įrom the 1970s on, a new generation of sociologists criticized Parsons' theories as socially conservative and his writings as unnecessarily complex. Īlthough Parsons is generally considered a structural functionalist, towards the end of his career, in 1975, he published an article that stated that "functional" and "structural functionalist" were inappropriate ways to describe the character of his theory. Parsons viewed voluntaristic action through the lens of the cultural values and social structures that constrain choices and ultimately determine all social actions, as opposed to actions that are determined based on internal psychological processes.
Their work heavily influenced Parsons' view and was the foundation for his social action theory. Some of Parsons' largest contributions to sociology in the English-speaking world were his translations of Max Weber's work and his analyses of works by Max Weber, Émile Durkheim, and Vilfredo Pareto. Later, he was instrumental in the establishment of the Department of Social Relations at Harvard.īased on empirical data, Parsons' social action theory was the first broad, systematic, and generalizable theory of social systems developed in the United States and Europe. In 1930, he was among the first professors in its new sociology department. After earning a PhD in economics, he served on the faculty at Harvard University from 1927 to 1973. Parsons is considered one of the most influential figures in sociology in the 20th century.
Merton’s ideas of Latent and Manifest Functions: Intended and unintended (so functions may be more complex than Parson’s suggests).Merton’s Three Internal Critiques of Functionalism: Not everything is necessary not everything is interconnected some institutions are dysfunctional.Social change is gradual and evolutionary/ progressive – societies gradually evolve by moving from simple to more complex and larger structures.The social system has four basic needs: instrumental (adaptation and goal attainment) and expressive (integration and latency).Society needs individuals to be integrated – this is achieved through socialisation and social control.Society is based on value consensus and social order.Studied suicide to illustrate the above.It affects people irrespective of their individual thoughts and feelings. Society exists as a separate entity above its members, as a system of ‘social facts’.Industrial society = more complex causes change and anomie, challenge of modernity = how to achieve ‘organic solidarity’.Traditional society based on ‘mechanical solidarity’ and strong collective conscience.Concerned with understanding rapid social change brought about with industrialisation.
Parsons sees three similarities between society and a biological organism: both are self-regulating, both have needs, both have sub-systems which perform specific functions.Įmile Durkheim’s Functionalism (1858 – 1917) – The first ever ‘Sociologist’.Parsons uses the term ‘organic analogy’ to describe society.Historical Context: the 1890s to the 1950s.Functionalism is closely related to the New Right and Modernisation Theory. Functionalism as a Structural/Systems Theory – it focuses on the needs of the social system as a whole it is a consensus theory – it sees society as based on shared values it is also a modernist theory – it believes that research can find the truth and lead to progress.