Blog #3 Emile Durkheim

When looking at society as a whole, Emile Durkheim would view it as a structural functionalist society. To him, every person and every aspect of life plays a role that keeps the world running smoothly. We looked further into topics such as crime, which Durkheim would also believe to play a role in society. When we discuss crime, many people may automatically think negatively about the matter, and that all it does is harm our society. Durkheim would argue that even though some crime is quite negative, it may have some beneficial aspects in terms of helping our society function properly. In one way, crime could create jobs, such as police officers and correctional institutions, or even security housing systems that give people careers. It also creates unity among societies in that people come together to create social change. Crime also lets people figure out and agree on what is considered to be deviant behavior, and ultimately gives people moral goals and guidelines to live by.

This way of thinking proves that according to Durkheim, even things viewed negatively serve as a function of society. I like this way of thinking, because it gives a sense of purpose to everything that is done. I think that people who may be more negative with viewing society, this is a way to look at it in a better light. If we didn't have the negative, we would be fuzzy on the positive. If there were no "bad guys" we wouldn't know or appreciate the "good guys." It gives me the sense that every person has a place in society and that everyone actually does matter. We are all tiny little human beings in the world, but together we affect one another until groups are made and do have a profound affect on society. To me, it settles some frustrations. Even though it sometimes irritates me that we have upper upper classes, I believe that we do need each and every class to play a different role in society and create ideas, conflict, and changes.

In saying that I think everyone should believe they have a purpose and place in society, I want to touch on Durkheim's subject of suicide. I wanted to touch on one branch of his work in explaining suicide with the integration/egoistic type. This type has to do with how well people feel connected into society and to other individuals. Egoistic people may pull back from others and become isolated from people and fall into a depression. I think these cases of that sort of depression is a major factor as to why suicide was and still is a problem today. Combining these thoughts with those above, I think it should be stessed to people that in the end, we need one another. We all do matter and play a part in society no matter how big or small. Suicide is a morbid, awful thing that I, and society as a whole, wants to see disappear. I think its important for people to start looking at themselves as important parts of a functioning society, that needs them in order to really work.

This image simply shows that all of us as individuals make up our society as a whole. We all serve a purpose and together help society function properly. It goes hand in hand with Durkheim's structural functionalist view on society.