...Functionalists believe that religion is beneficial for both society as a whole and its individual members, this is because it unifies society and creates consensus, which in turn gives each individual member a source of support when they need it. However some theorists disagree with the functionalist ideology. Firstly, functionalist claim religion benefits society in a number of ways, it creates a sense of social solidarity, meaning a shared sense of identity, history, norms and values (a collective conscience). This is supported by item A, ‘religion's contribution to value consensus and social integration’. Functionalist explain that if all of a society's members are part of the same religion then they all share the same belief system, resulting in consensus between all of its members. The religious institution will teach its members the norms and values of the society they are in and the collective worship will bind societies members closer together, for example, people in Muslim countries who are part of the faith of Islam, understand it is normal to stop and pray 5 times a day and also that no-one should work on Friday however people in Christian countries understand the day of rest to be Sunday. Functionalist therefore claim members of a society have a collective conscience, they think in the same way, due to their shared norms and values. Functionalists also believe that religion unifies people; the functionalist Emile Durkheim studied an aboriginal tribe the Arunta...
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... a) Identify and briefly explain some of the ways in which religion could be said to ‘exert social control over the members of society’ (June2006) b) Identify and briefly explain some of the ways in which functionalists see religion meeting the needs of society and / or individuals. (June 2007) New syllabus: 12 mark questions a)Using material from item a and elsewhere, briefly examine the extent to which religion can still be said to be functional for individuals and society (June 2002) b) Briefly examine the evidence and or arguments in favour of the view that religion can act as a force for change in society (June 2006) c) Briefly examine post-modernist views on the nature and role of religion (June 2007) NEW SYLLABUS: 40 mark essay questions • Assess the role and functions of religious institutions and movements in contemporary society. (40) Sample A2 paper (Issued May 2000) • Evaluate the view that religion acts as a conservative force in modern society (40) Jun 2001 “The main function of religion is to provide people with a code of behaviour which regulates personal and social life.” Assess the extent to which sociological arguments and evidence support this view of religion in modern society (40) January 2002 Assess and evaluate the relationship between religion and social change. (40) Jan 2003 Assess the view that in most societies, religion functions more to cause conflict than to bring about harmony...
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...Religion is one of the oldest institutions on Earth, and is therefore of key cultural and historical importance to a large group of people. However the real question is whether religion serves to benefit both the individual and society in this ever evolving postmodern world. One perspective that suggests that religion does serve to benefit both the individual and society as a whole is Functionalism, which believes that religion maintains value consensus by creating social solidarity and keeping social order in place. Marxism however believes religion creates class division in society, by acting as an “opium of the people” and a “spiritual gin”, which in turn creates the false class consciousness and illusory happiness, which leads to people being subordinate and not challenging their place in society, as religion helps to explain their place and maintains social order. A core argument from the Functionalist perspective, put forward by Durkheim, was society’s distinction between the “sacred” (things set apart,special,inspire feelings of awe and wonder) and the “profane” (things that have no special significance,ordinary or mundane). Durkheim argued that the reason why scared symbols or festivals in religion evoke such powerful feelings in individuals is because they represent a greater power, this in Durkheim’s opinion could only be society itself. Therefore in Durkheim's view when members of society are worshipping sacred symbols, they’re merely worshipping society and all...
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...past years, there has been a great differ in the views of society and how people see religion and how important and influential it is to our moral values in contemporary societies today. This essay will look at why various different theory ideologies and their ideas about religion, and how it influences us day to day in our lives. The definition of a religion can vary depending on who you ask. The simplest definition of a religion is that for a religion to become a religion, there must be a belief of the supernatural and must also be a belief in God. The functionalists hold a different perspective on religion. Functionalists see religion as being there to fulfil the needs of society for example, functionalists feel that religion sets certain norms and values for society and gives people morals. Durkheim see's religion as something that contributes to society, rather than to any specific belief in god or any supernatural life form. For functionalists, society is a system of interrelated parts with basic needs that must be met in order to survive. Religion plays a key function for society as it creates social solidarity and a value consensus. Durkheim says that the key feature of religion is not a belief in gods or the supernatural, but a fundamental distinction between the sacred and the profane, as long as you see what you worship as sacred then Durkheim says that it is fine to be a religion. Durkheim believes in the collective conscience - a set of shared norms, values, beliefs...
