...The functionalist view of the sociology of health and illness Talcott Parsons – functionalism provided a complete theory of society, all social actions can be understood in terms of how they help society to function effectively or not i.e when a person is sick they are unable to perform their social roles normally. Compared illness to crime, acts as a deviance disturbing the functioning of society, which needs to be controlled and the deviant helped or forced back into their social role once again. Illness is just one of a number of forms of deviance that could be harmful to society. The sick role – argued that the idea of sickness was not a biological concept, instead it was a social one. So when you are ill, you are acting in different, deviant ways compared to the norm. Being sick was one social role, where the deviant acted in a certain way according to the culture of society. In Western societies, this involved four elements: rights x 2, and obligations x 2. Rights of the sick role: 1. the sick person has the right to be exempted from normal social obligations such as employment, and family activities. How much the sick person took on this role depends upon the seriousness of the illness and other people’s acceptance. 2. The sick person has nothing to do with the sick role and therefore cannot be blamed – they must have the right to be ‘looked after’ by others Obligations of the sick role: 1. The sick person must accept that the situation is undesirable...
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...weaknesses of the functionalist view of society. Functionalism is seen as a macro scale approach to society as it doesn’t focus on individual aspects of it but looks at it as a whole. They associate society with a biological organism and Parsons identifies 3 similarities between these two. The first is the system organisms, both society and biological organisms are self-regulating but have parts which are all inter-related to help function as a whole (in the body; cells & organs, in society; institutions). The second similarity is headed system needs, and the last is functions as for example in the body each organ contributes to something different and within society each institution is present for a different purpose. This macro scale approach can be seen as a strength as it allows all sociologist from the functionalist perspective to observe society and the institutions within as a whole. The functionalists also see society as something positive and something that benefits everyone as they believe it focuses on the needs of the whole. An aspect of the functionalist theory is that they believe society is based on value consensus whereby all norms and values are agreed on by members of the society. The functionalists believe that many societies have in placed democracy as the norms and values have come to a state where everyone agrees with them. This can be seen as a strength as the Functionalists are seen to realise that democracy exists in many societies which contributes...
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...Functionalists see the family as an immensely important sub-system of society. Murdock acclaimed that one of the four essential functions that the family performs in order to meet the needs of society and its members is to 'stabilise satisfaction of the sex drive with the same partner'. As this prevents the ‘social disruption’ caused by promiscuity. However, Marxists would argue that this role serves more as an economic function, as it allows property ownership and wealth to be directly passed onto the legitimate heirs of the father. The second function that Murdock believed that the family performed was to 'reproduce the next generation' as without this function, society would not continue. The third purpose of the family is to socialise the young into society's shared norms and values. And lastly, the fourth function of the family is to meet its member’s economic needs and provide basic amenities such as shelter, clean water and food. According to Parson, there are two basic types of society, one of which is the traditional pre-industrial society, which he felt was more tailored to the extended family. In an extended family a vast number of people would be needed to successfully undertake tasks such as weaving and farming, in order for the family to make a profit and govern themselves. The other type of social group is the modern industrial society, which is more suited for the nuclear family, based on the theory of functional fit. Parson's Functional fit theory suggests...
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...Assess the functionalist view that a small amount of crime is useful to society There is a long running argument between sociologists about the existence of crime and deviance and whether or not it can benefit societies in some ways. Many of them in the functionalist point of view argue that it can however, there are many, for example Marxists and feminists, which would argue that it doesn’t benefit anyone. Durkheim, the ‘founding father’ of functionalism believed that a small amount of crime in a society is necessary toward creating a perfect society, due to the three functions or outcomes that crime induces upon its occurrence: boundary maintenance, adaptation and change and social solidarity. Boundary maintenance is the effect that crime has upon the conformers within the society in which they see or hear about a crime and then know where the boundaries of their actions lie, due to the reaction of the authorities from the crime carried out and from the severity of the punishment given to the law-breaker, acting almost as a deterrent of crime toward the wider society. Adaptation and change is an outcome of a crime and is what can be done to prevent that crime from happening, as it perhaps show that parts of the society and community are flawed and need to be adjusted so that everybody can live better lives and not think they need to break the law to get the things they want or deviate from the consensus values to get what they want either. A large scale crime, for example...
