Examining Undocumented Immigrants Using Sociological Theories

Sociology is the systematic study of human social life. The founders of sociology are Auguste Comte, Harriet Martineau, Karl Marx, and Herbert Spencer. These sociologists used paradigms to view society. Paradigms are a basic image of society or “reality” that guides theories and research. Paradigms are what generate theories. Theories are a product of paradigms that explain or interpret facts generated by research. Theories are the analysis of a set of facts in their relation to one another. There are three paradigms in sociology: structural functionalist paradigm, conflict paradigm, and symbolic interaction paradigm. There are some sociologists that contribute to each paradigm significantly.

In the structural functionalism paradigm, structure can be defined as the “parts” of society. The parts of society can be social institutions, social groups, beliefs and values. How a society has structure that is identifiable and the interconnections among “parts” is defined as holism. Function is an institution, idea, or group that maintains stability. The key questions for this paradigm are: How is society structured? How do the structures fit? How is stability maintained in the society? What are the key structures in the society? What is the function of each structure or behavior in maintaining stability? The key assumptions in the structural functionalism paradigm are that society has parts or structures that can be identified, which can be defined as holism. These structures are interconnected and interdependent upon each other. Society tends toward stability. Function is carried out by structure to maintain stability; changes in one can affect changes in the other. Stability defines a society as healthy.

Sociologists like Auguste Comte contributed a lot to sociology. Auguste Comte was born in 1798 in Montpellier, France. Comte grew up during the French Revolution which was the beginning of a transformation for his country. Another revolution was arising as well; factories were sprouting across the entire continent of Europe. These factories were recasting the lives of the population. This chaotic era made Comte aware of the state of society. Auguste Comte longed to understand what was going on around him, the human drama that surrounded him. Once equipped with knowledge of how society operates, Comte believed, people would be able to build for themselves a better future.

Auguste Comte studied society and called his study sociology. Comte was a founding father of sociology. He believed sociology can be studied using the scientific method just like the natural sciences. He divided his study of sociology into two parts. The first part is how society is held together which is social statics. Social statics are the forces in society that produce stability which is functional to society. And the second part is how society changes, called social dynamics. Social dynamics are the forces that promote change.

Harriet