functionalism

Question 1

Name the 3 main functionalist sociologists.

Answer 1

1. Emile Durkheim - Founding Father of Functionalism
2. Talcott Parsons - American Sociologist
3. Robert Merton - American Sociologist

Question 2

What type of theory is functionalism?

Answer 2

Modernist Structuralist Consensus Theory

Question 3

When was this approach popular?

Answer 3

1950s + 1960s

Question 4

How is functionalism now regarded?

Answer 4

An inadequate and old-fashioned approach to understanding society.

Question 5

How does functionalism regard soceity?

Answer 5

A stable, harmonious integrated social system, with social order and cohesion maintained by a fundamental value consensus.

Question 6

List the 3 things that functionalists believe in.

Answer 6

1. Integration
2. Value Consensus
3. Organic Analogy

Question 7

How do functionalists view society as a system?

Answer 7

A structure of interconnected parts which fit together to form an integrated whole.

Question 8

According to Durkheim, why have the functions of society shifted?

Answer 8

Due to the emergence of industrialisation.

Question 9

Due to the emergence of industrialisation, how has the functionalist approach to society shifted?

Answer 9

From a mechanical to an organic approach.

Question 10

List 3 of the reasons why mechanical solidarity is no longer deemed as functional in modern Europe?

Answer 10

1. There are replaceable compondents to keep the machine functioning.
2. There are shared norms and values in society.
3. There is a slight division of labour.

4.

Question 11

Summarise what is meant by ‘organic solidarity’.

Answer 11

• Durkheim recognised that mechanical solidarity was lose due to the growth of industrialisation.
• Therefore, ‘modern’ societies thrive best when under organic solidarity.
• The notion that society can function when under organic solidarity.

Question 12

Who developed the theory of ‘organic analogy’?

Answer 12

Parsons

Question 13

Functionalists argue that just like the human body, any society has…

Answer 13

Functional Prerequisites

Question 14

What is meant by the term ‘functional prerequisites’?

Answer 14

Basic needs or requirements that must be met if any society is to survive.

Question 15

Summarise what the ‘organic analogy’ is.

Answer 15

• Social institutions e.g family and the workplace exist to satisfy these basic needs, and as in the human body, the various social institutions are connected to work together to meet functional prerequisites for the benefit of society as a whole.
• Parts of society also malfunction e.g families breaking up, people rioting, workers going on strike, or people commiting crimes.

Question 16

How many elements are there to the ‘organic analogy’? List them.

Answer 16

3

• System
• System Needs
• Functions

Question 17

What is meant by the ‘system’?

Answer 17

A self-regulating system.

Question 18

How does the system operate in the body?

Answer 18

Organs - which are made up of cells and maintain the body/keep the body going automatically.

Question 19

How does the system operate in society?

Answer 19

Institutions such as the family and the education system as well as individual roles e.g mother, teacher.

Question 20

What is meant by the ‘system needs?’

Answer 20

Society has basic needs that are required to thrive e.g nutrition.

Question 21

How does the system needs operate in society?

Answer 21

Members must be socialised adequatley for society to function.

Question 22

What is meant by the term ‘functions’?

Answer 22

The contribution to the system to which also determines survival.

Question 23

How do the functions operate in society?

Answer 23

The circulatory system carries oxygen and nutrients.

Question 24

How do the functions operate in society?

Answer 24

The economy helps maintain the social system by meeting needs for food and shelter.

Question 25

What are the 4 basic needs that Parsons identified in society?

Answer 25

1. Goal Attainment
2. Adaptation
3. Integration
4. Latency

Question 26

What 2 problems need to be solved in order for society to survive in a healthy state?

Answer 26

1. Instrumental
2. Expressive

Question 27

Which 2 needs come under the ‘instrumental’ category?

Answer 27

1. Goal Attainment
2. Adaptation

Question 28

Which 2 needs come under the ‘expressive’ category?

Answer 28

1. Integration
2. Latency

Question 29

What is meant by ‘goal attainment’?

Answer 29

• Society needs to set goals and allocate resources to achieve them.
• This is the function of the political subsystem, through institutions such as parliament.

Question 30

What is meant by ‘adaptation’?

Answer 30

The social system meets its members’ material needs through the economic subsystem.

Question 31

What is meant by ‘integration’?

