SOC Theory Midterm

1. Are human beings motivated by interests or values? Summarize both positions discussed in Chapter 1 of Wallace & Wolf in your answer.

Depending on one's perspective, human behavior can be influenced by either interests or values. Per Functionalism, people's behavior is motivated by society's values that we are taught as we mature. Additionally, because our behavior is essentially learned at birth, it leaves very little room for individuals to create independent, autonomous decisions regarding our behavioral standard.

On the contrary, Conflict Theorists believe that interests motivate human behavior. Accordingly, they believe that as individuals fight for power and esteem within the community and within their social circles, there are interest for gratification motivates their actions. Interestingly, when conflict theorists discuss interests as being the main motivator of human behavior, they identify this behavior specifically as being able to inconspicuously promote one's own interests.

I believe that both theories are correct; however, I believe that - upon being born and into adolescence - individuals are motivated by their values. These values, which are instilled by one's parents, are the initial building blocks on which individuals make their decisions. However, as one gets older and is socialized by various mediums such as the media, school, and peers, one will begin to establish one's own interests. As these individual interests solidify and become more established, these interests will begin to dominate one's behavior. It is possible, however, for one's values to also be one's interests. In the case of people who practice various religions, a person who aspires to live and act in a manner that is conducive with their believes, will live according to their values since it is also something that is of interest to them.

2. Imagine you are invited to give a lecture on functionalism to an introductory sociology class of freshmen students. What would you tell the class? Be sure to discuss individual theorists.

Functionalism involves the interdependence of different parts of society. Within the different parts of society, each part plays a distinct role in maintaining a normal flow and keeping its state at equilibrium. If any part of society is disrupted, the rest of society will have to reorganize in an effort to bring society back to equilibrium. However, the process of reestablishing homeostatsis within society can be a difficult process, as it requires a rewiring of every other function in society. Three prominent sociologists -Emile, Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton -established significant Functionalism theories to try to better understand the interworkings of society.

Emile Durkheim is one of the most influential theorists of Functionalism. One of Durkheim's primary interests in discussing and theorizing Functionalism is the concept of integration. Integration discusses the individual's role within society as a whole. Additionally, he discusses the society's transition from a collective unit in which values provided the framework for individual activity to the impact the division of labor had as society becamse more industrialized. Initially, individuals relied on each member of their community to provide a specific service for the entire community. As a result, one's identity became synonomous with the community. However, as individuals began to do more for themselves and become more independent as technology assisted in this transition, people became more concerned with their own interests than those of the community. While the community's interests were still of importance, the interests of the individual became more and more prominent in one's every day behavior and attitude.

Durkheim was also famous for his concept of anomie. Anomie, which is french for "normlessness" , is defined as when rules or norms are absent from a society. Per Durkheim, their were two types of anomie: acute anomie, which occurred after a significant life event such as divorce or untimely crisis; and chronic anomie, which is a state of constant change. In his study on suicide, he says that individuals need structure in the form of norms and values in order to properly function in society. In events of acute anomie, these significant change can throw off a person's balance; Without this, an individual will lose their sense of homeostasis, which in turn can result in suicide.

Another important Functionalism theorist is Talcott Parsons. Parsons's action theory was his major sociological contribution. Per this theory, society consisted of four systems: the cultural system, the social system, the personality system, and the behavioral organism as a system. According to Parson's, the cultural system is made up of actions which carry symbolic meanings. These meaning can derive from religion, political affiliation, or other beliefs and values that are held by a society. These meanings and values are then internalized by those who associate with them. In a social system, however, role interaction is an important component in determining society's condition. Per Parsons, a social system consists of more than one actor - which can be a person or a collective group of persons - and their interactions among familiar backgrounds and settings where individuals share similarly structured cultural symbols.

Within the personality system, there is more focus on the individual actor and one's desires, needs, and motives and how a person's need for gratification of these things can influence one's actions. Parsons's belief that, in ther personality system, people are motivated by their own wants and desires, is consistent with the ideas of the Conflict Theory, in that individuals are driven by their personal desires as opposed to those of others and society at large. The last system discussed by Parsons is the behavioral organism, in which he seeks to analyze an individual's physiological systems to determine one's actions. Moreover, one's environment also plays an important role in defining one's actions within the larger social system.

