Sociological Perspectives Writing Assignment

The Functionalist Perspective was discovered by Herbert Spencer, Emile

Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton. This perspective teaches that
society is a whole, and everyone/everything works together to balance everything
out and maintain a social equilibrium. Most studies in this perspective are based
off how certain things effect other things. An example of this would be the price of
minimum wage going up, and the cost of living going up as well. Everything
works together, so in this sense many may think the price of minimum wage going
up will be beneficial, they dont foresee that it will make costs of other things go
up as well.
The Conflict perspective on the other hand is the exact opposite of The
Functionalist. This perspective claims that society is separate and constantly
competing for power and resources. This study was based off Karl Marx whom
brought up the different stages a society goes through economically. For example,
a business owner opens a new restaurant and begins to become wealthy due to the
success of the restaurant, in the light of the success the business owner decides to
open more chains around the country and hires less workers while still paying them
minimum wage. This might create a frustration in the workers eyes, but for the
business owner he sees nothing except himself making more money and getting the
job done with less staff.
Finally, The Interactionist Perspective is based off the more physiological aspects
of things. It derives from the way humans interact with one another and how it
shapes society. This was based off the work of philosophers such as George
Simmel, Charles Cooley, George Herbert Mead, and Erving Goffman. An example
of this that occurs in modern day would be social media. The way people interact
through social media impacts society immensely due to the way people are. Things
said on social media can make or break certain peoples outlook on life and shape
the person they are. People change whom they are due to certain interactions that
happen because they care so much about their own personal image.