Some never will be, due to the damage and loss sustained after the hurricane and floods. The society is New Orleans is still suffering because they have lost the order that was there, and are struggling to rebuild it, often without the support of any outside sources. It has taken too long to try to get New Orleans back to normal, and there are questions that wonder if it will ever be remotely close to the place it was before the hurricane. In the functionalist approach, parts of society are interrelated. That certainly illustrates New Orleans after the hurricane, because the society has struggled so hard to come back together. Restaurants have reopened, Mardi Gras has continued, the French Quarter tries to lure visitors, and the businesses are coming back, some more slowly than others. Many people are determined to rebuild the city and make it better than it was before, but society is divided, and with these divisions, come problems. The functionalist approach assumes all aspects of the society are there and working together, but this is not the case with New Orleans, and so, it is dysfunctional, rather than functional, suffering more from conflict than functionality.

The interactionist perspective is perhaps the most applicable to New Orleans, because it seems to sum up the results of the hurricane so well. This approach believes it is the members of society that act and create change, and all other elements of society are caused by the people. Society is always being altered and changed throughout negotiation and communication. This is certainly true of...

Much of the help that has come to the people of the city has come after intense media coverage and negative communication from those involved in the aftermath, such as the angry residents stuck in the Superdome for days with no food, water, or facilities. These people were vocal in their actions and displeasure, and it brought attention to the overall conditions in the city after the hurricane. Many people have also stepped up and tried to do something about the lack of rebuilding and continued support for the area since the hurricane. Many of these people were simply citizens who were fed up and had enough of government inactivity. In New Orleans, especially now, there is nothing so constant as change, and there is still anger, communication, and negotiation going on every day. The conflict perspective applies here, and so does the functionalist theory, because each of these theories has merit, but the interactionist perspective is the most applicable, because the people have felt powerless in many areas of their lives since the hurricane, and they have had to take matters into their own hands in many cases.
Will society ever be the same in New Orleans? The hopeful say yes, and point to the many positives that have occurred after the hurricane, such as rebuilding, some new business, and other businesses returning to open again. However, there is still much to be done in the city, and it seems to be taking forever to accomplish many seemingly simple objectives. The city may never be the same, and it may always suffer from societal dysfunction as a result.