety of the conflict theory because of the belief by this theory that chances of life is increased by intersection of race, class and gender. Laissez-fare racism refers to a thought that blames the minority group for their problems in the society. It blames the minority for their economic situations and considers it emanating from their poor cultural background and inferiority. It supports equality at the same time advancing stereotype notions and beliefs about the minorities. Laissez Faire racism has two components, which includes the belief of equality regardless of race and the ideology of how individual’s inabilities explain the problems of its entire social group (Appelbaum, 27). Old fashioned racism refers to a blatant negative stereotype by the whites on the superiority of their racial color as opposed to other races. This type of racism opposed any form of equality of other races with the whites. Colorblind racism refers to disregard of racial characteristics of a person while in provision of services. The difference between de-jure segregation and de-facto segregation is on the basis of law. De-Jure segregation is supported by law while de-facto segregation is not supported by law, but by a fact. De-jure segregation is a social system that provides separate facilities and services to minorities and majorities and is supported by law, while de-facto is a social system that provides services and facilities to different groups in the society and is not supported by law. A similarity in this aspect is that they both provide similar services and facilities, but differences lie in the quality of services offered. The majority often benefit on better services and facilities as compared to the minority. An example of a de-jure segregation is apartheid South Africa, where apartheid was recognized by law. Works Cited Appelbaum, Richard P.. Theories of social change. Chicago: Markham Pub. Co., 1970. Print. McKinty, Adrian. Deviant. New York: Amulet Books, 2011. Print. Purvis, June. Functionalism. Milton Keynes: Open University, 1984. "U.S. English." U.S. English | Making English the Official Language | U.S. English. U.S. English Inc., n.d. Web. 31 May 2012.. Read More