The Sociological Approach

Which perspective should a sociologist use in studying human behavior? The functionalist? The conflict? The interactionist? Sociology makes use of all three, since each offers unique insights into the same problem. Thus, in studying the continued high levels of unemploy­ment in the United States, the functionalist might wish to study how unemployment reduces the demand for goods but increases the need for public services, thereby leading to new jobs in the government sector. The interactionist might en­courage us to focus on the impact of unemploy ment on family life, as manifested in divorce, domestic violence, and dependence on drugs and alcohol. Researchers with a conflict perspective might draw our attention to the uneven distribu­tion of unemployment within the labor force and how it is particularly likely to affect women and racial and ethnic minorities—those groups least likely to influence decision making about eco­nomic and social policy.

No one of these approaches to the issues re­lated to unemployment is "correct." Within this textbook, it is assumed that we can gain the broadest understanding of our society by draw­ing upon all three perspectives in the study of human behavior and institutions. These perspec­tives overlap as their interests coincide but can diverge according to the dictates of each ap­proach and of the issue being studied.

Applied and clinical sociology

As noted before in this chapter, early sociologists were quite concerned with social reform. They wanted their theories and findings to be relevant to policymakers and to people's lives in general. Today, applied sociology is the use of the disci­pline with the specific intent of yielding practical applications for human behavior and organiza­tions.

Often, the goal of such work is to assist in re­solving a social problem. For example, in the last 25 years, six American presidents have estab­lished commissions to delve into major concerns facing our nation. Sociologists have been called upon to apply their expertise in studying such issues as violence, pornography, crime, immi­gration, and population. In Europe, both aca­demic and governmental research departments are offering increasing financial support for ap­plied studies. According to a 1984 report, three-fourths of the 7000 sociology graduates in the Netherlands are engaged in applied research in a variety of social service positions.

Another example of applied sociology is the growing local community research movement. One institution which has pioneered in this effort is the Center for the Study of Local Issues, a re­search unit of Anne Arundel Community Col­lege, located in Arnold, Maryland. The center encourages students and faculty to apply social scientific research methods in studying commu­nity issues such as employment opportunities for persons with disabilities and patterns of armed robberies. Similarly, in an effort to improve ser­vices, the Social Science Center for Community Education, Research, and Service of the Univer­sity of Wisconsin—Stout has studied the effective­ness of state-funded programs designed to pre­vent child abuse and the attitudes of college students toward local retail stores and other com­munity resources.

The growing popularity of applied sociology has led to the rise of the specialty of clinical sociol­ogy. Sociologist Louis Wirth (1931) wrote about clinical sociology almost 60 years ago, but the term itself has become popular only in recent years. Clinical sociology employs a variety of tech­niques to facilitate change and is similar in certain respects to applied sociology. However, while applied sociology may be evaluative, clinical soci­ology is dedicated to altering social relationships (as in family therapy) or to restructuring social