After learning about the three Sociological Perspectives in chapter one of your text, which one do you feel BEST explains American Culture in the 21st Century? Explain with details...
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28 comments:
I feel that we live each day differently, some people live like its our last day & some people dont.In the movie the curious case of benjamin button he was explaining how the chain of events tht happened during that day changed someones life - which is basically sayin we all kinda have a way of changing the future, to me the funtionalist perspective describes our world more so than the others. I feel there just backround chain of events that occur in between. !
I tend to agree with bklass. All of the perspectives happen daily. Whether it be blatantly obvious or not. The functionalist perspective seems to be the most prevalent of the three types. It may not seem like it while one is going through the day. But when one looks back on it and the events leading up to where they are now,one realizes that perfectly timed and executed events lead them to the present. For example, we see that in D Day there were those perfectly executed events that led to the allies successful capture. The sky was foggy and ominous, the Germans had not prepared for an invasion at Normandy,Hitler the night before had a long rally that ran late so Hitler's advisers elected not to wake him up until the beach was taken. Although not all the events we lead are as dramatic as this, events such as these are crucial for our day and sometimes our futures.
I think the functionalist perspective best describes American culture today. We're all where we are for a reason; the events that happened to you today are shaping your life. If you crossed the street earlier and didn't get hit by a car, or if you drove and no one around you ran a red light, you got spared, a good example of the manifest part of the functionalist perspective. Someone somewhere else, however, wasn't so lucky. These are two examples of how the functionalist perspective touched two lives, whether the first person realized it or not.
An example I could give is from the movie - and actual event - World Trade Center. For some people, they stood by and watched; they looked out the windows of their office, physically unaffected by the day's events. For others, the ones who escaped, still didn't expect that to happen either. They went to work, had two planes crash through their workplace, and managed to get out, most of them physically and mentally altered. This was a latent, unrecognized function. Then the dysfunctional portion of it: a lot of people died, and everyone's reminded of it when we go to New York City and see where the twin towers used to stand. I say that the functionalist perspective best describes American culture because any events can change our lives any day, whether we see it coming or not.
I believe that the best theory that describes our life in the 21st century is the conflict perspective. I believe that we come into contact with the conflict perspective every day in our life multiple times a day. Change is always being brought about by disagreements. When people disagree about something the only way to know the alternate views about something is to have people express their views. In school a good example of conflict perspective is the debate about if we should have to wear ids or not. The students express their opinions on the situation because they hope that a change will happen because they expressed their opinions in the hope someone will listen to their opinions.
I also agree with Colleen. I personally feel that everything in your life is happening the way it is because of the decisions of others. When i first learned about the Functionalist perspective and saw the little movie clip that Mr. B showed us, I couldn't help but think,"wow that's so true." It only takes one person to change their coarse, and before you know it, yours changes too. Examples of this are happening everywhere around us. One person waking up late for work could set off a chain reactin of a bunch of other different fortures or misfortunes. Having that one person at Dunkin Donuts get your order wrong, could buy you time of avoiding a serious dilema because you're a few minutes behinde. For some people the outcome of the functionalist perspective may been good, and for others it may be bad. I find myself saying everyday, if only. If I have to do a project on a Sunday because I waited until the last minute, and couldn't hang out with my friends, I say, if only i did this sooner. Me having to do my project completely changes the path my friends are on. Its remarkable and scary how much our lives depend on the others around us. One little change, desicion, or minute for that matter could disrupt our initial expectance for the day.
I believe that the Conflict Perspective can best describe American Culture in the 21st century. If someone is looking for a good book, television show, or movie, they are looking for a type of interesting conflict that will draw them in. Conflict effects everyone every day, whether we realize it or not. For example the conflict of who gets team captain on a high school sports team. There is competition for the label of the captain and recognition. The two people may compete to show the team and coach their team spirit and positive attitude, in order to look better than the other person who wants to be named captain also. Here, there is conflict in competition. Also there are the physical conflicts in American society. Everyday women, men, or children are beaten by a significant other, whether it may be by another parent, or boyfriend/girlfriend. Abuse is a major conflict in American society and always equals change. The conflict could be change in feelings for the other person, or change in the lives of the people that are effected. When there is a conflict between two people and it is resolved, there is a change somewhere in the decision.
