[TOC]

# Overview



# Nurture vs Nature

- Nature: biology
- Nurture: society

## Tabula rasa argument

- We are all born a blank slate, 100% socialization
- There is no scientific data that backs this up.

## socialization

Socialization is the way in which society reproduces itself.

# Three main theoretical frameworks (or schools of thought, or perspectives) in Society

## Conflict Theory

Conflict theory see social life as a competition, and focuses on the
distribution of resources, power and inequality.

Conflict theory focuses on the conflicts between those who have power
and those who do not, the haves and the have-nots, the over-privileged
and under-privileged, the 1% and the 99%, the Bourgeoisie(the middle
class) and the Proletariat(workers or working-class people).

Karl Marx focused on class struggles, but conflict theory can be applied
to race, sexuality, age, and gender...which brings us to Feminist Theory
(conflict theory specifically focused on Gender inequality)

Those in power exploit those without power as a means of continuing
their dominance in society.

## Functionalist Theory

The functionalist perspective is based largely on the works of Herbert
Spencer, Emile Durheim, 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. How things work together.

Society is a machine. Society is a living organism. Each part of the
body or machine need to be working in order for the whole system to
function.

Social stability is necessary for a strong society. If social change is
to occur, it would be best at a slow pace.

Institutions within society are: Family - Religion - Law - Government -
Education - Economics.

Social institutions support society by:
1. Satisfying the basic needs of society
2. Defining the dominant social values
3. Helping to establish permanent patterns of social behavior
4. Support other such institutions
5. Provide roles for individuals

Mechanisms of social control are: Sanctions - Positive and Negative,
Formal or Informal.

## Symbolic Interactionist Theory (Micro)

This perspective is associated with Max Weber and George Hervert Mead.
We focus on the individual, looking at how we create the social world
through our interactions with others. There is embedded symbolic meaning
in all of our interactions which reflects on the social norms and rules.
We also study how people fight against society to change it.

Social Actors - Interpret behavior and assign meaning.

Social Context - Impacts the interpretation of behavior/circumstance

Society is an elaborate fiction - Social Order = a product of our mind
and real only for as long as we are able to individually and
collectively maintain this belief.

Max Weber was anti-positivist, as he saw that all interactions had a
contextual subjective-ness arguing for the study of social action
through interpretive (rather than purely empiricist) means, based on
understanding the purpose and meaning that individuals attach to their
own actions.

## Combining Perspectives

I am of the belief that these perspectives can be combined. Let's, for
example, look at W.E.B. DuBois theory of Double Consciousness and The
Veil.
