Throughout my essay I will be mainly talking about my sociological view of my functionalist on my chosen social setting, HOME. The Functionalist View was inspired by Sociologists Spencer and Durkheim, it argues that society has a structure and its interrelated parts have functions which contribute to the overall stability of the social system. In a system with all the parts so closelydependent, a change in one unit of society will probably lead to alterations in other parts which is why the functionalist approach is the determination of what functions each element in society performs. My chosen social setting is at ‘Home’ and within lies a structure of family where each member act accordingly to their functions and responsibilities in which they are classified as, in which your placing in the hierarchy system affects the role you are to be liable of. In the Samoan culture your duties are highly outlined and one cannotseem to change it.
Besides my roles in the community as a student, church member, an athletic and etc. I have come up to specifically talk about my function as part of my family due to my chosen social setting ‘HOME’. As a Samoan girl, a daughter, a sister, and the eldest of the family, I am given big expectations for my chores and responsibilities to be fulfilled. From a sociological perspective my function in the system came to be known at the time I was born as a girl. As sociologists argued on, this period began the process of Socialization as a process of interaction whereby a human becomes a social being. By the time I was dysfunctional, barely knew how things work, did not know how to interact and yet did not develop. From there at a young age I was trained, educated and introduced of what my functionswould be throughout the system of my family at home. As a product of socialization, I have encounter interactions with the people around me, through these interactions I have learned to be a member of a social setting. These interactions somehow, someway have shaped me into the person I am today. Additional different environments and surroundings affect the different socializations. So as I was growing up roles and responsibilities specified for me was highly outlined for what I have been refined and educated of. I am given many functions to play accordingly to my identity and my heritage. I come from an extended family that somehow own a German surname yet founded on strong beliefs of the Samoan culture. Here I, myself had been entitled with one taupou name concerning my Samoan identity. The name ‘Tasalaotele’ is not only just a name but yet a significant figure that comes with big duties and expectations to be maintained. As a Samoan taupou my responsibilities are already outlined through my culture, I serve my family with honour and respect in any way, to maintain my rightful place in the system. My services contributed as a true Samoan girl are as to safeguard my family and to maintain peace among individuals and family members. When it comes to ‘taualugas’ concerning my family I am to dance to represent and symbolise my family in the occasion. Additional to my functions as a Samoan girl, I also cope as the eldest daughter within the family, as a main duty it is dealing with the young ones which comprises looking after, bathing, sleeping, eating and furthermore. I ensure the house is okay, washing be done dishes and clothing, ironings on Sundays before church and among the days of the week. As the eldest among the children I also lend a helping hand to my parents with their roles on a day to day basis. Furthermore of my functions, I act as a role model to my siblings too, being a motivation of striving for the best and taking steps forward in order to reach a goal for a career in order to provide stability in my family and its interdependent parts.
Additional on my functionalist view to further discuss my sociological perspective rises the Conflict View. The conflict view was influenced by Marx and it concentrates on social processes of tension, competition and change. Mainly it focuses on conflicts among groups and interests.
Tension and conflicts within our homes comes among different sources. The conflict arises of how the father mainly holds the power within our homes and families where we, the children have no say in running of the system. As of it, gives a product of imbalance power among individuals within the social setting. Even though we have what it is known as ‘Human Rights’ to fight what it is worth doing yet brings more tension and conflict as the Samoan culture highly value the ‘fa’aaloalo’ terms between the elders and young ones. Furthermore the situation will lead to more conflict as of between the old generation and the young generation due to the modern lifestyles and the upbringing of the Human Rights.
In conclusion of my essay I believe that Sociology has brought upon major changes that society has not been exposed to, through the different perspectives introduced we hereby know and learn what, how and where we belong within our society and our social settings. The ideologies of different theorists has helped and focused mainly on our society as a whole which resulted in Sociological perspectives where