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...Religion is often seen as conservative in the sense of being ‘traditional’, defending traditional customs, institutions, moral views and roles. Religion upholds traditional beliefs about how society should be organised. Religion is also seen as conservative because it functions to conserve or preserve things as they are. It stabilises society and maintains the status quo. The view of religion is held by functionalists, Marxists, and feminists. Although each of these perspectives see the role of religion differently, all of them argue that it contributes to social stability. Functionalists see religion as a conservative force because it functions to maintain social stability and prevent society from disintegrating. For example, as Parson stated; it promotes social solidarity by creating value consensus, thus reducing the likelihood of society collapsing through individuals perusing their own selfish interests at the expense of other. It also helps individuals to deal with stresses that would otherwise disrupt the life of society. Durkheim, another sociologist shares his view that the sacred symbols represent society’s collective conscience, which is the shared norms, values beliefs and knowledge that make social life and cooperation between individuals possible- without these society would disintegrate. For Durkheim, regular shared religion rituals reinforce the collective conscience and maintain social integration. Participating in shared rituals binds individuals together...
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...Question(s): Evaluate feminist views on the role and functions of religion in society today (18marks) Patriarchal Vehicle Evidence of patriarchy; * Sacred text, places of worship etc. Woodhead, Armstrong etc Criticism and strengths. Task Essay Question(s): Evaluate feminist views on the role and functions of religion in society today (18marks) Patriarchal Vehicle Evidence of patriarchy; * Sacred text, places of worship etc. Woodhead, Armstrong etc Criticism and strengths. Evaluate postmodernist explanations of the role & functions of religion in contemporary society (33marks) (Plan and case) Evaluate postmodernist explanations of the role & functions of religion in contemporary society (33marks) (Plan and case) Feminists see religion as a patriarchal institution; maintaining male dominance over women by allowing them to believe that it is their divine right to dominate. As well as this, they believe that religion functions as a patriarchal ideology that is a vehicle that perpetuates inequity and such beliefs legitimizes female subservience and oppression. El Saadawi, says that religion is distorted to acquiesce patriarchal domination in which they exploit women in multiple ways; prostitution, slavery and abortion. However, functionalists believe otherwise and argue that its function is not to oppress women but necessary as to keep society stable whilst Marxists believe that religion oppresses the working class and serves capitalism not females and patriarchy...
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...“Evaluate the view that religion is an important source of moral values in contemporary societies” The debate as to whether religion is a vital source of moral values in contemporary society is continuous. Sociologists aim to know and understand exactly how and if religion plays any role in current society. This leads us to ask what exactly religion is. According to sociologists, there are three main ways of defining religion: substantive, functional and social constructionist. Max Weber (1905) describes substantive religion as a belief in a superior or supernatural power that is above nature and cannot be explained scientifically. Substantive definitions are exclusive – they draw a clear line between religious and non-religious beliefs. To be a religion, a set of beliefs must include beliefs in God or the supernatural. Functional definitions, however, are inclusive – allowing sociologists to include a wide range of beliefs and practices. Emile Durkheim (1915) defines it in terms of contribution it makes to social integration rather than specific belief in a higher being. Milton Yinger (1970) identifies functions that religion performs for individuals, such as answering ‘ultimate questions’. Whereas, the final definition is social constructionist takes an interpretivist approach focusing how religion is defined by the individual. This definition believes that it is impossible to produce a single universal definition of religion to cover all cases since in reality different individuals...
