Social interactions are instrumental in shaping individual behavior and associations with others in the dynamic environments they live in. A person is who they are because they are a product of not so much nature but nurture. This is so because of the psychological impact social interactions have on a person's behavioral system, worldview, and general approach towards life. The three sociological perspectives offer an intricate yet subtle explanation about marriage and family as part of the smallest unit of society yet critical in directly or indirectly influencing it. Structural functionalism views society as a system that comprises a variety of components that coexist in agreement that results in societal stability. Conflict theory sees society as a system in which there is constant competition for the limited resources, which influences conflict among the different stakeholders. Symbolic interactionism's theoretical perspective assumes that daily interactions, particularly communication, culminates in deduction and correspondence between different individuals in society. The major tenets of structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism directly and indirectly apply to the institution of marriage and family, an aspect that can be exemplified by practical developments in different families today.
Structural Functionalism Theory
Structural functionalism theory is a school of thought that espouses that the different elements of society, such as institutions, individual norms, and diverse relationships, serve a critical purpose for the stability and continued existence of the various components. Although these elements are intricately integrated, in some cases, there is tension, an aspect that often leads to change. In this perspective, society is viewed from a micro-level where social structures and functions interact to influence an agreement that affects stability (Wandi et al., 2021). Although the theory focuses on parts of society, the intricate interrelation between the elements is central to this theory. Through the standard control of all the different elements, for example, through leadership, society is brought into equilibrium. The assumptions related to this theory are that societies always strive to achieve balance, they are unique and should be studied differently, and that there is a network of relationships that influence the interaction between the different institutions.
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The structural functionalism theory is attributed to Émile Durkheim, a French theorist who stipulated the primary components of the model in the 19th century (Jones, 2003). His central point of view was that while individuals make up society, the complete understanding of how it functions requires sociologists to look beyond this significant component of society. Other proponents of the theory contributed towards a better understanding of society through structural functionalism. Herbert Spencer is one of the early contributors from whom it was believed Émile Durkheim borrowed much of his knowledge. Spencer compared society to the human body, which requires the different body parts and elements to fully function. Talcott Parsons is another theorist who contributed towards the structural functionalism school of thought through his view of society as a system (Jones, 2003). His main argument was based on what he assumed to be the functional prerequisite of any given social system. The four he based are argument on were goal achievement, adaption, integration, and the maintenance of particular patterns.
The theory pertains to the sociological study of marriage and family in that family is viewed as one of the most basic units of society. This is a unit that causes destabilization when interrupted. Since it is linked with other components such as religion, the economy, and education institutions, disruption results in the active search for alternatives that ensure stabilization. Today, for example, divorce is one of the most rampant occurrences in developed countries like the US. The divorce process is stressful to the husband and wife, but it also psychologically impacts children and close relatives, primarily if they depended on the divorcing couple. This could negatively impact school-going children's performance, be viewed negatively from a religious point of view, and result in a dysfunctional family that negatively influences the children, who might not be productive members of society in the future. Another example is the variation in the definition of marriage and family, especially in developed countries. Same-sex marriage has stirred up controversy because it has destabilized family norms and societal views of marriage. To ensure that this element becomes part of other societal components, many countries are now legalizing same-sex marriage and putting in place the LGBT family rights.
Conflict Theory
Conflict theory explains the perpetual competition between different groups in society, particularly for meager resources. The continuous conflict for the finite resources is characterized by hoarding and protection of resources by the wealthy and using any means to obtain the resources by those without. The main stipulation by this theory is that conflict is an unavoidable element in society. The root cause of conflict is inequality. There are different classes of individuals, some who want more resources to lead a comfortable life and others who require such resources for mere survival. The tenets of conflict theory are the existence of class conflict, conflict does not imply war, and society is in a constant state of change, and conflict influences social change. One of the central assumptions of the theory is that human relations and social structures, in their existence, experience power inequality. Another assumption is the eventual revolution as a result of competition between different social classes. Social and economic institutions are also viewed as a tool that perpetuates inequality and in turn increase conflict.
Karl Marx is the first theorist to explain the principles of conflict theory. The central proposition in this theory is the economy is the base of all conflict. Most importantly, he observed that conflict mainly occurred between those who controlled the means of production and the laborers (Bartos et al., 2002). He explains that the split in the two groups was more evidenced by the exploitive nature of the employers in the industrial revolution towards the working class. Karl also dwelt on the elements of alienation. He explained four significant forms of divorce and isolation from self or society. They include alienation from the results of one labor, isolation from the labor process, alienation from others, and self. These forms of isolation result in conflict. Max Weber is another notable theorist who built on conflict theory concepts put forward by Karl Marx. Weber's proposition was the existence of multiple layers of conflict at one given time in a given society. However, some of his ideas contradicted those of Karl Marx in that Weber believed that some forms of interaction, including conflict, result in solidarity within a society.