I believe that the conflict perspective is best shown in the American society of today. Karl Marx would have viewed our society as a large competition to be the best and rise above everyone else. Change can happen each day whether or not we can acknowledge that it happens. One idea of competition is that we have to all strive to be at the top of society with high standards. The competition of the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox is an everyday thing and it will never change because the American League and even across the country. And if Karl Marx were to observe the society of today it would be very difficult to choose one topic/section because there are so many different ones.
I think all the perspectives explain American Culture in the 21st Century, however the functionalist perspective is the perspective that occurs the most and is easiest to relate to for the majority of the population. In the functionalist perspective things occur everyday that fit into the latent function category, the dysfunctional function category, and the manifest function category. Although not all of them happen each and everyday, the majority of us experience each one, or most of them, at some point in our lives. Every event that occurs in our lives can fit into one of these categories and they influence our behavior, based on what happens to us. For example if a student died of an illness all of a sudden, it would affect the people who knew him or her. This is a dysfunctional function and the behavior of those who knew him or her would change since they would feel loss for the person who died. Events that fit into the manifest function category happen all the time and usually we don't acknowledge them. Happenings that are part of the latent function category happen seldom, and when they happened they can be resolved and are not a huge issue. Life in the 21st century is basically all of these categories of functions which are part of the functionalist perspective. They all work together and influence our lives.
on a daily basis we live as though we have everything planed out but the functionalist perspective always manages to find its way in, interacting with the people around us there’s bound to be problems falling under the conflict perspective and the interactionist perspective. American culture in the 21st century, we live having to manage with all the perspectives.
I agree with Collen when she says the Functionalist perspective best describes culture today. I believe this because any decision that we week starting right from the moment we wake up and get out of out beds effects our lives, and others. For example, forgetting your coat in your house could lead you to miss your bus or taxi, but this could also save you from getting hurt in a car accident or from any other disasters that fate could’ve brought upon you. Our lives are shaped today so that our decisions shape who we are and what is going to become of us. For example, in Forrest Gump, Forrest was mistakenly chosen to give a speech about the war in front of hundreds of people, but the latent function of that is that he met up with Jenny again. Another on how decisions shape our lives was when Forrest was the only boat out at sea during a hurricane. Forrest didn’t know that there was going to be a storm out at sea but because of that he had the only shrimping boat that survived the storm, and in turn made a great fortune.
I believe that the conflict perspective best describes American society in the 21st century. In society people are driven by competition to succeed, people tend to give one hundred percent of their ability when competing with another person. It drives them to work harder and to the best of there ability. For example if you’re in class and two groups are competing for extra credit the students will all work extremely hard to get what they desire. On the other hand though if the situation lacked some type of competition then the students would be less driven to try. You can also find examples of the conflict perspective in the work place two people competing for a promotion will work harder then one person who is competing against no one for a promotion.
I think that the conflict perspective best explains our lives in the 21st century. Everyday our society and our world faces power struggles regarding leadership and government, especially between countries and their beliefs. There is also conflict when competition comes into play. A common example of this is the sports at NHS. If there is a limited number of spots on a team, students will compete against each other to gain the coveted spot. This produces conflict in the environment of the school and it also supports the idea of "survival of the fittest". Conflict also exists in our lives through our relationships in family, friends and anyone we may encounter. The desire for power and wealth will aways be present throughout our lives and will continue to produce social change.
