FUNCTIONALISM
- Created by: LaurenKSmith
- Created on: 14-04-16 14:33
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- FUNCTIONALISM
- What is Functionalism?
- society has common culture with shared norms and values
- there is value consensus
- agreement and shared belief in the same values
- we learn culture through socialisation
- all agents of socialisation are connected, working for society as a whole
- Family
- Religion
- Peer Groups
- Mass Media
- Education
- Work
- look at and explain society as a system
- Draw an Organic Analogy to explain how society works
- representing the functionalist view through the human body
- similarities between how all the organs in the body had specific individual FUNCTIONS but worked together to maintain health and life.
- Herbert Spencer shared these views and popularised the term ‘organic analogy’.
- created by Auguste Comte
- Research
- Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
- founder of functionalism, said society exists above the individual. People’s behaviour is shaped by social forces
- described shared norms and values as the ‘collective conscience’
- Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
- Functionalism and the Family
- Murdock (1949)
- studied 250 societies and found the family, in some form, present in all of them – he therefore concluded that it must be necessary in some way
- 2) Educational - agents of primary socialisation 0 passing on norms & values
- 1) Economic - used to be a unit of production now a unit of consumption
- 3) Sexual - sexually fufilled by parters & expectations of monogamous relationships keep society stable
- Identified 4 functions of the family:
- 4) Reproductive - reproduce in families which is vital for humankind
- studied 250 societies and found the family, in some form, present in all of them – he therefore concluded that it must be necessary in some way
- Parsons (1955)
- saw pre-industrial extended family as evolving into the modern nuclear family - specialised in primary socialisation
- refered to this change as the 'theory of fit' as family life changes to meet needs of society
- refered to this change as the 'theory of fit' as family life changes to meet needs of society
- called 'personality factories' churning out young citizens committed to rules, patters on behaviour and belief in systems which make involvement in social life possible
- second function is that family fufils stabilisation of adult personalities throgh stress relief - the 'warm bath theory'
- primary socialisation as a main function of nuclear families.
- called 'personality factories' churning out young citizens committed to rules, patters on behaviour and belief in systems which make involvement in social life possible
- second function is that family fufils stabilisation of adult personalities throgh stress relief - the 'warm bath theory'
- called 'personality factories' churning out young citizens committed to rules, patters on behaviour and belief in systems which make involvement in social life possible
- saw pre-industrial extended family as evolving into the modern nuclear family - specialised in primary socialisation
- Cheal (2002)
- parents today are encouraged to believe they have a special responsibility to ensure every child grows up happy, strong, confident, articulate, literate and skilled
- family acts as a bridge between family and the wider society
- mothers main role as nurturing, the 'expressive role' with responsibility of childcare and housework
- Murdock (1949)
- Strengths
- shows importance of the family
- stresses the positive aspect of the family
- stresses importance of socialisation in upbringing children - learning and development
- Weaknesses
- ignores the dark side of the family
- ne function is procreation - but some couples cant/dont want to have children
- ignores increasng divorce rates and family diversity
- ignore the role of individuals in shaping culture
- deterministic - only one coutcome of a family
- doesn't examine power inequalities between men and women
- neglects conflict - culture does not always act as social glue
- What is Functionalism?
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