Describe functionalism according to different functionalist?

Question

Describe functionalism according to different functionalist?

Answer 1

functionalism (also called functional analysis) is a sociological paradigm that originally attempted to explain social institutions as collective means to fill individual biological needs.

The theory is associated with Émile Durkheim and more recently with Talcott Parsons. It was developed by other sociologists in the 20th century and was a popular idea until the 1970s when it came under criticism from new ideas.

Herbert Spencer

The core of his theory is an evolutionary model that, unlike most nineteenth century evolutionary theorists, was cyclical. Beginning with the differentiation and increasing complexification of an organic or super-organic (Spencer's term for a social system) body, followed by a fluctuating state of equilibrium and disequilibrium (or a state of adjustment and adaptation), and finally, a stage of disintegration or dissolution

Talcott Parsons

developed the idea of roles into collectivities of roles that complemented each other in fulfilling functions for society . Some of the roles are bound up in institutions and social structures, such as economic, educational, legal, and even gender structures. These structures are functional in the sense they assist society to operate , and fulfill its functional needs so that the society runs smoothly. A society where there is no conflict, where everyone knows what is expected of them, and where these expectations are constantly being met, is in a perfect state of equilibrium. The key processes for Parsons in attaining this equilibrium are socialization and social control

Robert Merton

criticised functional unity, saying that not all parts of a modern, complex society work for the functional unity of society. Some institutions and structures may have other functions, and some may even be generally dysfunctional, or be functional for some while being dysfunctional for others. This is because not all structures are functional for society as a whole. Some practices are only functional for a dominant individual or a group

Other theories

Structural functionalism, a theoretical concept developed by other anthropologists like Claude Lévi-Strauss and Edmund Leach as well as Samuel P. Huntington, takes the view that society consists of parts (e.g. police, hospitals, schools, and farms), each of which have their own functions and work together to promote social stability. Structural-functionalism was the dominant perspective of cultural anthropologists and rural sociologists between World War II and the Vietnam War.