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Discuss on your table your thoughts on the theory of functionalism-

Are there some aspects of the theory you agree with and why?

Is there anything in the theory you disagree with- give examples

Write your ideas in bullet-point note form and choose 1 person on your table to be spokesperson to feed back to the group

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Q1:

One convincing aspect is its emphasis on social structures and their functions. think it can enable people to fulfill their respective responsibilities, do their own things well，make society operate stably and orderly.For example, the family provides socialization and emotional support, while education equips individuals with skills and knowledge.

Another valuable contribution is the concept of social consensus. Functionalists argue that shared values and norms are essential for social cohesion. While acknowledging that not everyone agrees on everything, they emphasize the importance of a general agreement on fundamental principles that hold society together.

Q2: functionalism also has limitations. It can oversimplify social reality by assuming that everyone benefits equally from existing structures. It may not adequately address issues like inequality, conflict, and social change.

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We agree upon the bodily analogy of functionalism and interdependence.

How shared value create harmony.

Functionalism is old-fashioned

If the eyes of functionalism; modern society would be dysfunctional

They don't take consideration of some factors such as class gender, culture etc

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functionalism is heavily reliant on the positivist view. This means that if human behaviour is based on pattern the view is also deterministic. However if one were to believe that we have free will then that whole structure falls apart. half of our table is also Muslim which means that we instinctively believe in determinism so we would agree that there are aspects of human nature that are deterministic but it is also human nature to believe that what we do every day with our lives and decisions has meaning in the sense that we have free will so it sort of becomes a dilemma.

Functionalism also doesn't allow for new changes. The theory is reliant on the fact that everything does its job and does it well, however if society were to change or go against the set societal norms then functionalism would fall apart and begin to struggle to keep its structure.

one major criticism is that it does not clearly define what is ' good ' of bad in society instead it assumes that every thing society exist because it has a function and contribute to stability.

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functionalism is heavily reliant on the positivist view. This means that if human behaviour is based on pattern the view is also deterministic. However if one were to believe that we have free will then that whole structure falls apart. half of our table is also Muslim which means that we instinctively believe in determinism so we would agree that there are aspects of human nature that are deterministic but it is also human nature to believe that what we do every day with our lives and decisions has meaning in the sense that we have free will so it sort of becomes a dilemma.

Functionalism also doesn't allow for new changes. The theory is reliant on the fact that everything does its job and does it well, however if society were to change or go against the set societal norms then functionalism would fall apart and begin to struggle to keep its structure.

one major criticism is that it does not clearly define what is ' good ' of bad in society instead it assumes that every thing society exist because it has a function and contribute to stability.

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Q1. essential part of society, shapes ppl's behavior, provides support, ensures next generation knows how to survive

Q2. provides shelter for children (protection), teaches children to behave, rights and wrong, moral values, provides love and care during difficult times

Q3. human body analogy: raise children (manifest), passing down social norms/traditions (latent)

social structures: providing financial support/food (manifest), influencing career choices (latent)

social order and value consensus: teaching discipline (manifest), reinforcing gender roles & expectations (latent)

tension management - difficult times, reduces frustrations from work/school (safe space to release stress, preventing conflict within the society)

Q4. Education, Religion & Marriage (foundation for family, forms & sustains families, ensuring social stability and continuity, having children - manifest, strengthening bonds - latent).

Q5. Encourage resisting change.

religion/traditions/beliefs passed down, difficult to change.

change can create conflict and uncertainty, so families prefer familiar routes.

economic dependence, financial support from a father discourages change.

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A place where you can receive or contribute values and norms that fits and is agreed upon by the society.

Set of value and norms agreed by the society to maintain peace and order. EG. Educational system is to educate about the diferent sbjects and hidden and formal curriculum.

For Example: Hidden curriculum in schools and workforce in society. (Discipline).

Family preparing to socialise in wider society as well as some part of school. Mass media and the judicial system providing information about the stratification of the society to let us be aware of their work.

