Symbols change people's goals and desires resulting in a driving force for power. .
Unlike social interaction, functional analysis focuses on the macro- level of society. Functional theorists examine the large scale patterns. They describe society as an organism in which different organs with specific functions are inter-related. James Henslin (2002, p.15) suggests that, "Like an organism, if society is to function smoothly, its various parts must work together in harmony." Functionalists hold that we need to look at both the structure and the function to see how they contribute to society (Henslin 2002, p.15). In this perspective every person has a role on society. Society is viewed as one happy unit. An example is McDonalds. The owners of the corporation have workers who get paid minimum wage; while the owners are making millions off of the worker's labor. Yet the workers are satisfied and the owners are satisfied as well. The company is running well and dominating other fast food places. Another example is our government. Functionalists would say that the government is making laws for the people and each group in the govt. is doing their duties. They propose that the laws are made to give equality to all races, genders, and ethnicity. Functionalists accept as true that as long as everyone works together and plays their role on society, then there is conformity and unity where everyone benefits.
Conflict theory is the third perspective in sociology. It was founded my Karl Marx. Marx deems that, unlike functionalists, conflict theory does not view a harmonious unit which benefits all social, political, or economical society. He supposes that there is conflict between owners and workers and that eventually the workers will rise against the owners and attempt to overthrow them. He concluded that, "Conflict theory stresses that society is composed of groups that engage in fierce competition for scarce resources (Henslin 2002, p.
