Sociological Perspective On Individual And Societal Success

Taylor Gowen 03/08/15 Sociology Essay Exam 1) Describe the sociological perspective. Provide examples of what it does and does not look like. Discuss why a sociological perspective to individual and societal success. The sociological perspective is a when human behavior is observed and its connection to society as a whole is shown (Henslin 3). There are three factors that influence human behavior. This includes symbolic interactionism where we use symbols or face-to-face interactions to communicate with others. People attach meanings to symbols, and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols (Henslin 12). An example of symbolic interactionism is waving hello to a person. This is a gesture, showing†¦show more content†¦Think about putting a child through school. The child gets the education needed provided by the state, in return we pay for taxes to the state to keep the education funded. The significance of functionalism is it keeps everything balanced. When schools run out of money t he budgets must shrink and activities would be cut to balance out the lack of funds. The last factor is conflict theory in which there is a competition for scarce resources (Three Major Perspectives in Sociology). Sociological perspective invites us to look for the connections between the behavior of individual people and the structures of the society in which they live (Henslin 17). The sociological perspective is a particular way of approaching a phenomenon common in sociology, by applying all three factors that have been discussed. It involves maintaining independence, not by stripping oneself of values, but by critically evaluating and testing ideas, and accepting what may be surprising or even displeasing based on the evidence. (Henslin 18). The sociological perspective often assumes that â€Å"official† explanations are incomplete or self-serving. It involves a conscious effort to go beyond the obvious and question what is accepted as true or common sense. This is impo rtant because common-sense assumptions are usually based on very limited observation. Moreover, the premises on which common-sense assumptions are based are seldom examined. †¨The sociological perspective