Functionalism

A detailed Summary of Functionalism

Functionalism is the sociological theory which holds that each part of society is necessary for the functioning of the social organism. There are several elements in the functionalist paradigm which explain how society functions to maintain the social organism and keep it alive. These elements, or tenets of functionalism are cohesion, integration, solidarity, and equilibrium. These elements explain how society is divided into it's different functional parts, with each part dependent on the other, and the amassed parts adding up to the structural whole of society.

According to Emile Durkheim there are two kinds of societies with one being simple and mechanic and the other being complex and organic. Of course there isn't a fine line between the two categories, there is a progression from one to the other. As society becomes increasingly organic there is more differentiation between members of that society since not everyone can have the same role. In mechanic societies there is a high solidarity among all members of that society: they have the same beliefs, religion, and means of survival. In organic societies there is a differentiation between different groups which function as subsets of the societal organism. These

In Durkheim's book "On The Division of Labor" Durkheim explained that punishing heinous crimes such as murder invokes a certain cohesion among the members of the society. Also events such as war function to demonstrate the cohesiveness and solidarity of society. For example in World War II each person had common nationalistic sentiments which helped to cement soldiers as well as civilians. This collective consciouse was so powerful that it caused people to see Japanese Americans as potential spies since one of the enemies of WW2 were the japanese. The U.S. government deterred these citizens in camps, separated many familes, took away property, and basically took the rights away from citizens of the United States who just happened to be of Japanese heritage. Since the collective consciousness against Japanese was so great at this time no one questioned what the government was doing.

Talcott Parsons explained integration as the mutual adjustments of subsystems from the point of view of their contributions to the effective functioning of the social organism. Each part of society must feel that society in large benefits them and that they are a vital part of society. This also applied to the individual level. Each member of a subsystem must feel that they benfit from the subsystem and that they also are a benefit to that subsystem. Integration would

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Category: History