¶ … Town in Turmoil
The actions of people in a group are among the major theoretical underpinnings of sociology. The study talks about how those actions happened, why they happened, and what the ramifications are for society at large. Sociological theories try to explain the complexities of how people relate to one another and the major theoretical stances include: structural functionalism, social conflict, and symbolic interaction. With these three theories the article labeled "A town in Turmoil" will be analyzed.
Structural Functionalist Perspective
Basically, this theory states that there are certain structures within society that each have distinct functions. If a certain structure ceases to perform its function, then the entire system breaks down (Deiner, 1999). Many times the human body is used as an example of this theory. Within the body are structures called organs and they all serve distinct functions that are needed for the body to survive. If any of these functions is not completed by that structure, then the body will eventually die. Looking at the article from this perspective it is simple to determine several structures that stopped functioning properly.
It seems apparent that there was already racial tension in the town prior to this incident happening. The black students going over to socialize with white students was not the original cause of the problem. Other white students felt that the black students had overstepped their bounds, and they sent them a message with the nooses. This inappropriate response to a supposed slight was responsible for the actions immediately following it, but there were deeper issues just beneath the surface that were truly responsible.
The primary structures within a community are family, religion, education, economy and government. Two of these structures, education and government, did not fulfill their circumscribed roles or the incident probably would have remained un-charged. However, because of the missteps of a few key players in the drama, a fire was lit under the smoldering ashes of the town's racism.
The first structure to fail in its duty was education. The primary purpose of the high...
Town in Turmoil A Town in Conflict Every story can be told a number of different ways. Each person in a given narrative understands what went on from a particular perspective. Sometimes, if that person is especially perspicacious and especially curious, then she or he can see a particular event from the perspective or one or two other people. But the individual's perspective is always limited, and this is a good
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