Conflict theory pertains to the sociological study of marriage and family in that it is one of the spaces where there are power struggles and disputes related to the division of labor, finances related issues, among others (Jones, 2003). An example is the case of Denise Williams, who, together with Brian Winchester, orchestrated the death of Mike Williams not only because of the affair Brian and Denise had but also the plan to benefit from Mike's life insurance. Another example of conflict theory within marriage and family is the children who grow up in dysfunctional families because of parent's conflict over finances or management of family resources (Steinmetz et al., 2013). This often results in psychologically disturbed individuals who conflict with society because of a lack of emotional or financial support during childhood. An example is Charles Manson, one of the notorious serial killers in US history.
Symbolic interactionism
Symbolic interactionism mainly focuses on communication between different individuals in the society and how the exchange of information results in the derivation of meanings that shape individuals' social worlds (Redmond, 2015). The theories view individuals as active agents of shaping their social worlds other than being shaped by other phenomena. This school of thought also has it that the social construct that lasts longer is meaningful to individuals. At the same time, the theory espouses that individuals live in the symbolic and natural environment (Aksan et al., 2009). One of the assumptions of this theory is that communication occurs when there are significant share symbols in a given context. The role-taking process is central in influencing social activity and the creation of self-results from communication undertakings.
George Herbert Mead is credited for founding the symbolic interactionism theory. Although he did not publish his works, he coined the meaning based on his idea that human interactions are dependent on the meaning individuals ascribe to such things. The meaning is derived from dynamic undertakings and interactions between individuals and society. Another influential sociologist who expanded the definition of symbolic interactionism was Herbert Blumer. He was George Herbert's student and interpreter; hence, he was significantly influenced by his teacher's sociological perspective (Aksan et al., 2009). His view on this theory was that people's perceptions about a thing are influenced by the knowledge they possess about the particular element and that knowledge is acquired through social interactions but is modified by how the specific information is interpreted in different contexts. His major belief is that people create groups in society, and the actions in such groups define the society. Besides Blumer, Charles Horton Cooley and William Isaac Thomas also had immense contributions to the theory. Charles Horton felt that it is difficult to understand society and individuals unless analyzed from an interrelation point of view. On the other hand, Thomas contributed to the development of symbolic interactionism by analyzing the interaction between individuals in society and what he termed as the social sources of behavior.
An example of how symbolic interactionism applies to family and marriage is through the political socialization of children. In America today, there are two major political parties; Democratic and Republican parties. Due to party partisanship, parents are likely to listen to the news or go to rallies that endorse their political beliefs. Children are, in turn, likely to be socialized to political bias through partisanship. They are likely to grow up deriving particular meaning from such political parties because they have developed while being given specific information about such political parties. Another example is education within the family setup. In marriage, where the couple decides when to teach their children about reproductive health or sexuality and gender, such children are likely to derive meaning from such teachings when taught in school or other spaces. They are likely to interpret the information in a certain way and eventually interact with individuals in the given context based on the knowledge they acquired from their parents about the subject.
In conclusion, structural functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism present dynamic perspectives on social interactions and how such associations influence different societal systems. Structural functionalism theory, mainly put forward by Émile Durkheim, looks at society as a system composed of various components, which affect its stability. Conflict theory, just as explained by Karl Marx and Max Weber, views society as an entity in constant conflict because of contention over scarce resources. Finally, symbolic interactionism sees society as an entity that embodies symbols that people use to create meaning, mainly influenced by communication. While George Herbert Mead is credited for coming up with this school of thought, other notable sociologists who later impacted it are Herbert Blumer, Charles Horton Cooley, and William Isaac Thomas. These theories directly or indirectly apply to family and marriage through a sociological explanation of how interactions within a family significantly influence different societal elements.
References
Aksan, N., Kısac, B., Aydın, M., & Demirbuken, S. (2009). Symbolic interaction theory. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 1 (1), 902-904.
Bartos, O. J., & Wehr, P. (2002). Using conflict theory . Cambridge University Press.
Jones, R. A. (2003). Emile Durkheim. The Blackwell companion to major classical social theorists , 193.
Redmond, M. V. (2015). Symbolic interactionism.
Steinmetz, S. K., & Sussman, M. B. (Eds.). (2013). Handbook of Marriage and the Family . Springer Science & Business Media.
Wandi, J. I., Afnita, N., & Hefni, H. (2021). Study of" Functional Structure" Emilie Durkheim Reviewed from Educational Anthropology on Character and Behavior Society. IKHTISAR , 1 (1), 39-51.
