Functionalism

Functionalism sees sociology as system based on consensus (agreement). Functionalist assumes that society has certain basic need which must be met if it is to survive. Functionalism is a major sociological tradition, alongside other schools of thought, such as Conflict Theory and Interactionism. The theory is associated with Emile Durkheim and more recently with Talcott Parsons. It was developed by other sociologists in the 20th century and was a popular idea until the 1970s when it came under criticism from new ideas.

People are socialized into roles and behaviors which fulfill the needs of society. Functionalists believe that behavior in society is structural and the first and foremost basic need is social order. It is assumed that social order requires a certain degree of cooperation and social solidarity (social unity). This is made by sharing norms and values. This process of learning norms and values is called Socialization.

Functionalists have been criticized for presenting a deterministic view of social behavior. They appear to be lack of free will, initiative and creativity. Peter Berger’s criticism that the society is sometime portrayed as a prison or a puppet theatre with people as prisoners of the system or puppets on the end of a string. This has been a very brief and simplified outline of functionalism. There are varieties of functionalism and the theory is a lot more complex than this introduction suggests. However, the intention here is to provide a starting point. The final chapter examines functionalism in greater detail.