Functionalism Flashcards
Why did society not collapse into war of all its members against each other according to Durkheim?
Because individual members of societys actions are constrained by social factors.
Durkheim said we should instead explain the relationship between the individual and society and discover social facts and social laws can be established. Social laws should have two characteristics - external to the individual and constrain their behaviour
Collective Consciousness
Durkheim emphasised a shared moral code and set of shared norms and values that constrains behaviour. Sense of belonging is also needed - social solidarity
Mechanical solidarity
Traditional society
People tend to preform similar types of tasks eg farming to survive. They therefore have shared interests and problems. The main source of regulation is religion which provides collective consciousness
Organic solidarity
Modern society
The more complex a society becomes the more occupational roles people undertake so the less they share in common. Jobs become increasingly specialised. Rather than shared interests, there is a chain of interdependence in which everybody is dependent on each other in order to survive. Social cohesion can be created by institutions like education
Biological Analogy
Durkheim recognised that society was made up of different institutions and each institution had a function to keep society from breaking down. Much like a human body has specialised organs where each have a seperate function but make the body work as a whole
Parsons Value Consensus
took Durkheims ideas and filled them out to create the theory of structural functionalism - for example he took collective consciousness and developed the more familiar term value consensus
What did Parsons add to the biological analogy
He suggested that animals have certain needs to survive and so does society. IN a similar way four functional prerequisites need to be met for society to survive and include adaptation, goal maintenance, integration, and pattern maintenance
Definitions of the four functional prerequisites
Adaptation - adapting to survive in its environment
Goal maintenance - to set itself goals for society to work towards
Integration - to hold society together and deal with deviance
Pattern maintenance - to ensure values are passed on to the next generation - socialisation
Structural differentiation
Idea that social institutions become more specialised, with new institutions developing to perform new functions, or to fulfil existing functions more efficiently
How does Parsons account for change in society
Suggests that social subsystems are in a state of equilibrium. This balance is maintained because the four subsystems are interrelated. Changes in one part of the system produce changes elsewhere keeping the overall society in balance. Society is a self regulating system with social change being necessary and a response to disturbances within the system.
Neo-functionalism Merton - critic of Parsons
He was critical of Parsons as he said he came up with well thought out theories that were totally detached from reality as he had little empirical evidence. He rejects the idea of societies exhibiting functional unity (all parts of society work together for the benefit of the whole)
Merton - Manifest and Latent functions
Mnaifest functions are functions which are obvious whereas Latent Functions are those which are hidden. He also argues for functional alternatives - idea that more than one institution can perform the same function
