The role of sociology during Wars Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

The role of sociology during Wars - Term Paper Example Since a lot of assets are at stake during a war, it is crucial to resolve the crises and in order to do so understanding the root causes is very important. This paper aims at discussing how sociology can play a crucial role in predicting, understanding and thus, avoiding wars. Sociology is the study of societies, usually modern ones which comprises of people being the sole fundamentals or building blocks of the society, and thus understanding the psyche and societal roles of these people can help understand war more effectively, as proposed by the sociologists (Stanchak 2000). The first part of the thesis comprises of the role of sociology in understanding the concept of war which is the sole pre-requisite for predicting and thus, resolving the issues which have the potential of turning into a war like situation. In this context, Lachmann (2012) argues that war can be traced back in history and can thus be studied in terms of benefits and losses for individuals or groups within individuals. For instance, he states that citizens of a nation associate their collective interests with the state authority, and the state in turn seeks benefits from the state in terms of taxes and services etc. Thus, over the years, the state has developed strong control over the citizens in terms of controlling their socio-economic lives either directly or indirectly, and in this global world, the same benefit and loss patterns have resulted into conflicts between states over resources which are already in scarcity. Supporting this argument, another proposition posed by Shaw (2 007) can be stated which indicates that the reasons behind wars can be related to sociological patterns across society. This implies that war rather than being taken as an absolute entity should rather be studies as general conflicts between individuals or groups, and he focuses on the concept of genocide where a certain group attacks an un-armed group of people to pursue their personal interests. In other