Structural- Functionalism

• In general terms, there are three characteristics by which structures

differ from mere aggregates;
i) The nature of an element depends at least in part, on its place in
the structure, ie. Its interrelations with other elements .
ii) The structure is not static, but allows for change from within,
iii) The characteristics of the structure can be understood without
reference to factors external to it, we can understand the function
of a word, say 'dog' within a language, structure independently of
whether any dog exists.
• The term structure for the first time was applied to human societies
in the 19th century. Before that time, its use was more common in
other fields such as construction or biology.
• Karl Marx used construction as a metaphor when he spoke
of " the economic structure of society, the real basis on
which a legal and political superstructure are adjusted.
• August Compte viewed society as functionally organized
system. He floated the theory of consensus universalism –
the necessary correlation among the elements of society,
the very foundation of social structure.
• Herbert Spencer used the term structure in the biological
connotation and conceived of society as an organism
comprising interdependent parts that form a structure
similar to the anatomy of a living body.
• A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, a British social anthropologist, gave
the concept of social structure a central place in his
approach and connected it to the concept of cuntion.
• In his view, the components of the social structure have
indipensable functions for one another- the continued
existence of the one component is dependent on that of
the others- and for the society as a whole, which is seen as
an integrated, organic entity.
• For T. Parsons, social structure was essentially normative-
that is, consisting of "institutional patterns of normative
culture. To him norms, roles and institutions are all
components of the social structure on different level of
complexity.
• Structuralism is a kind of enquiry or theory
predominantly concerned with the description of
structures.
• Less attention is given to the genetic or historical
dimensions of the subject matter.
• The approach is often linked to an assumption
that structures – relationship between particulars
– that are basic to reality, to human knowledge or
both.
- A Dictionary of Philosophy 1996, Thomas. M.
• Functionalism is simply a view of society as a self regulating
system of interrelated elements within structured social
relationships and observed regularities.
• It is a sociological perspective which seeks to explain a social
element or cultural pattern in terms of its consequences for
different elements as well as for the system as a whole.
• It is a study about relations between casual and consequences of a
particular system which seeks to describe the consequences of a
given cultural usages or social elements; and analyze specific
contribution of part of some whole to other parts and to the whole.
• It is the method of analyzing the object/system according to its
function.
• Emile Durkheim argued the parts of society as
interdependent and that this interdendency imposes
structure on the behaviour of institutions and their
members. In other words, Durkheim believed that
individual human behaviour is shaped by external forces.
• Further he argued to show how a fact is useful is not to
explain how it originated or why it is, what it is, but to
explain its purposes ie. what it functions.
• He elaborated the logic of functionalism by systematically
explaining the causes and consequences of social facts and
established functionalism as a viable methodological and
theoretical tool for sociological analysis.
• Talcott Parsons said, "Functional significance is
inherently teleogical a process or set of conditions
either contributes to the maintenance (or
development) of the system or it is dysfunctional in
that it detracts from the integration effectiveness etc of
the system. It is thus functional reference of all
particular conditions and processes to the state of the
total system as a ongoing concern which provides, the
logical equivalent of simultaneous equations in a fully
developed system of analytical theory." This statement
reflects that the structure and function are interrelated
each other.
• Vago Steven quotes – the meaning of 'functionalism' is
without any doubt, the single most significant body of
theory in the social science in the present century.
• It is often thought to be essentially a theory of order of
stability, of how society is possible.
• The history of functional analysis may be traced to Comte's
consensus universalism, Spencer's organic analogy, Pareto's
conception of society as a system in equilibirium and
Durkheim's casual-functional analysis.
• From a functionalist perspective society is regarded as a
system.
• A system is an entirely made of interconnected and
interrelated parts.
• Functionalism was brought into sociology by borrowing
directly, and developing analogies for, concepts in the
biological sciences.
• Biology, since the middle of the nineteenth century,
fequently referred to the 'structure' of an organism,
meaning a relatively stable arrangement of
relationships between the different cells and to the
function of the activity of the various organs in the life
process.
• The principal consideration of this organic analogy was
how each part of the organism contributed to the
survival and maintenance of the whole.
• The basis unit of analysis is society and its
various parts are understood interms of their
relationship to the whole.
• Thus social institutions such as the family and
religion are analysed as a part of the social
system rather than an isolated unit.
• Sociologist, (R.K. Merton – Social Theory and
Social Structure, 1959) distinguish between
the manifest and latent functions.
• Manifest functions are those that are built into a social
system by design. They are well understood by group
members.
• Latent functions are by contrast, unintentional and often
unrecognized. They are unanticipated consequences of a
system that has been set up to achieve other ends.
• For eg. The minimum wage law was enacted to provide
unskilled labours with an income slightly above poverty
level. Unintentionally, however, this law contributed to
increase teenage unemployment and to reduce job
prospects of low wage earners. When minimum wage
increased employers tended to hire more part time than
full time workers, and the overall level of hiring was lower.
Functional Requisites of Social System
and Social Structure
• Talcott Parsons who developed a comprehensive
theoritical framework for the study of societies on the
basis of structural functional approach.
• The central idea of Parsons is that the parts in a society
are to be understood only in the context of whole.
• Emphasized that social system is made up of the
actions of individuals. His starting point accordingly is
the interaction between two individuals faced with
variety of choices about how they might act, choices
that are influenced and constrained by a number of
physical and social factors.
• Parsons identifies four functional requisites of social
system ie. Adaptive, Goal attainment, Integrative and
pattern maintenance and tension management (it is
also said the latency by Parsons)
1) Adaptive:
• It means that the capacity of the system to meet the
demands of the 'actors' of society.
• It refers to the need for the production or acquistion
of generalized facilities or resources that can be
employed in the attainment of various specific goals.
• It is concerned with the relationships between
the social system and its environment.
• The economy is the primary specialized
subsystem in relation to the adaptive function of
a society.
• It (economy) functions to produce generalized
facilities particularly commodities and resources,
as means to numerous ends and through the
institutions of contract and property, the
economic system regulates the process of
production and distribution.
ii) Goal attainment:
• It involves the necessity of mobilizing actors and
resources in organized ways for the attainment of
specific goals.
• As one of the most important goals of the social system
at the societal level is the preservation (keep in
unchanged condition) of the society itself.
• In society this function is performed by the state or
polity. In other words, the polity or political system
corresponds with the goal attainment function.
• It refers the mobilization of necessary pre-requisites for
the attainment of given system goals of the society.
iii) Integrative:
• It refers to the allocation of rights and
obligations, rewards and facilities to ensure the
harmony of relations between members of the
social system.
• Parsons recognises this system need as the one
that law most directly serves in a society.
• He refers it concerned with citizenship and
solidarity and with which law has special
connnection, the societal community.
• It is also concerned with the adjustment of
relation between and among the units of a
system for establishing a level of solidarity among
them to permit the system to function. It involves
an aspect of the socio-control process.
• It is also concerned with the internal problem of
coordination of differentiated but independent
roles.
• The integrative function is performed both by
coercive mechanism by state and non-coercive
mechanism by social institutions.
iv) Pattern maintenance or tension management
(sometime Parson called it as latency)
• Pattern maintenance refers to the need to
maintain and reinforce the basic values of the
social system and to resolve tensions that emerge
from continuing commitment to these values.
• It is concerned with creating, maintaining and
restoring the energies, motives and values of
systems so that the overall pattern of activity and
energy in the system is continually reproduced.
• The family as a social institution plays a major part in
pattern maintenance eg. through the inculcation of
social values in the young.
• In general, pattern maintenance is the special task of
the numerous process of influence and education by
which the attitude and outlook of individuals are
shaped to establish social values and expectations.
• Altogether, these focus on institutionalized culture
which articulate most closely with the 'cultural
systems'. They include familial institutions, churches.
Schools, the arts, research activities etc.
 Parsons's AGIL System
A G

