These cientists can be differentiated due to the paradigms, the “lenses” that view society from certain angle and characterize it accordingly. There are three major paradigms in sociology, which are Structural Functionalism, Social Conflict and Symbolic Interaction. Nowadays, there are many ways of implementing these paradigms for learning society in smaller scale, in similar to reality interpretations. Focus on a certain group or community and on their lifestyle can best be observed in movies. Therefore, movies can be used for examination of a certain episode with usage of particular paradigm.
Good Will Hunting Good Will Hunting, is the movie that draws attention to the problems of society in convincing people of their identity. The main character, Will Hunting, is an orphan, who cannot his place in society. The movie suggests the actions necessary to go forward and realization of one ‘ s potential. However, Will is not a simply lost young man, he is a genius with incredible brain skills and tendency for understanding concepts that are unavailable for ordinary person. Once, when Will solves the theorem in one the prestigious universities, mathematician will notice him and his talent.
Mathematician ecides to use his extraordinary abilities for solution of his mathematical problems. Despite lack of WilFs enthusiasm, he agrees to help him for being released from imprisonment only. The main issue discussed in the movie, is why Will does not use his abilities for enhancing his lifestyle, what are the reason for his closeness for society. Sean – psychologist helps Will and calls him to actions; he explains him the basic concepts of life which Will had to obey, and indicates the mistakes Will was doing in socialization.
Meeting with Skylar, and building romantic relationships with her triggered Will for starting he actions for changing his lifestyle. Finally, Will realizes that his future is related to Skylar and his love directs him to correct pathway of life. Although the movie presents typical love story issue, there many philosophical topics which are tangent to sociology in details of the story. Structural Functionalism Structural Functionalism is the first of three major paradigms in sociology that was discovered by Auguste Comte’s.
He with few other sociologists, defined structural functionalism like a building framework that see society as a system, which have to work together for giving out solidarity and stability. If he is one that stop working then the whole thing will collapse. In other aspect it can also view as social function and its consequences of a social pattern for society as a whole and this can break into two function that is manifest function and latent function. Theories: Emily Durkheim that helped to establish sociology at a french point that the society unified when many traditions were breaking down.
And Herbert Spencer (1820-1903) said that the society is like a human body that have bones, skeleton, muscles, internal and external organs that need to function as one system or else everything in the human body will give out problem nd collapse. The US sociologist Robert K. Merton (1910-2003) said that society structure have many functions such as manifest function that recognized and intended consequences of any social pattern, latent functions the opposites of manifest functions and lastly social dysfunction that any social pattern that may disrupt the operation of society. Macionis J. , 2014) Education Education is a system that exist in today society. Education was invented long ago till now there still remain a mystery of it origin, and without education their will be no society today and people will be stuck at the stone dge. The role of education is to feed people With knowledge and to do that as stated by Herbert Spencer that society as a human body this to can be relate to it. Just like a human body education also need its part and without it their will be a problem.
And those part are a school so their will be a place for education to take place just like in the movie good will hunting the protagonist work inside the school where an education take place inside,other than that it also need someone to distribute the knowledge and that someone is the teacher or lecturer just like in the movie where there is re teacher that teach the classroom and distribute knowledge to people other than that it also need a receiver or other know as the students like in the movie inside the school there a whole bunch of student in the classroom that receive the knowledge that being distributed by the teacher or lecturer.
Sport Sport is a game that have been recognise by many people and been enjoy by the majority of the world and people make it a national thing and been share by the whole world. Not every game can be consider as a sport because it must have the following as mention before. And if their is a sport then its ust have it rule.
And as Herbert Spencer said that society is like a human body this rule can be apply in the sport to, just like in the movie when will hunting or aka Damon and his friend go to watch a junior baseball, and baseball are consider as a sport because it being recognize by the majority of the world and it also being play by the people around the world.
