Functionalism✔️ Flashcards
How is society composed?
Of different parts and each part performs functions to enable society to achieve order and stability.
Functionalist theory explains how…
Each part of society contributes to solidarity, value consensus and equilibrium.
The man behind Functionalism…
Durkheim - he has a positive outlook, ‘glass hall full’ kind of man. His theory was that society is based on social order and stability and his goal is to explain how it was created and maintained.
Social Solidarity:
Refers to the ties in society that bind people together as one. Working as a unit.
Value Consensus:
If members of society have same values, they have similar identities. Agreement on what is important - culture is created.
Equilibrium:
Where there is a dynamic working balance among its independent parts. An evenness within society.
Durkheim and Parsons (another functionalist) used an Organic Analogy to explain social order:
Organic Analogy is wheee society is compared to the human body - it has different parts which all help it to function healthily.
What are some examples of the different parts of Society:
Education, religion, law etc
How do families and households contribute to solidarity?
Because it forms your own community - you are in union with your family and this promotes ‘sharing’ and creates a sense of belonging.
How do families and households contribute to Value Consensus?
If you live together, you share the same values on how to maintain your home environment.
How do families and households contribute to an Equilibrium?
If everyone fulfills their role it creates stability in the home and if the home is stable, then society will be stable.
What type of families do Functionalists like Murdock think is superior?
The nuclear family . Traditional family type.
Why do Functionalists like Murdock think the nuclear family is so superior? (5)
- it provides a stable sex drive (monogamus relationship)
- reproduces the next generation so society can continue.
- provides emotional support.
- meets its members economic needs.
- teaches the next generation the norms of society - Socialisation of the young.
What are some critiques of the Functionalist theory on the family? (3)
- other family types can also provide those needs.
- not all families are close enough where they can receive emotional support.
- not all families can afford to provide shelter and food and the economic needs of their families.
What are the two types of Socialisation according to Parsons? (Another sociologist)
- Primary Socialisation: children are only exposed to their family for the first part of their lives and therefore the family is responsible for reaching them the norms. Children mimic parents.
- Secondary Socialisation: when children are exposed to social media / school etc. Their adult relationships need to be stabilised to keep them stable.
What is Parsons FUNCTIONAL FIT THEORY?
He says that when a society changes from pre-industrial to a modern industrial, the family also changes.
How does Parsons functional fit theory say that the family changes once society becomes industrial?
- structure moves to nuclear than extended (STRUCTURAL CHANGES)
- it loses many of its functions (FUNCTIONAL CHANGES)
Why does the family structurally change from being extended to nuclear because of Industrialisation? (2)
(a) geographically mobile workforce: easier to move around with work in a smaller family than a big one.
(b) socially mobile workforce: tensions and conflicts would emerge if a socially mobile younger generation with a higher status than their parents still lived at home.
PARSONS argues that the evolution of society involves a process of…
Specialisation (e.g. banks) and structural differentiation. As society becomes more complex, we have specialist institutions so families have less functions.
What are the essential functions of the family according to Parson’s Functional Fit Theory? (2)
1) primary Socialisation of children - families are factories which produce human personalities. They learn the norms and values from their families.
2) stabilisation of adult personalities - once the personality is established it must be kept stable = adults need emotional security and this is best achieved through marital relationship and parental roles.
Explain how ‘marital relationships’ can keep adult personalities stable:
Males perform an instrumental role as the ‘provider’ while women perform an expressive comfort as they are the ‘mother role.’
These roles are complementary because they’re different so the stable relationship is formed.
Explain how the ‘parental role’ creates the stabilisation of adult personalities:
Parents are able to endulge in childish behaviour which provide a break from adult personalities. Has a ‘cathartic’ effect = emotional release.