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...the functionalist view of the role of the family in society (33 marks). Murdock, a functionalist, describes the family as a universal institution based on the nuclear family model. The functionalist view of the role of the family in society is that it maintains social order. The family is a tool for socialisation and a key social institution in sustaining the value that society works by consensus. Murdock identified four main functions of the family: sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. These four functions cover the role of the family in society. The sexual and reproductive functions are what keep society populated. If they became dysfunctional then society would not have the people inhabiting it. The economic function is the parent’s responsibility to take care of their family financially, usually through the division of labour where the man will take on the instrumental role of financial provider for the family while the woman will adopt the expressive role and take care of the home and family members. Marxists would contest this viewpoint arguing that the division of labour is capitalist dogma used to control the labour force and stop them from developing consciousness. The final function identified by Murdock was the educational functional, this is function where the family learns how to be socialised. It is this function that maintains the value consensus which allows society to remain functional. This is a key role of the family to functionalists if this...
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...Assess the Functionalist view that religion benefits both society as a whole and its individual members? (18) Functionalists see religion in a positive light and as it is a key institution of society. This differs from the Marxist and Feminist view that religion is there to simply reinforce the oppression. For functionalists, society’s key need is for social solidarity and order enabling members to cooperate. Religion ensures that this is maintained, and individuals do not pursue their own selfish desires alone as this would cause society to disintegrate. Durkheim acknowledged that the key feature of religion was not a belief in the Gods but the apparent distinction between the sacred and the profane which is found in all religions. Sacred being things that are set apart which give feelings of awe and wonder and profound being things which have no significance and are ordinary and mundane. In Durkheim’s study of an Australian Aboriginal tribe signified these differences. When the group practised their rituals, through prayer to the sacred, this was done collectively as a social group which binds individuals together reminding them that they are part of a community in which they owe their loyalty to. Durkheim’s view on sacred symbols represents societies collective consciousness, the shared norms and values, shared value beliefs and our knowledge that make a harmonious society and social solidarity possible. In contrast, responding to Durkheim’s claims Worsley maintains that...
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...Assess the view that sociological arguments and evidence support functionalist views of the role and functions of religion in contemporary society. Functionalists see society as based upon consensus, where each institution functions to help society work together as a whole with shared ways of thinking and behaving. One example of this is the Ten Commandments which include a number of the principles highlighted in the U.K law system. As a result of this, functionalists such as Durkheim and Parsons see religion as a means of integration and social control within society. They believe that the shared rituals and collective worship of religion help reinforce the consensual values and norms of society, and that without these shared values society could not function. Sociologist Bellah believes that there is a much stronger sense of consensus values in the USA, where strong religious roots are very apparent through American’s worshipping of the flag, thus worshipping their country. Parsons however still believes that this can also be seen in Britain. Functionalists also see religion as a form of social control, providing religious backing and answers for society's rules, so people will abide by them. Functionalists such as Malinowski also believe that it is a way of coming to terms with life changing events like death, marriage and baptisms, helping individuals within society to work through the crises of life. The question of whether or not religion is still relevant in a postmodern...
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...Functionalists believe that religion is beneficial for both society as a whole and its individual members, this is because it unifies society and creates consensus, which in turn gives each individual member a source of support when they need it. However some theorists disagree with the functionalist ideology. Firstly, functionalist claim religion benefits society in a number of ways, it creates a sense of social solidarity, meaning a shared sense of identity, history, norms and values (a collective conscience). This is supported by item A, ‘religion's contribution to value consensus and social integration’. Functionalist explain that if all of a society's members are part of the same religion then they all share the same belief system, resulting in consensus between all of its members. The religious institution will teach its members the norms and values of the society they are in and the collective worship will bind societies members closer together, for example, people in Muslim countries who are part of the faith of Islam, understand it is normal to stop and pray 5 times a day and also that no-one should work on Friday however people in Christian countries understand the day of rest to be Sunday. Functionalist therefore claim members of a society have a collective conscience, they think in the same way, due to their shared norms and values. Functionalists also believe that religion unifies people; the functionalist Emile Durkheim studied an aboriginal tribe the Arunta...
