The Functionalist Perspective
Sociological theories are different perspectives of how society is regarded. The functionalist theory looks at society from a macro perspective and has a number of key elements which will be outlined and evaluated in this essay.
Functionalist analysis was first introduced by Auguste Comte (1798-1857). Comte drew comparisons from human biology to describe how society functioned. It was concluded that as much as the human body’s organs all needed to be working efficiently for it to function correctly, so did the various parts of society. In the same way a biologist would examine various organs to explain how human life was maintained, a functionalist would examine the various social institutions of society and how they work together, to effectively maintain social order (Haralambos et al., 2013). Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) and Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) continued to develop …show more content…
In 2010, studies published in America indicated that children from same-sex and lone parent families were not fairing any worse than other children. It also highlighted that children in some ways benefited from lone-parents as they were found to be more flexible in their parenting styles, with women taking on the traditionally masculine role of teaching sports and men portraying a more feminine, nurturing approach (Power, 2015). This also brings to the forefront the fact that unlike the functionalist perspective, gender roles have become more blurred with men and women performing different roles in society. Another weakness is the fact that the different classes in society, the under, middle and upper class do not benefit equally. Although, functionalists acknowledge there is a difference of interest between these social groups they do not attribute much importance to this (Haralambos,
Sociological theories are different perspectives of how society is regarded. The functionalist theory looks at society from a macro perspective and has a number of key elements which will be outlined and evaluated in this essay.
Functionalist analysis was first introduced by Auguste Comte (1798-1857). Comte drew comparisons from human biology to describe how society functioned. It was concluded that as much as the human body’s organs all needed to be working efficiently for it to function correctly, so did the various parts of society. In the same way a biologist would examine various organs to explain how human life was maintained, a functionalist would examine the various social institutions of society and how they work together, to effectively maintain social order (Haralambos et al., 2013). Emile Durkheim (1858-1917) and Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) continued to develop …show more content…
In 2010, studies published in America indicated that children from same-sex and lone parent families were not fairing any worse than other children. It also highlighted that children in some ways benefited from lone-parents as they were found to be more flexible in their parenting styles, with women taking on the traditionally masculine role of teaching sports and men portraying a more feminine, nurturing approach (Power, 2015). This also brings to the forefront the fact that unlike the functionalist perspective, gender roles have become more blurred with men and women performing different roles in society. Another weakness is the fact that the different classes in society, the under, middle and upper class do not benefit equally. Although, functionalists acknowledge there is a difference of interest between these social groups they do not attribute much importance to this (Haralambos,