School Uniforms, Homosexual marriage, nuclear family. From an Functionalist lense most of the institution is to resist change.( Dysfuctional and Deviant).

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Family Social Institution

1.  Describe the institution:
- A family is a social institution that provides emotional, financial, and social support.
- It consists of individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption. Family social institutions play a crucial role in shaping social behaviour, stability, and cultural continuity.

2. What is it supposed to do, meant to do?
- Different family structures exist, but they all aim to shape values and behaviors of children. Regulating behavior and maintaining social order.

3. How would a functionalist theory describe its latent function?
- Functionalist perspective would highlight important roles; reinforcing social inequality, creating networks, shaping gender roles, influencing emotional development, and regulating behavior.
- Functions that help maintain social stability, even if they are not consciously recognized.

4. What other social institutions have similar functions?
- A similar institution that shares the function of a familial-social institution would be education. In the sense that educational institutions reinforce norms, while providing economic opportunities.
-  Religion also teaches values, builds social networks, and offers emotional support.
- Government maintains order, enforces laws, and shapes societal roles. The economy ensures financial stability, job opportunities, and resource distribution.
- Healthcare supports physical and mental well-being, indirectly shaping productivity and stability. Like the family, these institutions help maintain social order and cohesion.

5. Will this institution encourage or resist change?

- The family social institution can be both encouraging and resisting depending on their circumstances and willingness to adapt. They could resist change because of the cultural and traditional values, families have passed down generational traditions and will resist the change.

- It can also encourage change while adapting to social shifts and by raising socially conscious individuals parents instill their values and morals that supports equality and generational change.

Overall

Overall:

The family as a social institution shapes values, behaviors, and social order. Its manifest functions, such as providing emotional, financial, and social support, are essential for both individual development and societal stability. Through a functionalist lens, the family also performs latent functions, including reinforcing social inequality and shaping gender roles, often without conscious recognition. Other institutions, like education, religion, government, the economy, and healthcare, share similar functions in maintaining social cohesion. While the family can resist change due to traditional values, it can also encourage progress by adapting to societal shifts and raising socially conscious individuals. The balance between preservation and change is a key aspect of how family structures evolve in response to the broader societal context.

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The emphasise in this exercise is on your original ideas and contributions. So, try to be as creative as you can.

1. What is the manifest (=declared) purpose of the institution? What are its latent (=hidden) functions? (can talk about how the values are perpetuated through family, media, education, justice system etc)

2. How does it contribute to social cohesion or integration?

3. Who is and is not included in this institution or society? (is it a true social consensus or just achieved through force/oppression of dissent?)

4. Is the situation just/fair? Do you think this needs to change? Can you think of similar conditions in society? (make a comparison between the issue you are looking at and another society)

5. What do you think would happen if we only think about society as a working machine, where every attempt to bring change is treated this with oppression? (will oppression make pressure for change go away?)

6. In this light, what problem do you see with the explanations that 'Functionalism' promotes about how society works?

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1.In order to increase women's participation in political work, improve job opportunities, and enable more women to appear in the international arena

Ensure equal status for women and men

Better safeguard the rights and interests of women from all walks of life

2.In today’s world, woman are unequally in all aspects, more and more women are defending their rights and personal safety issues on a larger platform. Besides, more and more males realized that woman play a important roles in society ,and they tried to made some posters, recognize women's work and communicate with women on an equal footing，it is the social cohesion that I think.

3.Men were in charge of the system and society. They were seen as the main part of society, while women were pushed to the edge, outside of it. Women who fought for their right to vote were seen as strange. Regular women's problems were ignored, and minority groups faced even worse discrimination.