Another important Functionalism theorist is Robert K. Merton who, instead of trying to come up with an all-encompassing theory like Parsons, did not try to theorize about society based upon one theory. Instead, he focused on a more general theory with less restrictions and was more relatable to every day society and it's situations. While his theory is inheritantly different from that of Parsons, it does relate in the fact that they both look at Functionalism as the relationship between interdependent parts. Moreover, Merton also believes that culture plays an important role in determining the shared values within a community. However, he focuses more on function than on the system like Parsons.

Merton differs from other Functionalism sociological theories in that he does not focus as much on the inherent "normal state" of society. He, instead, seeks to identify the dysfunction within society. Merton's idea of dysfunction can be divided into two important ideas: the incorporation of consequences in society can throw off the dynamic within a society and essentially weaken it, and the rules of function and dysfunction are ambiguous in that what is functional for one may be dysfunctional for another.

3. Your textbook identifies two traditions within conflict theory. Discuss each and then discuss which tradition you feel more afficinity for and why.

Two traditions in respect to Conflict Theory are discussed in Contemporary Sociological Theory. The first tradition is that individuals are driven by their need for gratification based on one's own motives, wants and desires. The second tradition states that individuals are driven by their urgency for power and assertiveness within the community. With these two traditions are two influential sociologists - Karl Marx and Max Weber - who have studied these ideas and their impact on society.

Marx believed that the core conflict in society is when individual interests collide with those of the ruling class. Marx, also a key figure in Communism, sees individual desires - albeit economic or material gain - as a factor in determining one's behaviors. Additionally, people most often often act in a way that will best support their interests; when they do not act accordingly, it is because the person does not know their own "true" interests. However, one's individual desires can be overshadowed by those of the powerful majority. The powerful majority has the power to create society's standards and, in turn, affect one's perception of one's own desires.

Weber shared a similar view as Marx in that people are primarily motivated by their self-interests. However, Weber believed that one's self-interests are usually dependent upon the values of society. He also focused on the role of the powered few and how only a few people could exercise control over the society at large. He disagreed with Marx in that economic interests were the only motivator of human behavior. He argued that several other factors - such as education, religion, or other affiliation - could impact one's actions. Weber also claimed that there were three types of authority: charismatic authority, traditional authority, and rational-legal authority.

In charismatic authority, Weber states that people look up to a leader not because of his title, but because of the qualities the person carries. In this type, people are more likely to have an affinity to this person after careful observation and interaction with this person. These leaders are usually easily relateable and lures in society with the personality as opposed to because of their status.

Traditional authority, on the other had, deals with leaders who hold these roles because of family or other historical ties that inevitably carry this person into their current role. While this type is also personal like in charismatic authority, society views a traditional figure as a leader because they have to, not based on personal traits that have been directly displayed to the public in order to sway their opinion. They are mainly leaders by association.

Lastly, Rational-Legal authority establishes power based on rules that have already been set. This type of authority is not personal like Traditional and Charismatic authority. It is mostly derived from a set of rules that have already been established for which those in power are to direct those in society to obey.

I have an affinity to Marx's theory that individuals tend to act in a way that is consistent with one's economic standards. Today, society is driven by the accumulation of material items to establish one's worth. Additionally, there is less emphasis on the community as a mainstay for values within the individual; the individual looks at society to see what it can do for himself as opposed to what he can do for society. With the increase in technological advances that are based more on vanity than function, individuals in society are allowing their need for economic gratification to establish oneself in the community as a person of power. The more you have, the more powerful you are in the community.

4. Is society evolving? Why or why not?
Society is continuing to evolve as a result of technological advances that have caused our society to become less dependent on society and more self-reliant. In the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, society underwent more severe changes as the technological advances changed the economy and the way goods were produced. Additionally, the onset of industrialization shifted society from a society that relied on farms and others in society to produce goods, to a society in which factories created the goods faster, cheaper, and more effectively. One could say that, with the introduction of factories, railroads, and motor vehicles, individual interests went from those in which each individual seeked to fulfill their role as a part of society to roles in which one's chief motivation was to satisfy one's own desires.

Today, however, society's evolution has become more stagnant. Instead, the role of the individual has been expanded and society has lost a majority of it's influence on individual behaviors and values. With the introduction of internet, cell phones, and other devices meant to make communication less personal, there is less need to talk to people and it has become increasingly easier to obtain products and services with limited contact with the rest of society. While technological advances have improved society's conditions throughout civilization, today's technology is based more on vanity than on function. Additionally, technology has created a society where one's worth can be measured by one's possession of intensive technological material items and less on one's effect on society based on what he or she can contribute to the rest of society. As we shift from a community-to-self-driven society, our evolution is slowing down.