Sociology

HW1. Theories

Television is a wide source of media used everyday by millions of people around the

world. It helps people in acquiring information and news of other things around them . It

helps enhance the knowledge of the people and keep them updated, it is a way of

connecting people and largely keeping them aware of things which are hard to notice due

to the everyday hectic routines. TV industry has grown largely in the last ten years and it

has been largely due to the technological advancements and the ability to reach all sorts

of audiences around the world. The TV industry largely dominates our lives today and

everything that is changing around is largely effected by it. It has the power to topple

governments and change the way people think and do things. It is stronger than the kings

in the medieval times and the strength never seems to diminish.

Television has its impacts and that is what we are going to discuss in the paper based on

the three sociological theories known as structural functionalism, conflict theory and

symbolic Interactionism. All three theories discuss the positive and negative impacts of

television and the way it effects the lives of the people. The first two theories stress on

the macro factors or the wide aspects of TV involving the whole society and the third

theory is going to discuss the micro factors or the aspects involving an individual and his

involvement with others. Sociology is a study of human social behavior and it largely

stresses on the social factors involved in the bonding and functionality of the entire

society. So all three theories are concerned with involvement of the society and the way it
is effected by various direct and indirect factors involving TV.

Structural Functionalism sees the whole society as a complex system that is composed

of different parts. It works on the relations between the parts and the entire system is

composed of all the sum of parts. The Norm of the system is that everyone agrees with it

and the highest goal of the system is to promote high solidarity and stability which

would benefit all the individuals. It is composed of three functions which are a effect of

any action and they include the Manifest function, Latent Function, and lastly

Dysfunction. The Manifest function is the intended and recognized social consequences

of a social pattern, Latent function is the unintended and unrecognized effect of an action

but it still benefit’s the society, lastly the Dysfunction is the undesirable social

consequences of our actions and it largely disrupts the functioning of the social society.

Functionalism is a macro approach and its view point is that everyone benefits from the

social pool of wealth generated through the functioning of the system.

In the example of Television, it has large number of manifest functions or intended

functions. TV provides source of information in the form of news and things happening

around us, secondly it is a form of entertainment which helps people relax and enjoy their

time with family which strengths bonding, and thirdly it helps enhance ones knowledge

which is like educating people and at the same time providing them with the knowledge

required to survive in the real world . The latent functions are unintended but TV has a

wide number of unintended functions like baby sitting for kids which are attracted to

cartoons and would not do anything while watching them, secondly as the people watch
TV, there appetite increases and they tend to rely on junk food like chips and popcorn

which are easier to make and this in turn leads to growth of junk food industry and jobs

related to it. Another latent function of TV is that many times people tend to copy the

actors while talking or doing things subconsciously, which leads to popularity as

celebrities, sports players, etc are considered to be role models and icons. Everything has

its negative impacts too and TV has a wide number of them which fall in its

dysfunctions. TV tends to make people lazy, which leads to weight gain and other health

issues. Secondly TV effects our opinions and we tend to make our judgments on what we

are fed in with it. So all the propaganda leads people to make biased opinion and

decisions. Thirdly as TV effects the way we dress, talk, and do things, so the people who

do not watch TV tend to become obsolete and outdated. Fourthly watching too much of

TV leads to a weaker eyesight and it leads to various eyesight issues in the future.

Fourthly the baby sitting element of TV is considered to be dysfunction as well because

too much of TV especially weakens the eyesight of younger children and secondly the

children are not able to spend enough quality time with parents and discuss their

problems, which leads to personality problems like isolation from others including

family, staying quiet, being frustrated because of not discussing problems with others,

etc.

Conflict theory is an opposition to the structural functionalism theory and largely

disregards it. This theory sees the society as an Arena that displays inequality that

generates conflict and changes. It challenges the functionalism on the basis of the system

which is composed of different parts and questions who defines the system or Norms for
it. Its major objection is that people who define the norms for functionalism only benefit

through it and the other groups are left to suffer and follow it. Its key word is the

inequality within the norms and system of functionalism which exploit’s the common

man of his rights. So the conflict theory largely relies on conflict, which is considered as

an ill for the society in functionalism and the conflict theory says that conflict is positive

for social change and to bring an end to the status quo. Conflict theory sees the

minorities and poor as the victims of functionalism and the inequality arising from it.

According to conflict theory TV exploit’s the stereotypes and the minority groups. People

form there basis of judgment on what they see on TV and as a lot of times, there is a lot

of propaganda, a biased opinion is formed which leads to inequality. For example the

people from middle eastern countries are considered to be terrorist because of media and

this judgment has been a result of TV, which is totally wrong as only less than 1 percent

of people are involved in activities of terrorism. So as a result the rest of 99 percent has to

suffer and be a part of racism based on the wrong TV information. Secondly there is a

large inequality as the rich are able to get access to more channels and better technology,

they are more informed and know everything before others. So it leads to inequality and

separation of classes because the type of TV and service one has determines his status or

wealth. Thirdly the ones who do not watch TV become obsolete and old, so they are

considered as outdated and have a difficulty socializing with people more involved into

TV. So TV is a part of Age separation which is also know as Ageism. Fourthly the actors

on TV are idealized and everyone tries to imitate them through keeping oneself in shape

and stylish. So the sex appeal is formed on the basis of TV actors and the ones who are
not able to keep an image closer to the TV actors become less attractive. So Sexism is

also an effect of TV.

Symbolic interactionsim is the third theory which does not involve the macro aspects

like the previous two theories. It largely relies on micro factors or an individuals

involvement with other people around him and the type of relationships formed. It sees

the society as a product of the daily interactions among individuals. It tends to ignore big

factors like class and focuses on relationships based on interaction and an individuals

abilities. The key word for this theory is Relationships. TV plays a large role in forming

and separating relationships. TV shows, ads, news, movies, etc lead people to have

conservations on them and this leads to similar interests which are essential to make

friends. Secondly it could reinforce prejudice like in the case of middle eastern people

symbolized as terrorist due to the media and it could be positive too, because in order to

combat it middle eastern people would form strong bonds within themselves and form

strong relationships. Thirdly TV also categorizes and labels people based on there

dressing and talking ways. So it jells the groups which dress alike and forms stronger

bonds. Fourthly a lot of middle eastern people got rid of there turbans after 9/11 in order

to avoid confrontations and jell with the society. So it lead to a stronger self confidence

for themselves and acceptance by other people around them.

All three theories work to form the sociological perspective and each theory has its own

importance. TV is part of every persons life today and no one can deny that phenomena.

Everything has its pros and cons, but when you weigh the pros of TV to its cons, the

balance is more towards the positive side. TV has not only revolutionized life today, but

made it possible for everyone to be aware of things happening thousands of miles away.