Reactionism And Structural Functionalism Theory

Structural Functionalism aims to understand society in an objective way. It views society as an entity that is “objectively real”. It emphasizes the unity of society, and how individuals perform roles and how these roles are vital in meeting the needs of the collective whole. For instance, because every society has stratification, stratification must have certain functions and these functions can contribute to the survival of the social system as a whole. Furthermore, structural

Structural Functionalism as defined by Functionolists such as Auguste Comte and Herbert Spencer, believe that society is a whole unit made up of many related parts, each having its own function. In order for society to maintain equilibrium or balance all parts must fulfill their function. If their function is not performed society is in an

Structural functionalism is a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Essentially, structural functionalism is how every part of society fits and works together to keep everyone involved, united and to support the process of moving our nation forward. The colony that Flik lives in and that encounters an issue is its own small part of the world that follows structural functionalism; however, when Flik ventures off into the bug world to find warrior bugs it is easy to see ways that structural functionalism works outside of the colony. In the ant colony, the audience can see structural functionalism because each ant has a job that they do to ensure the success of the colony. The ants collect food together and follow orders from people who are higher in position like Princess Atta or The Queen. Through following orders and working together, the colony is able to find a balance and accept what they must do to become successful in fulfilling the needs of not only themselves but also the demanding grass hoppers.

To begin with, structural functionalism looks at the society as a bundle of a complex system with different parts that work to support the whole. It stipulates that a society is a combination of interrelated components, which work independently, but seek to achieve a common goal, which supports the growth of the whole system. Some of the systems in the society include the government, schools, businesses, and families. In essence, all these different components are fundamental in the society as they serve different functions to develop the society. On the other hand, social conflict theory looks at the society as a system with equal components, but within the endeavors to grow to find themselves in conflicting paths. Thinking about the society, some of the trends lead to conflict among the people living together. For example, ageism,

Structural Functionalism states that everything in society serves a purpose, whether it is positive or negative. Structuralists look

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

Symbolic interactionism perspective is a theory that is used to study social life. To do this, this theory relies on studying and observing the interactions among people and how they form meanings to things from those interactions. Although, there is much more to this theory than that. Blumer, the man who invented the term symbolic interactionism, presented three premises which help to understand this theory. The first one is, people act a certain way towards things depending on their meaning for that thing. The second premise is that we get meanings from social interaction, so we are taught meanings or we witness them from others. Lastly, the third premise is that meanings are able to change because people have the mental capacity to

Structural Functionalism is defined as, “a society which is a whole unit made up of interrelated parts that work together” and “ its society as a living organism/ machine that has multiple organs and parts and people to fulfill their individual functions; working together to make it happen ” (Henslin 2015, Smith 2017).

This perspective originated with Émile Durkheim, a French sociologist, social psychologist, and philosopher, and the one who formally established and is considered the father of sociology, as the social sciences was not considered an independent field of study separate from philosophy at the time of his writings. Durkheim was interested in how social order and society as a whole remains stable, and used a scientific approach to study society. As Kenneth Allan quotes from Émile Durkheim (2005), “…if, in addition, society lacks the unity based upon the commitment of men’s wills to a common objective, then it is no more than a pile of sand that the least jolt or the slightest puff will suffice to scatter” (p. 136). Using this view of society as a creation of a collective group of individuals that work toward a common objective, functionalism looks at the institutions of society and how they contribute to the society’s stability. These institutions include the government, family, education, medicine, the justice system, the military, mass media, and other similar formal organizations. Each of these institutions are organized to fulfill the different needs of society and are all interdependent. Functionalism focuses on the order and social stability of a society, and credits disorganization and a lack of adaptation to new and changing times as the causes of social

Now at my age, I have come to the conclusion that many people in my generation got to do what they wanted when they were growing up. My generation did not have many rules, chores, or responsibilities. Hutchison stated, “Social constructionist perspective is understanding how people construct meaning, a sense of self, and a social world through their interactions with others.” People gather who they are as a person by interacting and socializing with their environment. While interacting with the environment people also shape reality and what the world truly represents.

In my opinion both of the theories structuralism and functionalism involved the study of the human mind and how it works and they were both concerned with the mind at the conscious level. Personally, my feel of the two is that functionalism is more important than structuralism. I believe that functionalism is far better school than structuralism as it is more flexible and scientific in nature which I can relate myself with. I happen to think that functionalism is an object that is designed to determine solely by its function. These are a few of the similarities between structuralism and functionalism. Throughout this paper I will further explore some of the differences between these

Structural functionalism is the sociological perspective that aligns with my view of the world. Emile Durkheim came up with the analogy of structural functionalism being compared to the human body. The human body is an organism made up of organs and systems that are separate but work together to perform as one (Clarebaut, 2015). In the same way, there are different structures that come together to make up a society that in functional. This perspective has been true for my life as well. Things such as politics, religion and family have shaped my life greatly. For example, the way my family functions is based off of what society and religion have taught us. Family has played a huge role in my life. The way that I view the world has been influenced by my upbringing and what I have learned from my parents and siblings. Education and how technology has evolved the world we live in is another great example of this perspective. As technology has improved, the way that our generation interacts has be altered and completely changed. The changes that have been made have also been affected by the

"Functionalist Perspectives” also known as "Structural-Functional Paradigm”- “The sociological approach that views society as a stable, orderly system. According to this perspective, a society is composed of interrelated parts, each of which serves a function and (ideally) contributes to the overall stability of the society. Societies develop social structures, or institutions that persist because they play a part in helping society survive. These institutions include the family, education, government, religion, and the economy. If anything adverse happens to one of these institutions or parts, all

Structural functionalism is a macro level approach to study sociology (Browning, 2015). Structural functionalists believe social consensus is what holds society together; social consensus being a condition in which most members of the society agree on what would be good for everyone. Structural functionalists view society as a web of social structures, each structure being functional to fulfill it’s own needs, but dependent on all other structures for survival (Vago, 2012).

In addition too, Symbolic Interactionism perspectives, there is Functionalism Perspective. The idea of the Functionalist perspective leads back to Emile Durkheim, a French sociologist whose writings form the core of the functionalist theory (McClelland, 2000). Functionalism is what happens when social structures have positive effects on the constancy of society. It is the frame work for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote harmony and stability. There are also three assumptions behind functionalism theory, Stability, Harmony, and Evolutions. Those who use social structure theory focus on studying the nature and the consequences of social structures. It also focuses on a relatively state pattern of social behavior. This gives our lives shape in