Functionalism

Functionalism

1. Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) FUNCTIONALIST

   • Said the role of social institutions was to pass on socially accepted patterns of behaviour through:
     • Socialising people into the key norms and values of society through family, education and media
     • Shared Values and Norms give an almost sacred quality through religion and law
     • Social solidarity& integration: sense of community & belonging e.g. teaching & history
     • Control Behaviour: reminding society of normality and defiance through the government & policing

2. See order and consensus as the key to understanding society and running it successfully

   • Without Consensus Functionlists believe we would have chaos & anarchy

3. A Structuralist Theory

   • Sees individuals as less important than the social structure
   • "Top-down society"
     • Sees society as a whole, not individuals in it
   • Sees people as a product of social institutions
     • Family & Friends
     • Education
     • Religion
     • Media
     • Work
     • Leisure
     • They bring about patterns of social behaviour (social order)

4. Social Order

   • Believe social institutions work together to keep society going
     • Economic System (work)
     • Political System
     • Cultural System
       • mass media
       • education
       • religion
       • youth culture
     • Family & Kinship

5. CRITISISMS

   • Over emphasises consensus & order, fails to explain social conflict & differences due to subcultures
   • Ignores freedom of choice of individuals
   • Views socialisation as always successful, so why do we have deliquents?
   • Behaviours and social norms change e.g. homosexuality & working mothers are normal
   • Marxists say that they ignore the fact that power is not evenly distributed
     • Feminists say that men have the power (patriarchal society)
   • This theory declined in popularity in the 1950s