31/01/24

La:
-Functionalist perspective

Features of Modernism

1. Stability; few social/technological changes

2. Predictable; job and relationship for life
3. Nuclear families (minimal family diversity)
4. Industrial economy; most people worked in factories/industry
5. Minimal cultural diversity/subcultures

How to critique post-modernism

-Focuses on western countries

E.G Saudi Arabia still doesn’t like open sex relationships/marriages
-Class still plays a large role in the lives of many individuals

Talcott Parsons

- Parsons argued that society should be viewed similarly to a human body

- Each part of the body is vital
- Take away one part and other parts will suffer… ultimately the body will die
- Class, stratification, education Etc. are vital if society is to survive

Functionalism worksheet

1~5) On the picture of the worksheet

6) Value Consensus is a shared belief in a certain set of values , common goals are
beneficial to society as EG. If a group of factory workers all want efficiency,for
more profit, they would be incentivised to work harder/more efficiently.

7) Teachers, their role is to guide students and impart knowledge

8) A norm of a customer is to pay for their goods rather than stealing them

9) Norms and roles may be beneficial for a business as it helps people to confirm
to their roles and norms orderly , which in turn may lead to higher economic
productivity as it ensures predictability and adherence to common values.

10a) If there is a demand for eco-friendly products, a company may choose to adapt
to this demand to provide more environmentally friendly goods. Going to a new
country with a different culture, one may choose to adapt to the customs of said
country and adopt them for oneself whilst in said country

10b) An example of Goal attainment would be a government deciding to help fund a

war and directing its people to contribute to the war effort

10c) Integration in society is like having rules everyone follows to get along. An
example would be the legal system which has a set of laws everyone must follow

10d) Pattern Maintenance is about keeping the basic values of a society intact. E.G
Families teach values,schools educate, religion provides a foundation for moral
beliefs

11) Parsons pattern variables

Ascription - The type of family which a person is born into determines that persons
status

Achievement - Status is achieved through a persons own efforts, like through hard
work

Diffuseness - People enter relationships with others to satisfy a large range of

needs, like the relationship between mother and child

Specificity - People enter into relationships with others to satisfy a particular

need, like the relationship between shopkeeper and customer

Particularism - Individuals act differently towards particular people, like one

being loyal to their family but not to strangers

Universalism - Individuals act according to universal principles, everybody is

equal under the law

Affectivity - Gratification is immediate, people act to gratify their desires ASAP

Effective neutrality - Gratification is differed, for example, saving money to put

a deposit on a house in the future

Collective orientation - People put the interests of the social groups to which
they belong before their own interests

Self-orientation - People pursue their own interests firsts, rather the social
groups to which they belong to

12)