Marriage and family

[Date of Submission]

Marriage and family

Introduction

Sociology has expanded tenfold over the progressing years. Uncountable numbers of theories, hypothesis, observations and tests are being and have been added or conducted from the days of its origin. Out of all the clutter, only few theories gained worldwide acceptance and recognition. That does not mean that the others have been relegated as incorrect, or that only these three are heralded as the correct theories, rather it's only that these theories have gained the best evidence and most followers. All of them do also seem to lack at one place or the other. These three theories are as follows:

Conflict Theory

Functionalism

Symbolic Interaction

Conflict Theory

The conflict theory is the proposition of the world renowned sociologist Karl Marx (1818-1883). Conflict theory states that society is always in a state of conflict, class conflict, status conflict, material inequality, etc. It is these conflicts that force a radical change in the society or system, by the means of rebellion, etc. According to this theory, it is conflict which inspires a change in the system, thus in a way, conflict is the key which triggers evolution.

Functionalist Theories

The functionalist theories are focus upon the relationships which things have with each other and the environment. How they interact with each other? The benefits that they provide each other and the responsibilities which they fulfill. It is all about focusing on the positive aspect of things, which is in direct contrast to the conflict theory which focuses on the negatives or 'conflicts' of the society.

Symbolic Interaction

Symbolic Interaction theorists tend to focus on the symbolic importance of things. How the people associate with symbols and markers? What meanings do different people gather form different things? Or even different meanings of the same things in different culture. The globalization of the world has brought together all of the cultures. The symbolic interaction theorists find it an ideal environment for the pursuit of the choice of their studies.

Discussion

Marriage and Family

Marriage and family is an essential part of the human life. Marriage in a sense is simply a legal or generally accepted form of 'choosing a suitable mate' and family is the care of the offspring after 'mating'. The reason for reducing it to such primitive words is to show that there is no difference in the concept of reproduction in animals and humans. The difference arises when the humans decide to get married instead of just whacking a female or male on the head and dragging them to a house. Marriage is the legal binding of the consent of a man and woman to be husband and wife for the rest of their lives, and raise a family together.

Marriage in itself is both complex and simple. The three theories also have different interpretation of marriage and family.

Marriage and Family by the Conflict Theory

Karl Marx proposed the conflict perspective in regards to the class struggles, presenting the society in a very different light than in comparison to its peers the symbolic interactionists and the ...