Functionalism and The Bee Movie Amari Wilburn-Jones Introduction to Sociology February 16,2018 In the field of Sociology sociologist often view society from three major theoretical perspectives: symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, and conflict theory. Each theories/perspective is a way to view how parts of the world fit together and work. In this paper I will be analyzing The Bee Movie from the functional analysis perspective to see how the actions of people within a society can help or hinder the society as a whole. The functional analysis theory was founded by August Comte and Herbert Spencer, they view society as a living organism and believed that “if society is to function smoothly, its parts must work together in harmony” (Henslin,16). Emile Durkheim said that as long as all part fulfill their functions the society would be at a normal state but when the functions are not fulfilled, the society would be at an abnormal state. This theoretical perspective has three functions that surround these ideas: manifest, latent, and latent dysfunctions. Picking the Bee Movie to represent this theory was a no brainer, it all about structure and maintaining that structure in order to have a continuously thriving society. Barry, the main character doesn’t want to fall into the societal norm that have been set by those before him, he wants to explore and make sure that any decision he makes gives his life meaning and isn’t just an obligation to his
Kingsolver uses Bees in the novel Pigs In Heavens as a symbol of sweetness and love. In the sense that bees collect naturally sweet nectar in which they then create sweet honey. Honey is so admissible in the scent of the bears that they can smell the sweet fragrance up to two miles away. Kingsolver establishes a theme of love within Cash and Alice.
In order to see the film from a Functionalist perspective, one must
In Social Problems, Anna Leon-Guerrero (2016) she states, “… The functional perspective, examines the functions or consequences of the structure of society. Functionalist use a macro perspective, focusing on how society maintains social order” (13). Society has created expectations on what is viewed as acceptable or unacceptable behavior and this can include criminal behavior. This is any deviation from the social norms that are agreed by the majority of the community and the violation of any existing laws that is passed by legislation. For an example, a single parent losses’ his or her job and are worried whether the rent is covered with his or her last paycheck or whether they will qualify for food stamps.
Finally, the three sociological perspectives can be seen. Functionalist can be observed in the way
All individuals have certain social roles that when working together, form society, this allows for there to be inequality amongst individuals. Functionalism also says that social order is maintained through public consensus. So, the adjustments that the public makes in response to deviant behavior, allow for change within this theory. About Mean Girls, functionalist would view all the different groups in this movie as necessary to the functionality of high school. There are many different groups in the movie, for example the lunchroom scene shows us these separate groups.
On Sunday, February 4th, 2018 Super Bowl 52, an annual ‘holiday’ of sorts for the Western world commenced. This multimillion-dollar event has been identified as a sociological phenomenon in which 99% of Americans have heard about or seen an ad for. Not only its effects, but simultaneously its influences can be measured over all groups and societies regardless of social class. this occurrence has various sociological aspects rooted within it, such as the three main assumptions: structural functionalism, conflict perspective and symbolic interaction theory. If we were to pick at and examine these socially influenced relationships from a Functionalist Theorist’s point of view, which was developed with the aid of H. Spencer, E. Durkheim, T.
Functionalism Functionalism emphasizes how social structures maintain or undermine social stability in macrostructures (Brym,
Looking at society as a whole with individual units that work together to make society function efficiently is the structural functionalism concept. Each unit has a part and is describe as institutions such as family, religion, education, politics, economy and inequality. Because structural functionalism looks at social structure and patterns of behavior it is able to create values for society. As well as, distinguish between visible and suppressed problems within the social structures that may need to be addressed. For instance, homelessness is indication of dysfunction in structural functionalism system.
In the movie, Stand By Me, by Stephen King, four boys, Gordie, Teddy, Vern and Chris, set out in search of the body of a young boy who had been missing. They had overheard where the body might have been located and went to see if they could find it. The boys endured several different obstacles whether it was a train, sleeping in dark wilderness filled with vicious animals, or older boys who were also intent on finding the body, but they continued on until they found the body. Throughout the movie there were several sociological concepts such as, growing up/coming of age, the idea the people will go to great length to achieve fame, and the idea that people perceive people that may be different then how they actually are. The movie uses all three of the sociological perspectives, but the one that stood out to me most what the symbolic interactionist perspective.
This theory “Sees interaction and meaning as central to society and assumes that meanings are
By way of example, all three of the theoretical perspectives notably have idiosyncrasies about one another. As an illustration, structural functionalism is defined as Due to the fact that society consists of vital parts and systems they work in unison with each other to run smoothly. The people in the society contribute in myriad areas of interest in the process of structural functionalism. David Claerbaut states that these areas of interest, incorporate into society with: religion, economics, education, politics and family. On the other hand of living among each other actively working to create a seamless community we have the conflict theory.
In other words, functionalists like Durkheim believed that for a society to survive, its various social processes must come together to meet the system’s needs. Functionalists implement Durkheim’s outlook of a unified social scheme with various elements having a function within
Emile Durkheim developed a theory called functionalism, which explained how the individual and society were related and how society changed over time. 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. Durkheim believed that society should be analyzed and described in terms of functions. Society is a system of interrelated parts where no one part can function without the other. These parts make up the entirety of society and therefore, if one part changes, society is impacted.
Structural Functional Theory Structural functional theory is a macro sociological theory that is based on the characteristics of structures, social patterns, social systems and institutions such as education, religion, leisure, media, economy and politics. If all these social institutions are organized and co-operate with one another around a set of core values functionalist theorists assume that the entire social system will function properly and efficiently. Society in structural functional theory has a view that it is an organized system of interrelated parts that are held together by shared values and established social arrangements that help maintain the system to be in a state of balance and equilibrium. Structural functional theory is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions (Vibha Desai, 2013).
Structural Functionalism is a sociological theory that tries to clarify why society functions the way it does by concentrating on the connection between the different social institutions that make up society (e.g., government, law, education, religion, etc.). In Animal Farm the first example of structural functionalism is when the boar thinks the ordinances of their society are ruled by the oppressor humans. The second example is when the traditional structure is arranged to keep the animals in captivity. Lastly, the third example is when the arrangement allows humans to always be on the receiving end.