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  • Essay / Social theories of immigration: functionalism, conflict and interactionism

    A social problem is defined as an activity that does more harm than good to families, countries and the world as a whole. Immigration falls into the category of social problems all over the world, but especially in the United States. Immigration has been the subject of much controversy and is also a cause of division over whether its impact is minor or serious in the long term. Immigration can be defined as the act of a foreign person or group entering the border of a country from which they are not native. It is important to look at immigration because people have a misconception about what immigration really is and fail to realize the economic growth it brings and fuels the economy. Ignoring immigration can lead to exploitation and other problems such as family separation. It's captivating to explore immigration in sociology as we delve deeper into how functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism can all relate to immigration and get a clearer idea of ​​why This is such a problem in today's world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Symbolic interaction is the theory that focuses on the relationships and interactions between individuals within a society. The theory uses communication which in this case is the exchange of meaning through symbols and individual interactions. Individuals attach meaning to their own actions and those of others. We tend to act towards someone or something based on the meaning we interpret of it. Immigration can be linked to symbolic interaction because it contributes to the main idea of ​​it, namely that symbols play a large role in communication. In this case, the symbols and words used to describe the social problem contribute to people's perception of that problem. For example, humans have attached meaning to the word “immigrant.” When a person hears the word immigrant, they tend to associate the word with words such as brown, uneducated, Mexican, "wet back" and they think of them as people who have only come. to the United States to give money to their family who are poor. People don't tend to think about the many other immigrants who come to the United States, such as college-educated people who come for specific jobs or people who are refugees and are fleeing the deaths and political views of their country. In high school, I befriended an immigrant on several occasions where she was constantly stereotyped as a poor, stupid Hispanic who only spoke Spanish, while also feeling like her parents were either Gardners or a housemaid. This one in interaction that she met had a change of direction on a word, the insight of the word immigrant. A single word can have so much meaning behind it, enough for others to connect with it and have the same meaning behind it. By changing the word immigrant to “undocumented immigrant” instead of “illegal immigrant,” we no longer have the same connection as before, the stereotypes become less apprehensive. Symbolic interactions help us magnify how people's perceptions of certain issues contribute to their attitudes on the issue. It is important to know their perspectives because they can be more easily addressed and targeted. Another theory that helps us amplify..012809.102651)