Grand sociological theories are concerned with social problems that are universal and abstract by nature. Such theories include Structural Functional or Functional, Social Conflict or Conflict, and Symbolic Interaction (Hammond, Cheney, and Pearsey). The Structural Functional approach concerns society as being balanced and dependent upon the component elements of society. At its core, Structural Functional theory is based upon ecological and biological constructs, in other words society can be studied in much the same way as the human body (Hammond, Cheney and Pearsey). Using hospitals as an example of how the functionalist approach may be applied, Sociologists Margaret Anderson and Howard Taylor point out that “Functionalism argues that any institution, group, or organization can be interpreted by looking at its positive and negative functions in society” (p. 539).
Hospitals play a vital role in communities, serving the health care needs of individuals and, in a positive sense, without regard to characteristics such as race, age or culture. Hospitals are institutions which are interrelated to other community agencies, such as those in government or the nonprofit world, for purposes of maintaining stability (Anderson and Taylor 539). The structure of hospitals has become increasingly corporate, meaning they have instituted a top-down managerial approach that does not necessarily include the health care professions, such as physicians and nurses. As this may impact the functional administration of health care services within the hospital setting, doctors and nurses are becoming increasingly concerned with the legalities of dispensing medicine due to increasing governmental regulation and corporate rules (Anderson and Taylor 539). Issues related to cost efficiencies have served to alter structure and functions as both relate to staffing patterns and size, and imposed barrier concerning medical procedures that are based upon decisions made by insurers. As a result increasingly more clinical healthcare professionals are wresting decision-making processes (Anderson and Taylor 539).
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The Social Conflict Approach, or Conflict Theory, posits that societies in-general are in a continual state of conflict and, as a result, conflict for available resources are said to also be in a perpetual state (Hammond, Cheney and Pearsey). While the approach may pertain to the interests of the corporation vying against those of workers, in light of globalization the Social Conflict Approach may be viewed of competing interests pitting multi-national corporations against individual communities. According to Professor Lisa Calvano, whose research focus is in social and environmental impacts of business on employees at West Chester University, prior to globalization multinational corporations (MNC) faced difficulties gaining entry into state economies, but have since gained wide-latitudes within countries as a result of acceptance by national governments. As a result, communities are posed with increasing difficulties, “[W]ith the broad-based acceptance of neoliberal economic policies among national governments and elites of formerly communist and developing countries, the domain of opposition to MNC activities has shifted from host country to local economies” (Calvano 794).
Social conflict results through the competing interests of MNCs and communities, as community members increasingly resist corporate encroachments, for example, concerning natural resources. An example of how such social conflict arises can be viewed in the increasing tensions that reached their peak in 2006 between oil producer Occidental Petroleum and the people living in the northeastern Napo province located in the rainforests of Ecuador. The oil interests of Occidental resulted in deforestation of thousands of acres of rainforest thus destroying the surrounding ecosystem. As a result, protests not only resulted in the destruction of oil pipelines owned by Occidental, but also escalated into a blockade that surrounded an oil production facility which was managed by the French company Perenco (Calvano 793). As a result, the indigenous people prevailed but, sadly, this is not always the case.
The Symbolic Interactionist Approach states that the composition of society is comprised of interactions between people who have the same understanding of symbols as well as their meaning (Hammond, Cheney and Pearsey). Symbolic Interactionalism appears to be quite useful when attempting to understand communication and learning between cultures, as well as with identifying effective teaching styles within the college setting. According to Margaret Jones and John Siraj-Blatchford, both former lecturers at Westminster College in Oxford, England, “One of the most important criteria for determining the effectiveness of a particular teaching style is how the students respond and learn in the environment you have created” (91). Those utilizing a Symbolic Interactionist approach would attempt to better understand individual actions as they reference interactions between others within the classroom environment.
If a teaching approach is viewed as authoritarian, then student responses would tend to either adjust to teacher expectations or perhaps drop the class in favor of accessing a more liberal teaching style (Jones and Siraj-Blatchford 92). Another aspect to Symbolic Interactionalism has to do with understanding other people’s perception of symbols and meanings. As this pertains to the college classroom, a student from a different country may identify specific illustrations differently that what was intended by the instructor, and in such cases other students would then make a determination as to whether the student is either right or wrong in their perception, or perhaps even whether they are intellectually inferior (Hammond, Cheney and Pearsey). Interactions within the classroom environment also determine how students, as well as instructors, accept others as well as modify their views or behaviors, while also determining whether or not to be influenced by those within the classroom environment (Jones and Siraj-Blatchford 91). Whether adjustments occur by the teacher or the majority within class remains to be seen, however individual students may exercise options that allow them to change, or even to remain within a situation they may find to be intolerable.
- Andersen, Margaret L., and Howard Francis Taylor. Sociology: Understanding a Diverse Society. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, 2008. Print.
- Calvano, Lisa. “Multinational Corporations and Local Communities: A Critical Analysis of Conflict.” Journal of Business Ethics 82.4 (2008): 793-805. ProQuest. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
- Hammond, Ron, Paul Cheney, and Raewyn Pearsey. Introduction to Sociology. Payson, UT: Rockyridge, 2015. freesociologybooks.com. 2015. Web. 4 Mar. 2015.
- Jones, Margaret and John Siraj-Blatchford. Researching into Student Learning
and Support in Colleges and Universities. London: Kogan Page, 1997. Print.
