For example primary socialisation takes place within the home where children are taught basic life skills such as manners, morals and how to behave. The next socialisation is usually education, provided by the government, which enables children to learn skills and gain qualifications then go on to work and pay taxes to the government for the whole process to continue. This cycle shows society working together in an ordered stable way which results in productivity. One of Functionalism’s unique key concepts is the collective conscience brought up by Emile Durkheim, which means everyone agrees on social norms and values. This value consensus provides a base for society to work as one towards a common goal. On the other hand Marxism is viewed as a conflict sociological theory. It was founded by Karl Marx who was a strong believer in communism. Just like functionalism, Marxism is a macro theory based on society as a whole and on a large scale. Marxists believe in ruling ideology. This means society is unequal and is split into different groups divided by class, wealth and social status rather than the consensus and conformity of the functionalist view. Functionalists believe that collective conscious comes from the socialisation we experience.
Individuals learn what are society’s expectations, values and norms from interacting with others. In contrast, Marxism spoke on the conflict of interest within the society itself. For example, the bourgeoisie are the ruling class who own the means of production and want to become rich and have power over the proletariats. The proletariats work large amounts of hours for the bourgeoisie for minimal wages and are therefore the subject class. The conflict strain is due to the friction of the working class’s needs for more wages and the ruling class’s xploitation and deprivation of the working class’s rights. Functionalists agree that social classes exist but would argue that these are to create balance and create a social role for everyone. Both Functionalism and Marxism are structural perspectives and see crime as coming from the nature of society rather than from the individual. But where functionalists see crime as coming from a breach of the shared values of society, Marxists see it as a breaking of the rules imposed by a ruling minority. For functionalists laws are created from shared values. For Marxists these laws are not created out of a consensus but by a minority to benefit that minority. Marxists argue that capitalist society actually generate crime because it encourages greed and crime is a response to the inequalities in wealth. Analogies can be used in both theories to explain the social structure. Functionalism uses the human body as an example which demonstrates how all the organs are vital and work together for survival. Marxism uses the building analogy to show how the economy is the base of all parts in society and how it develops according to how economy develops.
The Essay on Socioeconomic Class Marx Social Change
Brief Analysis Of Karl Marx's Views On The Relationship Between Social Change, Socioeconomic Class Structure And Ideology As James Farganis (1993) notes, Karl Marx "continues to be of interest... ." (p. 27) to many sociologists. According to Alan Swingewood (1991), "During the course of the 1840's and 1850's, Marxism emerged as the first sociological theory which identified scientific analysis ...
