-structural functionalism theory: society is made up of interdependent parts that work together in for society’s larger interest in social solidarity, emphasizes role of major social institutions and how they provide society with stability

-social institutions: statuses and roles centered around one central aspect of society (ex: student), these roles require certain behavior (ex: studying)

-these social institutions come together to form a unique social structure

-in large groups, social institutions form around accomplishing tasks essential to the survival of the group

-micro level of analysis: focuses on small groups

-macro level of analysis: focuses on overall structure of society (includes social institutions)

-each social institution fulfills tasks on behalf of society

-task functions = the tasks social institutions fulfill on behalf of society

-2 types of task functions: manifest functions, latent functions

-manifest functions = obvious, stated reasons that a social institution exists

-latent functions = good, useful things that a social institution does that is not the institution’s reason for existing (ex: help the economy)

-curbing violations of social norms

-dysfunctions: when there is an unintended consequence from a social institution (ex: pollution)

-structural functionalism says there are 7 primary social institutions: family, religion, economy, education, government, healthcare, and media

-Emile Durkheim: studied social solidarity through history, found that in smaller preindustrial societies, social solidarity was derived from the similarity between members of society, which is called mechanical solidarity

-mechanical solidarity: identified by Durkheim, idea that in preindustrial societies, social solidarity was derived from similarities between members of society such as a common labor or religion

-organic solidarity: began to occur as society began to evolve, industrial era, society operates like a living organism with various parts specializing only in certain things but still dependent on other parts for survival

-Durkheim felt that for societies with organic solidarity to function properly, all parts needed to work together in an interconnected way (sociologists who use this theoretical perspective place emphasis on harmony and social order and tend to overlook societal issues)

-how does structural functionalism see someone who curbs society’s norms? They see them as requiring punishment for 2 reasons. 1: bc accepting one’s punishment is the first step to rehabilitation, 2: their bad behavior may seep into society

-how does structural functionalism see social change? Because they see harmony as deriving from the stable functioning of institutions, they don’t think social change is a good thing. They feel that change in one institution rips apart social harmony bc it requires a long time for other social institutions to catch on. They think that if social change is needed, it should be done slowly so as to not disrupt equilibrium