I agree with JP that all of the perspectives happen on a daily basis even if it is gone unnoticed. But, I do feel that the perspective best suited for America would be the Functionalist Perspective because everything happens for a reason. Things always happen as they are suppose to if that was your plan or not
I believe that the Conflict Perspective applies best to 21st century American society. Generally, our society is based upon competition over jobs, relationships, status and many other aspects. Today, people compete with countless others for limited job opportunitites, and then still compete after getting the job to keep it or to move forward. And when there's competition over anything, conflict usually results, sometimes bringing about a change, or sometimes not. But in this society, we all want to succeed in all that we do whether it's academics, athletics, employment, who has the best things, and how can I beat that, and in so many other aspects of daily life we want to be the best in. And this promotes comflict with each other and changes us individually, as a society or maybe not at all. But generally in today's society, we're very competetive because its is very fast paced and we try to keep up with it, and that promotes our competition, which promotes the conflicts that results in changes.
I agree with Gmilardo15. The Functionalist Perspective best explains American Culture in the 21st Century. The definition is the view of society as a set of interrelated parts that work together to produce a stable social system. People do things that affect others. A person's decision could affect several people's day. If someone is running late and grabs someone elses cab(latent function), that person who usually gets the cab could have a bad outcome(dysfunctional). However, if everything is on time, then there is no bad consequence and the same outcome as usual(manifest function). Everything happens as a direct effect of what others do or dont do which is going on every second of every day.
Living in a capitalist community, and arguably a capitalistic world, I feel the conflict perspective best fits with American society in the 21rst century. All life is full of change, competition and evolution, and none of those things would be possible without conflict. From the smallest things to the most serious problems in society, everything involves conflict and social change. America is a capitalist nation. The core of capitalism is competition. Everybody competes to be the best in society in order to advance themselves, or bring about social change. Any business or workplace in America can serve as a perfect example. The employees in the business all want promotions. Obviously, this causes competition and conflict. The employees compete with one another to be the best, and in the end one person will win. This person then successfully advances themselves, the social change. Afterward, this person can use their increased money from the promotion and buy more things, more beneficial social change for society, and the cycle keeps going. Everything starts from competition or conflict, which is why the conflict perspective best applies to American society in the 21rst century. - Taylor Lauren Dempsey
I agree with afontana that the conflict perspective is the most used perspective today. I also believe that change is always being brought by different perspectives. A good example of this is war. When a war is fought it is cosidered a coflict that is trying to bring change to the two sides that are in battle.
I believe that the Interactionist perspective best describes American culture in the 21st century for a few reasons. Whenever you are around someone they are effecting you whether you realize it or not. What they say, what they do, how they say it, and even how they do those things. Words, songs, stories, they are all symbols along with most anything we see every day. So how would we all act if we were not subject to any of those things? Why do we have symbols in the first place? Do we really believe that they work? I have a necklace that supposedly protects me from evil, I have yet to see any real proof that it works but I still wear it every day. Symbols and the people involved with them alter our lives constantly and that is why the interactionist perspective best describes American culture in the 21st century.
I feel that Interactionist Perspective best describes life in the 21st century. Throughout our lives we have countless decisions to make and it’s how we interact to the situations we are faced with that determines the path we travel on. If an individual is in a situation where he/she can be peer pressured into using drugs or keeping clean. If they choose drugs they may be setting their life up for difficulty and troubles. Whereas if they decide to keep clean they can continue to succeed in life and get much further ahead if they had taken the drugs. Almost everything you do will be an interaction to one thing or another and even if its something as small as a comment you made or a small gesture to something to a larger magnitude such as acts of violence you will be directly affected by the outcome and can alter your life one way or another. In the 21st century more than ever, humans are interacting with each other allowing for millions upon millions of interactions to take place every day and each one has multiple outcomes that can affect society. This is why I believe the Interactionist Perspective best describes 21st century American Culture.
Although all of the perspectives happen all the time I definitely believe that the functionalist perspective is the most common, this is because everyone does it and many people don't even realize it. Think about it. Almost everyone had a routine that they do every single day. And every time that they successfully achieve this routine it is a manifest function. This tends to occur a lot. I wake up every morning at 5:30, i shower, get ready, walk to my bus and get picked up at 7:04, i get to school at 7:22. That's my normal routine, my manifest function. But lets just say that one morning my alarm didn't go off and i didn't wake up until 6:15. I'd get up shower, and probably miss my bus. Then id have to try and find a ride and probably be late to school. This happens to tons of people all the time! that would be a latent function. Lastly, say i woke up and got already and on the way to my bus stop i got hit by a car...
i wouldn't make it to school and that's a dysfunctional function. I think the functionalist perspective seems to be the perspective that is most relevant to people in this day and age.