4.I think it is fair for women to have a voice in the world,it not only shows the improvement of women's status, but also shows the equality of men and women. In order to make more people agree this opinion，we also can show more examples to people.eg. The unequal treatment of women at work,

5. If the whole soceity like machine ,everyone do their own parts .For examlpe like the suffragette's struggle ,mens who worked in the politician.they might think the women soteln their oppotunrties .They might be They will be more resistant to the presence of women in international political forums. But the true is:The inclusion of women provides a more diverse perspective while safeguarding the previously overlooked rights of women.Women join in order to let the world become better.

6. Social functionalism is too idealistic and requires high cooperation among various parts of society, but ignores important factors such as the subjective will of each subject and social hierarchy. Therefore, when there is a conflict of opinions between the two parties and different social classes, social functionalism cannot play its role.like with the women's voting rights movement. It often sees society as working perfectly, and doesn't see how power is not balanced. So, when women wanted power, it looked like they were breaking the rules, and people wanted to stop them. Functionalism also doesn't see how individuals can change society, so it has big problems and can't explain many things that happen in society.

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Layan - Tara

Social institutions:  Education

1. What is the manifest (=declared) purpose of the institution? What are its latent (=hidden) functions?

The education system was designed to instill the ideology of apartheid so it  teaches students the supposed superiority of the white race and the necessity of racial segregation. While it was  unequal, the system did provide some level of basic education for white students, the goal was to provide a high level of education, to ensure future dominance and  for black students, the education was designed to create a work force, It was designed to reinforce the racial hierarchy by providing vastly unequal resources and opportunities. White schools were well funded  while Black schools were overcrowded

2. How does it contribute to social cohesion or integration?

The white education system aimed to create a sense of shared identity and belonging among white South Africans and reinforcing the ideology of white supremacy. It fails to achieve true social Integration by blocking shared experiences .

3. Who is and is not included in this institution or society?

The  education system strictly included white South Africans in well funded, ideologically driven schools

while excluding Black South Africans from quality education, relegating them to underfunded, oppressive institutions

4. Is the situation just/fair? Do you think this needs to change? Can you think of similar conditions in society?

It was an unjust system because of violence and oppression, lack of political representation, and racial discrimination.

This needs to end because of human rights violations and economic inequality.

Some similar conditions are the indigenous oppression and the palestinian war

5. What do you think would happen if we only think about society as a working machine, where every attempt to bring change is treated this with oppression?

If society is only perceived as a working machine where stability is the main aim over justice, any attempt for change is going to have a negative consequence.        True stability comes from fairness and adaption to progress.

We would be face with a social unrest and resistance, people protesting and rebel when denied basic rights

International isolation due to the resistance of change

Deepening inequality and social division

6. In this light, what problem do you see with the explanations that 'Functionalism' promotes about how society works?

Functionalism views society as a stable system, however functionalism fails to explain apartheid because it ignores power, conflict, resistance, and  justifies social inequality, and fails to address the oppression.

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Layan - Tara

Social institutions:  Education

1. What is the manifest (=declared) purpose of the institution? What are its latent (=hidden) functions?

The education system was designed to instill the ideology of apartheid so it  teaches students the supposed superiority of the white race and the necessity of racial segregation. While it was  unequal, the system did provide some level of basic education for white students, the goal was to provide a high level of education, to ensure future dominance and  for black students, the education was designed to create a work force, It was designed to reinforce the racial hierarchy by providing vastly unequal resources and opportunities. White schools were well funded  while Black schools were overcrowded

2. How does it contribute to social cohesion or integration?

The white education system aimed to create a sense of shared identity and belonging among white South Africans and reinforcing the ideology of white supremacy. It fails to achieve true social Integration by blocking shared experiences .

3. Who is and is not included in this institution or society?

The  education system strictly included white South Africans in well funded, ideologically driven schools

while excluding Black South Africans from quality education, relegating them to underfunded, oppressive institutions

4. Is the situation just/fair? Do you think this needs to change? Can you think of similar conditions in society?

It was an unjust system because of violence and oppression, lack of political representation, and racial discrimination.

