Each paradigm is a unique perspective on interactions and social relations in a society and between individuals. The three main paradigms are functionalist, conflict, and symbolic interactionist. A sociologist would view the social institution of the family in the functionalist paradigm by viewing the family as whole. They would look at the family as a mini society, and they would observe and search for the general agreement about values and norms within that family or “society”. They may ask themselves, “What do all the members of this family have in common with each other?” What are their shared beliefs and morals?” Furthermore, a sociologist using the functionalist paradigm believes “society is an entity or a whole that is made …show more content…
A sociologist using the conflict paradigm would view a family in an opposite approach compared to functionalist paradigm. The family would be believed to be consisting of “subgroups” or individuals within the family that “cherish different beliefs and have conflicting values and goals”. (Page 44) With that stated, a sociologist would observe the differences of each family member and how the different values and beliefs create quarrels and conflict among them. The conflict paradigm has a theory that subgroups of a society are in competition for resources. I’m not really sure what the “resources” would be, but the sociologist would observe the resources within that family and how each individual competes for it. When I think of members of a family in competition for “resources”; I imagine siblings competing for a mother’s attention and favor. Another example, could be a member needing financial support in their schooling. A father also may be desiring the most attention from his wife. There are lots of ways a family can have conflict and if each individual has unique emotional needs and dreams than peace could be hard to accomplish. The conflict paradigm observes how society and in this case, how family is never harmonious. This approach views individualism within the family and all the ways in which conflict is created when the individuals are having a negative …show more content…
This perspective allows a sociologist to study individual people and how each person has “constructed their own social worlds”. In this situation everyone is viewed as unique and different like the conflict approach, but that people are different because of how they personally view the world and life. Each member of a family would be believed to have heavy influence on one another as does the functionalist paradigm. Furthermore, sociologists using this paradigm think that an individual is constantly evaluating themselves and others behaviors to give definition and meaning to the behaviors. Lastly, if individuals do not interpret behaviors and actions with the same meanings there can be conflict and an interference with peace inside a family. Maybe a dad believes smoking is okay but the daughter feels the behavior is wrong, that could create conflict. Maybe one family member believes that being able to express your emotions and vulnerability to others is a sign of strength, whereas maybe the other member views that emotional behavior as a sign of weakness. That could bring conflict because if both members express their emotions differently they may have a hard time bonding. In this paradigm, everyone could behave differently and have a different meaning of the