question archive  Classical sociological theory arose in the nineteenth century , in the aftermath of the American and French Revolutions and during the Industrial Revolution

 Classical sociological theory arose in the nineteenth century , in the aftermath of the American and French Revolutions and during the Industrial Revolution

Subject:SociologyPrice:9.82 Bought3

 Classical sociological theory arose in the nineteenth century , in the aftermath of the American and French Revolutions and during the Industrial Revolution . Summarize how the theories of Karl Marx , Emile Durkheim , and Max Weber all reflect a concern for the consequences of modern life Classical sociological theories that arose in the nineteenth century are of great depth and scope and were created by the most brilliant minds of the era . These classical sociological theories were a result of social forces that were rapidly changing such as the American and French Revolutions and during the Industrial Revolution . As new social problems emerged that were never seen before , great scholars such as Marx , Durkheim , and Weber were led to come up with their own explanations and solutions . The theories developed by these aforementioned scholars are still of great importance to the society today because their theories all reflect a concern for the consequences of modern life . First off , the functionalist perspective is based on the works of many different scholars including Durkheim . This theory basically means that all different consisting parts of the society are interconnected and they work hand in hand in order to create a balance of the society as a whole . For instance , let's assume that one of the main socializing factors , family is dysfunctional in a modern society. A family is traditionally responsible for nurture and care, but if a child was raised in a dysfunctional family that was unable e to provide sufficient care and nurture , that child is bound to be lacking in the area of being sympathetic for others . Like so, every little part of a person's life contributes to the bigger persona of that person Secondly , in a stark contrast with the functionalist perspective , the conflict perspective basically operates on the grounds that everyone is different and that people are always vying for resources . The conflict perspective is largely based on the works of Karl Marx , who is also known for his ideas regarding socialism . To further explain the conflict perspective in relation to the modern society, the saying that the America's 1% owns the 99% of the wealth would be suffice . While the working class also wants to be richer , the employers (the rich ) would not let that be by paying the workers much because the employers need to exploit the working class and become even richer . There was always been a competition for power and resources and there always will be . So will be constant conflicts s between people Thirdly , the symbolic interactionist perspective concerns itself with how daily social interactions with others shape sociological behavior of a person . A notable example might be the "looking glass self " example . . If a person is constantly picked on because of his or her looks although he or she might be perceived as " attractive " in different groups , s , because that person was labeled as "ugly " in his or her ingroup , that person will ultimately come to believe that he or she is unattractive . This looking glass self example is particularly true and relevant in modern society where things like name calling and cyberbullying have become big social problems These three classical sociological theories developed by Durkheim , Marx , Weber all are relevant to the current social problems although they were developed more than a century earlier . This great relevance is in part due to the fact that these theories are all derived from the essential human nature , which does not change . Furthermore , there is no doubt that these theories will become even more relevant in the future as well .

pur-new-sol

Purchase A New Answer

Custom new solution created by our subject matter experts

GET A QUOTE

Answer Preview

The classical sociological theories emerged after social forces were rapidly changing in the American, French and industrial revolutions. As the social problems arose due to these revolutions theories were developed to explain the problem and give solutions. The classical sociological theories were approached according to the following perspectives: The functionalist perspective, according to Durkheim, views society as different parts that interconnect and work together in order to create a balance of the society. Basic unit of a society is the family. Unity in a family is highly emphasized to nurture a healthy and lively child.

Step-by-step explanation

The classical sociological theories emerged after social forces were rapidly changing in the American, French and industrial revolutions. As the social problems arose due to these revolutions theories were developed to explain the problem and give solutions. The classical sociological theories were approached according to the following perspectives: The functionalist perspective, according to Durkheim, views society as different parts that interconnect and work together in order to create a balance of the society. Basic unit of a society is the family. Unity in a family is highly emphasized to nurture a healthy and lively child. But the modern family has been faced by challenges like being dysfunctional. This leads to the child in the family lacking sufficient nurture and care and often denies him secure attachment with the mother which is a vital aspect to enhance cognitive and learning skills during early childhood. When this child grows up he lacks basic emotional balances like empathy towards other people and might also develop a vice of jealousy attitude and has a hard time maintaining social relationships. This shows that if a society works together it results to many advantages but if it's disorderly there only results chaos and crime.
The conflict perspective, according to Karl Marx( known for his ideas of socialism), states that people are in constant competition vying for  resources to better their lives. This competition for power and resources lead to exploitation of minority class, workers, by the dominant class, owners of production to become richer. This is by underpaying them in relation to the hard economic conditions in order to make higher profits.
The symbolic interactionist perspective on the hand, developed by weber, describes how social relationships of individual in a community shape up their behaviors and values within the community. In this perspective people develop an identity of themselves based on how their social relationships label them and thus use their opinions to mirror themselves through. This shows that society is able to unite its residents but chooses not to by labeling these individuals and thus leads to loss of self-esteem. Deviant labelling eventually leads to social disorder as these individuals tend to act as they have been labeled.
These theories explain how social problems are created and the society has the means to solve them but yet chooses not to. It is in human nature thus to create social disorder so that one party benefits while the other suffers.

Related Questions