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Functionalism- In some ways functionalism is the foundation sociological perspective against which
other perspectives are measured
It was founded by Emile Durkheim, then developed by Talcott parsons; who made it the
dominant school of sociological thought in the 1950s and 1960s.
It takes a macro approach and is a structural theory; it looks at the whole of society and is
interested in how society shapes the individual, it is a structural theory because it is
interested in the structure of society and the different elements and institutions
- It looks at the needs of the whole system
- Looks at how these needs shape the system
- It is a consensus theory (society agrees on norms/ values) therefore this consensus
allows for social order
- Modernist (believes we can obtain true knowledge and improve society)
Functionalists like to use the organic analogy (similarities between the human body and
society) parsons identified some of these similarities:
- system: society has institutions/ units such as the body which has organs and cells
they all perform certain tasks
- System needs: these organs have need, so do institutions and individuals in society
e.g. money.
- functions : the organs must work together to help the body survive, as institutions
must work together to help society flourish (e.g. government talking to the police)
Parsons often considered:
How is social order possible?
How are individuals able to cooperate?
- He believed social order was achieved through a shared culture/ central value
system
- Culture provides norms/ values/rules or a framework for people to interact through.
We are often socialised into this
- Social order is possible provided everyone agrees to these norms/ values/ rules -
value consensus
The basic function of value consensus is to make social order possible
- This integrates people into the social system into the social system, helping to meet
the systems needs
The system has two ways of ensuring conformity
1. Socialization; it is believed that when you are born you are a blank slate and your
parents soilize you into society's norms and values.
2. Social control (positive sanctions reward conformity, negative ones punish deviance)
in society there are different agents of social control. E.g. the police and the media.
Once integrated, an individual's behavior is oriented towards society’s goals and needs. This
makes behavior predictable and stable allowing people to cooperate therefore integration
into the shared normative order is what makes social order possible.
Parsons model of the social system:
- Social system (a cluster of institutions/ subsystems)
- Sub systems (cluster of status roles e.g. a school)
, - Status roles (cluster of actions given a status e.g. teacher)
- Individuals actions (governed by rules and norms) you are socialised into a certain
way, making your behavior predictable
The system’s needs
Parsons said society is a system with needs. Parsons identifies 4 main needs, known as the
‘AGIL schema’ each need is met by a subsystem:
- Adaptation (meets material needs through the economic subsystem) so we are a
society with individuals which have economic needs, we have material needs and
have things we need to survive and so we need a subsystem which is actively going
out of its way or we are part of to meet those needs
- Goal attainment (allocates goals through the political subsystem) we need a
government we need different political parties to put particular ideologies.
- Integration (knits people together via the cultural/ community subsystem)
- Latency (maintaining patterns and eases tensions, through the family/ kinship
subsystem)
Types of society
Parsons identifies two types of society: Traditional and modern
Each type has its own typical pattern of norms. Parsons identifies five basic sets of norms for
each society. Within each type the variables ‘fit together’ so there will be a correlation
between norms of each society
, Traditional societies:
Ascribed status → the status you are born with
Immediate gratification → desiring to have the joy or pleasure now rather than putting it off
for greater pleasure later on.
Collectivism → putting the group before yourself. Putting the needs of a collective before
your individual needs
Modern societies
Achieved statuses → gainsing a status through your own hard work and efforts
Deferred gratification → the ability to put off joy and pleasure for greater pleasure later
Individualism → putting yourself first and your needs
Social change:
How do societies change from one to another?
Parsons argues that this is through a gradual evolutionary process by which simple
structures become more complex. E.g. simple structures (traditional extended kinship
systems) became complex societies) these kinship systems may then lose functions to other
institutions “structural differentiation”. Ultimately resulting in equilibrium
Internal and external critiques of functionalism
Conclusion
Functionalism seeks to answer the question of how social order is possible
Often ignores conflict and is too deterministic
Functionalism takes a rose-tinted view of society as it sees only the positive and ignores the
negative, it also assumes that individuals are shaped and moulded by society and behave a
certain way suggesting that our lives are predetermined.
Many critics including conflict theorists borrow the notion that society is a system of
interdependent parts
Ian craib: parsons theory “has its faults, but at least it is a theory of society as a whole’”
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