STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM

MAJOR PERSPECTIVES

• Structural Functionalism: Society is an organic being of

interrelated parts that work together in harmony to reach
common goals.
• Conflict Theory: Society is the competition of a few groups of
people for scarce resources.
• Symbolic Interactionism: Society is essentially a set of daily
interactions that are guided by symbols.
STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM
• Created by Emile Durkheim, who believe that society was a stable
arrangements of parts moved together.
• Everyone contributes to the society a whole, and each person has their
own part of the society.
• Society as an Organism.
• Looks at society on a Macro level.
SOCIAL FACTS
• These are things can not be
influenced by an individual.
• These exits external to individual.
• These things have very
persuasive effect over individual.
• People do not notice these things
unless they try to resist them.
• Examples: Religion, Law, Birth
rates and Mortality rates etc.
INSTITUTIONS
• These are structures that meets the
need of the society.
• Institutions works together as a whole
and contribute to the maintenance of
the society.
• They let the Society function correctly.
• Social bonds are held together by
shared values(‘Value Consensus’).
• Examples: Government, Hospital,
School, Military, Media etc.
LATENT FUNCTIONS AND MANIFEST FUNCTIONS

• Manifest Functions: Functions That are put in place

intentionally to keep a society moving forward.

• Latent Functions: These are unintended consequences from

Manifest functions.
 CHANGE IN STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALISM

• Structural Functionalism sees society as a living cell, for it to

stay alive every part needs to be working and functioning as
one.
• Because of this view, change will happen very slow in the
society.
• Drastic change would create too many problems that would
either slow down society, or destroy it.
CRITICISM
• Structural Functionalist validated inequality and felt that it was a
necessary part of any working society.
• Individual has little or no control over his actions according the
functionalism. Social System has needs and the behavior of its
members is shaped to meet these needs.
• It ignores the possibility of coercion and conflict between social groups.