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...and elsewhere, assess functionalist views of the role of education in modern society (20 marks) The consensus functionalist approach is just one of many that attempt to explain the role of education in modern society. Functionalism is based on the view that society is a system of interdependent parts held together by a shared culture or value consensus. Each part of society such as the family, economy and education system performs functions that help to maintain society. Functionalists such as Durkheim and Parsons seek to discover what functions that educations performs and what is does to meet society’s needs. Marxists such as Althusser and Bowle & Gintis disagree with functionalists and argues that education in modern society continues to uphold the capitalist system. The French sociologist, Durkheim (1903) argued that education provided two main functions. Firstly, social solidarity; some of the subjects taught as part of the national curriculum such as History and Citizenship helps students to understand the complexity of British culture. This sense of shared culture between children creates a strong sense of unity and commitment to a wider social group. Without social solidarity, society would fall apart as there would be no cooperation as each individual would pursue their own selfish desires making education a vital role for modern society. The second function that education has is that it prepares young people for work. Industrial societies have a specialist division...
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...Using Material from Item a and Elsewhere, Assess the Functionalist View That Religion Benefits Both Society as a Whole and Its Individual Members (18 Marks)" Many functionalists argue that religion benefits both society as a whole as well as its individual members however other sociologists may oppose this view and claim that those who do actually benefit from religion this is at the expense of others, this in itself contradicts many of the beliefs set out in religions themselves. The consensus view as posed by functionalists presents religion in a far more positive light in comparison to that put forward by Marxists and feminists for example. As in Item A, stating that religion integrates individuals into a community by instilling into them a set of shared beliefs that gives them a feeling of belonging and common identity supporting the view that religion does benefit society as a whole. On the other hand it can be viewed that those who benefit from religion is in fact at the expense of others, as stated in Item A line 5. This contradicts the positive view towards religion and poses it in a much more negative light. From a functionalist perspective, Emile Derkheim defines religion in terms of the contribution it makes to social integration, rather than any specific belief in God or the supernatural. However this can be counter-argued in that just because an institution helps integrate individuals into groups this does not mean it is a religion. To try and come to a conclusion...
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...Using material from item a and elsewhere asses the functionalist view that religion benefits both society as a whole and its individual members (18 marks) Functionalists believe society is built up of different institutions that work together to make society work, religion is one of these institutions and helps society with its need for solidarity and social order. Like mentioned in Item A functionalists view religion as a positive thing and argue that it uses a shared set of norms and values to bring people together into a community. They say this gives everyone a sense of belonging which benefits both individuals and the community as a whole. Durkheim said the thing we need to understand is the difference between the sacred and the profane as this was a key element to religion. The sacred are items that are set apart from the others and inspire awe, fear and wonder whereas the profane are mundane everyday objects. He suggested the sacred objects represent society, and in turn, when they are being worshiped through rituals the members are worshipping society itself. He thought by looking at studies of the Arunta clan he could observe the features of religion. He found the clan members’ sacred item was the totem and when they gathered together to worship it through rituals they were worshipping society. The totem was a recognisable item and gave the members a better sense of belonging. Durkheim said the sacred symbols represent society’s collective conscience. This helps the...
