Sociologists today employ three primary theoretical perspectives: the symbolic interactionist perspective, the functionalist perspective, and the conflict perspective. These perspectives offer sociologists theoretical paradigms for explaining how society influences people, and vice versa.
1:-The functionalist perspective is based largely on the works of Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton. According to functionalism, society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole.
For eg:
The functionalist perspective's idea is quite simple. It is that, as the human body system works, the institutions in the society works interdependently for the proper functioning of the whole; the whole being the entire society.
2:-Conflict Perspective,Unlike the structural functional theory, which views society as a peaceful unit, conflict theory interprets society as a struggle for power between groups engaging in conflict for limited resources. Karl Marx is the founder of conflict theory.
For eg:
If we take take the case of a factory worker and the relationship he shares with the factory owner. Over here, a consensus theorist would state that the basis of their relationship is mutual benefit. The factory worker receives wages for the work done by him while the owner makes profits from the work done. In contrast however, a conflict theorist would base this relationship of mutual coinflict between the two. In the above case, the factory worker is in conflict with the factor owner who owns the means of production and earns profits while oppressing the worker by giving him lower wages.
3:-
In sociology, interactionism is a theoretical perspective that derives social processes (such as conflict, cooperation, identity formation) from human interaction. It is the study of how individuals shape society and are shaped by society through meaning that arises in interactions.
For eg;
In education more than any other field is interactions so available to see. Take for instance many many gifted kids, who, seem unable to preform on grade average. Interactionists blame the teachers more partially than the student, since the teacher is more cognizant of their meaning behind interactions. However the emphasis is placed on a childs ability to quickly learn any information if only presented through a proficient interactionists.
I.e. the student fails because the teacher fails to provide a solid interaction for the student.