Also to play baseball it need to have player in each team just like in the movie other than the player their also need a coach to coach and teach the team on how to play baseball and follow the rule at the same time as in the movie their are a oach that are present inside the game to look on the team that their teach and lastly their is the referee it job is to look at team fighting to keep their score, to judge wherever their got the score or not and lastly their will look if the player play by the rule because the referee have the power to determine who win or to stop the game refer in the movie where the referee were quietly watching the game while keeping the score and watch out on whoever team does follow the rule. Business Business is a method where there are two party involve in a trade for something with a cash or money.
Long time ago before money was invented people will do business with an object and another object this is called a barter system but the system was hard to give an equal amount thus people invent money, but it does stop there people then create a store where people can go trade any kind object with money thus doing business. Then people keep evolving and now instance just an object their sale food and their even make a place where people can go buy and eat food that thing is called a restaurant and instance just food their also created a bar as seeing in the movie where mostly their sale alcohol drinks. The bar as show in the movie must follow the principle of Herbert Spencer that society as a human body and need all of the internal organs to work together if not it will have a problem.
As show in the movie where the protagonist when inside the bar to have a drinks with his friend after one hard day of work, the bar have a system where their is a bartender to prepare a drinks example inside the movie the bartender prepare a variety Of drinks to the people inside the bar, other than that their a waitress that taking out order and bring out food to people inside the bar and lastly the customer who can be call as consumer hat come to the bar to do business by buying drinks and food as show in the movie where will hunting and his friend go in the bar to relax, drink and eat. Prison Prison is a place for rehabilitate people so that they can fit in the society.
Prison usually hold on people that break the law that was set by the society and was being sent to be rehabilitate and as Herbert Spencer theory that society was like a human body can also being use in the prison for prison to work it will need a guard that will rehabilitate people and keeping them in line so they those do anything stupid such as break out, killing, raping or anything hat put them inside prison in the first place-based on the movie Damon that was caught and put inside the prison because of a street fight and when he was by the phone booth he saw his friend was being drag by the prison guard when he was trying to escape, other than that they were also a warden that keep all the key of the cells inside the prison and In the movie the warden bring will into the interrogation room and lastly for the prison to be complete they must have a prisoner to be lock up inside the cells.
TO summarize it the prison follow the rules of structural functional where they need the whole art working together to create solidarity and stability and if any of the part stop working then the whole system will collapse and it is view as a whole same concept that can be found inside the prison wall. Conclusion In conclusion, structural functional paradigm that needs the whole committee to work together for general purpose. as Herbert Spencer said that society is like a human body and need all of the organ to function for the wellbeing of the human. Therefore, if even one part of the system performs more proper than the rest of parts, it can implicate negatively or even stop the functioning of all system. In the movie there can be found many instances for structural functionalism such as the education, business, sport and lastly prison.
This identifies how society is built on many parts that cooperate for the achievement of stability and wellbeing. Social Conflict Social-conflict is one of the three major theoretical approaches that sociologists use when conducting their research of society. This approach sees society as a sphere full of inequality which will induce social conflict and social change. There are a number of factors which are given emphasis on in this approach such as class, race, ethnicity, gender and age. These factors are emphasized on how they are linked to inequality in terms of money, power, education and social prestige. The main focus of this approach is how any social pattern benefits some while hurting others.
For example, the ongoing conflict between dominant and disadvantaged categories of people such as the rich in relation to the poor, white people in relation to people to color, and men in relation to women. This conflict promotes the mentality of protecting the privileges given for the people in power and trying to gain more for the people lower in power. There are two major theories in Social- Conflict which are Gender-conflict theory and Race-conflict theory. Gender- Conflict Theory is the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between women and men. This theory is centered on the revelation of the many ways society places men in positions of power over women.
