STRUCTURAL - FUNCTIONALISM

Prepared By:
Alice D. Pereira
DISS Teacher
OVERVIEW
• Society is composed of a system of
interconnected parts with functions
• Everything has a function in the society
• Social Institutions: RELIGION, EDUCATION,
FAMILY, GOVERNMENT, ECONOMY
• Ultimate goal: To promote social stability and
solidarity
FUNCTIONALISTS VIEW

• Need for progress, justice, peace,

economic sustainability, political
stability and productive human
resources
• Social institutions are needed
• Society is a whole living organism which
has autonomous, specialized ,
interrelated and interdependent parts.
FUNCTIONALISTS VIEW

• Social stability in the society is

achieved through institutions playing
their part
• Consensus is characterizes by common
value system, agreement, consent and
harmony of members and group
• Once consensus is achieved, the
society is assured of a well-
functioning system
FUNCTIONALISTS VIEW

• SCHOOL + GOVERNMENT + CHURCH

+ COMMUNITY= GOOD SOCIETY
• When structures of society do not
function as intended, the society
experiences chaos
FUNCTIONALISTS VIEW

• Social problems are viewed as disruptions and may

pose danger to the systems total function and
equilibrium

Examples: malfunctioning of government due to

corruption and inefficiency; lack of affection and
broken relationships in the family; irrelevant
curriculum and poor quality of education of school may
affect social stability , order and progress
• We become productive members of society
• It is the great equalizer of the poor and the
rich
• Solution to all individual, societal and global
problems
• Promotes intercultural harmony, human
liberation and development
• Agent towards ending discrimination,
conflict and violence
• Preparation for national and global
citizenship
 EDUCATION
• Country’s last straw of hope for catching
up with neighboring countries
• Ticket away from poverty
• School promotes political integration
and develops a sense of national
identity
• The institution tat fulfills social
responsibility of preparing the future
generation
 HISTORICAL ROOTS OF
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
 Herbert Spencer

• First sociological functionalist

• Each social structure just like a
body part has a purpose and
function in the overall well-
being of the society
• The progress of or decline of a
society will be determined by
how it handles constant
problems
 AUGUSTE COMTE

• Scientific method could be

applied to the study of human
behavior and society, and that
the knowledge produced from
this investigation should be
based on empirical evidence.
• Positivism- a way of thinking
based on the assumption that
it is possible to observe social
life and establish empirical,
valid and reliable knowledge
about how it works.
 EMILE DURKHEIM
• Founded sociology as an
academic discipline
• Famous for his study on
suicides
• Use of statistics in sociology
• Key concepts: social facts,
social structure social
solidarity, collective
conscience, mechanical and
organic solidarity, anomie
Structural/functionalist
theorist
 ROBERT MERTON

Any social structure may have

many functions
Distinguished between
manifest functions.
The recognized and intended
consequences of any social
pattern and
Latent functions the
unrecognized and unintended
consequences of any social
pattern.
SOCIAL DYSFUNCTIONS

• Social dysfunctions- “any social pattern that

ay disrupt the operation of society”
• Causes: The lack of consensus among people
about what is helpful or harmful to society
• Differences in backgrounds or status, for
instance, may lead to differences in
recognition and appreciation of a capitalist
order
• High profits for factory owners can be seen
as dysfunctional for factory workers as they
receive low wages.