SOCIOLOGICAL

The Functionalism Perspective
Name
Institution
Date
The perspective I agree with and why
I agree with the functionalism perspective as it involves societal development and the maintenance of social order. This perspective shows how the behavior of persons leads to society functioning effectively. The perspectives assumption is that for a society to be in order, all parts have to be intertwined and dependent on each other (University of Minnesota, 2016). Therefore, changing some part of the community results in a change of other parts and the police are a part of these aspects. All sectors of the society combined see to order, and stability and failure of being intertwined mean a new order have to be brought in to enhance productivity. A society cannot thrive without cohesion as all persons are needed to achieve the common good for all. The functionalism perspective makes more sense than the conflict perspective which revolves around negative aspects of the society and argues that the weak have the rich impose social order on them. The conflict perspective views the society negatively by arguing that social order is for controlling the masses. This theory is wrong in arguing that law enforcement is established to oppress the poor.
The interactionist perspective is also wrong as it ignores the large societal issues while focusing on small issues. The perspective also argues that how individuals interact with law enforcement is marred by the social forces which are wrong when compared to functionalism.

Functionalism, for instance, sees to persons being hired to join the police force based on merits due to their examination tests and background checks. Therefore, functionalism sees to individuals being hired professionally and they can perform well. This is unlike the conflict theory which questions the criteria of selecting persons to join the police force and cast doubt on merits of appointment. The interactionist perspective is also wrong as it implies that persons try to impress the hiring board to take them on based on their strategies and not merits.

ReferenceUniversity of Minnesota (2016). 1.3 Theoretical Perspectives in Sociology – Sociology: Understanding and Changing the Social World. Retrieved from https://open.lib.umn.edu/sociology/chapter/1-3-theoretical-perspectives-in-sociology/