This needs to end because of human rights violations and economic inequality.

Some similar conditions are the indigenous oppression and the palestinian war

5. What do you think would happen if we only think about society as a working machine, where every attempt to bring change is treated this with oppression?

If society is only perceived as a working machine where stability is the main aim over justice, any attempt for change is going to have a negative consequence.        True stability comes from fairness and adaption to progress.

We would be face with a social unrest and resistance, people protesting and rebel when denied basic rights

International isolation due to the resistance of change

Deepening inequality and social division

6. In this light, what problem do you see with the explanations that 'Functionalism' promotes about how society works?

Functionalism views society as a stable system, however functionalism fails to explain apartheid because it ignores power, conflict, resistance, and  justifies social inequality, and fails to address the oppression.

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Q1) Christianity: providing guidance for living a moral life, connecting with God, achieving spiritual enlightenment, and fostering community (manifest)

bringing people together, providing a sense of belonging (latent)

Q2) providing a shared set of values, beliefs, and practices that bind people together within a community, fostering a sense of belonging, offering support systems through shared rituals and ceremonies, and offering a sense of unity across different social groups.

Q3) included: people who share a set of beliefs, practices, and values, and who participate in a religious community. (e.g. Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism)

not included: those who identify as atheists, agnostics, or "no religion". They do not actively practice/believe in any particular religious system.

Q4) No, it needs to change in order to remain relevant in a rapidly evolving society.

Discrimination, patriarchy, stereotypes, gender inequality.

Q5) Conflicts between the public and gov., rebellion, chaos, decline in output of products, reduction in motivation & productivity.

Q6) Overemphasis on stability and social order: even if people follow the social order, conflicts can still happen, there will be crime and dysfunction in the society.

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Women oppression in fundamentalist societies; prohibitions on education and basic  rights.

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Women oppression in fundamentalist societies; prohibitions on education and basic  rights.

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By Mark, Taif, & Arifa

What is the manifest (=declared) purpose of the institution? What are its latent (=hidden) functions?

Islamic fundamentalist  values during the 1960s are still very prevalent in the 21st century. It aims to give everyone a place to belong, to perform certain functions, in order to achieve social order with the guidance of religion/belief.

The Latent function is seen to be oppression, and control; prohibition of education, limited healthcare as well as basic human rights. for women.

How does it contribute to social cohesion or integration?

Afghan society has formed a community, due to terror, which has accepted values and norms that has now become a value consensus.

Who is and is not included in this institution or society?

Who is; Religious, family, and marriage.
Who is not; Media, Education, the judiciary, institutions, and the economic system do not exist. Limitations to healthcare for women.

Is the situation just/fair? Do you think this needs to change? Can you think of similar conditions in society?

It is not just, staying in this constant oppression can halt human progress. Islamic fundamentalist society should closely follow the values of the Quran which gives a clear message about freedom of women. In contrast, North Korean women face similar fundamentalist values; strict social and cultural control, indoctrination and propaganda (lack of education and media to suppress critical thinking in order to instill loyalty.

What do you think would happen if we only think about society as a working machine, where every attempt to bring change is treated with oppression?

Negative consequence; since dissatisfaction front the working class, in most cases, may create disharmony that will threaten the social consensus of a fundamentalist society. However, we’ve seen social consensus with the working class in the middle-east as they are often rewarded for their role in society.

Every attempt is treated with some form of oppression, negative reinforcement due to cultural beliefs, but not treated with extreme oppression. However, changes are often welcomed at a steady pace.

In this light, what problem do you see with the explanations that 'Functionalism' promotes about how society works?

Functionalism struggles to explain the oppression of Afghan women; it assumes social structures maintain stability. The justification of values with the use of religion does not create true cohesion, especially when used to force restrictions. An example of this is denying women education and freedom, which harms society rather than benefiting it; highlighting the failure of functionalism to address oppression and social dysfunction, completely contradicting functionalist ideas.