Chapter 4: Contemporary Grand Theories I

structural functionalism

a sociological theory that focuses on the structures of society and their functional significance (positive or negative) for other structures.

structures

in society, patterned social interaction and persistent social relationships.

• related to structural functionalism

functions

consequences that can be observed and that help a particular system adapt or adjust (Davis & Moore).

functional theory of stratification (Davis & Moore)

• stratification is universal and necessary

  • present in every society

• role allocation and performance

  • qualified people in positions

  • higher rewards (income, prestige, power) as motivation

• importance of positions

  • specialized skills with specific training, justifying greater rewards

• meritocracy and motivation

  • stratification ensures that talent is distributed efficiently by providing incentives

  • most capable individuals rise to the top, leading to a meritocratic society

societal functionalism

a variety of structural functionalism that focuses on the large-scale social structures and institutions of society, their interrelationships, and their constraining effects on actors.

social stratification

to the structural functionalist, a structure involving a hierarchy of positions that has the function of leading those people with needed skills and abilities to do what is necessary to move into the high-ranking positions that are most important to society’s functioning and survival.

criticisms of functional theory of stratification

• perpetuates privileged position of those who already have power, prestige, and money

• assumes that just because stratification exists in the present and in the past, it is necessary in the future

• some lesser valued occupations may in fact be more important to society’s survival

• artificial scarcity despite qualifications to keep numbers small and income high

• we do not have to offer power, prestige, and income for people to occupy high-level positions

AGIL scheme

Parson’s four imperatives: adaption, goal attainment, integration, latency (pattern maintenance)

activities aimed at meeting a need or the multiple needs of a system that are necessary for their survival.

adaptation

one of Parson’s four functional imperatives. a system must adjust to its environment and adjust the environment to its needs; a system must cope with external situational dangers and contingencies.

goal attainment

the second of Parson’s functional imperatives involving the need for a system to define and achieve its primary goals.

integration

the third of Parson’s functional imperatives, requiring that a system seek to regulate the interrelationships of its component parts. also involves the management of the relationships among the other three functional imperatives.

latency/pattern maintenance

latency: the first aspect of Parson’s fourth functional imperative involving the system needed to furnish, maintain, and renew the motivation of individuals (micro)

pattern maintenance: the second aspect of Parson’s fourth functional imperative, involving the need for a system to furnish, maintain, the cultural patterns that create and sustain individual motivation (macro).

Parson’s four action systems

the behavioral organism, the personality system, the social system, the cultural system

behavioral organism

the Parsonian action system responsible for handling the adaptation function by adjusting to and transforming the external world

behavioral organism = adaptation

personality system

the Parsonian action system responsible for performing the goal attainment function by defining system goals and mobilizing resources to attain them.

personality system = goal attainment

social system

the Parsonian action system responsible for coping with the integration function by controlling its component parts: a number of human actors who interact with one another in a situation with a physical or environmental context.

social system = integration

cultural system

the Parsonian action system that performs the latency function by providing actors with the norms and values that motivate them for action.

cultural system = latency

Parsons’ action schema

highest to lowest:

1. environment of action: ultimate reality

2. cultural system

3. social system

4. personality system

5. behavioral organism

6. environment of action: physical-organic environment

lowest levels provide conditions, energy for the higher levels; higher levels control those below them

Parsons’ order in structural functionalism

1. systems have the property of order and interdependence of parts.

2. systems tend toward self-maintaining order (equilibrium).

3. system may be static or involved in an ordered process of change.

4. the nature of one part of a system has an impact on the forms that the other parts can take.

5. systems maintain boundaries with their environments.

6. allocation & integration are two fundamental processes necessary for a given state of equilibrium of a system.

7. systems tend toward self-maintenance, involving the maintenance of boundaries and of the relationships of parts to the whole, control of environmental variations, and control of tendencies to change the system from within.

Parsons’ social system

a number of human actors who interact with one another in a situation with a physical or environmental context, in which the actors seek to optimize their gratification.

actors’ relationships to one another and to their social systems are defined and mediated by shared cultural symbols.

status-role complex is basic unit in the social system.

status

a structural position within the social system (Parsons).

role

what the actor does in a status, seen in the context of its functional significance for the larger system (Parsons).

Parsons’ functional prerequisites of a social system

1. system must be structured so that it operates compatibly with other systems.

2. to survive, system must have the requisite support from other systems.

3. system must meet a significant proportion of the needs of its actors.

4. the system must elicit adequate participation from its members.

5. system must have at least a minimum of control over potentially disruptive behavior.

6. if conflict becomes sufficiently disruptive, system must control it.

7. system requires a language to survive.

integration between actors and the social system happen via… (Parsons)

internalization: norms and values of a system become part of the actors’ consciences.

socialization: actors acquire value orientations that fit the dominant values and basic structure of roles within the social system.

need-dispositions

drives that are shaped by the social setting (Parsons).

part of socialization process in which the drives molded by society bind children to the social system; process provides the means by which the drives molded by society can be satisfied.

use of social control (Parsons)

used as second line of defense; system runs best when used sparingly

flexible system (tolerates some deviance) stronger than brittle system (no deviance)

• must allow for some individuality without threatening integrity of system

mechanisms that allow the social system to maintain equilibrium (Parsons)

socialization and social control

individuality and deviation tolerated sparingly until reequilibration mechanisms deployed

society

a relatively self-sufficient collectivity; members can live entirely within the framework of the society and provide enough to satisfy their needs as individuals and collectivites

four subsystems in terms of functions (AGIL) they perform

• economy (adaptation)

• polity (goal attainment)

• fiduciary system (pattern maintenance and latency)

• societal community (integration)

economy

the subsystem of society that performs the function of adapting to the environment (Parsons)

polity

the subsystem of society that performs the function of goal attainment by pursuing societal objectives and mobilizing actors and resources to that end (Parsons).

fiduciary system

the subsystem of society that handles the pattern maintenance and latency function by transmitting culture (norms and values) to actors and seeing to it that they internalize that culture (Parsons).

societal community

the subsystem of society that performs the integration function, coordinating the components of society (Parsons).

personality

the individual actor’s organized system of orientation to, and motivation for, action (Parsons).

behavioral organism

the action system associated with adaptation; the material source of energy for the rest of the system (Parsons)