Sociology and Prostitution

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Sociology and Prostitution 1

According to the popular information website wi!ipedia sociology can be define as the

scientific study of human society and its origins, de"elopment, organi#ations, and institutions

$2013%& 'his is not necessarily the te(tboo! definition, but it will wor! for the purposes of this

paper& A significant factor to such a broad science is that society)s origins, de"elopment,

organi#ations, and institutions must all be considered& *or this reason it ma!es sense that there

should be differing perspecti"es& 'his paper will summari#e the three ma+or sociological

perspecti"es and discuss a factor of society)s se(uality, prostitution, in light of these approaches&

y understanding prostitution from the social-conflict, structural-functionalist, and symbolic-

interactionist perspecti"es the comple( dilemma that is prostitution can be better understood&The Three Perspectives

'he structural-functionalist approach "iews society structurally& 'hat is to say, as more of

a systematic machine than anything else& 'his implies that e"erything in society has its own role

in the bigger picture& Macionis describes this perspecti"e "ery thoroughly. 'he structural-

functional approach is a framewor! for building theory that sees society as a comple( system

whose parts wor! together to promote solidarity and stability $Macionis et& al 2012%& A

significant part of this theory is in the second part of this definition& Promoting solidarity and

stability gi"es a reason why society wor!s this way, and should therefore be understood this way&

An e"en more significant aspect to this theory is the emphasis on social functions& 'hese

can be described as the conse/uences of any social pattern for the operation of society as a

whole $Macionis et& al 2012%& 'hese indi"idual functions ma!e up the greater society& y

"iewing interactions in society as social functions their importance and role can become easily

apparent&




'he social-conflict theory is "ery different from the structural-functionalist "iew& t is

much less interested in the smaller units of society, and instead loo!s to much larger societal

units& 'hese larger units are the social classes& Macionis describes this theory as a framewor!

for building theory that sees society as an arena of ine/uality that generates conflict and change

$2012%& mportant to this theory is the idea that there are higher, or more pri"ileged, classes&

Also important is the rele"ance of conflict& lass pri"ilege cause the negati"e influence of

conflict, but conflict is also a symptom of change&'his theory "iews se"eral factors as responsible for class struggle& 'he ine/uality of

things li!e money and education create a power di"ide& Macionis writes. uided by this

approach, sociologists in"estigate how factors such as class, race, ethnicity, gender, and age are

lin!ed to the une/ual distribution, of money, power, education and social prestige $2012%& 'his

ine/uality ser"es some people, but hurts others&'he symbolic-interaction approach is once again "ery different from the other

sociological perspecti"es& n fact, it ta!es an immensely different approach than the other

perspecti"es, focusing primarily on the small and most common aspects of society& Macionis

describes it as a framewor! for building theory that sees society as the product of e"eryday

interactions of indi"iduals& 'his contrasts with the broader "iews of the social-conflict and

structural-functionalist perspecti"es&

Approaches to Prostitution

t goes without saying that these perspecti"es will all ha"e "ery different opinions on the

topic of prostitution& *irstly, what is meant by the term prostitution must be defined& A

suitable definition comes from the te(t. the selling of se(ual ser"ices $Macionis et& al 2012%&

'his definition is simple, and as such in"ites a broad range of opinions&

*irst to be discussed will be the perspecti"e of the structural-functionalist "iew&

econsidering that the structural functionalist perspecti"e is interested in a systematic order in

society prostitution ta!es an interesting position& 'his would imply that it is part of a system&



Sociology and Prostitution

obser"ation would show a uni/ue outloo! on life& 'his could also lead to conclusions about the

effects that modern se(ual beha"ior has on the indi"idual&As a social science, sociology is "ery broad and "ery di"erse& *or this reason there are

se"eral ma+or perspecti"es that cater to it& Structural-functionalist, social-conflict, and symbolic-

interactionist theories attempt to answer /uestions about society as well as e(plain why it is the

way it is& 6ith an issue li!e prostitution these theories cannot answer the /uestion of whether it

is a positi"e or negati"e force in society& 'hey may suggest certain benefits or drawbac!s, but

social science cannot offer up a single e/uation& Prostitution is a result of social forces. it has a

cause, a purpose, and a role in society&




ibliography

Sociology& Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia& 2013& 7www&wi!ipedia&com8

Macionis, 9ohn& 9ansson, S& Mi!ael& enoit, ecilia& Society: The Basics. Pearson anada

ncorporated& 'oronto& 2012&

Sociology and Prostitution

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