Editing Structural functionalism (section)

===Herbert Spencer===
[[File:Herbert Spencer.jpg|right|200px|thumb|Herbert Spencer]]
[[Herbert Spencer]] (1820–1903) was a British [[philosopher]] famous for applying the theory of [[natural selection]] to society. He was in many ways the first true sociological functionalist.<ref name=":6">{{Cite book|title=Herbert Spencer : a renewed appreciation|last=H.|first=Turner, Jonathan|date=1985|publisher=Sage Publications|isbn=978-0803922440|location=Beverly Hills, California|oclc=11444338}}</ref> In fact, while Durkheim is widely considered the most important functionalist among positivist theorists, it is known that much of his analysis was culled from reading Spencer's work, especially his ''Principles of Sociology'' (1874–96).{{citation needed|date=January 2018}} In describing society, Spencer alludes to the analogy of a human body. Just as the structural parts of the human body—the skeleton, muscles, and various internal organs—function independently to help the entire organism survive, social structures work together to preserve society.<ref name=":4" />

While reading Spencer's massive volumes can be tedious (long passages explicating the organic analogy, with reference to [[Cell (biology)|cells]], simple organisms, animals, humans and society), there are some important insights that have quietly influenced many contemporary theorists, including [[Talcott Parsons]], in his early work ''[[The Structure of Social Action]]'' (1937). [[Cultural anthropology]] also consistently uses functionalism.

This [[sociocultural evolution|evolutionary model]], unlike most 19th century evolutionary theories, is cyclical, beginning with the [[Differentiation (sociology)|differentiation]] and increasing complication of an organic or "super-organic" (Spencer's term for a [[social system]]) body, followed by a fluctuating state of equilibrium and disequilibrium (or a state of adjustment and [[adaptation]]), and, finally, the stage of disintegration or dissolution. Following [[Thomas Malthus]]' population principles, Spencer concluded that society is constantly facing [[selection pressure]]s (internal and external) that force it to adapt its internal structure through differentiation.

Every solution, however, causes a new set of selection pressures that threaten society's viability. Spencer was not a determinist in the sense that he never said that
# Selection pressures will be felt in time to change them;
# They will be felt and reacted to; or
# The solutions will always work.

In fact, he was in many ways a [[political sociologist]],<ref name=":6" /> and recognized that the degree of centralized and consolidated authority in a given polity could make or break its ability to adapt. In other words, he saw a general trend towards the centralization of power as leading to stagnation and ultimately, pressures to decentralize.

More specifically, Spencer recognized three functional needs or prerequisites that produce selection pressures: they are regulatory, operative (production) and distributive. He argued that all societies need to solve problems of control and coordination, production of goods, [[Service (economics)|services]] and [[idea]]s, and, finally, to find ways of distributing these resources.

Initially, in tribal societies, these three needs are inseparable, and the kinship system is the dominant structure that satisfies them. As many scholars have noted, all institutions are subsumed under kinship organization,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Human societies: an introduction to macrosociology|last=Nolan|first=Patrick|publisher=Paradigm Publishers|others=Lenski, Gerhard|year=2004|isbn=9781594515781|edition= 11th|location=Boulder|oclc=226355644}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Masters|first=Roger D.|date=March 1994|title=The social cage: Human nature and the evolution of society|journal=Ethology and Sociobiology|volume=15|issue=2|pages=107–111|doi=10.1016/0162-3095(94)90021-3|issn=0162-3095}}</ref> but, with increasing population (both in terms of sheer numbers and density), problems emerge with regard to feeding individuals, creating new forms of organization—consider the emergent division of labour—coordinating and controlling various differentiated social units, and developing systems of resource distribution.

The solution, as Spencer sees it, is to differentiate structures to fulfill more specialized functions; thus, a chief or "big man" emerges, soon followed by a group of lieutenants, and later kings and administrators. The structural parts of society (e.g. families, work) function interdependently to help society function. Therefore, social structures work together to preserve society.<ref name=":4" />