Functionalism

🌍 KEY AREAS/THEMES

• Structural Consensus Theory 🤝

• Value Consensus 🎯

• Social Solidarity and Social Order 🌈

• Organic Analogy 🌿

• Agents of Socialisation 👨‍👩‍👦

• Culture (Pre-Industrial and Modern society) 📚

1. 📊 STRUCTURAL CONSENSUS APPROACH

Value Consensus, Social Solidarity and Social Order

Functionalism Overview:

• Structural approach (top-down/macro) for understanding society.

• Emile Durkheim posits that society's culture supersedes individual influence.

• Society exists prior to individual existence and continues beyond individual death.

Social Order:

• Societies characterized by order rather than chaos or anarchy.

• Individual behaviors are generally ordered, predictable, and patterned.

• Achieved through value consensus; shared cultural values, goals, and norms unify society.

Main Function of Society:

• Provides essential similarities for cooperation, order, and unity.

  • Example: Majority of individuals are law-abiding and aspire for educational and social success.

Value Consensus:

• Integrates individuals into society, fostering social order.

• Ensures individuals pursue shared goals and meet society's functional prerequisites (e.g., economic productivity).

Talcott Parsons' Mechanisms for Conformity:

1. Socialization:

   • Teaches individuals to internalize societal norms and values, forming part of their identity.

   • Influenced by agents like family, education, and religion.

2. Social Control:

   • Rewards conformity (e.g., educational achievements) and penalizes deviance.

Evaluations of Key Area 1

• Interactionist View:

  • Individuals actively construct meanings rather than passively consume societal values.

• Marxist Perspective:

  • Society is based on class conflict, with ruling class ideology imposed on workers for exploitation.

• Radical Feminists:

  • Society operates on patriarchal values, systematically oppressing women.

• Postmodernist Argument:

  • Society fragmented into individual value systems rather than a unified values agreement.

2. 🌱 ORGANIC ANALOGY

Durkheim's Analogy:

• Society functions like a human body; interrelated parts work together.

• Examples of body parts and their societal functions:

  • Lungs = Religion

  • Heart = Family

  • Liver = Government

Functional Prerequisites:

• Basic needs for societal functioning, similar to bodily functions.

• Institutions like family and education meet these needs, ensuring societal stability.

Evaluations of Key Area 2

• Marxist Critique:

  • Institutions disseminate ruling class values rather than serving the general populace.

• Feminist Insight:

  • Disagreement on whether societal values benefit all members equally, suggesting systemic patriarchy.

3. 📚 THE AGENTS OF SOCIALISATION

THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY

• Functionalist Belief:

  • Nuclear family as an ideal structure for effective socialization of children.

  • Primary socialization critical for adapting to societal norms and culture.

• Parsons' Perspective:

  • Family acts as a 'Personality Factory', shaping children into societal roles.

  • Emphasis on identification with same-sex adults for role modeling.

Evaluations of Functionalist Views on Family

• New Right:

  • Support functionalist views but raise concerns about nuclear family breakdown.

• Interactionists:

  • Critique passive view of socialization; emphasize the negotiated and active nature of the process.

• Marxist View:

  • Argue familial socialization promotes dominant class values, leading to class oppression.

• Radical Feminists:

  • Critique primary socialization processes for perpetuating patriarchal roles.

THE ROLE OF EDUCATION

• Functionalists:

  • Education transmits shared cultural values, promotes conformity.

  • Subjects connect individuals to society, fostering collective norms.

Evaluations of Functionalist Views on Education

• Marxist Critique:

  • Education legitimizes dominant ideologies rather than promoting equality.

• Interactionist Perspective:

  • Education is an active negotiation rather than a passive acceptance of norms.

• Radical Feminists:

  • Education reinforces patriarchal systems rather than promoting social solidarity.

4. 🌍 KEY AREA 3: CULTURE ACROSS DIFFERENT SOCIETIES

Culture in Pre-Industrial Societies

• Durkheim's View:

  • Social institutions socializing individuals into cultural values.

  • High cultural conformity with rare conflict, resulting in strong social solidarity.

  • Characterized by mechanical solidarity; individuals similar in status.

Culture in Modern Societies

• Industrial Societies:

  • More complex than pre-industrial; industrialization dilutes value consensus.

  • Emergence of anomie; individuals act independently, prioritizing personal interests over societal norms.

  • Dependence on one another reinforces social order despite weaker bonds.

Evaluations of Key Area 3

• Critique of Overemphasis:

  • Social conflict often overlooked in Functionalist perspectives.

• Interactionist Argument:

  • Individuals play an active role in shaping culture, not just passive recipients.

• Feminist and Marxist Critiques:

  • Disagreement on cultural value consensus; focus on conflicts and patriarchal oppression.