Functionalism
www.educationforum.co.uk
Durkheim
“consider social facts as things”
Society exists over and above individuals.
A social fact is both external to individuals
and something which exerts some form
of constraint over individuals – a good
example is language – language is both
separate from us and constrains our
expression in many ways.
Social Facts

Functionalists like Durkheim say sociologists
should study social facts – specifically the
causes of social facts and the functionality
of social facts for society.
Morality




Moral codes are seen as ‘social facts’ – they
are external to us and exert constraint over us
Moral codes (norms and values) have the
essential function of maintaining social order.
Durkheim says humans have a ‘Dual Nature’ –
on the one hand they want to maximise their
own pleasure and on the other they desire
social order (the ‘collective conscience’)
Moral codes (norms and values) stop the
former from destroying the latter
Anomie


Durkheim introduces the idea of anomie
(normlessness) – this is when the
collective conscience breaks down and
egotism rules – anomie leads to social
disintegration.
Norms and values and their transmission
therefore essential to the maintenance of
social order
Evaluation of Durkheim
1.
2.
3.
The idea of human nature – society morally
regulates the individual is the polar opposite of the
Marxist view that ‘good’ human nature is corrupted
by capitalist society
Determinism – Durkheim and the early
functionalists can be criticised for seeing social
forces as the only determinants of human
behaviour (interactionists would disagree!)
Inequality – Functionalists tend to ignore
inequalities in society. ‘Norms and values’ might
simply reflect class ideology rather than being
shared throughout society
Parsons





Says there are 4 functional pre requisites
for a successful social system AGIL
A = ADAPTION
G = GOAL ATTAINMENT
I = INTERGRATION
L = LATENCY
ADAPTION

Refers to societies ability to adapt to the
environment and meet the material
needs of the people – an economic
function
GOAL ATTAINMENT

Refers to society’s ability to set and meet
gals for future development e.g. to make
profits, raise taxes, plan and manage
services – the political function
INTERGRATION

Refers to societies ability to maintain cohesion by
defining and dealing with deviance – social control
and socialisation
LATENCY

Refers to societies need to have norms
and values internalised by its members
through families, schools, religion etc.
Society as an Organic Whole


Parsons asserts that any part of society can be placed in
one of the AGIL classification.
All parts of society are interconnected and work for the
benefit of the whole
Merton
Criticises Parsons from within a recognisably functionalist position:
1.
Merton says it is wrong to assume that everything within
society right now is functionally indispensable – society is not
static there are functional alternatives to existing modes e.g.
reconstituted family maybe just as ‘functional’ as the nuclear
family
2.
Merton claims society is becoming more and more complex
and can’t be treated like some big organic whole – some
parts of society are only distantly related to other parts and
have what he calls ‘functional autonomy’
3.
Dysfunction – not everything is functional – some things are
dysfunctional, some things are functional for one group and
dysfunctional for others – e.g. capitalism