Sociology offers a perspective, a view of the world.

(Henslin, 2013) Sociology is the

study of society and human behavior based on their surrounding, such as groups, culture,
race, sex, class, etc. (Henslin, 2013). Sociologists use three main theories to understand
human experiences. They are symbolic interactionism, function analysis, and conflict
theory.
According to the symbolic interactionist perspective, people attach meanings to symbols,
and then they act according to their subjective interpretation of these symbols. An
example used in everyday life would be cigarettes smoking among teenagers. Even
though teenagers are aware of the consequence and health risk that cigarettes pose they
still smoke because cigarettes are perceived as cool in their peer group. The symbol
status of the cigarette status overrides the actual health risk facts. (Cliffnotes.com, 2011)
Another example would be gang members who teach new members how to commit
crimes, the rules that the new member learned before that are much different and now
that society has an influence. It is hard for the gang members to get away.
(Sparknotes.com, 2014)
According to the functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, each aspect of
society is interdependent and contributes to society's functioning as a whole.
(Cliffnotes.com, 2011) An example used in everyday life would be sports. Sports create
unity among individuals. A sport allows aggression to be released in an acceptable way.
The conflict perspective focuses on the negative, conflicted, and everchanging nature of
society. An example in everyday life would be sports. For instance NASCAR is a male
dominated sport and gender expectations make it difficult for a woman to succeed.
Another example of Conflict Theory in everyday life is crime and how the different
classes are punished. The upper class may get a slap on the wrist, have money for good
lawyers, where as lower class people may not be able to afford a good lawyer and end up
with harsh punishments.


CliffsNotes.com. Three Major Perspectives in Sociology. 22 Jun 2011.
http://www.cliffsnotes.com/sciences/sociology/the-sociological-perspective/three-major-
perspectives-in-sociology
Henslin, James. (2013) Essentials of Sociology: A Down to Earth Approach Saddle
River, NJ: Pearson.

Sparknotes.com. Deviance. June 2014.
http://www.sparknotes.com/sociology/deviance/section2.rhtml