Module 2: Dominant Approaches and Ideas (Part 1)

About this Module

One thing that was emphasized in the last module is that the social sciences must be approached in a
methodical manner, hence the distinction that it is the scientific study of society. This module will introduce the
dominant approaches used to explain various relationships that take place in our society.

Module Objectives
By the end of this course, learners are expected to
• determine manifest and latent functions and dysfunctions of sociocultural phenomena (HUMSS_DIS11 -IIIe-f-
1),
• analyze social inequalities in terms of class conflict (HUMSS_DIS11-IIIg-2),
• appraise the meanings that people attach to everyday forms of interaction in order to explain social behavior
(HUMSS_DIS11-IIIh-3), and
• analyze the psychodynamics of the person’s personality in terms of id, ego, and superego (HUMSS_DIS11-
IIIi-5).

Module Topics
• Structural-Functionalism
• Marxism
• Symbolic Interactionism
• Psychoanalysis
Structural-Functionalism
Structural-functionalism is a dominant approach in the social sciences that sees society as a complex system
whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. According to Reader in Social Anthropology at
the University of Edinburgh Alan Barnard (2004), structural-functionalism is more concerned with the place of
individuals in the social order itself than with individual actions.

Similarly, societies have structures similar to those of organisms. Social institutions, like the parts of the body,
function together with the larger systems. The social systems, such as kinship, religion, politics, and
economics, together compose society, just as the different biological schemes together form the organism.
In structural-functionalism, society is seen as running effortlessly like a fit life form, composed of many parts
concocted in larger systems, and these systems, each with its own particular use or function, operating
together with the others.

Historical Context
• The foundations of structural-functionalism were laid by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim in the late
19th century and were discussed in his books, The Division of Labor in Society and Suicide.
• In the early twentieth century, Bronislaw Malinowski speculated that cultural practices had psychological and
physiological functions. Meanwhile, A. R. Radcliffe-Brown focused on social structure.
• In the United States, Talcott Parsons introduced the idea of homeostasis or the idea that there are constant
types of structures which compose the interreliant systems of a society and worked to maintain society.
Key Concepts in Structural-Functionalism
Among important concepts in structural-functionalism are social structure, social function, social dysfunction,
manifest function, and latent function.

Important concepts in structural-functionalism

Concepts Description
Social • society is systematically structured and may be likened to a biological organism,
structures according to British sociologist A. R. Radcliffe-Brown
• society is a multifaceted scheme whose parts work mutually for the promotion of
harmony and constancy
• people’s lives are steered by social structures, or relatively steady models of social
actions
• examples: government, education, media, church
Social functions • results or effects for the operation of the society in general
     – manifest function: those that are intentional or known, referring to functions which
people suppose and anticipate to be fulfilled by the institutions
     – latent function: the unexpected effects of institutions
Social • may also be manifest or latent
dysfunctions      – manifest dysfunctions: expected disruptions of social life
• have a negative effect on society

Meanwhile, the English sociologist Herbert Spencer conceptualized another important concept in structural
functionalism, which is the idea of “social equilibrium.” He believed that there is an inclination in society
towards equilibrium. When conditions of the society are modified, the consequential changes to social structure
will maintain equilibrium, returning society to stability.

Activity 1: Research on different social structures existing in the country. Define each and explain why it is
important in the society.

Thinkers and Their Contributions

Some of the most important contributors to the theory of structural-functionalism are Emile Durkheim,
Bronislaw Malinowski, and A. R. Radcliffe-Brown (Barnard 2004).
Strengths and Criticisms of Structural-Functionalism
Structural-functionalism was most prominent in the 1940s and 1950s but was waning in importance in the
1960s, when it was challenged in Europe by more conflict-oriented theories, and more recently by structuralism
or the doctrine that structure is more important than function.

Strengths
• the existence of a general agreement on the values
and norms of the society by majority
• the belief that society is made up of integrated
parts that are bound together, and that if something
is wrong with one part, it will affect the other parts
• structural-functionalism tends to seek stability and
avoid conflict, thus supporting the status quo and in
effect, maintaining social order
Weaknesses
• seen as being wary of social change due to its
focus on integration and consensus, and in doing so
ignores independence and conflict
• its tendency to ignore inequality in terms of race,
gender and class, which causes conflict
• having no agency for it sees individuals as puppets
playing out their respective roles in society
• was only able to explain the development of
institutions through recourse to the consequences
attributed to them, hence explaining them circularly.

For the postmodernists, structural-functionalism is criticized for its claim to objectivity and propagation of a
grand narrative in explaining society in all its modes.
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