Functionalist Perspective

Decent Essays
Show More
Functionalists perspective (functionalism) – view marriage and family as the back bone or well-being of society. They believe that the family unit contributes to society by fulfilling basic societal needs, such as: Economic Production The socialization of children. Provides care for the sick and aging members. Provides emotional and practical support for family members. Recreational Helps to control sexual activity and reproduction. Provides social identity.
They also believe that a sudden or far-reaching changes within the family structure or process can threaten the marriage and family stability and weaken society.

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    Functionalism: The Conflict Between Social Classes
    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Functionalism: The Conflict Between Social Classes

    “A system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of balance and social equilibrium for the whole” (Mooney et al, 2007). Functionalism views social class as a pathway into poverty, this conveys the construction of an "underclass", that has its own surrounding culture and the "underclass" are allocated the bottom position of the "social hierarchy" for the concept of their deviant nature in functionalists eyes is deserved. Where an individual has been seen to work hard, exceed in future meritocracy, functionalists view those as deserving of a good job with high earnings, when compared to those individuals that are seen as those who have not worked hard to succeed should fully deserve the lower status and less earnings from a weaker job. Many accept this…

    • 337 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Functionalist Perspective Analysis
    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Functionalist Perspective Analysis

    For a start, chapter five was very informative and a pleasure to read. It reconnected all the dots that steered me in the direction/profession of social work. As Rhodes & Rhodes (2015), states “Social class is to rank with others in terms of wealth, power, and prestige. This ranking separates people into different groups that experience different opportunities in life and different ways of looking at the world” (pg. 225). With that being said, this reignites the topic of homelessness that I chose for my term paper.…

    • 639 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Decent Essays

    Structural-Functionalist Perspective
    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Structural-Functionalist Perspective

    College is an institution which can be analyzed from the structural-functionalist perspective. As a student, I am part of an educational system comprised of teachers, students, administrators, and faculty. It is a social structure which is composed of many individuals’ working cooperatively together. I am able to go to school to better myself. I can choose my class schedule and what courses to take.…

    • 506 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Decent Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Zaretsky's View That The Family Benefits Capitalism?
    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Zaretsky's View That The Family Benefits Capitalism?

    He also believes the family has two irreplacable functions, and these are primary socialisation of children, and the stabilisation of adult personality, or the warm bath theory. However, this theory can also be heavily criticised, because it only focuses on the traditional nuclear family, ignoring all other family types and how they could effect these functions and roles. Marxists also point out that Functionalists only focus on the bright side of the family, completely ignoring the "dark side" of the family, such as domestic violence and this only shows how idealistic the family…

    • 1115 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Behaviourism And Functionalism
    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Behaviourism And Functionalism

    The way we as humans think and behave can be (and has been) traced down to two main ontologies: behaviorism and functionalism. Where behaviorism tends to focus on a being’s reaction to a certain stimulus (the way one would react to a sad movie, for example), functionalism can be defined as the focus on a reaction of the reaction. The consequence of a pain (stimulus) and its relation to other mental states is where functionalists tend to concentrate their theories. “Where the behaviorist hoped to define each type of mental state solely in terms of environmental input and behavioral output, the functionalist denies that this is possible” (335). Behaviorism’s focus on the single most blatant behavioral response has slowly been outrun in popularity…

    • 1223 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Cohabitation Of Family Essay
    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Cohabitation Of Family Essay

    According to the Functionalist Theory of family, one of the major function of family is to act as a primary agent of socialization, and a key site of physical protection and emotional support for its members. A traditional nuclear family is a family unit consisting of two legally married parents of opposite gender and their one or more biological or adopted children living together. In general, a traditional nuclear family paints a picture of the ideal family in the United States. This picture of the family, while is conventional in the past, is not widely supported by the actual proportion of a sizeable number of American families today. Family stability has been defined in many ways.…

    • 1178 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Structural-Functionalist Perspective On Marriage And Family
    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Structural-Functionalist Perspective On Marriage And Family

    Finally, they give people a way to feel loved and to feel a sense of belonging. This makes people more likely to be good and productive members of society: According to functionalists, the family is universal because it fulfills six needs: economic production, socialization of children, care of the sick…

    • 611 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Power And Compromise In Marriage
    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Essay On Power And Compromise In Marriage

