Question

Mark, whose parents are wealthy, has been socialized to believe that he can be whoever he wants to be. His best friend Matt, whose parents are blue-collar workers, has been socialized to believe that hard work and following instructions is all he needs to support himself. Which sociological paradigm does this story fit?
a) Symbolic Interactionismb) Structural Functionalismc) Conflictd) Feminist Theory

Answer 1

Answer:

c) Conflict

Explanation:

Conflict theory is a theory that was developed by Karl Marx. The main idea of this theory is that there will always be a state of conflict between the poor people and the rich people because there are no resources for everyone, and therefore, the ones who possess the more resources (the rich ones) will try to keep them while the ones who don't possess them (the poor ones) will try to get them.

Therefore, society is in a permanent state of inequality because it benefits just a few groups of people.

In this example, Mark comes from a wealthy family and he has learned that he can be whoever he wants to be. Matt, on the other hand, comes from a blue-collar workers family and has learned he has to work hard and follow instructions to support himself. We can see that there is a difference between the conditions they both have grown. It represents the state of inequality that conflict theory exposes in which there is a difference in how life is expected to be for rich people opposed to life for poor people. Therefore, this story fits in the conflict theory paradigm