Social Mobility and the Sociological Perspectives, Essay Example

Social mobility is defined as the “the ability of individuals or groups to move within a social hierarchy with changes in income, education, occupation, etc” (dictionary.com) meaning how people or generations of people can change their social positions over time. Depending on the perspective through which different sociologists view social mobility, each will explain it in a different way. There are three major sociological perspectives; social conflict theory, structural functionalism and interactionism and each sees social mobility in a different light.

The social conflict perspective believes social mobility to be very rare. This theory started with Karl Marx and asserts that society is divided into “haves” and “have nots” which create social conflict and competition within society. Today it is recognized that the source of conflict is not only from economic difference but also gender, race and sexuality. The result is a highly stratified society in which some dominate and the others are oppressed (Mooney, Knox and Schacht 11-12). According to conflict theorists, social mobility is difficult because class society is always reproduced and even large societal reforms only benefit the wealthy.

Structural functionalism looks at the social structures of society to see how it functions as a whole. The common metaphor used is society as a body and social structures as the organs that keep it going and focuses on society’s effect on the individual (Mooney, Knox and Schacht 8-9) According to structural functionalists, all social structures including social hierarchy have their beneficial place in society; therefore the act of an individual to change their place in society is not necessarily encouraged. Instead they believe that societies are meritocracies which will allow for social mobility if the person takes advantage of opportunities. Any failure to do so is the result of personal inferiority.

Interactionism looks at society on a personal, individual level based on face-to-face interactions and poses that people act according to their interpretation of these interactions and social symbols (Mooney, Knox and Schacht 14-15). Interactionists believe that individuals are the ones able to change their social position once it has been recognized by society as a problem.

In conclusion, social mobility varies in its definition based on the sociological perspective considering it. Some perspectives place the responsibility on the individual and others on the society for changing the social positions of its members.

References

Mooney, Linda A., David Knox, and Caroline Schacht. Understanding Social Problems. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning, 2009. Print

“Social Mobility.” Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 02 Apr. 2012. http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/social mobility