I agree with Jp Avenoso that all of the perspectives happen each and everyday. But, in my opinion i think the functionalist perspective best describes our American culture today. This perspective occurs more than people realize. For example: most kids go to school everyday and when they're on time, that's manifest function. But, if someone forgets a school book at home and has to drive back home, causing them to be late that would be latent function. In addition, if someone was driving to school and got into a horrible car accident and died, that would be dysfunctional. As you can see all these type of things happen daily without us even knowing it. Whether we're on time with our daily routines, or whether something interrupts them temporarily or for good, it all ties into functionalist perspective. This perspective is constantly effecting us and is involved with what we do. It can be good or bad, regardless it can make an impact. I feel it has to do with almost anything we do, in addition to, the outcome.
I believe that in the United States, the conflict perspective best describes our society. I think the power of our government best illustrates this. Without conflicts within society, many of the laws we have today would not exist. For example, civil rights movements in the 1960s were initially conflicts. From these conflicts came really important advances in our society. Today we are struggling with similar conflicts dealing with equality and gay rights. Using the conflict perspective of sociology, we can predict that this conflict and others that arise in the future will cause social change for tue betterment of our American culture.
I feel like the best perspective that describes our lives in the 21st century is the functionalist perpective because our actions one day can affect what happens the next day of our lives.
I believe that the conflict perspective best describes American culture today. I agree with KarleyE that people turn to conflicts for their entertainment. The most watched television programs, the Super Bowl, the Oscars and American Idol are all competitions. We enjoy seeing winners and losers. It pushes people to work harder. America is currently in a war and midterm elections are coming up. These are both conflicts that will impact our society and culture for years to come. Even smaller conflicts like who gets picked first in Gym or who has the highest grade in the class impact society because with every resolution to a conflict a social change is made.
I believe the functionalist perspective best describes 21st century American culture. I dont believe that todays society can really be described in just one perspective. I believe the functionalist perspective best explains our society because even though its just one perspective, it consists of three parts that form it into one, the latent and manifest functions and dysfunction. The manifest function describes our society in the "typical" way people like to view the ordinary American life-course. Finishing high school, finishing college or trade school, living and working in the carrer that was persued and eventually retiring, at least well off. Although its the "typical" life people strive for, life isn't always so gracious. The latent function describes what can happen when life takes a different course. Something that could be a latent function in an average American's life might be getting addicted to drugs, not having enough money to complete college, dropping out of college because of low grades, or alcoholism, just to name a few. These type of situations have and can happen to Americans in the 21st century. Although those perticular situations, a person can pull themselves up from that life-style or situation, and straighten out their lives. Many Americans now are going back to college anywhere from 30-60 years of age, maybe even older and completing their degrees. Even though they've had a hold on their education/carrer they can eventually complete it, with the correct strive, of course. A dysfunction of American society could be having a child at a young age for example, 21 years or younger, becoming homeless, getting put into prison, or even dying. Situations like these usually dont give people the initiative to continue school. Dying is a definite dysfunction of not being able to sucessfully finish your life. Although the other examples arn't necessarily set in stone for people to finish their life the "typical" American way, it's a greater chance they wont. So giving these examples, I highly believe the functionalist perspective best describes our American culture in the 21st century.
In American culture, I believe that Conflict Perspective best fits the description of American life in the 21st century. Our economy is one of the most competitive in the world and usually it is because we are all competing for one spot, a chance at a job. This fierce competition drives the majority to work harder to achieve their goals, basically survival of the fittest. If your weak you'll be left in the dust while everyone else moves ahead. Another example of this would be war, like the war on terror. Terrorists attacked us so in return we went to war on the terrorists in the hope to stop their reign of terror.
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