discuss the basic differences between functionalist theory and conflict theory.

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Conflict and Functionalist Theory Differences

Introduction

The conflict theory originated from Karl max , the famous sociologist during his original development of the theory and his fine-tuning work he included the qualifications of other sociologists like Georg Samuel and Max Weber which he considered were necessary (Cliffs 1971 : 12-16 According to the theory , positivism does not necessarily answer everything contrary to believes of functionalists

In general , the conflict theory states that everything happens for reasons other than a general believe that it

was just supposed to happen there are causes and influences which cause such things to happen and the responsibility lies solely on the people and there main purpose is not to gain knowledge only as a functionalist but the transformation of the gained knowledge into action (Durkheim 1915 23-27 . According to the theory even scientists should be activist with regard to their theories , not only explain why such things happen instead , they are supposed to instigate the necessary changes in their theories in to help resolve these issues (Cliffs 1971 : 17-20

The theory differences

The believers of conflict theory and functionalist theory have clear differences in their beliefs , because when functionalist say that they do everything they do because `we love to do it , the conflict theory belief that our societies are not guided necessarily by stability or anything of the sort , but it is possible to transformed the whole society into something Karlmax , Simmed and Weber , and the believers of conflict theory belief that anything that can cause a difference has the capacity to cause a conflict also , be either in areas of competition , opinions , interests and even power , but to a functionalist these issues do not have any serious problems even though conflict theorists do believe that they exhibit other unseen reasons other than the issue of just because we like it (Merton 1968 : 10-15

The way functionalists see the world

All functionalists believers emphasize on the importance of value consensus in society and they do not expect any conflict to occur and if it occurs it is seen as being temporal which will be simply counteracted as the society continues to become better and their main concern of these conflicts is to accept them as small issues when compared to the need for consensus and stability in the society (Cliffs 1971 : 20-26 An example of a functional analysis Shils and Young notes how ceremonies and rituals are meant to serve the purpose of promoting social integration in their society the rituals concerning monarchy church , government leaders , are mainly involved in public promise while the family is seen as the role it plays for members of society , like personal stability and socialization (Parsons 1951 : 19-23

Comparing it with conflict theory by Marx

According to Marxists and his believers of the conflict theory , there exists a fundamental conflict between different groups in our society because , the conflict continues to increase and persist and therefore it is not temporal as functionalists clam it...