The behaviors of human beings and their role in shaping society, its development, and the social institutions existing in society can only be understood through the study of sociology. The ideologies of sociology were conceived during the 18th century during the period of enlightenment. Thinkers of that time, such as Immanuel Kant, John Locke, Thomas Hobbes, and Voltaire, wrote on social imbalances that required social reforms. The ideologies of these thinkers formed the basis of sociology as they tried to explain the relationship between human behavior and societal happenings. The phenomenon of crime rates in the US using various sociological theories.
Symbolic Interaction Theory and It's Perspective on Crime Rates in the US
The symbolic interaction theory of sociology was founded by two thinkers; Charles Horton Cooley and George Herbert Mead. These two thinkers concluded that communication and the exchange of meaning in which people in society accord to objects, events, and behaviors form the social institutions in society. The theory analyzes organizations based on the subjective meanings that different people hold in society (Hawkins et al., 2017). The subject of crime rates in the US can be analyzed using this theory. In contemporary US society, crimes such as terrorism and radicalization have cropped up owing to the subjective meanings that citizen’s accord to social, political, and economic fronts in the country.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
The ideologies of crimes such as terrorism and radicalization in the US are based on certain differences in the meanings shared by the citizens. For instance, the issue of religious dressing whereby the Islamists are strict on the use of hijab and garbasaar on Islamic women has been a center of controversy and a basis of radicalization in the country (Hawkins et al., 2017). Islam is strict on the use of hijab cloth, which is used to cover the faces of Islam women because of its subjective meaning that its purpose is religiously divine. On the other hand, non-Muslims don’t give a lot of attention and respect to hijab and garbasaar since they don’t accord it a divine meaning. It has resulted in a subsequent revolt by some Islam believers who view the disregard of non-Muslims to hijab is disrespectful to the Islam religion and hence triggering radicalization and terrorism.
Functionalist Theory of Sociology and It's Perspective on Crime Rates in the US
The theory holds that society is one big complex set up whose parts should work together to achieve stability and harmony. The framework views society as a significant entity with other small players who have different roles that bring harmony in society. The functionalist theory holds that social structures and social institutions have characters that shape the community at large.
Crime rates in the United States of America can be analyzed using the functionalist theory. Sociology thinkers interpret that crime rates in the US are as a result of imbalances in the functionality of different social structures (Ramella, 2015). For instance, the rise in gun-related crimes in the US have majorly been blamed on poor morals and lack of value for life by the perpetrators. According to the theory, the church, which is supposed to impose morals and highlight the value of human life, is failed. Rise in crime rates in the US can also be blamed on the educational system. The education system is a social entity in the society that supposed to provide better methods of conflict resolution other than crime.
Conflict Theory and It's Perspective on Crime Rates in the US
The conflict theory of sociology was formulated by Karl Marx, who held the view that life is just field competition for power and resources. Karl Marx vehemently viewed that life is all about an endless competition for finite resources available (Lardinois, 2017). According to the theory, the rich are the ones in possession of resources, and they protect the resources and even hoard their possession. On the other side, the poor will do anything possible to acquire the resources. Therefore, according to conflict theory, life is an endless struggle for limited resources.
The phenomenon of crime rates in the US can be well explained using conflict theory. Ideally, the population of citizens in the US keeps on increasing while the resources they share don’t increase or increases at meager levels (Lardinois, 2017). Population increase and lack of enough funds to support the increase in population causes a social conflict for resources hence resulting in the rise in crime rates in the US. Many crime incidences involve robbery or looting, which is an indicator of resource competition.
The behavior of humanity has a role in shaping the society in which humanity exists. The ideology of sociology was incepted by 18th-century writers who wrote to address certain social injustices of the time. Symbolic interaction theory of sociology holds that subjective meaning posed on objects or events shape the society. The functionalist theory views society as a complex unit with various key players. Conflict theory state that people are always in competition for limited resources in the community.
References
Hawkins, J. D., & Weis, J. G. (2017). The social development model: An integrated approach to delinquency prevention. In Developmental and Life-course Criminological Theories (pp. 3-27). Routledge.
Lardinois, R. (2017). Scholars and Prophets: Sociology of India from France in the 19th-20th Centuries . Routledge.
Ramella, F. (2015). Sociology of economic innovation . Routledge.