The second theory, Race-Conflict Theory is the study of society that focuses on inequality and conflict between people of different racial and ethnic categories. This theory is centered on the social advantages which are possessed by white people over color people. (Reference from Society: The Basics, John J. Macionis, Twelfth Edition) Methods There are 3 theories used in analyzing this movie. The first theory is Karl Marx’sClass Conflict. The second theory is Karl Marx’s Law Of Increasing Poverty. The last theory is deviance and inequality. An Orphan An orphan is a child who does not has parentsbecause he/she is abandoned by them or they are dead before the orphan can know them.
Orphans are at a disadvantaged because they do not have parents to guide them and also need to start from the lowest social class because they have no inheritances. Based on Karl Marx’s theory of class conflict,social stratification benefits some eople and disadvantages others. This is because society resources are divided into ones that benefit some people and ones that harm others. In the movie, Will is an orphan thus he does not enjoyed the benefits of having parents and also inheritance. He lives in a broken-down house and also works as a janitor at university. He is a genius and should be studying at the university he is working for but because of his background he is just a janitor. Poor Poor means that a person does not have sufficient money and are forced to live a life of poverty.
The implications of this are the poor usually do not have ccess to basic needs to live comfortably which includes foods, clothes and shelters. As Karl Mar*s theory said that if a person is born in a poor family then his in whole life he will always be poor. This is because the poor will not have the capabilities to change their social class because all of the available opportunities are taken by the rich. The effect of this trend is the rich and powerful will become richer while the poor will become poorer. Based on the movie, Will was raised by an orphanage and was surrounded by poverty and as a result he did not have the opportunity to get a proper education thus he emained poor.
Education is important for securing a good job and because he does not have it, he cannot get a good job. Instead, he got a job as a janitor at a university although he has a very high IQ and can easily solve a difficult equation which was posted on the whiteboard by a lecturer from that university. The lecturer who posted the question also thought that it was a bit difficult even for the smartest student in his class. Street fight A street fight is a fist fight being performed by an individual or a group of individual that happens in the street which causes disturbance to the people in the area. Usually a street fight occurs when there is conflict between two party of people that will lead to a fight.
The people that get into street fight can also be categorized as deviants because it go against the rules that are set by the society, and whoever does not follow the rule can be considered as a deviant. In the movie, Will and his gang got involved in a fight with another group because he saw that particular group was harassing a woman. This particular action of that group caused conflict for Will because he disliked one member of that group and also his intolerance of the harassment they done o the woman. Thus, this chain of events caused Will to went out of his way to fight them and his gang followed. The norm for handling this particular problem is by diplomacy. This fight shows that Will and his gang are deviants because they do not care for the social norm or the law.
The conclusion for this approach is that social conflict always exists in every society as long as there is race, ethnicity, gender and age. Symbolic Interaction Symbolic interaction is the third major paradigm in sociology that helps understanding how the society operates. Symbolic interactionists believe that ociety is constructed through everyday interaction between people. People interact with each other, sharing the meanings of objects, concepts, ideas not as they are in reality, but by defining them with subjective interpretation. The main difference between this paradigm and others is that Symbolic interaction is microview paradigm that focuses on individuals, not on the whole society.
According to the principles of following paradigm, individual action or behavior can have significant effect on the entire community. Theories: Herbert Blumer, sociologist who made a significant contribution to the evelopment of symbolic interaction, defines the following paradigm relying on three premises (1969). According to the first premise, it is common for human nature to behave in a certain pattern towards an object due to the meaning this object represents for him. The meaning is obtained and shaped through social interaction with other people, which is the second premise. The third premise reveals that people modify, absorb and interpret the meaning of object or concept basing on the knowledge and experience the one has.
In symbolic interaction paradigm this discourse would mean that eople everyday label objects with special meaning and through social interactions, they tend to modify their view toward that object. Moreover, these views identify the way people act on that particular object by determining the perception of this meaning to be real (Blumer, 1969). Labeling theory, founded by Howard Becker, describes and explains the deviance from symbolic interactionism point of view. According to this theory, one is not considered deviant unless others respond to his actions as if they are deviant. Hence, it is more about how society reacts to the actions, how they label them. Consequently, one action can have several responds and respectively labels, depending on various points of view over how this action was conducted.
