Functionalism: basic assumptions

Functionalism: Basic assumptions

Functionalism is the central perspective in sociology that explains the social phenomena through their perspective in sociology through their functions. The origins of the functionalist perspective can be traced back to the work of the most significant intellectual forerunners Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Emile Durkheim, and two leading structural functionalists Talcott Parsons and Robert K . Merton. Functionalism is a macro-sociological perspective which focuses on the large-scale social patterns and social systems and views the society as having interrelated parts that contribute to the functioning of the whole system.Comte defined sociology as the scientific study of social dynamics and social static. Social Dynamics signifies the changing, progressing and developmental dimensions of the society while social statics refers to the social order and those elements of the society and social phenomena which tend to persist and relatively permanent, defying change.The basis of the functional approach is the organic analogy, which sees society as an organism with different parts integrated with each other and contributing to the whole. The fundamental assumptions underlying functionalism is that if something exists, it must have some function for the social system. As against the evolutionism which perceives the society through its stages of development over the time, the functional approach stops the motions of the system to see how it works as a system at that point in time. Functionalism views the society as a system: that is, a set of interconnected parts which together forms a whole.

Key principles/ Assumptions of Functionalism

Dahrendorf (quoted in Rao, 2011) purposes the following assumptions of functionalism

1) A society is the system of integrated parts.

2) Social systems tend to be stable because they have built-in mechanisms of control.

3) Dysfunctions exist, but they tend to resolve themselves or become institutionalized in the long run.

4) Change is usually gradual.

5) Social integration is produced by the agreement of most of the members of the society on a certain set of values.

Functionalism addresses the question of how social organization is maintained so they often bring the three major assumptions to their researchers.

1) Stability: The chief evaluative criterion for any social pattern is whether it contributes to the maintenance of the society.

2) Harmony: Like the parts of an organization, the parts of society typically work together harmoniously for the good of the whole.

3) Evolution: Change occurs primarily through evolution- the most peaceful adoption of social structures to new needs and demands the elimination of unnecessary or outmoded structures.

Emile Durkheim and Functionalism

Functionalism draws its inspiration from the ideas of Emile Durkheim. Durkheim was concerned with the question of how societies maintain internal stability and survive over time. He sought to explain the social stability through the concept of solidarity, and differentiated between the mechanical solidarity of primitive societies and organic solidarity of the complex modern societies. According to Durkheim, more primitive or traditional societies are held together by the shared values and common symbols.By contrast, he observed that, in modern societies, traditional family bonds are weaker, modern societies also exhibit a complex division of the labor where members perform very different daily tasks. Durkheim argued that modern industrial society would destroy the traditional mechanical solidarity that held primitive societies together. Modern societies, however, do not fall apart. Instead, those societies rely on organic solidarity because of the extensive division of labor, members of society are forced to interact and exchange with one another to provide the things they need.Functionalism interprets the society's each part in terms of how it contributes to the stability of the whole. According to Durkheim, functionalism conceptualizes society as more than the sum of its component parts. The different parts are primarily the institutions of the society, each of which has particular consequences for the form and shape of the society. The parts are then dependent to one another in order to make a whole society functioning effectively.

Talcott Parsons and functionalism

Functionalism was a dominant theoretical perspective in sociology for many years and one of its major theorists was Talcott Parsons( 1902-1979). In parson's view, all the parts of a social system are interrelated, however, different parts of the society have different functions, the basic ones of which are: 1) adaptation to the environment, 2) goal attainment, 3) integrating members into the harmonious units, and 4) latency of maintaining basic cultural patterns. These four functional imperatives are known as the AGIL scheme. In order to survive, a system must perform these four functions.

Adaptation: A system must cope with the external situational agencies. It must adapt to the environment and the need of the environment.

Goal Attainment: A systems primary and the secondary goal must be achieved.

Integration: A system must regulate the interrelationship of its component parts. It also must manage the relationship among the other three functional imperatives.

Latency: A system must furnish, motivation and the cultural pattern of the individual that helps in sustaining the motivation.

The behavioral organism is the action system that handles the adaptation function by adjusting to and transforming the external world. The personality system performs the goal- attainment function by defining system goals and mobilizing resources to attain them. The social system copes with the integration function by controlling its component parts. Finally, the cultural system performs the latency functions by providing the actors with the norms and values that motivate them to action.Parsons believed social systems strive for the stability. Delaney(2005) states which is essentially conservative and that it minimizes the roles of power and conflict in the society. Functionalists would, for example, argue that it is fair and equitable that the higher social classes earn more money and it is argued that they are more important to the society. Critics of functionalism argue that functionalism is accepting of the status quo as well. Functionalists would counter this argument by saying that, regardless of the injustices that inequality produces, inequality serves a purpose in society. It provides an incentive system for people to and promotes solidarity among groups linked by the common social standing. In addition, functionalists also argue that if a social institution exists, it must serve a function. Institutions, however, change over time; some disappear and others come into being.

References

Bhandari, Laxman P. Fundamentals of Sociology. Kathmandu: Buddha, 1915.

Tishler, Henry L. Introduction to Sociology. 10^th Ed. Cengage Advantage Books:USA

The Social Development Notes. The World Bank.

Tang, Shipping. 2011. A General Theory of Institutional Change. Rutledge Studies in the Modern World Economy.