    Power, Conflict, and Compromise in Marriage Marriage is challenging, which involves the use of power, conflict, and the ability to compromise. What is marriage? According to Google Dictionary (2018), marriage is “the legally or formally recognized union of two people as partners in a personal relationship” (p. 1). In this context, the focus is on the two people as partners in a personal relationship. However, the two people, who are in matrimony, were once single, possibly reared in a different cultural background and experiences, and have different mindsets.…

    • 833 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    My Playing Field Experience Analysis
    • 1107 Words
    • 4 Pages

    My Playing Field Experience Analysis

    The Way Life Teaches: Innocence to Experience Growing up I have come across various individuals, experiences and situations that will forever hold significance for me. These individuals, experiences and situations are/have been my playing field. Professor Camelot defines playing field as “Our playing field is the situation we are born into and how it affects us. It is the tools we have to work with in our lives or what we have available to us and the specific consequences this has on us” (3).…

    • 1107 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Great Essays

    Functionalism And Functionalism
    • 2560 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Functionalism And Functionalism

    Functionalism for a number of years was the prevailing sociological theory, particularly in the work of Robert Merton, Talcott Parsons and their followers and students. The 1940’s and 1950’s were the years of dominance of functionalism and somewhat paradoxically the beginning of a great decline in its importance too. During these years Parsons produced his major statements which confirmed his shift from action theory to functionalism (Wearne, 2013). Students of Parsons began to emerge and were dispersed globally, with many occupying important positions in major sociology departments and his students began producing their own work and making their own contributions towards functionalism (Rtizer, 1996). For example, Kingsley Davis and Wilbert…

    • 2560 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Great Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Gender Differences: The Functionalist Theory Of Gender Roles
    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Gender Differences: The Functionalist Theory Of Gender Roles

    The Functionalist, Conflict and Feminist perspectives interpret gender stratification and the unequal treatment of women. Functionalism is a basis for a building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to create stability. Within the functionalist theory,…

    • 1128 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Superior Essays

    Marxist And Functionalist Perspective On Family Analysis
    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Marxist And Functionalist Perspective On Family Analysis

    Functionalists believe the family contributes to society’s basic needs and helps maintain social order. Functionalists have been criticised for placing too much emphasis on the nuclear family. George Murdock and Talcott Parsonss were two of the most influential figures to contribute to the functionalist perspectives of the family. They both agreed the family is the…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Neo Functionalism Essay
    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Neo Functionalism Essay

    Neo functionalism is linked with the governmental and monetary goals and also assimilation tactics of the founders of European coal and steel community. Back then one of the founders named jean Monnet believed that in achieving integration in one segment of common procedure among independent states will ultimately lead to a spill over in other policy areas. Neo functionalism was used to expound the ways of the process of integration in Europe. One of the main focuses was to create a political unification through the process of collaboration in economic policies. Another main focus of neo functionalism was in Third world countries, it was used to form political union In Europe.…

    • 729 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Functionalism Essay
    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Functionalism Essay

    Under the influence of Charles Darwin, the psychology school of functionalism focused on how consciousness adapts to different environments and how the mind contributes to human change and survival. While structuralist was trying to divide the units of the mind, the functionalist had a completely different idea on what, why, and how we should study the mind. According to the functionalist William James, elements of the mind are both constantly changing and connected to one another, therefore, cannot be broken down for analysis. James called this concept "stream of consciousness," which he first introduced in his article, "On Some Omissions of Introspective Psychology" in 1884, and later in the Principles of Psychology in 1890.…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More
  • Improved Essays

    Essay On Structural Functionalism
    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Essay On Structural Functionalism

    Structural functionalism is the theory that as a society grows larger the parts become a more complex and more specialized. The structural-functionalist approach is the idea in sociology that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote equilibrium and stability. The theory says that our lives are led by social structures, which are based off of patterns of social behavior. Social structures help give form to our lives and society through families, the community, and religious establishments. The orientation of functionalism is on a macro type of scale.…

    • 839 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
    Read More

Related Topics

Ready To Get Started?
Discover
Company
Follow
©2024 Cram.com
Privacy Policy |  About Ads |  Site Map |  Advertise  | 
  • Cookie Settings