Editing Structural functionalism (section)

==Theory==
[[File:Emile Durkheim.jpg|thumb|200px|[[Émile Durkheim]]]]
In sociology, [[Sociological theory#Classical theoretical traditions|classical theories]] are defined by a tendency towards biological analogy and notions of [[social evolutionism]]:
{{Blockquote
| text = Functionalist thought, from [[Auguste Comte|Comte]] onwards, has looked particularly towards biology as the science providing the closest and most compatible model for social science. Biology has been taken to provide a guide to conceptualizing the structure and function of social systems and analyzing evolution processes via mechanisms of adaptation ... functionalism strongly emphasises the pre-eminence of the social world over its individual parts (i.e. its constituent actors, human subjects).
|sign =[[Anthony Giddens]]
|source = ''The Constitution of Society: Outline of the Theory of Structuration''<ref>{{Cite book|title=The constitution of society: outline of the theory of structuration|last=Anthony.|first=Giddens|isbn=978-0520052925|location=Berkeley|oclc=11029282|year = 1984}}</ref>
}}

While one may regard functionalism as a logical extension of the organic analogies for societies presented by [[political philosopher]]s such as [[Rousseau]], sociology draws firmer attention to those institutions unique to industrialized capitalist society (or ''[[modernity]]'').

Auguste Comte believed that society constitutes a separate "level" of reality, distinct from both biological and inorganic matter. Explanations of [[Social phenomenon|social phenomena]] had therefore to be constructed within this level, individuals being merely transient occupants of comparatively stable social roles. In this view, Comte was followed by [[Émile Durkheim]].
A central concern for Durkheim was the question of how certain societies maintain internal stability and survive over time. He proposed that such societies tend to be segmented, with equivalent parts held together by shared values, common symbols or (as his nephew [[Marcel Mauss]] held), systems of exchanges. Durkheim used the term ''[[mechanical solidarity]]'' to refer to these types of "social bonds, based on common sentiments and shared moral values, that are strong among members of pre-industrial societies".<ref name=":4" /> In modern, complex societies, members perform very different tasks, resulting in a strong interdependence. Based on the metaphor above of an organism in which many parts function together to sustain the whole, Durkheim argued that complex societies are held together by "[[social solidarity|organic solidarity]]", i.e. "social bonds, based on specialization and interdependence, that are strong among members of industrial societies".<ref name=":4" />

The central concern of structural functionalism may be regarded as a continuation of the Durkheimian task of explaining the apparent stability and internal [[Group cohesiveness|cohesion]] needed by societies to endure over time. Societies are seen as coherent, bounded and fundamentally relational constructs that function like organisms, with their various (or social institutions) working together in an unconscious, quasi-automatic fashion toward achieving an overall [[social equilibrium]]. All social and cultural phenomena are therefore seen as functional in the sense of working together, and are effectively deemed to have "lives" of their own. They are primarily analyzed in terms of this function. The individual is significant not in and of themselves, but rather in terms of their status, their position in patterns of social relations, and the behaviours associated with their status. Therefore, the social structure is the network of statuses connected by associated roles.

Functionalism also has an anthropological basis in the work of theorists such as Marcel Mauss, [[Bronisław Malinowski]] and [[Radcliffe-Brown]]. The prefix 'structural' emerged in Radcliffe-Brown's specific usage.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Functionalism|title=Functionalism|last1=Porth|first1=Eric|last2=Neutzling|first2=Kimberley|website=anthropology.ua.edu|access-date=2018-09-20|last3=Edwards|first3=Jessica|archive-date=2011-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111120172130/http://anthropology.ua.edu/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Functionalism|url-status=dead}}</ref> Radcliffe-Brown proposed that most stateless, "primitive" societies, lacking strong centralized institutions, are based on an association of corporate-descent groups, i.e. the respective society's recognised [[kinship]] groups.<ref name="integratedsociopsychology">{{cite web|last=Rice|first=Keith|title=Structural Functionlism|url=http://www.integratedsociopsychology.net/structural-functionalism.html|access-date=23 February 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222221743/http://www.integratedsociopsychology.net/structural-functionalism.html|archive-date=22 February 2012}}</ref> Structural functionalism also took on Malinowski's argument that the basic building block of society is the [[nuclear family]],<ref name="integratedsociopsychology" /> and that the [[clan]] is an outgrowth, not ''vice versa''.
It is simplistic to equate the perspective directly with political [[conservatism]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=Defending the Durkheimian tradition : religion, emotion, and morality|last=S.|first=Fish, Jonathan|date=2005|publisher=Ashgate|isbn=978-0754641384|location=Alershot, Hants, England|oclc=60543408}}</ref> The tendency to emphasize "cohesive systems", however, leads functionalist theories to be contrasted with "[[conflict theory|conflict theories]]" which instead emphasize social problems and inequalities.