After all, pressure from society forces the person labeled as deviant to accept that he is deviant. The main objective of theory is to determine society s role in deviance (Macionis J. , 2014). Edwin Sutherland who was an American sociologist had developed a theory called differential association. This theory is proposed through interacting with one other, individuals learn the attitudes, techniques, values and intention for criminal action. Differential association is more about the learning theories of deviance, an individual’s potential to become deviance is depended on how close is the relationship of the individual with the others who inspire or deny ordinary behaviour (Macionis J. J. , 2013) Max Weber is a German sociologist.
He is one of the sociologists who contributed the most on the symbolic interaction/symbolic interactionism theory. His theory of symbolic interaction is about different individuals will have different point of views of a same situation, any objects do not have a meaning for themselves but the meaning an be defined to suit their life moreby the interaction with others. Cay D. Gatrell, R. Kleinsasser J. W. Slocum Jr; C. Wekerle, 2009) Points: Herbert Blumer views society basing on three premises, according to which society is a product of everyday interaction between people, where every object and concept has certain meaning as well as a reaction towards it.
In the movie, Blumer s discourse can be implicated in perception of love for Will Hunting and how it has changed the meaning of love for him through interaction. The main character, Will Hunting, is an orphan who has never experienced true love. Moreover, he has never wanted to feel real relationships, because in his view, as going deep in interaction with a partner, discovery of imperfections would ruin the whole attitude towards that person. ‘This girl is perfect right now. don ‘t wanna ruin that’ is the episode that best defines Will ‘s symbol of love, its meaning that love should be ideal. Therefore, Will has never tried to go further, he was afraid of the fact that his partner might be “not perfect”.
On the other hand, further episodes of the movie discover that Will also did not want to ruin impression about him, that he is also not ideal man. However, the symbol of love would significantly change after interaction with psychologist – Sean. Sean explained him that ‘the question is whether or not you are perfect for each other… the only way you are finding out that one is by giving it a shot Now, Will s perception of love was changed, it started meaning more than being perfect. Consequently, Will decided to find out more about Skylar, and to proceed their relationships. In there, he behaves according to the new meaning, obtained by discussion with psychologist. Besides, during the communication with his lover and real life experience, Will modifies his view about relationships.
By interacting with third part, symbol (in this case love) has changed its meaning for Will, which is a key element of symbolic interaction paradigm. Through Sean s love story Will concluded for himself that he needs to sacrifice something for achieving true love exactly such as Sean sacrificed the legendary match of his baseball team for meeting his future wife. Will was scared of losing a job perspectives, leaving his hometown and refused to come with Skylar (his girlfriend). However, after a dialogue with Sean, he decides to sacrifice his job opportunity and leave his friends for meeting with love of his life. This part suits the third premise, because Will changes his lifestyle and starts acting toward new perception of love; this reflects on his behavior.
Blumer s discourse suggests that one person s change of perception about particular concept can have significant implications on other people, community. One of the greatest minds in the world Steve Jobs inspired numerous people; he changed the way they think. James Green is among those who received valuable advices from Steve as having a pleasure to be hired by Steve Jobs in position of Vice President. In his article, James says that he learnt: to hire orkers whose aim suits company’ s demand, to clarify what potential employee is expected to do, to create relationships with co-workers before starting to perform and to have a courage for comeback and enjoying the victory (Green, 2013).
All these lessons changed James s mentality, the way he performed as manager, and thus implicated in his further success. This example is one more proof of how society is shaped by meanings labeled to objects through interaction of its members. Howard Becker, in his Labeling theory, explains the deviance as it is a respond presented by people to a certain action. Good Will Hunting provides an example for the theory in life experience of Will. Since Will is a definitely gifted young man, is supposed to perform in well-paid job, and his potential could provide him with bright future. However, instead of starting is career at a certain successful company, Will persistently does not take action towards this direction.
