Emile Durkheim & Structural Functionalism Flashcards
Symbolic interactionism Denying society
individual action is shaped by the agent’s own motive and understanding of the motives of the other person
Critical Theory denying society
Different groups struggle for domination over one another in constant conflict
Collecting consciousness
the shared “taken-for-granted” moral beliefs or values that almost all members of a society agree on without really questioning them
Sui Generis
Means of its own kind
- treating society this way means they can’t explain it in terms of something else
Social Facts
Both a fact that is true about society as a whole but not about individual
Positivism
Philosophical/theoretical assumption that only observable, measurable and empirically-verifiable facts count as knowledge
Auguste Comte
argued for positive study of society
Function
The role of maintaining society as a whole that is played by any one particular part of it
Structural Functionalism
Theoretical paradigm that analyses society asa complete system, in which every structure serves a function
what is staying A.G.I.L.(e)
Adaptation
Goal Attainment
Integration
Latency
what is the AGIL system and who developed it
The AGIL system describes the basic kinds of function Andy society must met in order to continue existing. Talcott Parson
maifest functions
an ‘obvious’ purpose- what a society institution explicitly for
Latent Function
the ‘hidden’ purpose of an institution- a useful side effect of the institution
totemism
type of religion focused around the veneration of sacred totems or symbols
solidarity
the social force that holds all members of society together, keeping us united with one another
Mechanical solidarity
solidarity by similarities: all held together by the things they have in common
organic solidarity
solidarity by difference: all held together by the fact they rely on other people for things lacked
egoistic suicide
lack of social integration
altruistic suicide
excess of social integration
anomic suicide
lack of social regulation of our impulses and desires
fatalistic suicide
excess of social regulation of our impulses and desires
socialisation
social process by which individuals are ‘trained’ to be members of society