Answer 31

• The different parts of the system must be integrated together to pursue shared goals.
• This is the role of the subsystem of religion, education and media.

Question 32

What is meant by ‘latency’?

Answer 32

• The processes that maintain society over time.
• The kinship subsystem provides patter maintenance (socialising individuals to go on to perform the role society requires) and tension management (a place to ‘let off steam’ after the stresses of work).

Question 33

What did Durkheim say social institutions were important for?

Answer 33

Socialising people into what he called a value consensus or collective conscience.

Question 34

Durkheim - Define ‘collective conscience’.

Answer 34

• Shared beliefs and values, which form moral ties binding communities together and which regulate individual beahviour.
• This is a widespread agreement on values, norms and moral beliefs, which binds people together, builds social solidarity/cohesion, and regulates individual behaviour.

Question 35

Parsons - Define ‘value consensus’.

Answer 35

• Shared culture amongst society.
• This keeps people in check and highlights any deviant activity, as well as how to deal with it.

Question 36

How does Parsons believe value consensus is achieved?

Answer 36

Through integration.

Question 37

Which 2 mechanisms does integration consist of?

Answer 37

1. Socialisation
2. Social control

Question 38

How do functionalists regard social change?

Answer 38

• Occurring when new functions emerge or society needs to adapt.
• Change is a slow process of social evolution, as gradual shifts occur in social values and people adapt to changes.

Question 39

Which 2 societies does Parson’s identify each with their own norms?

Answer 39

1. Traditional
2. Modern

Question 40

Summarise modern societies.

Answer 40

• Pursue individual self-interest.
• Achieve status.
• All individuals are judged on universal standards.

Question 41

Summarise traditional societies.

Answer 41

• Expect individuals to put the collective interests first.
• Ascribed status.
• Individuals are judged by standards.

Question 42

Describe the change between traditional and modern societies.

Answer 42

Gradual - an evolutionary process of increasing complexity and structural differentiation.

Question 43

Why did Merton criticise Parson?

Answer 43

His assumption that all social institutions performed benefical, positive funcions for society and individuals.

Question 44

What is the idea of dysfunction - Merton?

Answer 44

Merton used this idea to describe the situation whereby some parts of the social structure don’t work as intended, and there can sometimes be negative consequences with harmful effects for society, or some individuals.

Question 45

Define ‘dysfunction’.

Answer 45

A part of the social structure that does not contribute to the maintenance and well being of society, but creates tensions and other problems.

Question 46

What does Merton suggest in regards to manifest functions?

Answer 46

Merton suggested there were manifest functions of an institution with intended and recognised consequences BUT there were also latent functions alongside them, with unintended and unrecognised consequences.

Question 47

Why would Marxists disagree with the Functionalist perspective?

Answer 47

• Society is not harmonious.
• Upper class exploits the lower class.
• Inequality exists; therefore not workng together in the way functionalists suggest.

Question 48

Why would the Social Action perspective disagree with the Functionalists perspective?

Answer 48

• Functionalists assume that humans are shaped by society.
• Social action argues that humans are shaped by interactons with each other and this builds society.

Question 49

Why would the Postmodernists disagree with the Functionalist perspective?

Answer 49

Postmodernists argue that functionalism assumes society is stable and orderly - metanarrative of society which is no longer relevent.

Question 50

Give 3 strengths of the Functionalist perspective?

Answer 50

1. It’s a reasonably successful attempt to producea general theory about the workings of soceity.
2. It recognises the importance of social structure in understanding society, how it contrains individual behaviour, and how the major social instituions often have links between them.
3. It provides an explanations for social order and stability and why most people generally conform to the rules of social life.

Question 51

Give 3 weaknesses of the Functionalist perspective?

Answer 51

1. It is too deterministic - it sees individuals as simply passive products of the social system, which socialises them into conformity and controls their behaviour. It doesn’t allow for individual choice, and pays no regard to the actions, interpretations and meaning individuals give to situations, as the social action theorists do.
2. It does not explain social change effectively, as socialisation, value consensus and social control contributing to social stability and conformity should limit social change - they can’t exaplin rapid social change.
3. It over-emphasises the beneficial aspects of functions peformed by social insitutions and ignores the harmful dysfunctions e.g Davis and Moore’s functionalist theory of stratification sees only the benefits of inequality, while ignoring the resentments, divisions and conflicts it can generate.