Structural functionalism is made of two parts. The first comes from the word structural which refers to social structures, repetitive patterns of Z that are society wide. This could include going to school, working, eating fast food, or listening to pop music. The other part comes from the word functionalism, which is talking about whether or not the society functions or if it promotes order and stability. Overall structural functionalism addresses society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. There are two main contributors to structural functionalism: Herbert Spencer and Èmile Durkheim. Spencer was an early adopter of the term sociology. He called society a “social organism”, in reference
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This idea supports Spencer’s “social organism.” Furthermore, structural functional theories can be distinguished into three other categories: they can be manifest functions, latent functionals, and dysfunctional. Manifest functions refer to the recognized and intended consequences, while latent functions are associated with the unrecognized and unintended consequences. In consequence, something can also be dysfunctional, inhibiting or disrupting the working of a system as a whole. A basic example of structural functionalism is schools. Their manifest function would be to educate students and prepare them for a future career. The latent function would be that schools introduce people to each other and could even serve as a dating pool. A dysfunction would be that public schools have too many students and not enough teachers. Another example could be the increase in the use of technology. A manifest function would be that they allow people to connect and communicate without having to be face-to-face. A latent function would be that technology allows people to do activities such as shopping or learning from the comfort from one’s own home or on the go. A dysfunction could include the effect technology …show more content…
Due to the discrimination towards women and african americans during the early years of sociology, some social thinkers were excluded from the academic world. Instead of writing for an academic audience, the focused on writing for popular publications, authored novels, and they spoke out as activists advocating social change. While they were alive, these sociological thinkers were often at the margins of academic sociology, but now these thinkers are more widely appreciated. One of these thinkers is Harriet Martineau, who is often known as the first female sociologist. Her work focused on gender discrimination and slavery that was normally ignored by many of the white, male sociologists of the time. Her work would have fallen under the category of feminist theory, which focus on inequality between men and women. Although feminism was very evident during Martineau’s life, it is still visible today. Most frequently it can be seen in a difference in incomes between men and women. Men tend to be payed slightly higher wages compared to women even when doing the exact same work. Another one of these recovered voices is W.E.B. DuBois who focused on racial
This idea supports Spencer’s “social organism.” Furthermore, structural functional theories can be distinguished into three other categories: they can be manifest functions, latent functionals, and dysfunctional. Manifest functions refer to the recognized and intended consequences, while latent functions are associated with the unrecognized and unintended consequences. In consequence, something can also be dysfunctional, inhibiting or disrupting the working of a system as a whole. A basic example of structural functionalism is schools. Their manifest function would be to educate students and prepare them for a future career. The latent function would be that schools introduce people to each other and could even serve as a dating pool. A dysfunction would be that public schools have too many students and not enough teachers. Another example could be the increase in the use of technology. A manifest function would be that they allow people to connect and communicate without having to be face-to-face. A latent function would be that technology allows people to do activities such as shopping or learning from the comfort from one’s own home or on the go. A dysfunction could include the effect technology …show more content…
Due to the discrimination towards women and african americans during the early years of sociology, some social thinkers were excluded from the academic world. Instead of writing for an academic audience, the focused on writing for popular publications, authored novels, and they spoke out as activists advocating social change. While they were alive, these sociological thinkers were often at the margins of academic sociology, but now these thinkers are more widely appreciated. One of these thinkers is Harriet Martineau, who is often known as the first female sociologist. Her work focused on gender discrimination and slavery that was normally ignored by many of the white, male sociologists of the time. Her work would have fallen under the category of feminist theory, which focus on inequality between men and women. Although feminism was very evident during Martineau’s life, it is still visible today. Most frequently it can be seen in a difference in incomes between men and women. Men tend to be payed slightly higher wages compared to women even when doing the exact same work. Another one of these recovered voices is W.E.B. DuBois who focused on racial