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...How Far Is Religion a Conservative Force? (33 marks). In the views of functionalism, neo-functionalism, feminism, and Marxism, religion is a conservative force that prevents social change from happening and maintains the current status quo. Yet neo-Marxism and Weber contrast this view by saying religion is used as a force for social change, while post-modernism argues we have the ability to ‘pick and mix’ our religion with the growth of new-age religions. This is all then contrasted by fundamentalism, which looks to bring about social change to take society back to biblical traditions and values. Before we try and figure out if religion is a conservative force or not, we should first define the difference between substantive and functional definitions in sociology: substantive definitions are more concerned with looking at what makes religion distinctive, while functional definitions look at how it is that religion contributes to society as a whole. Starting with functionalism, this is supported by Durkheim, Malinowski and Parsons, this views religion as a conservative force. Durkheim split all items into two different categories: the sacred and the profane. The sacred items were ‘special, unworldly and forbidden’, while all other ‘normal’ objects were just profane, such as a chair. Specifically, Durkheim focused his research on the Aborigines. He found that their Totems were sacred (a Totem was a carved animal), and they were often carved from bull roar wood, the most sacred...
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...Numerous sociologists have claimed that social change would lead to the weakening or even disappearance of religion (secularisation). For instance, in the nineteenth century it was widely believed that industrialisation and the growth of scientific knowledge would lead to secularisation. This is because, with science many questions can be finally answered, instead of society using religion as an answer for the unknown. For now it is important to look at the definition of secularisation itself. According to the sociologist Bryan Wilson he defines secularisation as the process whereby religious thinking, practices and institutions lose social significance, in other words there is a decline in religion. Statistical evidence is one of the best ways to investigate if secularisation is actually occurring and church attendance is one of the most valid arguments in the secularisation debate. The decrease of religious significance can be supported by the number of people attending the catholic church. For instance, in 1980 the catholic church reported a total of 2,064,000 attendees. Using the same statistics 25 years later in 2005 it was reported the new number of attendees was at 1,048,900. This is a total decrease of approximately 1,015,100 people! Further support can be given by Bruce. Bruce’s study found participation and occurrence in religious ceremonies has decreased substantially. For instance, in the 1920s and 1930s, about 90% of children were baptised, however, current...
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...– THEORIES OF RELIGION 3 WAYS sociologists define religion Substantive, functional and social constructionists SUBSTANTIVE- focus on the content of religious belief such as belief in God or the supernatural (MAX WEBBER) defines religion as belief in the superior or supernatural power that is above nature and cannot be explained scientifically. Advantage- conform to a widespread views of religion as belief in God Disadvantage- defining religion in this way leaves no room for beliefs and practices. FUNCTIONAL- define in terms of the social or psychological functions it performs for individuals or society. (EMILE DURKHEIM) defines religion in terms of the contribution it makes to social integration, rather than any specific belief in God or the supernatural. An advantage of functional definitions are that they yare INCLUSIVE allowing us to include a wide range of beliefs and practices A disadvantage of functional definitions just because an institution helps integrate individuals into a group it doesn’t make it a religion. SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST- take an interpretivist approach that focuses on how members of society themselves define religion, argue that its not possible to produce a single universal definition to cover all cases since in reality different individuals and groups mean very different things by ‘religion’ FUNCTIONALIST THEORIES OF RELIGION Functionalists see society as a system of interrelated parts or social institutions such as religion, the family and...
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... Introduction In these Teachers’ Notes we’re going to review a number of theories of crime and deviance from a Structural Functionalist perspective. In case this sociological perspective is not clear to you, the first part of these Notes is given over to a brief overview of this perspective. If you are familiar with this perspective, then this overview will serve as revision material... The second part of these Notes will provide an overview of some of the basic themes and theories put forward by writers working within this general perspective to explain crime. Functionalism: An Overview The Functionalist perspective is a form of Structuralist sociology and, as such, we can initially characterise it as a form of macro sociological theorising. In this respect, the main theoretical question addressed by sociologists working within the Functionalist perspective is that of: * How do social systems ("societies") hold together? In their attempts to provide an answer to this question, Functionalists have initially concentrated upon two ideas that are closely related to the above: 1. How is order maintained in any society? 2. What are the main sources of stability in any society? As you might imagine - given that the theoretical emphasis seems to be placed on rather grand questions about the nature of social systems - Functionalist sociologists are not particularly concerned with an examination of individual...
