Sociology - beliefs - Flashcards in A Level and IB Sociology

Created by: Lavanya
Created on: 11-02-25 16:42

Functionalists and religion

- religion is a conservative force which promotes stability
- Durkheim studied the Arunta tribe and identified the difference between the sacred and profane.
- sacred = great significance
- profane= everyday experiences

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Social change and stability:
Civil religion

Bellah: in some secular society peoples worship was still based around symbols, but without the supernatural, divine element of traditional religions.
Americanisms: America is religious diverse, however it has religious symbols being the flag, the nationa

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Parsons

- socialisation into value consensus- clear instructions to determine a set of values or moral code.
- religion answers the ultimate questions, those that were deemed to beyond the scope of science.

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Malinowski
Psychological functions

Islanders fishing in safe inshore waters did not practice religious ceremonies, but they did when fishing in more dangerous waters.
He concluded that religion has a physiological function: it helps individuals to deal with anxious and stressful situations

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Evaluation on functionalists views on the role of religion

- most of these theories are outdated in that they tend to describe a society with one unifying religion, practiced by everyone.
- Some have criticised Durkheim from a theological perspective, suggesting he misunderstood aspects of Arunta tribes religion.

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Marists view on religion

Marx described religion as the “opiate of masses”- he saw religion as cushioning people from bad things in life: it deceived the working class and prevented them from overthrowing capitalist society.
Lenin echoed Marx, calling religion spiritual gun which

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Sociology - beliefs

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