ANN MARIE B.

INTONG
 Learning
Objectives
1. Discuss functionalism theory;
2. Identify the intellectual ancestors of structural
functionalism theory; and
3. Analyze social issues using the perspective of
structural functionalism theory.
01 What is Functionalism Theory

It is often labelled ‘structural-

functionalism’ because of its focus on the
functional requisites of ‘needs’ of a social
system that must be met if the system is
to survive and on the corresponding
structures that meet these needs.
The Functionalist Perspective of Society
Society is conceived of as a system of
interrelated parts in which no part can be
understood in isolation from the whole.
A change in any part is seen as leading to a
certain degree of imbalance, which in turn
results in changes in other parts of the
system and to some extent to a
reorganization of the system as a whole.
The general features of Sociological Functionalism
1. Societies are wholes, systems of interrelated parts.
2. The concept of system, derived as a sociological concept from Pareto, is
the central to all forms of sociological functionalism. It is the functional
relation of parts to whole.
3. All systems which make up the social system are indispensable to the
extent that they perform special functions related to the needs of the
system. (one may disrupt)
4. The integration of all parts of the system – the sub systems – is never
perfect.
5. Deviance, tension and strain exist as dysfunctional elements which tend
to become institutionalized or resolved in the direction of social
integration and equilibrium.
6. Social change is adaptive and evolutionary.
7. Social integration is achieved essentially through value consensus
“shared cognitive orientations” that is, through a pervasive set of
principles which legitimize the existing social, economic, and political
structures.
The Functionalist approach in the United States 1930s-1960s
The functional approach was developed from the 1930s
through the 1960s in the United States. Parsons studied Weber and
Durkheim and translated some of these into English. Parsons thus
became a major interpreter of these writers in America, and his
interpretation may be considered to have developed the influence
of these writers in a particular way. Although a liberal within the
American context, Parsons used concepts and models from Weber
and Durkheim to establish a sociological approach which
countered the Marxian view. This approach dominated American
sociology from the 1940s through to the early 1970s.
 MACRO
Overview of
Functionalism The focus is macro-sociological, with institutions
and structures existing in the society as a whole.
FUNCTION
Evolutionary change
This is the functional part of the structural
Change tends to be
orderly and functional approach.
evolutionary, rather than Interdependence and Equilibrium
revolutionary or with
dramatic structural It attempts to explain the relationship of different
breaks. parts of the system to each other, and to the
whole
 TALCOTT PARSON’S (1902–1979)

Talcott C. Parsons was born in 1902 in Colorado Springs, Colorado. He was the
fifth and last child of Mary Ingersol Parsons, and Edward Smith Parsons.
Talcott C. Parsons acknowledged that his parents’ values influenced him
considerably. Theirs was a liberal household, in which morality, the modern
industrial system, economic individualism, and exploitation of labor were
topics of concern.
. Parsons became a tenured professor of sociology in 1939, chair of the
Harvard Sociology Department in 1944, and president of the American
Sociological Association in 1949. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, Parsons
was a dominant figure in American sociology. He continued to teach and
give lectures right up until his death in 1979.
 Parsons’ AGIL Model
 Adaptation (economy), the problem of securing
sufficient resources from the environment and
distributing them throughout the system.

 Goal Attainment (politics), this system problem is

essentially the concern of political institutions which is
to mobilize its resources and energies to attain system’s
goals and to establish priorities among them.
 Integration (legal system), this system need is to
coordinate, adjust, and regulate relationships among
actors or units within the system to keep the system
functioning.
 Latency (family & religion), this problem is one of
keeping the value system intact and guaranteeing the
conformity of the members of the system by
transmitting societal values.

How is AGIL related to Equilibrium?

Parsons considered the four system’s needs – AGIL - as the
prerequisites for social equilibrium. Their continuing
operations is in turn ensured by two mechanisms:
socialization and social control.
Parsons’ theory of Action (The action system):Assumptions

1. Systems have the property of order and interdependence of parts

2. Systems tend toward self-maintaining order, or equilibrium.
3. The system may be static or involved in an ordered process of change.
4. The nature of one part of the system has an impact on the form that the
other parts can take.
5. Systems maintain boundaries with their environments.
6. Allocation and integration are two fundamental processes necessary for
a given state of equilibrium of a system.
7. Systems tend toward self-maintenance involving the maintenance of
boundaries and of the relationships of parts to the whole, control of
environmental variations, and control of tendencies to change the
system from within (Ritzer, 2011).
 Cultural system is the first system in his four systems levels where the
basic unit of analysis is meaning or symbolic (signs) system. Some
examples of symbolic systems are religious beliefs, languages, and
national values. At this level, Parsons focuses on shared values which
are internalized by a society’s members through socialization.

