functionalism Flashcards
What is the organic analogy and who comes up with it ?
Mainly Durkheim
Society is a system and all parts of it’s system needs to work efficiently for the good of society
Eg families - teach primary socialisation to preevent crime
3 similarities between society and biological organisms
System - self regulating
System needs - orgasms have needs to survive
Functions- each part functions in it’s own respect
Social order and stability
Institutions like family, education, and law help maintain order by socialising individuals into shared norms and values.
Social order prevents chaos and ensures smooth functioning of society.
Social solidarity (durkehim)
Society needs a sense of belonging and togetherness to function.
Education and religion play a key role in creating social cohesion.
Meritocracy (parsons)
The view that hard work will be rewarded in our society, and laziness gets you in poverty
Vaule consensus (parsons)
Contributes to social solidarity
Shared beliefs and values are the foundation of society.
Institutions socialise individuals into these values, creating social integration
Davis and moore
Role allocation - places the more able into more responsible and pressured jobs
Parsons 4 functions of society
Adaptation instrumental
Goal attainment instrumental
Integration or social harmony expressive
Latency expressive
What is adaptation
Providing a basic economic stryctyre to allocate goods efficiently to everyone in society
What is goal attainment
The way decisions are made and society changes
What is intehration (social harmony)
The way that society develops in response to particular functons not being fulfilled- eg religion or carity
What is latency
Individuals beliefs and values and whether people feel like they are part pf a society or not
What is an internal evaluation of functionalists
Merton
Indispensability - Parsons assumes that everything in society is indispensable. Merton claims there are ‘ functional alternatives’
Functional unity - Parsons assumes tht all parts of society are tightly integrated. Change in one part will have a knock on effect, Merton argues this is not necessarily true and there is functional utility
Universal functionalism - Parsons assumers everything in society performs a positive function. Idea of disfunction assumes that there may be a conflict of interests, eg; religions cause conflict
What is a postmodern evaluation
Assume society is stable and ordered
Cannot account for diversity and instability
An example of a meta-narrative - no longer possible fue to fragmentation of society today
What is a social action criticism
Too deterministic in chosing one overall judgement
Disregards everyday interactionisms
Conflict theories evaluation
Disregards problems arising, within the social institutions
Da in family,Exploitation at work
Is it scientific
No
Not falsifiable, something deviant can be both functional and dysfunctional they claim.
