What theoretical perspectives explain social issues, and how do functionalist, conflict and feminist views differ?
Theoretical perspectives on social issues: functionalism (consensus), Marxist and conflict theory, feminism, and how each explains inequality, social order and the role of institutions.
How theoretical perspectives explain social issues in SQA Advanced Higher Modern Studies. Covers functionalism (consensus), Marxist and conflict theory, and feminism, and how each perspective explains inequality, social order and the role of institutions such as the family, education and welfare.
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What this key area is asking
Social issues are analysed through theoretical perspectives, the rival frameworks sociologists use to explain inequality, order and institutions. You must understand the main perspectives, functionalism (consensus), Marxist and conflict theory, and feminism, and how each explains why society is shaped as it is. As elsewhere in the course, the examinable skill is to argue between perspectives using evidence, which underpins the 20-mark essay in the social section.
Functionalism (consensus theory)
Functionalism is strong at explaining social order and cohesion, why societies hang together and how institutions contribute to stability. Its weakness, critics argue, is that it understates conflict and can justify inequality as necessary, treating arrangements that benefit some groups as functional for all.
Marxist and conflict theory
Conflict theory is strong at explaining the persistence and pattern of inequality, why disadvantage recurs and whom institutions benefit. Its challenge is the mirror image of functionalism's: it can understate genuine consensus and the ways institutions also serve the wider population, and Marxism in particular is criticised for reducing inequality to class.
Feminism
Feminism's contribution is to expose gendered inequality that class-based and consensus theories overlook, such as the pay gap, unpaid domestic labour and occupational segregation. Its internal range is examinable, because the variants disagree on the source of and solution to inequality, and a strong answer also asks how feminism accounts for class and ethnicity alongside gender.
Setting the perspectives against each other
The examinable skill is argument between perspectives. The same institution, education, say, is read by functionalists as transmitting shared values and allocating roles, by Marxists as reproducing class advantage, and by feminists as reinforcing gender roles. A strong essay holds one perspective as its spine, tests it against the others using evidence, and reaches a judgement, often that conflict and feminist theories better explain inequality while functionalism better explains order and cohesion.
Worked example
Try this
Q1. How does functionalism explain the existence of some social inequality? [2 marks]
- Cue. As functional, rewarding the most important or demanding roles and motivating people to fill them, helping maintain order.
Q2. What is patriarchy, in the feminist account of social issues? [2 marks]
- Cue. A social structure in which institutions (family, work, welfare, law) systematically advantage men over women.
Exam-style practice questions
Practice questions written in the style of SQA exam questions on this dot point, with worked answer explainers. The year tag is the paper they imitate, not the source.
SQA AH (social essay)20 marksTo what extent do conflict theories explain social inequality better than consensus theories?Show worked answer →
A strong essay sets conflict against consensus perspectives, uses evidence, and argues a judgement rather than describing each theory.
Consensus theory (functionalism) sees society as an integrated whole in which institutions perform necessary functions and some inequality is functional, rewarding important roles and maintaining order through shared values. Conflict theory (Marxism, and in part feminism) sees society as divided by competing interests, with inequality reflecting the dominance of one group, the ruling class for Marxists, men for feminists, over another, sustained through institutions that serve the powerful. Use evidence such as the reproduction of class advantage through education, the gender pay gap, and unequal welfare outcomes. The judgement should weigh explanatory power, often concluding that conflict theories better explain the persistence and pattern of inequality while functionalism better explains social order and cohesion. Marks come from sustained argument and balanced use of theory.
SQA AH (social essay)20 marksCritically examine the contribution of feminist perspectives to understanding social inequality.Show worked answer →
The marks reward analysis of feminist perspectives against and alongside other theories and a substantiated judgement.
Explain that feminism analyses inequality through gender, arguing that society is structured by patriarchy so that institutions such as the family, work and welfare advantage men, and note its internal range (liberal feminism seeking equal rights within the system, radical feminism locating oppression in patriarchy itself, and socialist feminism linking gender and class). Set this against functionalism, which has been criticised for treating traditional gender roles as functional, and alongside Marxism, which feminists argue underplays gender. Use evidence such as the pay gap, unpaid domestic labour and occupational segregation. Conclude with a judgement, for instance that feminism is essential for exposing gendered inequality that class-based or consensus theories miss, while it too must account for class and ethnicity.
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