Sociology Discussions: Immigration

Immigration both legal and illegal immigration have implications on the receiving country. However, illegal immigration usually comes with greater disadvantages that legal entry because while the latter is planned for and considered by authorities socially and economically, the former is potentially harmful on both accounts. Manifest functions in immigration can be explained as expected or intended events and its impacts on the receiving country. Latent functions are unplanned or unintended occurrences in immigration and are rather leniency approaches to immigration.

Dysfunctions are associated disturbances in the anticipated (or otherwise) impacts of immigrations both legal and illegal (Kendall, 2007). In both kinds of immigration, the functions apply differently. Typical manifest functions of illegal immigration are to prevent the practice of immigrants’ influx, reduction in crime rate, and protection of jobs across the border, especially menial jobs. Latent functions would be to try and rescue immigrants who may try to use crude means of immigration, to save their lives and even increasing humanitarian assistance to help them incase of injuries.

Manifest dysfunctions are obvious and range from apprehensions and delays, deportation on flimsy accounts of breaking of rules or on spouses who have different citizenship or unfounded suspicion of being terrorists, longer detention burdens taxpayers or unfortunately still, inadequate records. Fatalities may also not be completely eradicated or worse still presence of guides who take payments from infants to let them in. Other major dysfunctions include impacts on public infrastructure and social amenities like school systems, hospitals and recreational facilities that experience increased stresses due to population surges.

In effect, there are increased rates of contagious diseases due to health facilities that may not be able to cope with this population influx. The cost of providing essential government services usually goes up. Discussion #4 Marriage as a social institution, according to functional paradigm (Parsons, 1961) is built up of various components or parts is decamping from a stable and orderly institution that it was and is basically falling apart in its core functions. Marriage was perceived to be a way of reproduction and happier way of coexistence.

When unchecked, reproduction escalated and was halted on its heels by the need for population control through family planning and late marriages. For a family to remain moral, they placed increasingly little attention to child bearing. This reduces the mature male or female individual’s commitment of wanting to engage in a binding marriage for the sake of reproduction. Again talks and reports of higher numbers of failed marriages is a setback to the high hopes of happier life the institution once elicited.

Most marrying age adults are tucked away in learning institutions thus reducing these available for permanent stay. Arguing on the social conflict point of view, marrying off to a man on the basis of wealth for an adult American is not fashionable anymore because the gender economic divide has been bridge through affirmative action and more and more women getting into similar or better paying jobs than adult males. Working class and wealthy women feel increasingly independent and thus do not have to lean any further on men for financial support previously guaranteed in marriage.

In need for sexual pleasure, couples thus resort to a lesser economic form of marital commitment that is cohabitation. A contrasting argument on this account is that acute loss or unavailability of jobs means that fewer men have financial control that they would use to lure women into marital lives. Brute coercion into marriage as may have been the occasion, and as is especially in underdeveloped countries seldom exist anymore. Using symbolic interaction to describe the last scenario, it is commonplace to see children born out of wedlock these days.

This is partly due to the fact that the society is awash with incidences of single parents – either from divorce or separations – that successfully raise their children. There is an increased confidence (and decreased stigma) in raising children this way. Through observation, the society has come of age to take the situation to mean well for them. The interpretation of the society’s view is that the habit has come of age and is not a stigma anymore as was in early 20th century and before.

Reference:

Kendall, D. (2007). Sociology in Our Time: The Essentials. 6th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Publishing Co.

Parsons, T. (1961). Theories of Society: Modern Sociological Theory. New York: Free Press.