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...century (Lindsey, 2005). As my research evolves, I plan to examine gender roles in various aspects of 21st century life: workplace, relationships, parenting, voting, consumer behavior, etc. Since this is such a broad topic, my research will likely lead to a paper with a more narrow focus. For now, I've chosen references which are established articles on this broader topic. This research will likely become more focused as I develop the paper. Origin of Gender Roles The gender roles have evolved a great deal from the onset of the human civilization which started as hunter gathers. The males were primarily responsible to provide food, shelter and protection while the women looked after the offspring and took care of the tribe. The Functionalist perspective explains this fairly non-overlapping segregation of gender roles in the pre-industrial society. Evolution of Gender Roles For a considerable period of time there was little or no interaction between the different civilizations and therefore each society developed its own distinct culture and the socialization process. The local socio-economic factors, religious beliefs, legal and political factors had huge impact of the development of gender roles. In the initial years of the 21st century the agents of socialization had a very narrow, local and a limited impact. These agents were the family, peers, the school and then the workplace. However, industrialization changed all that in a number of ways. The advent of mass production...
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...According to Conflict Theory, society is: • A struggle for dominance among competing social groups (classes, genders, races, religions, etc.). When conflict theorists look at society, they see the social domination of subordinate groups through the power, authority, and coercion of dominant groups. In the conflict view, the most powerful members of dominant groups create the rules for success and opportunity in society, often denying subordinate groups such success and opportunities; this ensures that the powerful continue to monopolize power, privilege, and authority. You should note that most conflict theorists oppose this sort of coercion and favor a more equal social order. Some support a complete socioeconomic revolution to socialism (Marx), while others are more reformist, or perhaps do not see all social inequalities stemming from the capitalist system (they believe we could solve racial, gender, and class inequality without turning to socialism). However, many conflict theorists focus on capitalism as the source of social inequalities. The primary cause of social problems, according to the conflict perspective, is the exploitation and oppression of subordinate groups by dominants. Conflict theorists generally view oppression and inequality as wrong, whereas Structural-Functionalists may see it as necessary for the smooth running and integration of society. Structural-Functionalism and Conflict Theory therefore have different VALUE-ORIENTATIONS but can...
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...Parsons: Values and Meaning• Parsons sees religion helping individuals to cope with unforeseen events and uncontrollable outcomes. He identifies two other essential functions that religion performs in modern society. • It creates and legitimates society’s central values. This is done my sacralising them. In the USA, Protestantism has sacralised the core American values of individualism, meritocracy and self-discipline. This serves to promote consensus and social stability. • It is the primary source of meaning. It answers ultimate questions about the human condition e.g., why the good suffer and why some die young. Such events defy our sense of justice and make life appear meaningless, and this may undermine our commitment to society’s values. Religion provides answers to such questions, e.g. by explaining suffering as a test of faith that will be rewarded in heaven. By doing so, religion enables people to adjust to adverse events or circumstances and helps maintain stability Parsons: Values and Meaning• Parsons sees religion helping individuals to cope with unforeseen events and uncontrollable outcomes. He identifies two other essential functions that religion performs in modern society. • It creates and legitimates society’s central values. This is done my sacralising them. In the USA, Protestantism has sacralised the core American values of individualism, meritocracy and self-discipline. This serves to promote consensus and social stability. • It is the primary source...
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...anomie; civil religions * Marxism: religion as ideology, legitimating social inequality, disguising exploitation etc * Weber: religion as a force for social change: theodicies, the Protestant ethic * Neo-Marxism: religion used by those opposing the ruling class, liberation theology * Feminism: religious beliefs supporting patriarchy * Fundamentalist beliefs: rejecting change by reverting to supposed traditional values and practices. Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements, and their relationship to religious and spiritual belief and practice * Typologies of religious organisations: churches, denominations, sects and cults, with examples of each New Religious Movements and typologies of NRMs eg world rejecting/accommodating/affirming; millenarian beliefs, with examples of each * New Age movements and spirituality, with examples * The relationship of these organisations to religious and spiritual belief and practice. The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices * Reasons why people join NRMs, NAMs and other organisations * Gender and religion: women: women’s greater participation, women in religious organisations including NRMs; men’s participation and organisational roles in religions; sexuality and religion; images of gender in religions * Ethnicity and religion: religion and ethnic...
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