Conflict Perspective

Examples of Conflict Perspective in the following topics:

• Intergenerational Conflict

  • Intergenerational conflict plays a key role in the conflict perspective of aging.
  • The conflict perspective of aging is a strand of general sociological conflict theory, which is the theory that sees conflict as a normal aspect of social life rather than as an abnormal occurrence.
  • The conflict perspective of aging thus emphasizes competition between generations.
  • According to the conflict perspective of aging, generations are competing over jobs.
  • The conflict perspective of aging is not solely about resource acquisition.

• The Conflict Perspective

  • The conflict perspective views the family as a vehicle to maintain patriarchy (gender inequality) and social inequality in society.
  • The Conflict perspective refers to the inequalities that exist in all societies globally.
  • When we are analyzing any element of society from this perspective, we need to look at the structures of wealth, power and status, and the ways in which those structures maintain social, economic, political and coercive power of one group at the expense of others.
  • According to conflict theorists, the family works toward the continuance of social inequality within a society by maintaining and reinforcing the status quo.
  • Conflict theorists have also seen the family as a social arrangement benefiting men more than women, allowing men to maintain a position of power.

• The Conflict Perspective

  • The conflict perspective, or conflict theory, derives from the ideas of Karl Marx, who believed society is a dynamic entity constantly undergoing change driven by class conflict.
  • Sociologists who work from the conflict perspective study the distribution of resources, power, and inequality.
  • According to the conflict perspective, society is constantly in conflict over resources, and that conflict drives social change.
  • In the conflict perspective, change comes about through conflict between competing interests, not consensus or adaptation.
  • According to the conflict perspective, inequalities in power and reward are built into all social structures.

• The Conflict Perspective

  • For Karl Marx, class conflict was most prominent; other theorists saw racial and ethnic conflict as more significant.
  • The classical conflict perspective pioneered by Karl Marx saw all forms of inequality subsumed under class conflict.
  • Other early conflict theorists saw racial and ethnic conflict as more central.
  • This theory will be further discussed under the feminist perspective of gender stratification in the chapter, "Understanding Gender Stratification and Inequality".
  • Explain race and ethnicity from the perspective of different conflict theorists

• The Conflict Perspective

  • Conflict theory suggests that men, as the dominant gender, subordinate women in order to maintain power and privilege in society.
  • According to conflict theory, society is defined by a struggle for dominance among social groups that compete for scarce resources.
  • According to conflict theory, social problems are created when dominant groups exploit or oppress subordinate groups.
  • Conflict between the two groups caused things like the Women's Suffrage Movement and was responsible for social change.
  • Friedrich Engels, a German sociologist, studied family structure and gender roles from a Marxist perspective.

• The Conflict Perspective on Deviance

  • In sociology, conflict theories are perspectives that emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism.
  • Conflict theories draw attention to power differentials, such as class conflict, and generally contrast historically dominant ideologies.
  • Karl Marx is the father of the social conflict theory, which is a component of the four paradigms of sociology.
  • In conflict theory, deviant behaviors are actions that do not comply with social institutions.
  • The institution's ability to change norms, wealth, or status comes into conflict with the individual.

• Conflict Theory

  • This is contrasted with the conflict approach, which argues that society is constantly in conflict over resources.
  • A heuristic device to help you think about society from a conflict perspective is to ask, "Who benefits from this element of society?
  • Not surprisingly, the primary limitation of the social-conflict perspective is that it overlooks the stability of societies.
  • Many of the broader elements of societies remain remarkably stable over time, indicating the structural-functional perspective has a great deal of merit.As noted above, sociological theory is often complementary.
  • Structural-functionalism focuses on equilibrium and solidarity; conflict-theory focuses on change and conflict.

• The Conflict Perspective

  • Conflict theory argues that the economic and political structures of a society create social divisions, inequalities, and conflicts.
  • There is a class conflict and within access to healthcare.
  • Conflict theories are perspectives in social science that emphasize the social, political, or material inequality of a social group, that critique the broad socio-political system, or that otherwise detract from structural functionalism and ideological conservatism.
  • While many of these perspectives hold parallels, conflict theory does not refer to a unified school of thought, and should not be confused with, for instance, peace and conflict studies.
  • Conflict theory is most commonly associated with Marxism, but as a reaction to functionalism and the positivist method, it may also be associated with a number of other perspectives, including critical theory, feminist theory, postmodern theory, post-structural theory, postcolonial theory, queer theory, world systems theory, and race-conflict theory.

• Conflict

  • War is the quintessential example of conflict.
  • Social conflict is the struggle for agency or power within a society.
  • Conflict theory emphasizes interests deployed in conflict, rather than the norms and values.
  • This perspective argues that the pursuit of interests is what motivates conflict.
  • The three tenets of conflict theory are as follows:

• The Functionalist Perspective

  • According to the functionalist perspective, race and ethnicity are two of the various parts of a cohesive society.
  • In the 1960s, functionalism was criticized for being unable to account for social change, or for structural contradictions and conflict (and thus was often called "consensus theory"), and for ignoring systematic inequalities including race, gender, and class, which cause tension and conflict.
  • Given this emphasis on equilibrium and harmony, the functionalist perspective easily allows for specific macro-analyses of more contentious power imbalances, such as race-related issues.
  • It is less well-adapted to understanding individual discrimination because it ignores the inequalities that cause tension and conflict.
  • During the turbulent 1960s, functionalism was often called "consensus theory," criticized for being unable to account for social change or structural contradictions and conflict, including inequalities related to race, gender, class, and other social factors that are a source of oppression and conflict.