 Social system, the next level in Parsons’ scheme in which the basic unit
is status-role interaction.
A social system consists in a plurality of individual actors interacting with
each other in a situation which has at least a physical or environmental
aspect, actors who are motivated in terms of a tendency to the
“optimization of gratification” and whose relation to their situations,
including each other, is defined and mediated in terms of a system of
culturally structured and shared symbols (Parsons, 1951:5-6).
Personality system, where the basic unit is the individual actor,
the human persons. His focus at this level is on individual
needs, motives, and attitudes, such as the motivation toward
gratification.

Behavioral system, where the basic unit is the human being in

its biological sense, that is the physical human persons,
including the organic and physical environment in which the
human being lives.
 4 Types Of Social Systems
Parsons’ Pattern Variable
 Ascription or achievement
The dilemma here is whether to orient oneself toward others on the basis
of what they are (ascribed qualities: age, sex, ethnicity) or on the basis of
what they can do or have done
(on the basis of achievement or performance)

 Diffuseness or specificity
The issue here is the range of demands in the relationships. If the number
and types of demands or responsibilities are wide-ranging, it is a diffused
relationship; it the scope is narrow or limited, the relationship is
functionally specific.
 Affectivity or affective neutrality
The issue is whether or not the actor can expect emotional
gratification in the relationship

 Particularism or Universalism
Here the choice is between reacting on the basis of a general
norm or on the basis of one’s membership in a particular group.

 Collectivity-orientation or Self-orientation
This involves the dilemma of whether private (self) interest can be
gratified or some collective obligation or duty must be fulfilled.
 ASSESSMENT
Institutional Analysis Project

•Choose a social institution (e.g., economy, politics) and

conduct a detailed analysis of its functions within the
larger social system.
•Create visual aids, diagrams, or presentations to
illustrate how their chosen institution contributes to social
stability according to Parsons' functionalist perspective.
Pre-Activity
 Learning Objectives

• Explain conflict theory;

• Examine the intellectual ancestors of conflict
theory; and
• Analyze social issues using the perspective of
structural functionalism theory.
What is Conflict Theory? 02
It is the major alternative to functionalism as
an approach to analyzing the general
structure of societies; and it is increasingly
popular and important in modern sociology.
Central Assumptions of Conflict Theory
• People have a number of basic “interests”, things they want
and attempt to acquire and which are not defined by societies
but rather common to them all.
• Emphasis on power as the core of social relationships.
Conflict theorists always view power not only as scarce and
unequally divided – and therefore a source of conflict – but
also as essentially coercive.
• Values and ideas are seen as weapons used by different
groups to advance their own ends rather that as means of
defining a whole society’s identity and goals
 Ralf Dahrendorf (1929-2009)
• A German-British sociologist,
philosopher, political scientist and
liberal politician. A class conflict
theorist, Dahrendorf was a leading
expert on explaining and analyzing
class divisions in modern
society. Ralf Dahrendorf is most
famous for his work in the sociology
of knowledge, and his book "Class
and Class Conflict in Industrial
Society."
 Two-Faces of Society
• Conflict
• Consensus

Conflict examines Whereas,

of interest and consensus
coercion that examines values
holds the society integration
 Theory of Authority
Differential
distribution of
Macro
authority “invariably
perspective with
becomes the
focus on social
determining factor of
facts
systematic social
conflicts” Authority
resides in
e.g. roles and position and
position not individual
Different
positions have
different degree
of authority
CONCEPTS OF AUTHORITY
Identification of
authority roles
Focus on to (large scale
study structure)
structure of
positions in To analyse the
society Conflicts conflict,
among
them
Authority attached to Position

TWO ASPECTS of authority:

• Superordination
• Subordination
The powerful
control the
subordinates

Due to
expectations of Not due to
people around psychological
them with the characteristics
position
 Those who do
not comply may
be punished
It is legitimate
Authority is
specified in
Expectations society and not
are attached generalized
to position
Is Authority Constant?

• No
• As it resides
in position Imperatively
and not coordinated
individuals DISassociations
Is Authority Constant?

Only two conflict

• Authority is
groups can exist
dichotomous
within an
association

IMPERATIVELY
COORDINATED
ASSOCIATIONS-
Is Authority Constant?

• The dominant position holders seek to maintain status

quo
• Subordinates seek change
• Legitimacy of authority is precarious-conflict of
interests
• Interests are objective in nature
• How? Reflected in roles attached to position
 Latent and Manifest Interests

Unconscious role Latent interests when

expectation, no need become conscious
to internalize -manifests interests
expectations
-latent interests
 Latent and Manifest Interests

They adjust or adapt to the

roles and behave in an
expected manner

Conflict theory’s task to

analyze connection
between the two
 ACTIVITY

Create a role-playing scenario where YOU take on the

roles of individuals within a hierarchical organization.
The scenario should involve a conflict arising from the
unequal distribution of authority. YOU will have to act
out the conflict and then reflect on how Dahrendorf's
theory helps to understand the dynamics at play and
potential ways to address the conflict.
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