The Functionalist perspective of religion
Hope this helps anyone that needs it! Hopefully I'll get round to doing one for every theory and topic within beliefs, crime and deviance, education and families. Feel free to leave feedback :) :)
- Created by: laceycrean
- Created on: 10-12-14 14:09
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- The Functionalist perspective of religion
- Durkheim: Scared = spiritual and profane= ordinary.
- 'The elementary forms of religious life' (1912) Durkheim studied Totemism, in Australia. People develop moral ties and a collective conscience. The totem is a symbol of society and it is sacred because it is a symbol of society itself.
- Criticisms of Durkheim: Worsley (1956) there is no sharp division between the sacred and the profane. Also, different societies share the same totem.
- Mestrovic (1997) (Postmodernist) argues that Durkheims theory is useless because society is to fragmented and there is no longer a single shared value system.
- Durkheim's theory may apply better to small scale societies with one religion because there may be conflict in two or more religious communities.
- Criticisms of Durkheim: Worsley (1956) there is no sharp division between the sacred and the profane. Also, different societies share the same totem.
- 'The elementary forms of religious life' (1912) Durkheim studied Totemism, in Australia. People develop moral ties and a collective conscience. The totem is a symbol of society and it is sacred because it is a symbol of society itself.
- Religion is a system of interrelated parts. Religion is mainly a conservative force, that promotes social solidarity + social harmony through value consensus.
- Malinowski - Psychological functions of religion.
- Religion helps individuals cope with emotional stress that would undermine social solidarity.
- An example of this is death, as this is disruptive in social groups, and funerals reinforce the feeling of solidarity.
- Death is the main reason for religion-- for example during the war, church attendance thrived.
- Parsons: Values + meanings. Religion helps people deal with unforeseen events. Religion legitimates societies central values + is the primary source of meaning.
- Religion explains suffering as a test of faith and enables people to adjust to adverse events.
- It answers the 'ultimate questions' such as why the good suffer, such questions make life appear meaningless, and undermines societies values.
- Bellah- Civil religion unifies Americans - attaches sacred qualities to society itself. 'the American way of life' - loyalty to the nation (pledging allegiance to the flag)
- This binds Americans together from all different ethnic backgrounds and religious backgrounds. Another example is Nazi Germany + Soviet Union = secular + political beliefs that united societies.
- Criticisms of Functionalism include: 1) Downplaying social change- sees religion as a conservative force that protects the status quo, and undermines the role of social change.
- 2) Declining religiosity and secularisation- religion can only perform these functions if people actually hold and practice religion.
- 3) Religion can be a disruptive and socially divisive influence- value consensus = difficult to maintain in multi-faith societies. Religion seems to play a greater role in dividing people rather than uniting them, such as the conflicts between Catholics and Protestants or Sunni and Shia Muslims.
- Durkheim: Scared = spiritual and profane= ordinary.
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