In my Sociology class we had the opportunity to choose a current event and interpret it from different perspectives. I chose to look at the issue of immigration in the United States from a functionalist viewpoint. I learned so much from stepping back and looking at this issue from all different sides.
In a current event news article the increasing dilemma of immigrants crossing the border into the United States was examined. A recent spike in the number of children and families crossing the border has captured the interest of the media. It has been concerning as most of these children travel alone, there were “more than 4,600 unaccompanied children and more than 5,000 adults with children apprehended at the U.S.-Mexico border.” Normally during the summer months the number of immigrants entering the United States drops to its lowest numbers. Hot temperatures create a danger for those making the journey across countries. Yet it is understandable to see why so many people are trying to enter into the United States. Most are coming from countries with high levels of poverty, gangs, and violence. Also, the United States announcement of their plan to accept more refugees is encouraging to those that wish to escape their home countries. As immigrants enter the US with plans to find work and take jobs, citizens’ viewpoints have been creating tension and controversy on whether or not these immigrants should be allowed passage into the United States. The U.S. hopes to spread awareness of the dangers and risk involved with leaving one’s country and are willing to send immigrants back to their home country if the problem becomes too large.
We can analyze the current illegal immigration situation through the structural functional approach. This approach views society as many parts that are all interconnected, working and contributing together. Therefore, it is people themselves that create problems and dysfunction among society. The social pathology theory describes how human flaws or “bad choices”, such as crimes, are pathologies that threaten the system of society. Social Darwinism used to play a large part in who people considered weaker and harmful to society’s overall well being. This idea of certain people being more worthy than others was abandoned, having no scientific evidence to support such claims. Another theory later arose called the social disorganization theory, believing rapid social change was the cause of breakdowns in society. This took away from the idea that dysfunction was a result of people, and was rather due to disorganization and a chaotic society.
To understand illegal immigration from the viewpoint of a functionalist, we must dismiss the idea that immigrants are taking wanted jobs away from American workers. Most jobs taken by immigrants are considered menial labor and such jobs are undesirable to most Americans. Recently, the United States has been faced with an economic deterioration as the amount of these lowly job positions are going unfilled. From this angle we can consider that American society benefits from immigrant workers who take jobs that are “beneath” the skill level and experience of American workers. This provides society and the marketplace with the employment and activity needed to achieve its desired output. In the book, A Division of Labor in Society, Emile Durkheim compared society and the function of labor to a person’s body and how it functions. Each portion inside the body plays an important role for one’s overall well being. Yet if one part stops working correctly, or stops entirely, the whole body is affected. Problems are created the body cannot continue until the problem is fixed, or the consequences may be dire. This is the same with how society operates. These immigrants help American society function properly, adding workers to the field and creating productivity. A functionalist would find a solution in the act of allowing illegal immigrants to more easily become legal, granting them access to the work force in America. With more lenient allowance of immigrants in the United States, these events would be looked at in a more positive light and less as a problem.
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