Consequently, people surrounding him, including professor, Sean, his friend Chuck, they all suggest him to start working in prestigious profession, instead of wasting his time in construction work or cleaning the university. In general, people s espond to his action, that he does not want to work in prestigious profession, leads to labeling him deviant. The main concern is that he is wasting his potential. If he did not have that genuineness, he could avoid such labeling. This example from movie explains that the person is labeled deviant due to the actions who took (in this case, the action that Will did not take) or decisions he made. There are many examples of how deviance can vary due to difference in community.
For instance, in most of conservative cultures, such as Central Asian and Russian cultures, homosexualism is considered as eviance, and sometimes can implicate in physical punishment. However, in Thailand, people view homosexualism as common case, and do not concern about this issue much. In conclusion, labeling theory is highlights that deviance is subjective in its labeling and varies according to overall perception of society. Edwin Sutherland’s differential association theory can be prove in the episode of the movie which Will Hunting and his gang of friends decided to beat the person who used to bully Will when they were in kindergarten.
One of Will’s friends not really wants to do that with them but in the end he oined the fight because he was forced to do so (“Let me tell you something. If you’re not out there in Ohio fxxking seconds, when I’m done with them, you’re next. “). From this part of movie, an individual can be deviance due to how close is the relationship between the person who encourages and encouraged. According to a research, there are three categories of gang membership dependent variable: former gang membership, current gang membership, never in a gang (non-gang member). This differential dissociation theory is proven by a survey Of asking the questions about their self-control and the categories which they are in.
As a result, current gang membership’s members have the highest chance to follow their gang’s behaviour no matter it is deviance or not and follow by former gang membership’s members and the people who never in a gang (Jason Kissner, David C. Pyrooz, 2009). The symbolic interaction theory from Max Weber is clearly proven from the movie ‘Good Will Hunting’ where Sean (psychologist who gives Will therapy) shared his experience about his passed-away wife used to fart when she gets nervous and even when she was sleeping. People called these things imperfection but for Sean, these little things are those he anted to treasure about and he described them as ‘good stuffs’. This episode shows that through interaction with someone can really change one’s perception towards a situation.
In real life, a survey called Youth Smoking Survey (YSS) 2012-2013 had been done. (http://www. hcsc. gc. ca/hc-ps/tobac- tabac/research -recherche/stat/ _survey-son dage_2012-2013/result-e ng. php). Through this survey, people have found that teenagers tend to smoke even though they are well informed about the risks of tobacco because they define the situation of smoking as a ‘cool stuff. They can also influence their peers ecause the symbolic meaning of smoking overrides the actual risks of smoking. Conclusion: Good Will Hunting, illustrates the role one individuals in the society, their contribution and influence on events happening in our community.
Symbolic Interaction paradigm explains that society is full of meanings, labels created by people and individuals behave respectively to these meanings. The followers of this paradigm such as Blumer, Weber, Sutherland and Becker made clarification over the paradigm and implementation of their theories in the movie witnesses about validity of these thoughts. Overall conclusion In the movie there area lots of paradigm that can be taken and the paradigm consist of Sl(symbolic interaction), SF(structuraI functional), and lastly SC(social conflict). The paradigm is taking about the human behaviour on interact with other human being and what their do and as Auguste Comte’s said that human behaviour can be categorize as three paradigm that is SI,SF, and SC.
Sl or other know as symbolic interaction are the human think them self as god he and only he can decide his future and set his own destiny, their think nothing in the world cannot help he except himself. SF or other know as structural functional is where human think that everything must have stability and structure this type of people have to people working together to survive and if one person does do his or her job than the whole system will collapse. And lastly SC or other know as social conflict is where everything have a fault and nothing is fair this type of paradigm usually lead to deviant act in the society and mostly because Of this human have and always will have a conflict.
