FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE IN SOCIOLOGY||Sociological perspective скачать в хорошем качестве

FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE IN SOCIOLOGY||Sociological perspective

FUNCTIONALIST PERSPECTIVE The functionalist perspective draws its original inspirations from the work of Herbert Spencer and Emile Durkheim. Spencer compared societies to living organism. Any organism has a structure which consists of a number of interrelated parts. Each of these parts has a function to play in the life of the total organism. In the same way, Spencer argued, a society has a structure. it also consists of inter-related parts, such as the family ,religion and state etc. Each of these components has a function which contributes to the overall stability of the social system. Characteristics of Functionalist Perspective (i) The Social System : Functionalist theory implies that society tends to be an organized, stable, well-integrated system in which most members agree on basic values. In the functionalist view, a society has an underlying tendency to be in equilibrium. Social change is therefore likely to be disruptive unless it takes place relatively slowly, because change in one part of the system usually provokes changes elsewhere in the system. (ii) Functions and Dysfunctions: The supposed purposes of some components the social system do not necessarily tell us what its functions are because those components can have consequences other than those that were intended. Robert Merton (1968) distinguishes between manifest functions-those that are obvious and intended-and latent function those that are unrecognized and unintended. Merton also points out that no all elements in the social system are functional at all times; on occasion some element may actually disrupt the social equilibrium and may therefore be dysfunctional. This perspective is obviously useful in explaining why some elements in a society exist and persist, but it also has some disadvantages. An important criticism of the perspective is that it tends in practice to be inherently conservative. This is because their main emphasis is of dismissing changes as dysfunctional, even if those changes are necessary, inevitable and beneficial on the long run. THANKS FOR WATCHING THE VIDEO. PLEASE LIKE ,SHARE & SUBSCRIBE OUR CHANNEL. ALSO CLICK THE BELL ICON TO GET FURTHER NOTIFICATIONS.