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Sociology: Social Conflict Theory
The model of social conflict shows that the society has many forms of inequality which bring about social change and conflict. This kind of study centers on the types of inequality found in the society, along with the subsequent conflict between the fortunate and less fortunate.
Thus, this paper will look at the theory of Social Conflict and its past and present role in the society.
The introduction entails the terminologies used along with their definitions. The terms include sociological theories, and the word theory itself. There is also an explanation of their roles in various areas, mostly centering on Sociology. Additionally, this paper contains the main theories relating to the area of Sociology.
The following part looks into the theory of Social Conflict, including its contents, assumptions or perspectives as well as the developers and advocates of the theory.
The final part of this paper focuses on the theory of social conflict. It helps us understand how the theory is applied by giving an explanation of its role in society.
The theory of Social Conflict has a lot of significance when studying Sociology as it gives a clear explanation of how conflicts begin, and the reason for conflict in societies.
Social Conflict Theory
Introduction
The term 'theory' is used to define an explanation of why and how the universe operates, or the way processes work. Theories about sociology try to give an explanation of the causing factors for certain behavior among groups, as well as the way societies change or operate in a particular manner. Social sciences such as sociology, economics and psychology have theoretical perspectives which they adhere to and use as their framework to help explain certain phenomena like the way groups are formed. Theories offer a lot of help in organizing an area of study; without them there would only be many kinds of people, individual kinds of behavior, or the many kinds of choices made by different individuals. Theories therefore help create overall themes through several specific kinds of decisions and behavior in societies (Goodfriend, 2003-2016).
Mooney, Knox and Schacht (2009) state that theories relating to sociology give us a variety of perspectives from which we look at our societies. The term 'perspective'...
Theories of sociology are meant to predict and explain social setting we live in. Sociology entails three main theoretical perspectives. They include the conflict, symbolic interactionist and functionalist perspectives. At times, the symbolic interactionist perspective is also referred to as micro view or interactionist perspective. Every view gives different explanations on human behavior and the society.
Social Conflict Theory/Perspective
According to Krawford (2009), Karl Marx, a sociologist from the 1700s, was among the initial developers of the conflict perspective, which looked at the way the society functions. The next century, after capitalism was introduced, Ralph Dahrendorf further developed this theory. This view looks mostly into the deep structures of Karl Marx regarding the invisible powers of capitalism.
According to Mooney, Knox and Schacht (2009), Karl Marx also stated that every society has its own growth stages in its economy. While they keep growing into industrial societies from agricultural societies, they are focused on making profits, rather than their previous focus on survival; this is the capitalism hallmark. Industrialization brings about two distinct classes in the society: the proletariat, also known as workers or wage earners, and the bourgeoisie, who own the production sources like farms, businesses or farms. This distinction between the poor and the rich only benefits the proletariat class. The other class which probably only earns subsistence wages, have no access to the numerous resources that the rich have. Karl Marx stated that the bourgeoisie have so much power that they exploit the society's institutions for their gain. For instance, he said that religion is a drug of the people, as it cools down the suffering and misery that comes with working, by diverting the working-class people's attention from their lives and worldly issues to God, the afterlife and spirituality. Religion essentially turns away the worker's attention to help them think of the rewards they will gain in heaven because they were morally upright, instead of how they are exploited here on earth.
Contemporarily, the theory of conflict is meant to argue against the functionalist view, which portrays society as a setting in which everyone works individually or in groups to…
REFERENCES
Goodfriend, W. (2003-2016). Sociology's Four Theoretical Perspectives: Structural-Functional, Social Conflict, Feminism & Symbolic Interactionism. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from Study.com: http://study.com
Krawford, K. (2009). Power in Society - Marx Conflict Perspective & Elite Theory. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from Academia.edu: https://www.academia.edu
Mooney, L. A., Knox, D., & Schacht, C. (2009). Understanding Social Problems. New York: Wadsworth Publishing.
New World Encyclopedia. (2013, June 13). Conflict theory. Retrieved July 20, 2016, from New World Encyclopedia: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org
Oberschall, A. (2009). Conflict Theory. Handbook of Politics, Vol 1, 177-193. Retrieved from Springer link: http://link.springer.com
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