history of structural functionalism theory

For example, one function of a society’s laws may be to protect society from violence, while another is to punish criminal behavior, while another is to preserve public safety.Īlthough suicide is generally considered an individual phenomenon, Émile Durkheim was interested in studying the social factors that affect it. Each of these social facts serves one or more functions within a society. Social facts are the laws, morals, values, religious beliefs, customs, fashions, rituals, and all of the cultural rules that govern social life (Durkheim 1895). Durkheim believed that individuals may make up society, but in order to study society, sociologists have to look beyond individuals to social facts. Durkheim believed that society is a complex system of interrelated and interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability (Durkheim 1893), and that society is held together by shared values, languages, and symbols. Émile Durkheim, another early sociologist, applied Spencer’s theory to explain how societies change and survive over time.

The parts of society that Spencer referred to were the social institutions, or patterns of beliefs and behaviors focused on meeting social needs, such as government, education, family, healthcare, religion, and the economy. He argued that just as the various organs of the body work together to keep the body functioning, the various parts of society work together to keep society functioning (Spencer 1898). Functionalism grew out of the writings of English philosopher and biologist, Hebert Spencer (1820–1903), who saw similarities between society and the human body. Structural-functional theory, also called functionalism, sees society as a structure with interrelated parts designed to meet the biological and social needs of the individuals in that society. Functionalism emphasizes how various social institutions work together to meet the needs of a society.

History of structural functionalism theory