Adaptive Function Goal Attainment

Latency- But now revised as Integrative Function

pattern maintenance and
tension management

L I
3 minimum conditions for system
stability:
Parsons classifies the minimum conditions for the stability of a system
into 3 categories:
1. Functional prerequites with respect to individual (minimum needs
of the majority must be met, individuals must be motivated to
participated in socially valued and rewarding activities.
2. Functional pre-requites with respect to the society (there must be
minimum of control over disruptive behaviour and adequate
mechanism of social control.
3. Functional pre-requisites with respect to culture (there must be
sufficient cultural resources to internalize a level of personality
adequate for a social system; minimum conditions for the
production, maintenance and development of cultural systems
including language, symbols and communication.
• So the structure and function go together in
the doctrine of structuralfunctionalism. It is
thus the method of analysis rests here in
terms of structure and function. For eg. In the
study of study of society their usages,
customs, values etc may be taken as
structures of the society and their function
can be analyzed on that basis.
What Parsons says about law?
Law is particuarly associated with the integrative
function and with a specific level of normative
structure – that of societal norms.
How Parsons locates law in the function and structure?
• To understand the place of law in Parsons' theory it is
necessary to link between the normative structure of
values, norms, collectivities and roles and the
functional requisites of adaption, integration, goal
attainment and pattern maintenance.
• This process of functional and normative
differentiation in modern western societies, the four
levels of normative structure closely correspond with
the four functional sub-system.
• The four structural categories – values, norms,
collectivities, roles – may be related to general
functional paradigm.
• Values take primacy in the pattern maintenance
functioning of social system.
• Norms are identified as the structural component
of the societal community.
• Norms are primarily integrative. They regulate
the great variety of processes that contribute to
the implementation of patterned value
commitments
• Collectivity in the polity as the goal attainment.
• The primary functioning of the collectivity concerns actual
goal attainment on behalf of social system where
individuals perform societally important functions, it is in
their capacity as collectivity members.
• Finally, roles are corresponding element in the economy.
• The primary function of the role in the social system is
adaptive. This is particularly clear for the category of
service, as the capacity to fulfill valued role – performance
is the most basic generalized adaptive resource of any
society, though it must be co ordinated with cultural,
organic and physical resources.
• Law is particularly associated with the
integrative function and with a specific level of
normative structure – that of societal norms.
• Parsons says law ultimately reflects and
depends on the society's shared values, but at
the same time in western societies it
normatively controls the forms of both
economic and political action.
• Western law is secular and strongly shaped by formal
requirements as well as by particular substantive aims.
• By contrast, in religious legal systems law is often merged with
societal values derived from religious doctrine.
• Western law is located analytically in a different sub-system
from the polity, it is seen as analytically and functionally
separate from – though closely interrelated with politics.
• There is in western societies a relative independence of the
judiciary from both executive and legislative organs of the
state.
The basic tenets of functionalism are summarized in
the following key assumptions:
• Societies must be analysed "holistically (purely or
divinely) as systems of interrelated parts".
• Cause and effect relations are "multiple and
reciprocal".
• Social systems are in a state of "dynamic
equilibirium" such that adjustment to forces
affecting the system is made with minimal change
within the system.
• Perfect integration is never attained, that every
social system has strains and deviations, but the
latter tend to be neutralized through
institutionalization.
• Change is fundamentally a slow adaptive process
rather than revolutionary shift.
• Change is the consequence of the adjustment of
changes outside the system, growth by
differentiation and internal innovations.
• The system is integrated through shared values.