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Diss Notes

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Diss Notes

Uploaded by

wbkjun
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Structural-Functionalist Theory

- One of the dominant theories both in anthropology and sociology, it is sometimes called
Functionalism.
- Compares the workings of society
- It has its origin in the works of Emile Durkheim, who was especially interested in how
social order is possible or how society remains relatively stable. As such, it is theory that
focuses on the macro-level of the social structure, rather than the micro-level of
everyday life.
- Notable theorists include: Herbert Spencer, Talcott Parsons, and Robert K. Merton.
- Each component plays a necessary part, but none can function alone.
- Divides society into functional units such as family, government, education, economy,
religion, and science.
- Maintaining Stability.

Abrupt unexpected social change can severely disrupt the balance between the
interconnected institutions and affect the entire society.

According to Robert Merton (1996), there are kinds of functions:

Manifest Function:

- This is the intended and recognized consequences of some elements of society. For
example, the manifest function of school is to teach or to educate the learners.

Latent Functions:

- This is the unintended and unrecognized consequences of an element of society. A


latent function of the school is socialization. For example, the role of the school makes
unexpected friendships that can be taught.

Dysfunction:

- This is the negative consequences an element has for the stability of the social system.
Dysfunctional elements, such as crime, disrupt the working society as a whole and
create social problems. Dysfunctions can lead to social change, because to re-establish
society. For example, people who do drugs that can affect society

Symbolic Interactionism:

- Symbolic interaction is a sociological framework that focuses on the different meanings


individuals attach to objects, peoples, and interactions as well as corresponding
behaviors. Such as body language and verbal structures.
Charles Horton Cooley

- We see how others react to us


- We interpret that reaction
- People imagine how they appear to other people
- People imagine how others are, thus judging them based on appearance and how they
present themselves
- People imagine how others feel about them based on the judgements they make

Assumptions in Symbolic Interactionist Perspective:

- People's interpretations of symbols are based on the meanings they learn from others.
- People base their interaction on their interpretation of symbols.
- Symbols permit people to have internal conversations. Thus they can gear their
interaction to the behavior that they think others expect of them and the behavior they
expect from others.
- We based on how people interpret their symbols.

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