Emile Durkheim And Functionalist Theory

Functionalism was founded by Emile Durkheim, who continuously question norms and how society works. Functionalism is based on how society conformed to the daily functions of everyday activity. As mentioned in the previous paragraph, there are boundaries that are strict between morals and social. Functionalism focus on the natural way society works, it doesn’t try to see how society will work if changed. Functionalism in a society is just one big circle, everyone contributes to one another to keep it going.

Functional theory was influenced by Emile Durkheim. Adherents of this theory emphasize, "Various parts of society have functions or positive effects that promote solidarity and maintain the stability of the whole." (Parrillo 11) Thus a society is held together by

In sociology, functionalism is one of the main theoretical perspective. The father of the sociology Emile Durkheim was the promoter of functionalism. Functionalism mainly focusing on the stability and order of the society. This gives a variety of elaboration about the society or human behaviour. All the parts of the theoretical perspectives connected and influenced each other, this all works together in maintain the society healthy. All of these parts depends one to another, if one of the parts not working properly, that will affect all the system or that all circles.

People in present society are divided up into different positions in the work force. Durkheim sees society from a structural functionalist perspective and refers to society as a system of different organs, each with a

The functionalist’s perspective highlights how the society is coordinated to maintain its strength (Schaefer, 2015). According to Schaefer (2015), the functionalist theory was established from a Harvard University sociologist named Talcott Parsons. Eventually Parsons theory was passed on to a German sociologist Niklas Luhmann who viewed that “if an aspect of social life does not contribute to society’s survivability” it creates a social change and will not be passed on to the next generation (Schaefer, 2015). As a functionalist

Along with Marx and Weber, Durkheim is considered one of the founding members of modern sociology. He is also credited with making sociology a science through his application of scientific and empirical research. Durkheim believed that sociology should be seen as a science separate from other sciences such as psychology, by studying “social facts” objectively as things. (Kiviston, 2011)

Emile Durkheim came up with the functionalist theory. Functionalism sees society working together like a system. Society consist of interconnected parts that work together that keeps everything in a balanced state. Herbert Spencer gave the idea that societies are living organisms that grow and evolve. This theory emphasizes how different groups of society influence other parts of society. This could be a positive The two main principles of functionalism; The first would be that society is perceived as a functional system made of intertwining parts/groups. The second function is that each structure its own purpose that contributes to continue societies stability. If something does not contribute to society in a positive way and throws off its balance its considered dysfunctional. An example of dysfunctional would be things such as crime.

Emile Durkheim, the ‘father’ of functionalism believed that crime played an important role in society. He described the organic analogy of society which describes that

Functionalism is a theory by Durkheim that conveys that all aspects of a society serve a function and are necessary for the survival of that society. In this way, society is like an organism. If all institutions work properly it contributes to the

Throughout his life, Durkheim has three main goals: establish sociology as a new academic discipline, analyze how societies maintain their integrity in the modern era, and lastly the practical implications of scientific knowledge. Durkheim’s contributions to social theory are expansive however the most impactful works were: The Division of Labor in Society and The Rules of Sociological Method. In his first work he introduced the concept of the breakdown of the influence of the societal norms on the individual, in his second work he stated what sociology is and how it should be acted out. Both of these works took social theory to a new level and they further help the individual understand his society.

Functionalism is a system of thinking based in the ideas of the Emile Durkheim that looks at society from a large-scale perspective. It examines the necessary structures that make up the society and how each part helped to keep the society stable. According to functionalism society is heading toward an equilibrium.

(Turner, p.112) Functional analysis established itself as a way of ‘bringing to light the significance of the institutional order and connecting it with the unintentional consequences of social action. (Turner, p.121) On page 35 of Back et al. it states that Durkheim’s argument is that classification is a process of ‘marking-off’, of showing things that are related, but have distinct points of difference to another. Functionalism assumes that society’s social institutions perform important functions to help ensure social stability. Rapid social change threatens social order, but slow social change is desirable.

Functionalism is a macro level theory, which focuses on large scale social interactions, and views society as a structure with interrelated parts that are designed to meet the biological and social needs of individuals in a society (OpenStax, 2015). Herbert Spencer was the first to recognize a relationship between the parts of the society and the whole society. He explains the theory by comparing the society to a human body and the organs to social institutions; social institutions help society run smoothly and efficiently (OpenStax, 2015). Functionalists believe that social issues weaken a society’s stability, but that they also serve important functions for the society.

Our text explains that Durkheim’s sociological model gets to the center of the relationship between an individual and the community.

Durkheim is a highly influential name to remember when thinking of sociology. Durkheim’s mission was to develop sociology so it could be defined and to develop a method on how sociology should be used. Durkheim’s main concern in his career was primarily associated with how societies might preserve their integrity and rationality within modernised society, when things such as shared religious views and ethnic backgrounds are seen as things of the past. In relation to Durkheim’s social realism his concern was with the growing individualism in society. Durkheim argues that we are in an era which is imperfectly moving towards a morality based on individualism as “Durkheim regarded individualism as a collective representation, a force that