Social institutions comprise mainstays in maintaining order and addressing universal problems. Importantly, the entities play a fundamental role in regulating the behavior of the individuals in the society. Typical establishments, in this case, include the family, economy, government, education, and religion. Indeed, the economy determines and controls the production of goods and services. In this aspect, two philosophies, including capitalism and socialism are applied. Therefore, the government plays a role in establishing rules and decides on how to relate with other societies. Through the sphere, the internal and external peace is maintained. As a matter of fact, the family serves the purpose of nurturing and socializing the young ones as well as passing the traditions. Consequently, individuals acquire the sense of belonging and identity. Education is used in enlightening the people to be valuable and reliable members of the society. Lastly, religion provides a guideline on the supernatural beliefs and defines what constitute the norms and rights. In addition, religious conviction is the source of social solidarity and collective conscience on how to conduct oneself in the interest of others and ultimately an endeavor to please the supernatural.
The three social institutions addressed in the video are the family, religion, and education. In the first video, the prominence is on the increasing number of American living alone. Traditionally, people lived in families comprising of parents and children and they also lived close with other relatives. Contrarily, a large number of the people live solely as students, unmarried, divorced, widowed, and bachelors. In fact, the lifestyle has been intensified due to demands in education and career, and economic hardship. Additionally, it is articulated that living in an urban center and through the modern technology people can live life alone at home but not lonely due to connectivity.
Secondly, a video articulates about religion enunciating that individuals in a society can broadly be divided among the believers and non-believers. Therefore, the social institution plays a unifying role to the people from diverse background. Although religious doctrines and beliefs seem different, their objectives are similar and aim at encouraging acceptable behavior among the people. Worth noting is that people from various affiliations should uphold each other and learn from the best practices to have a united society.
Thirdly, one of the videos entails education. Particularly, the clip articulates that it is not easy to access education due to the increased demand for the limited supply. In fact, the cost of education has escalated significantly making it exorbitant to many individuals. Specifically, the new technology is identified as a powerful tool assisting in enhancing access to global education through the online application. To emphasize, the cost of offering the education has reduced drastically while the outcome would be better because of the diversity of students and the active role they play in the learning process.
It is worth noting that the Elite and Pluralist models of power and politics have become influential in many societies. Under the Elite model, a few individuals control the social, economic, and political systems. Therefore, the small group uses the control to acquire political power or influence government officials and the armed forces. On the other hand, the pluralist ideal is practiced when the people or interest groups influence policy and economic decisions; hence, diluting the concentration of power in a particular region. For instance, instead of the government officials having the vital forces, it is advisable to have farm groups, labor unions, and professional associations, among others groups which would make considerable contributions in how the society is run.
To enumerate, functionalism, conflict, and interactions are the fundamental social perspectives of the family, education, and religion. According to functionalism perspective, the society is made of interconnected parts working collectively to achieve social equilibrium. Specifically, the videos about family and education bring out the perspective considerably. Therefore, as families strive in nurturing and socializing children, education transmits social skills and knowledge to the young and makes them integral members, while religions offer the moral guidance. Contrarily, the conflict perspective views the society as a system made up of groups competing for power, resource, and influence. In the video on education, individuals are seen battling for chances to access education. Additionally, different religious beliefs are said to be a source of conflict in societies as each group tries to demonstrate their perfection of their affiliations over the others. Finally, interactionism refers to the dynamic of individuals as influenced by the interaction with others. Besides, the perspective also suggests that the social interaction shapes identity or sense of belonging. Notably, in the video on education, students learning through the online platforms acquire better skills and deeper knowledge because of the high level of interaction among them. Again, the video on religions articulates that atheists could learn and apply best practices from various religions and become emulated due to their conduct and behaviors in the society.
As is evident from the discussion, it is important to note that the social institutions play different roles in shaping the society. Indeed, the education, economy, family, religions, and politics, are the pillars upon which a society can be defined. In fact, the family, education, and beliefs are highly interconnected and take up the functionalism perspective altogether. Nevertheless, there are some indications that conflicts may exist though at some reserved levels. As a person, the family has nurtured and influenced my socialization level while educations have empowered me through skills and career development. In addition, the religion gives the guidelines on moral conduct. Therefore, it is important for leaders to strike a balance between the functionality of the social functions to have a stable society.
References
Brinkerhoff, D., B., Ortega, S., T & Weit, R. (2013). Essentials of sociology. Ohio. Wadsworth.
Franzese, R., J. (2015). The sociology of deviance: differences, tradition, and stigma. Springfield, Illinois: Charles C Thomas, Publisher, Ltd.
Kendall, D. (2016). Sociology in our times. Boston: MA. Cengage Learning.
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