Source: Adapted from Robb Webb’s Second Year A Level Sociology Text Book. Please click here to return to the homepage – Robert Merton was also famous for this Strain Theory of Deviance. It should be useful as part of the compulsory Theory and Methods module, usually studied in the second year. This post has mainly been written for students studying A-level Sociology. Parsons’ system theory is summarised in the second half of the post. You might also like to read this post on The Functionalist Theory of Society. Merton’s distinction is here useful for helping us to identify functions which members themselves might not be aware of. However, the ritual may also have an unintended or latent function – such as promoting a sense of solidarity in times of hardship, when individuals may be tempted to look after themselves at the expense of others. From a scientific viewpoint, however, this goal is unlikely to be achieved. This is its manifest, or intended function. He cites the example of the Hopi Indians who, in times of drought, perform a rain-dance with the aim of magically producing rain. Merton also contributes a useful distinction between ‘manifest’ and ‘latent’ functions. However, Merton argues that some aspects of society may be dysfunctional for certain groups, which relates to Conflict perspectives. Parsons seems to assume that everything in society performs positive functions for society as a whole. However, Merton argues that some parts of society may be relatively independent from others – maybe society wouldn’t collapse if the nuclear family disappeared altogether. Similarly, he argues that if one part changes, it will have a knock on effect for the others. Parsons assumes that all parts of society are tightly integrated into a single whole or ‘unity’ and that each part is functional for all the rest. For example, Parsons assumes that primary socialisation is best performed by the nuclear family, but one-parent families or multi-generational families may do this just as well. Merton argues this is an untested assumption and he points to the possibility of functional alternatives. Parsons assumes that everything in society – the family, religion and so on – is functionally indispensable in its existing form. Universal Functionalism Indispensability. He criticises three key assumptions made by Parsons. Within Functionalism, the most significant criticisms come from Robert K. Criticisms of Parson’s systems theory have come from both outside and inside Functionalism.
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