Functionalism Theory & Methods
- Created by: mizpehsardar
- Created on: 06-10-19 16:35
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- Functionalism
- Parsons
- GAIL
- Adaptation
- adapting to environment providing basic necessities for human existence
- Intergration
- coordinating all parts of the system to achieve shared goals sense of belonging in society
- Goal Attainment
- selection/ definition of society's priorities and aims/ goals and providing the means of achieving them
- Latency
- minimising social tensions and interpersonal conflicts which may prevent society functioning
- Adaptation
- all societies have to resolve 2 sets of problems instrumental & expressive to satisfy 4 functional prerequisites
- organic analogy
- subsystems of the body represent the different subsystems of society
- compared how society functions with how the human body functions
- GAIL
- Durkheim
- people are selfish without consensus society would collapse into chaos collective conscience
- placed great importance on role of family & education in socialising people
- social change occurs when new functions emerge and society needs to adapt
- a change in one part results in a change somewhere else but the system will remain balanced
- Functionalism & The New Right
- condemns anything seen as threatening core values or undermining core functions of institutions
- shares the emphasis on importance of socialisation into shared values for the maintenance of social stability
- disagrees with the welfare state as it encourages over dependence
- lays importance on the role of traditional institutions
- Merton
- in a complex independent social system there is scope for things to go wrong
- dysfunction describes a situation where some parts on social structure don't work as intended can be negative consequences for society
- Merton criticised Parsons not all social institutions perform beneficial functions for everyone
- manifest functions were recognised or intended outcomes of an individual or situation
- latent functions were unrecognised or unintended outcomes
- in a complex independent social system there is scope for things to go wrong
- Parsons
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