Transcript SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS - Jonathan Campbell, Natural Therapy

The Early Functionalists
1850-1920
Functionalism
The analysis of society as a system
composed of parts
that affect each other
and the system as a whole
Functions = purposes or
consequences
Functionalism
System – analogy of a living
organism
If the society is orderly
the organism will be healthy.
Universal Consensus
(shared values)
keeps the society orderly
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
19th-Century Liberal
– believed in the freedom
of business
from government control
Laissez-faire
– “unseen hand” (Adam Smith)
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
The good of society
would best be served
if each man looked out
for himself.
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No program for social change
No program for maintaining
social order
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Two major contributions
to sociology:

Organic analogy

Evolutionary view of history
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Two major contributions
to sociology:

Organic analogy
− Society is a system
− Functions like a living body
− Solidarity derives from the
interdependence of the parts

Evolutionary view of history
− Darwin’s theory of natural selection
applied to society
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Social Darwinism
(“survival of the fittest”)–

People are poor
because they cannot
adapt to the social environment

Rich men rise to the top
because of natural talents
(genetic superiority)
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Opposed public education
– because poor people
would not make good
use of it
Opposed women’s suffrage
– because women might not be
sufficiently evolved to make
political judgments
Herbert Spencer (1820-1903)
Emphasized a scientific
approach –
Social problems should
be carefully studied,
rather than letting “do-gooders”
rush in to “fix” them.
Spencer later reversed some of
his most conservative ideas.
Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923)
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Emphasized a scientific,
mathematical approach
Viewed society as a
system in equilibrium
– a change in one part will lead
to changes in other parts
– final result: stability
Vilfredo Pareto (1848-1923)
What appears to be social
change is really a “circulation
of elites”:
Lions – honor, duty, tradition,
property, nationalism,
and maintaining power by force
Foxes – innovation, imagination,
democratic sentiments,
and maintaining power by manipulation
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)

Established sociology
as an academic field

Showed its unique
contribution as distinct
from psychology
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Influence of Comte’s Positivism
− emphasis on scientific method
− concern about social order
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Collective Conscience
– shared values (similar to
universal consensus)
– produces social solidarity
– derived from a society’s
division of labor
Disagreed with Spencer:
Durkheim did not see solidarity
as resulting spontaneously from
individual actions,
but as collectively maintained.
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Two kinds of solidarity:

Mechanical

Organic
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Two kinds of solidarity:

Mechanical
– characteristic of small-
scale societies with a
simple division of labor
(men hunt, women forage)
same tasks similar positions
similar views social stability
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Two kinds of solidarity:

Organic
– characteristic of largescale modern societies
with complex division
of labor
– derives from interdependence
of roles (like a living organism)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Two kinds of solidarity:

Organic
– more difficult to maintain
than mechanical solidarity
– can result in anomie
Anomie
– the absence of norms
– results from breakdown in
social solidarity
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Religion
– expression of the
collective conscience
– traditional source of
shared values
– less influential in modern societies
Future source of solidarity:
scientific education
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Research Method
The Whole = more than
the sum of its parts
(Society is more than a
collection of individuals.)
Sociology is the study
of social facts.
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Social facts are
THINGS.
Criteria:

External (to the individual mind)
– objective

Coercive (at least potentially)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Study of social facts
requires:
 objectivity
 experiment
 comparison
Comparative method:
studying the same elements in
different societies
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Evolutionary view:
societies develop from
simple to complex
(progressive differentiation)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Evolutionary view:
societies develop from
simple to complex
(progressive differentiation)
Unilinear process
(straight line
– going in one
general direction)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Evolutionary view:
societies develop from
simple to complex
(progressive differentiation)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Evolutionary view:
societies develop from
simple to complex
(progressive differentiation)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Evolutionary view:
societies develop from
simple to complex
(progressive differentiation)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Evolutionary view:
societies develop from
simple to complex
(progressive differentiation)
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Study of Suicide
Showed difference between
sociology and psychology
Focused on rates of suicide
between societies
and sectors of societies,
rather than on individual reasons
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Study of Suicide
Typology showed
relationship of suicide
to the individual’s
connection to society:
Altruistic suicide (for the group)
 Egoistic suicide (isolation)
 Anomic suicide (social/moral breakdown)
 Fatalistic suicide (person blocked by society)
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Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Summary:

Functionalist
−society as a system
−evolutionary view
−concerned about social order
and anomie
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Wholistic:
Whole = more than sum of parts
Emile Durkheim (1858-1917)
Summary:
Scientific approach
 Research – objective
and comparative
 Method focused on the study
of social facts (“things”
– external and coercive)
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