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...Assess the functionalist view of education (20 marks) In this essay, one will be testing out the functionalist view of education. Functionalism is a macro, consensus theory that has the idea that society is functioning well and efficiently. Functionalists believe education provides universalistic norms i.e they see it promotes the norms and values of wider society. One would suggest that Functionalists are bit naive in their view of the education system, as it could be argued that education doesn't benefit everyone, especially the working class. The first functionalist concept, one will be testing out is the Equality of Opportunity. This means that all students regardless of class, gender and ethnicity are seen as equally important by the school and are all given equal chance to succeed. The functionalist Durkheim says schools stress the importance of equal opportunities. In juxtaposition Marxists would say that this is a form of brainwashing. Working class children are told they have the same chances to succeed as everyone else so when they do badly they have no-one else to blame but themselves. Material deprivation means they have little chance of competing fairly. One would suggest that the Marxist view is a little more accurate in its argument as it's very optimistic to say that everyone has equal chance to succeed. The second functionalist concept, one will testing out is Meritocracy. This is the belief that individuals achieve according to their ability and effort...
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...approach to society. It is based on a consensus that society as whole is run by and for the benefit of all its members. Early Functionalists such as Durkheim believed that society is made up of many institutions which work together to function. Regarding families, Functionalists believe that the nuclear family is best for society. Functionalists look at what the functions the family performs and they therefore say that the nuclear family is best for society. For example functionalists believe that traditional domestic roles (for the male to play an instrumental role as the breadwinner and the female to do the dual-burden) are necessary to ensure that children are socialised correctly with both male and female role models. Functionalists believe that the nuclear family is perfect for bringing up a geographically mobile workforce which allows families to move about for work easily, for example Functionalists believe during the industrial revolution nuclear families became more common as it was easier for families to move to an urban area in search of work than if it was for example an extended family. Conflict theories such as Marxism and Feminism challenge the Functionalism and the consensus of society by taking a more critical view. Social historians such as Laslett and Anderson also criticize the functionalist view of a ‘Functional Fit’ in the family. The main supporters of Functionalism in the family are Murdock, Parsons and Fletcher – each with their own views on how the nuclear...
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...xamine Functionalists explanations of the family (24 marks) Functionalists believe that society is based on a set of shared values and norms; this is known as a value consensus. These norms and values socialize its members, which enables them to cooperate with each other so society’s needs are met, this creates social order. It offers a structural and macro view of the family which is top down. Functionalists see society as being similar to a biological organism for example the human body. This is called the organic analogy. The human body is made up of various different parts that function together, each part is necessary for the normal functioning of the whole body. Society is made up of various institutions (for example education or family), Functionalists believe that these institutions rely on each other each other which helps maintain social order. If one institution is quickly modified or fails to work with other institutions, society would be dysfunctional and would end up in anarchy. Functionalists compare this with the human body because if one component is unable to work, this often affects other components in the body, which could result in death. Functionalists believe that a family is a vital institution, which contributes to maintaining social order because it meets the needs of other institutions such as the education system, which enables society to function in a unified manner. Functionalists believes that the nuclear family fits society’s needs, however...
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...We will view family through the following sociological theories: Functionalism, Conflict and Interactionism theory. Each theory has its own interpretation on family. First we must comprehend these three different perspectives, then their application of family and finally how those view of family affects society. The functionalist theory focuses on ways in which family gratifies the needs of its participants and is structured to maintain the stability of society (Schaefer, 2011). This perspective focuses on the six paramount functions described by sociologist William F. Ogburn (Schaefer, 2011). Family is responsible in establishing function in society by using the six paramount functions and they are reproduction, protection, socialization, regulation of sexual behavior, affection and companionship, and provision of social status (Schaefer, 2011). Functionalist theorists have opposing views on the particular functions that a family must perform but they all agree that family plays an integral part in the societal function. Sociologists, who work with the functionalist perspective, view family as contributing part of society’s basic needs and obtaining specialized roles in society. Functionalists believe that the family is an optimistic and advantageous foundation in which family members receive nurturing, care, health care, housing, and education. Functionalist’s primary objective is how the individual is molded by family structure to be a suitable member of society. Individuals...
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