Functionalism

Functionalism

It is a theoretical perspective based on the idea that social institutions can best be explained in terms of the functions they perform – that is, the contributions they make to the continuity of a society (Giddens & Sutton, 2017, p. 999). Functionalists, including Comte and Durkheim, have often used an organic analogy. The organic analogy compares the different parts of a society to the organs of a living organism. The organism is able to live, reproduce and function through the organized system of its several parts and organs. Like a biological organism, a society is able to maintain its essential processes through the way that the different parts interact. Institutions such as religion, kinship and the economy were the organs and individuals were the cells in this social organism. Functionalist analyses examine the social significance of phenomena, that is, the function they serve a particular society in maintaining the whole (Jarvie, 1973).

Basic Postulates of Functionalism

Merton reformed functionalism as it was pioneered by the British Social Anthropologists A.R. Radcliffe-Brown and Bronislaw Malinowski. He refuted the three main postulates of the functionalist tradition and recreated it as the functional analysis. The three main postulates that had developed were:

1. Functional Unity of Society: This postulate holds that all standardized social and cultural beliefs and practices are functional for society as a whole as well as for individuals in society. This view implies that the various parts of a social system must show a high level of integration. However, Merton maintained that although it may be true of small, primitive societies, this generalization cannot be extended to larger, more complex societies. Merton argues that functional unity is a matter of degree. Its extent must be determined by investigation rather than simply beginning with the assumption that it exists.

2. Universal Functionalism: It is argued that all standardized social and cultural forms and structures have positive functions. Merton argued that this contradicts what we find in the real world. It is clear that not every structure, custom, idea, belief, and so forth, has positive functions. He suggests that functionalist analysis should proceed from assumption that any part of society may be functional, dysfunctional or non-functional. For example, poverty may be seen as dysfunctional for the poor but functional for the non-poor and for society as a whole.

3. Indispensability: The argument here is that all standardized aspects of society not only have positive functions but also represent indispensable parts of the working whole. This postulate leads to the idea that all structures and functions are functionally necessary for society. Functionalists have often seen religion in this light. For example, Davis and Moore claim that religion plays a unique and indispensable part in the society. Merton questions this assumption of indispensability and argues that the same functional prerequisites may be met by a range of alternative institutions. For example, a political ideology like communism can provide a functional alternative to religion.

Merton’s position was that all these functional postulates rely on no empirical assertions based on abstract, theoretical systems. At a minimum, it is the responsibility of the sociologist to examine each empirically. Merton’s belief that empirical tests, not theoretical assertions, are crucial to functional analysis led him to develop his “paradigm” of functional analysis as a guide to the integration of theory and research.

R.K. Merton’s critique of these postulates

1. Functional Unity: The social anthropologists only considered small scale societies in their studies and while they may have a semblance of functional unity to assume the same to be true of large scale societies is a suspect assumption. He suggests that a high degree of functional autonomy is found in highly differentiated societies rather than functional unity.

2. Universal Functionalism: The assumption that every social and cultural element must have positive functions for the maintenance of society is incorrect. Instead, Merton says that we must look at each element as either:

1. Functional

2. Dysfunctional

3. Non-functional

Also, these observations should be made at the level of the individual, sub-system, and society in order to get a better picture. He further advocated that social institutions should be looked at in terms of both latent & manifest functions. Merton also talked about net balance of functions, in terms of their negatives or positives, but failed to outline a method for quantifying them.

3. Indispensability: Merton says that just as the same item may fulfill multiple functions, similarly the same function can be fulfilled by alternative items. In case of dysfunction, he suggested that functional alternatives should be found, though structural constraints should be taken into account. He said that dysfunctional items would explain existence of conflict while replacing them with functional alternatives would explain change.

Merton’s codification of structural functionalism

In his influential paper ‘Manifest and Latent Functions’ written in 1948 and reprinted in 1968, Merton summarised structural functionalism (which was the dominant approach in American sociology in the late 40’s and 50’s). In so doing he drew heavily on organic analogies.

Merton clarified the problems of functional analysis. He began with the word ‘function’? Is it a single term with diverse meanings? For example, does function have the same meaning as the popular usage, e.g., a social ‘function’ or is it the activity assigned to a role e.g., the function of the President? Is it mathematical e.g., the function xy? Is it sociological i.e. does it have a sociological meaning? According to Merton, function in sociology refers to the biological sense of ‘vital or organic processes considered in the respects in which they contribute to the maintenance of the organism’. In structural functionalist sociology the ‘organism’ is social. Is it a single concept with diverse terms? For example, use, utility, purpose, motive, intention, aim and consequences.

Merton defines function as ‘those observed consequences which make for the adaptation or adjustment of a given system’ and dysfunctions as ‘those observed consequences which lessen the adaptation or adjustment of the system’. There is also the empirical possibility of nonfunctional consequences, which are simply irrelevant to the system under consideration.

Robert Merton developed structural functionalism by distinguishing between manifest (clear) and latent (hidden) functions.

1. Manifest functions are those objective consequences contributing to the adjustment or adaptation of the system which is intended and recognized by participants in the system.

2. Latent functions, correlatively, being those which are neither intended nor recognized.

Merton claims to have codified structural functionalism. Merton proposed that the three postulates drawn from Malinowski and Radcliffe Brown of functional unity; functional universality; and functional indispensability constitute axioms from which the theorems of functional sociology would be derived. Merton pointed out that functional indispensability contains two related assumptions:

1. that there are certain functions that are indispensable in any society (Davis, K. Human Society, for an example of an elementary text written from that point of view).

2. that this identifies functional prerequisites that are then satisfied by social or cultural forms. There may however be functional alternatives or substitutes.

Merton observed that the three principles, whilst unified, do have certain implications:

1. The first principle requires specification of the social units subserved by given social functions and that cultural items must be recognised to have consequences.

2. The second principle implies a codified approach to functional interpretation.

3. These two implications must take account of the functional alternatives identified by the third principle mentioned by Merton.

Thus, Merton’s work significantly advanced the understanding of structural functionalism and its application in analyzing societies. His clarifications and distinctions provided a solid basis for further research and theoretical developments within the functionalist perspective in sociology.

References

Jarvie, I. C. (1973). Functionalism. Burgess Publishing Company.

Merton, R. K. (2017). Social Theory and Social Structure. Prem Rawat.

Sutton, P. W., & Giddens, A. (2017). Sociology. Wiley India.