Sociological Theories

1. ROBERT K
MERTON
Asad Majeed Baloch

2. 0utline
■ Biography
■ Criticism on basic functionalist postulates
■ Functions ,dysfunctions
■ Level of functional analysis
■ Social structure and anomie
■ StrainTheory
■ Substantive criticism
■ Methodological criticism
■ Logical criticism

3. Biography
■ 1910-2003, Philadelphia
■ Went to temple university
■ Started academia as a career in Harvard University
■ Later Merton went toTulane university
■ Most of his career spend teaching as a professor at Columbia
University
■ Merton was also a 47th president ofAmerican sociological
association

4. Continue
■ Merton inspired byTalcott parsons
■ He also wrote on Durkheim, Comte, Marx any many
others.
■ As Merton was a structural functionalist Durkheim
was his greatest influence.

5. Three basic postulates
■ Unity of society
■ Universalism functionalism
■ Indispensability

6. Postulate of unity of society
■ All standardized social and cultural beliefs are
functional for society as a whole as well as for
individuals.
■ Merton’s view was that it may be true for small and
primitive society but cannot be generalized in
complex society.

7. Postulate of Universal
Functionalism
■ All standardized social and cultural forms and
structure have positive functions.
■ Merton argued that it contradicts what we find in
real world, not every structure has positive function.

8. Postulate of indispensability
■ This leads to the idea that all structure and functions
are functionally necessary for society, no other
function can work.
■ Merton criticized that we must at least be willing to
admit that there are various functional alternative
within the society

9. Function and Dysfunction
■ Functions are those observed consequences which
make for adaptation and adjustment of a given
system.
■ It is important to note that one social fact can have a
negative consequences for an other social fact,
defined as Dysfunction.

11. Net Balance
■ Merton developed the idea of net balance. However
it is not that much simple to just add up positive and
dysfunction.
■ To cope this problem Merton developed the idea of
the levels of functional analysis.

12. Levels of functional analysis
■ Manifest functions (intended) .
■ Latent functions (unintended).

14. Social structure and Anomie
■ Merton analysis the relationship between culture,
social structure and anomie.

15. Culture
■ Organizes set of normative values governing
behavior which is common to members of a
designated society or group .

16. Social structure
■ Organizes set of social relationships in which
members of the society or group are variously
implicated

17. Anomie
■ Anomie defined as , when there is an acute
disjunction between the cultural norms and goals
and the socially structured capacities of members of
the group to act in accord with them

18. StrainTheory
■ Merton developed the concept of 'anomie' to
describe this imbalance between cultural goals and
institutionalized means.
■ He argued that such an imbalanced society produces
anomie – there is a strain or tension between the
goals and means which produce unsatisfied
aspirations.

20. Criticism
■ Substantive criticism.
■ Methodological criticism.
■ Logical criticism

21. Substantive criticism
■ It is ahistorical approach, evolutionary process.
■ Unable to deal effectively with the process of social
change.
■ Unable to deal effectively with conflict, over
emphasized harmonious relationship.

22. Methodological criticism
■ Structure functionalists choose to deal with abstract
social systems instead of real societies.
■ Structural functionalist are criticized for what tool
can be used the contribution of a one part of a
system as a whole.
■ Structural functionalism makes comparative analysis
difficult.

23. Logical criticism
■ Teleology and tautology
■ Illegitimate teleology
■ Example of family institution
■ Instead of empirical linkages there are blind
assertions

24. ANY QUESTIONS
ThankYou!