Essay Sample on Sociological Perspective Sheds Life Position in Life and Society

Sociological Perspectives and Social Location

Social location refers to the status of life which people have due to their place within society and has vast implications for every individual. The impact which social location creates can be neutral. On many occasions, it might have both positive and negative consequences on the individuals. For instance, it is possible to discriminate an African-American based on ethnic grounds. A patient can also select a more mature doctor when he or she needs treatment. The underlying fact is that diverse social locations affect the decisions we make in our daily lives. On several occasions, it takes place subconsciously, meaning that people fail to realize that the important choices which they make depend on the social locations.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Save 25%

According to Henslin, et al (2015), social location is, therefore "the group of memberships which people have because of their location in history and society." He further defines it in context as "the corners of life that people occupy because of where they are located in the society." (Henslin,et al., 2015). It is therefore all about how people's backgrounds and elements such as class, race, gender, and religion determines an individual's social location - the cultures which we are born to teach and introduce us to different values, roles, aspirations and norms in society. Also, the position which we inherit during the time we are born, or ascribed statuses involuntary receives us later in life (Grusky (2018). In this paper, I will explore how a sociological perspective such as structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism sheds life in my position in life and society.

Structural Functionalism

Most of the philosophers equated the society with the human body or animals. They also shared the perception that all the body's different parts worked together to create something whole. They also asserted that everyone works together for the common good of all, just as the body parts for an organism. It is this view that Emile Durkheim strongly supported and argued that people share values and norms. Henslin, et al (2015), assert that the society is more than the sum of individuals who go to make up that society and things which happen within a society affects everyone, regardless of their opinions and actions. For instance, when war erupts, everyone is affected in one way or the other. The assertion that "life moves on when you are gone" is therefore directly linked to this ideology. There are some factors which affect social location in modern society. These include a person's income, the job that one does, an individual's education, race, gender, age, and ethnicity. Social functionalism directly affects these factors since the society is more than the sum of individuals who perform these duties. It is for this reason that when one dies, there is another person who will take up his or her job position and life will move on. Other people will continue earning their income. If the government fails to set up programs which benefit the society, every person will be affected in various ways such as unemployment which also affects income earning. Social functionalism, therefore, helps people to realize that what they do and social settings shape their behaviors and society.

Conflict Theory

According to Henslin, et al (2015), conflict theory states that conflicts and tensions emerge as a result of unequal distribution of status, resources, and power among the groups within a social setting. These conflicts become the engine for social change. For instance, it is possible to understand power as the material control of accumulated wealth and resources, politics and other essential institutions which make up the society. Race, sexuality, gender, religion, culture and other factors determine an individual's social status relative to others. Karl Marx is the proponent of this theory, and his primary area of focus was the causes and impacts of cases conflict which existed between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat. The bourgeoisie were the owners of the means of production and were mainly capitalists while proletariats were the poor and the working class. People seek for survival in conflict theory, and this is where social location comes in. Grusky (2018) agrees that the primary focus is on individualism, for instance, people can fight for water and food when there is a shortage. They can go as far as killing each other. Social location is also applicable in this theory because it asserts that some people are destined for poverty while others are destined for richness-the rich get richer while the poor get poorer, and that becomes their social location.

Symbolic Interactionism

In symbolic interactionism, Grusky (2018) explains that people come up with subjective explanations, interpretations, and elucidations of happenings centered on their social relations. Max Weber is the advocate of this sociological framework, and he asserted that how people interpret events affects their experiences and the manner they construct logic and meaning. He contended that ideas form the basis of the society, and that is the primary focus of symbolic interactionism which centers around the concept of rationalization. It directly affects our position in life or social location through our actions. It is not what we profess but what we practice that justifies our actions. Also, people have different perceptions of what takes place in their social locations. People attach various meanings to the same symbols.

References

Grusky, D. B. (2018). Social stratification: Class, race, and gender in sociological perspective. Routledge.Henslin, J. M., Possamai, A. M., Possamai-Inesedy, A. L., Marjoribanks, T., & Elder, K. (2015). Sociology: A down to earth approach. Pearson Higher Education AU.