Article Analysis Essay on Sociological Perspectives

Introduction

The society faces many phenomena that needs to be analyzed and that have impacts on their daily livelihoods, prompting sociologists to formulate interpretations by considering different perspectives. The pioneer sociologists in Europe had a broad conceptualization of the threshold presets of the society and how they work. It is these concepts that are the foundations of current theoretical perspectives and paradigms on which the orienting frameworks for sociologists are provided. There are three major theoretical perspectives that sociologists employ today: the symbolic interactionist, the conflict and the functionalist perspectives. This study delves into analyzing an article that that talks about a sociological issue using the perspective mentioned above. The article chosen for the study is titled air pollution linked to a much greater risk of dementia, which was published in the Guardian, and which was written by Fiona Harvey. The article was published on the 18th of September, 2018. The study also provides a summary of the article so that the contents of the article are revealed.

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Summary of the Article

According to the article, research has found that air pollution increases the chances of dementia and that all people are at an increased risk of breathing dirty air. Further, the author of the article elaborates that people aged over 50 years exposed to higher levels of nitrogen oxide in the air showed a whopping 40% (Harvey, 2018) greater risk of developing dementia than those who are exposed to lesser levels of the same gas. However, the author of the article points out that there was no evidence from the findings that air pollution has a direct correlation to dementia cases. Interestingly, the author points out that there were no other factors, apart from air pollution, that could be associated with the link between higher levels of pollution and higher levels of dementia. According to the article, air pollution has been found to cause cardiovascular and respiratory disease, and that the current research showed a linkage between air pollution and dementia, although the study could not depict the cause, yet. The article illustrates that the air pollution can cause up to 7% (Harvey, 2018) of all the dementia cases recorded in the study, implying that 60, 000 out 850,000 mentioned in the article are caused by air pollution in the United Kingdom.

According to the author, air and noise pollution across London were found to have a significant effect on the levels of dementia. 131,000 patients aged between 50 and 79 years were exposed to these conditions and their health tracked for seven years starting from 2005 (Harvey, 2018). During this period, 1.7% of these patients were diagnosed with dementia. According to the article, a professor at Manchester University, Martie Van Tongeren, affirmed that there is increasing evidence that air pollution can result to brain health diseases, including dementia and Alzheimer's. Due to many people living in the urban centers in the UK is the reason why many researchers and health activists have commenced plans to ensure that air pollution is decreased, to reduce the number of dementia cases in the region. The article also posits that researchers find that the link between poor quality of air and dementia could commence at an early stage of life. The article stipulates that research link traffic-related air pollution to poor cognitive development in young children and that continued exposure to such environment can result to neuroinflammation as well as altered innate immune system responses of the brain in early adulthood (Harvey, 2018). Also, the article articulates that campaigners want traffic to focus the efforts to clean up the air since it is damaging health right from the womb to old age. They argue that efforts to clean up cars and other automobiles should be a priority of the concerned authorities, so as to cut down the escalating levels of dementia in the UK.

Sociological Perspectives

The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective

Also referred to as symbolic interactionism, this perspective prompts the thought of the symbols and details of daily life; their meaning, as well people's interactions. Symbolic interactionism posits that people attach meanings to symbols, and live as per the interpretation of these symbols (Cliffsnotes, 2018). Verbal communications in which they are the dominant symbol in this perspective make subjective interpretation evident. Critics of this perspective assert that it ignores the "big picture" or the macro level of social interpretation, by focusing too closely to the "trees" rather than the "forest." As far as the article is concerned, the symbolic interactionism perspective may posit that it skews more to just air pollution as the cause of dementia, without considering if other forms of pollution cause dementia. Further, the article majorly focuses on the early people, without focusing on the effect of air pollution on middle-aged people.

The Functionalist Perspective

According to this perspective, also referred to as functionalism, each aspect of the society is interdependent on each other. This perspective asserts that a society is held together by a social agreement or consensus, in which the members agree universally to work in oneness and achieve best for the society as a whole (Cliffsnotes, 2018). Critics for this perspective argue that it neglects an event's negative functions such as an occurrence or divorce and that it justifies the status quo and complacency from the members of the society. This perspective does not encourage people to actively take part in changing their current tumultuous social environment, even when a change would be beneficial. Functionalism in the given article would be used to explain the fact that the government is aware that air pollution contributes significantly to dementia, but still they have not prioritized in ensuring that the pollution is minimized in towns yet.

The Conflict Perspective

This perspective emphasizes on the negative, conflicting and the dynamic nature of the society, unlike the other two perspectives. It pressurizes the status quo, inculcate the social change and holds that the wealthy and powerful coerce the weak and the poor to exhibit social order (Cliffsnotes, 2018). Generally, this perspective stipulates that unequal groups in the society have conflicts interests, causing them to compete, which makes a basis for the ever-changing society. Critics for this perspective argue that it is too negative towards society, and cite that humanitarian efforts, civil rights, altruism, and other aspects control the masses without regard to social order. According to the article provided, this perspective would hold that people should not have cars in towns so as to reduce the emission of pollutant gases into the air that causes dementia.

Conclusion

The sociological perspectives of analyzing social phenomena are very essential in issues that touch the society. They all provide useful knowledge to authors and researchers interested in writing societal matters. Every perspective provides different presets, which are significant. In the current study, the most appropriate perspective would be the functionalism, since many people realize the dangers of air pollution to the health of people but little is done to change the situation.

References

Harvey, F. (2018). Air pollution linked to much greater risk of dementia. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/sep/18/air-pollution-causes-jump-in-dementia-risk-study-suggests

Three Major Perspectives in Sociology. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/sociology/the-sociological-perspective/three-major-perspectives-in-sociology