![]() ![]() ![]() The social structure of society consists of various components such as social institutions, social norms, and values, that are interconnected and dependent on each other. The basic principles of Structural Functionalism can be comprehended in three simple terms: maintenance of social stability, collective functioning, and social evolution. One can study the structure of society without examining its functions, similarly, functions of different social processes can be studied without being concerned with its structural form. In Structural Functionalism, the terms structure and function are not necessarily complementary. Structural Functionalism that is also referred to as Functionalism, lays its emphasis on the large-scale social structures, social institutions, their interrelationships, and implications on society. This article presents an insight into the Structural Functionalist approach by laying focus on the basic principles of Structural Functionalism, various developing theories associated with the perspective, and critical analysis of this approach. Nevertheless, it is a significant theoretical perspective in social sciences. Structural functionalism as an explanatory theory has lost its significance in the contemporary era. It is a macro-level theory concerned with large-scale social structures and social institutions. In education, examples of dysfunction include getting bad grades, truancy, dropping out, not graduating, and not finding suitable employment.įigure 2.Synopsis: Structural functionalism is considered to be a prominent classical sociological perspective. Social processes that have undesirable consequences for the operation of society are called dysfunctions. Latent functions can be beneficial, neutral, or harmful. Another latent function of education is creating a hierarchy of employment based on the level of education attained. Latent functions of your college years include meeting new people, participating in extracurricular activities, or even finding a spouse or partner. A manifest function of college education, for example, includes gaining knowledge, preparing for a career, and finding a good job that utilizes that education. Manifest functions are the consequences of a social process that are sought or anticipated, while latent functions are the unsought consequences of a social process. Protestants were more likely to commit suicide than Catholics in Durkheim’s society, and his work on this topic demonstrated the utility of theory for sociological research.Īnother noted structural functionalist, Robert Merton (1910–2003), pointed out that social processes often have many functions. Durkheim gathered a large amount of data about Europeans who had ended their lives, and he did indeed find differences based on religion. He studied social ties within a group, or social solidarity, and hypothesized that differences in suicide rates might be explained by religion-based differences. For example, one function of a society’s laws may be to protect society from violence, while another is to punish criminal behavior, while another is to preserve public safety.Īlthough suicide is generally considered an individual phenomenon, Émile Durkheim was interested in studying the social factors that affect it. Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society. Social facts are the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life (Durkheim 1895). Durkheim believed that individuals may make up society, but in order to study society, sociologists have to look beyond individuals to social facts. Durkheim believed that society is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability (Durkheim 1893), and that society is held together by shared values, languages, and symbols. Émile Durkheim, another early sociologist, applied Spencer’s theory to explain how societies change and survive over time. The parts of society that Spencer referred to were the social institutions, or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy. He argued that just as the various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning, the various parts of society work together to keep society functioning (Spencer 1898). Functionalism grew out of the writings of English philosopher and biologist, Hebert Spencer (1820–1903), who saw similarities between society and the human body. Structural-functional theory, also called functionalism, sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society. Functionalism emphasizes how various social institutions work together to meet the needs of a society. ![]()
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