Functionalist Theory Flashcards
Emile Durkheim (1858 -1917)
Society works like a human body.
This is known as the ‘ORGANIC ANALOGY’
> All the small units of the body/ society work as one in order for overall survival & function.
‘ORGANIC ANALOGY’
> The body has Vital Organs whilst society has VITAL INSTITUTIONS.
> These ‘Organs/ Institutions’ work ‘INTERDEPENDENTLY’.
> All the small units of the body/ society work as one in order for overall survival & function.
Talcott Parsons (1902-1979)
In order for a society to survive Parsons believed that the GAIL model needs to be effectively addressed. This is true of even small, less advanced or primitive societies.
Goal attainment - They need to have a set of goals and a system to make decisions about things such as when to migrate to better hunting grounds
Adaptation - for example a tribal system needs to provide for its members needs by gathering food and adapting to the environment.
Integration - The tribe also needs to have a common belief system that reinforces its shared goals and enforces actions and decisions for the good of the community
Latency or pattern management - there needs to be some kind of education or familial system that passes on hunting and gathering skills and the common belief system. If these prerequisites are met then the tribe will sustain its existence.
Instrumental problems
of parsons gail
Goal Attainment - society needs to set goals and allocate resources to do this
Adaptation - The social system meets its’ members material needs by adapting to the environment
expressive problems of parsons gail
Integration - The different parts of the system must be integrated to together to pursue shared goals
Latency (pattern maintenance) - refers to processes that maintain society over time. The kinship subsystem provides pattern maintenance
parsons 2 types of society
traditional and modern
modern society - individual self interest, achieve our status and we are all judged by the same universalistic standards.
traditonal soceity - individuals are expeceted to put collective intreste first, satus is ascribed and they are judged by particularistic standards.
parsons structral differnentiaition
a gradual process in which sepreate functionally specialised institutions develop, meeting a differnt need
Mertons critiscms of parsons system
indespensability
functional unity
universal functionalism
Mertons indespensability
parsons assumes that everything in society is functionally indispensable in its existing form. merton argues that this is just an untested assumption and he points to the possiblity of ‘functional alternatives’
for exmaple, parsons assumes that primary socalision is best preformed by the nuclear family , but it may be that one parent families or communes do it just as wellor better
mertons functional unity
parsons assumes that all parts of society are tightly integrated into a single whole or unity that each part is functional for all the rest.
Similiarllly he assumes that change in one part will have a ‘knock on’ effect on all other parts. however neither of these assumptions is necassily true. complex modern sociotes have many parts some of which may only be distantly related to eachother.
instead of functional unity some parts may have functional autonomy (interdependece) from others. it is hard to see the connections between, say the structure of banking and rules of netball.
mertons universal functionalism
parsons assumes that everything in society performs a positive function for society as a whole. yet somethings may be functional for some groups and dysfunctional for others. The idea of dysfunctional introduces a neglected note into functionalism, by suggesting conflicts of intrest and that some groups may have the power to keep arrangemnts in placethat benefit them at the expense of others. Critics writing from a conflict perspective have developed thsi idea further.
Mertons Manifest and Latent functions
Hopi Native Americans who in times of drought perfomred a rain dance with the aim of producing rain. this is its manifest or intended function.
however the ritual may also have an unintened or latent function - such as promoting a sense of solidarity in times of hardship, when individuals might be tempted to look after themselves at the expense of others.
mertons distinction is therefore useful in helping to reveal the hidden connections between social phenomena which the actors themselves may not be aware of.
Logical Critiscsms of Functionalism
functionalism is teleological. for example functionalists claim that the family exists becuase children need to be socioliased. The existance of the family is explaned in terms of its effect
Critics argue that a real explation of something is one that identifies its cause and logically a cause must come before its affect.
functionalism is also unscientific, functionalims is not falseifyable by testing. for exmaple functionalsists see devaince as both dysfunctional and functional, this theory cannot be disproved and is unscientific
conflict perspective critisms
marxists argue that society is not a harmonious whole. it is based on exploitation ans divided into classes with unequal power. Stability is simply the result of the dominat class being able to orevent chnage by useing coersion or ideological manipualtion. ‘shared values’ are merely a cloak cocealing the intrests of the dominant class
functionalism as a conservtaive ideology legitiamiing the staus quo. its focus on harmony and stability rather than conflict and change help to justify the existing social order as inevitable and desirable. this approach legotiamises the privelliged position of powerful groups who would have most to loose from any fundamental chnages in society.
action perspective critism
Wrong (1961) criticises functionalsms deterministic view of the individual. Functionlaits argue that the social system ususes socialistion to shape peoples behaviour so that they will meet the systems needs by preforming thier perscribes roles. individuals have no free will or choice they are puppets being pulled by the social system. From an action perspectove this is fundamentally wrong. individuals create society by thier interactions.
