The explanation of the various components of society or the way people act is given by linking those to the fulfillment of societal needs. All resources are in limited supply. Groups and individuals compete for control over these resources. Society's organization, institutions, norms, the way people behave is an outcome of this competition. The most elementary act is the act of production.
Materialism contains elements of structural-functionalism and conflict.
Maring Warfare 3. Symbolic Interactionist a. The social world is one of symbols - information conveyors with meanings that must be interpreted. Human behavior is shaped by the shared understanding that people have of the symbols in their world. To understand human behavior is to understand how people make sense of their world, share that understanding with others, and then act according to that understanding.