In so doing, they rely heavily on symbols such as words and gestures to reach a shared understanding of their interaction. As this interaction occurs, individuals negotiate their definitions of the situations in which they find themselves and socially construct the reality of these situations. People construct their roles as they interact they do not merely learn the roles that society has set out for them. Far-reaching social change is needed to reduce or eliminate social inequality and to create an egalitarian society. Society is characterized by pervasive inequality based on social class, gender, and other factors. Slow social change is desirable, but rapid social change threatens social order. Society’s social institutions perform important functions to help ensure social stability. Social stability is necessary to have a strong society, and adequate socialization and social integration are necessary to achieve social stability. Table 1.1 Theory Snapshot Theoretical perspectiveįunctionalism or Structural Functionalism We now turn to these four theoretical perspectives, which are summarized in Table 1.1. Within the micro camp, two other perspectives exist: symbolic interactionism and utilitarianism (also called rational choice theory or exchange theory) (Collins, 1994).Collins, R. Within the broad macro camp, two perspectives dominate: functionalism and conflict theory. Both types of approaches give us a valuable understanding of robbery, but together they offer an even richer understanding. Microsociologists would instead focus on such things as why individual robbers decide to commit a robbery and how they select their targets. Macrosociologists would discuss such things as why robbery rates are higher in poorer communities and whether these rates change with changes in the national economy. The different but complementary nature of these two approaches can be seen in the case of armed robbery. These sociologists examine how and why individuals interact and interpret the meanings of their interaction. Figure 1.9: Microsociologists examine the interaction of small groups of people, such as the two women conversing here. Their views taken together offer a fuller understanding of the phenomena than either approach can offer alone. Often macro- and microsociologists look at the same phenomena but do so in different ways. They look at how families, coworkers, and other small groups of people interact why they interact the way they do and how they interpret the meanings of their own interactions and of the social settings in which they find themselves. Microsociologists, on the other hand, study social interaction. They look at the large-scale social forces that change the course of human society and the lives of individuals. Macrosociologists focus on the big picture, which usually means such things as social structure, social institutions, and social, political, and economic change. \)Īlthough this may be overly simplistic, sociologists’ views basically fall into two camps: macrosociology and microsociology.
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