Structural functionalism was the dominant sociological perspective in the 1950s. It focuses on how social structures shape behavior and how parts of society work together. Two important functionalists were Talcott Parsons, who proposed a grand theory, and Robert Merton, who developed middle-range theories. Major influences on functionalism include Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer, Karl Marx, Emile Durkheim, and Max Weber. Functionalists view society as a living organism and see social institutions as fulfilling necessary functions for society's survival. Talcott Parsons analyzed society's basic functions of adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency.

1. Structural
Functionalism

2. Structural Functionalism
⚫In 1950s and 1960
Functionalism reigned as the
dominant theoretical
perspective in sociology.
⚫Is often referred to as structural
functionalism because of its dual
focus on the structural forces that
shape human behavior and the
attention given

3. Functionalism Background
⚫Two leading structural
functionalist were Talcott
Parsons (grand theory) and
Robert Merton (middle range
theory).
⚫The most significant intellectual
forerunners of functionalism were
Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer,
Emile Durkheim, And

4. AugusteComte
⚫Father of Sociology(1798-1857)
⚫Sociology as the scientific study of society.
⚫Three Stages of Development
⚫Religious
⚫Metaphysical
⚫Scientific
( The Course in Positive Philosophy/ Law Three
Stages)

5. The Two Branches: Science of Society
⚫Static
-the study of organization that
allows society to endure.
⚫Dynamic
-the study of the process by
which societies change.

6. Comte
⚫He believed that sociologist
would develop a scientific
knowledge of society and
would guide society in a
peaceful, orderly evolution.

7. Herbert Spencer
⚫Englishman
⚫Diff. View of how society
works.
⚫Society can be compared to
a living organism.
Why?

8. Herbert Spencer
⚫Each part of an animal- its heart, lungs, brain,
and so on had its own function to perform, yet
all parts are interdependent, a change in one
part affects all the others
⚫Each part contributes to the survival and
health of the animal’s survival.
⚫Coined the phrase “
Survival of the Fittest”

9. ⚫Fittest –rich, powerful, or
otherwise successful people.
⚫Unfit- unsuccessful
individuals, have doomed by
the nature to failure.

10. 1883)
⚫Communist Manifesto- one
of the most influential political
manuscript.
⚫It presents an
analytical approach to
the class struggle.
⚫Proponent of Marxism.

11. Emile Durkheim (1858-
1917)
⚫Systematic Application of
scientific methods to sociology.
⚫Suicide- first truly
sociological research in1897.
⚫It is not based on speculations.
⚫He made a research plan and
collected a large mass of statistical
data on suicide in various
European Countries.

12. Emile Durkheim
⚫He argued that sociologist
should consider only what they
observed and should look at
“social facts as things”.
⚫They should not look, he said to
the notions of people in order to
explain society.
⚫The Division of Labour in Society
in 1893.

13. 1920
⚫German Sociologist
⚫Sociologist must go beyond
what people do, beyond what
can be observed directly.
⚫Individuals always interpret the
meaning of their own behaviour and
act according to these
interpretations.
⚫Sociologist must therefore find out

14. Verstehan method
⚫Emphatic understanding of their
subjects.
⚫Sociologist could obtain an “interpret
understanding” of the meaning of
particular behaviour.
⚫Bureaucratic Model/ Legal-Rational
Model.
⚫Characteristics
- specialized roles, recruitment.
Based on merit, uniform principles of

15. Talcott Parsons
⚫Parsons Work
⚫ The Structure of Social Action (1937)
⚫ The Social System and Toward a
General Theory
of Action (1951)
⚫ Essay in Sociological Theory (1949,
1954)
⚫ Working Papers in the Theory of
Acton (1953)
⚫ Structure and Process in Modern

16. AGIL
⚫ Adaptation:
⚫Secure & distribute sufficient
resources or adapt to
changes
⚫ GoalAttainment:
⚫Must establish clear goals. This
is primary to political system

17. AGIL
⚫Integration:
⚫Regulation and coordination of
actors and systems
⚫Latency:
⚫Tension maintenance and pattern
maintenance
⚫Sufficient motivation for actors
⚫Social institutions are key (family,
peers, education)