Functionalism see society as a complex system, similar to the human body with a variety of interconnected organs, where every independent part have it own role, but all work together to maintain the common goal, such as social stability and order. 

Social institutions, for instance government, religion, family play the role of these different organs in our society. Every social institution is aerated by human being and provide every individual with basic needs. 

Theory argues that behaviour of individuals within society is structured by the rules, to navigate how individuals should behave on the society to contribute on the creation of social stability. 

One of the key criticisms of functionalism theory is social cohesion, which provides human-beings with a sense of belonging to the society and opportunity to feel the same emotions and have the experiences as the others in the society. 

Theory, also, discuss that social inequality is necessary in the society, as it gives the motivation to work harder to have more privileges. Functionalism argues tat every individual have a role in the society depending on their ability.

The functionalism approach was first developed by the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, who wrote towards the end of the 19th century, and was inspired by American sociology from about the 1930s through the 1960s.

Functionalism has received harsh criticism from many schools of thought, but American sociologists began to update it in the 1970s. Functionalist theories primarily contend that social occurrences and problems serve society in some way, as opposed to being symptoms of a societal ill.

Functionalism is a structural theory that contends that social institutions and societal structure have an impact on how society functions and how people behave. 

 

The "grand" theory of sociology developed by Talcott Parsons built on Durkheim's notion of society serving as a moral policeman to account for all human conduct in relation to institutions.

Functionalism originated in British anthropology. In particular, the Polish-British anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski (1943) proposed functional analysis as a solution for sociologists to interpret social situations through intuition rather than observation.

functionalist theory can be praised for providing explanations as to how and why people in a society feel compelled to follow greater social norms and how institutions aid in the creation of societal structures and normalized behaviors. 

On the other hand, there are criticisms that can be made about functionalism. Functionalism fails to consider individual agency and the independence of people in a society. Due to the fact that functionalism also assumes that every individual is fulfilling a function essential to society by existing in the way that they do, it overlooks societal injustices such as racism or sexism in society. 

Secondly, stability and value consensus cannot keep society together, even make the society be pieces, which is not the same as functionalists think. Actually, the absence of value consensus makes society more stable. 

Thirdly, functionalism theory sees humans as products of society. It ignores human’s creativity and personal value.

Lastly, functionalism theory offers that different levels of people have a different type of work, it is easy to make inequalities. It is different to Marxism, functionalism theory offered different level(education level) of people have different type of work, it can make the capitalism control material production more than before. It is difficult for people to change their class, increase their income and have a better life for themselves. Marxism is a part of conflict theory, the main idea of Marxism is the inequalities in different classes. One side like capitalism controls the material production and has the most wealthy of society. Other sides like workers are producing the production but cannot get enough material(economic) for their work. But it is not aware of functionalism theory.

Objectors to functionalism generally charge that it classifies too many things as having mental states, or at least more states than psychologists usually accept. The effectiveness of the arguments for and against functionalism depends in part on the particular variety in question, and whether it is a stronger or weaker version of the theory. This article explains the core ideas behind functionalism and surveys the primary arguments for and against functionalism.

In one version or another, functionalism remains the most widely accepted theory of the nature of mental states among contemporary theorists. Nevertheless, in view of the difficulties of working out the details of functionalist theories, some philosophers have been inclined to offer supervenience theories of mental states as alternatives to functionalism.

Functionalism emphasis the cohesion but it is also a double-side sword because there are two effects, manifest and latent, for example when we set out joining a religion group we hope can find the dependent of belief and the group also hope give the support to our confident and belief, this is manifest effect but as the time goes by, the religion group maybe start forcing people to do something and brainwash them to do something that is harmful to society or the individuals are too depend on religion to live be themselves so they may get into trouble again, this is latent effect. When the latent effect happens, the religion loses the positive effect that as a part of society to make it work like a whole and now the functionalism loses the effect because this theory emphasis society like a human body and each social institutes like organs, they must work well together the body can work well. There is the negative because functionalism only highlight the prefect cohesion in society but ignore it is impossible to work well, so when latent effect happen the functionalism cannot stand well.

There are some key concepts of functionalism. Functionalism assume that value consensus can set good norms in minds. With the guidance, different social parts will be integrated. Social order is a key element of the concepts. It argues that a certain amount of stability is need for social systems to run. Social institutions including family, education, economy and government is a persistent structure. It help organise society by running together. Social cohesion is a way to keep all the members have a sense of being in society, organising by same attitudes and beliefs. From the scenario, we can see dysfunction plays a bad role in society, which means that society can't maintain stable and healthy and there is something wrong with social order and structure. Anomie shows that society can't work with a weak and broken values and norms.

Key criticisms also play important roles in the concepts of functionalism. First, it's not a good way to overemphasis stability, which will ignore individual needs of interests. From this perspectives, overemphasising stability will lead society to work on a extreme way. Second, functionalism has a

deterministic view of human action. It argues that human should make actions according to the social needs instead of individual preference. Third,there are some problems of value consensus and social order. As consensus is a definition given by people, and it does not have influence on social order while producing the negative effects.

Above all, functionalism have advantages and shortcomings. We should keep a balance between them and get benefits from it.

 

Functionalism has been criticized for oversimplifying social complexity and only emphasizing social stability while ignoring social inequity. Conflict theory is one of the major challenges to functionalism. Conflict theory holds that society consists of conflicts between different interest groups or classes, and that there are irreconcilable contradictions between these components. As in capitalist societies, there is a conflict of interest between the capitalist class and the working class. The capitalist class owns the means of production, while the working class cannot get the corresponding return for their labor.

Dealing with society as a whole, the functionalist explanation of crime a limited amount of crime is inevitable and even necessary. Crime has positive functions. A certain amount of crime contributes to the well-being of a society. On the other hand, too much crime is bad for society and can help bring about its collapse, hence, institutions of social control are necessary to keep the amount of crime in check. 

However, the functionalist theory fails to highlight the injustices in society. Society is not homogeneous. According to feminists, society is patriarchal, so it favours men as compared to women. According to Talcot Parsons, in the family, women act as a ‘warm bath.’ This means that women take the submissive role while men take the breadwinner role; women act as a scapegoat for men as the husband uses his wife to release stress from work or life. Therefore, this highlights how women are scapegoated in the family. Functionalists may argue that this serves a functional role in creating stability, but this can prove to be unfair for women.

Moreover, functionalists claim that social stratification is useful because it assigns people to roles according to their strengths and functional significance. Marxists believe that social stratification is built on an inequity system that is detrimental to the working class because of economic exploitation and the fight between both the ruling class and the working class.

 

Another criticism of Functionalism is in regard to value consensus, which are the agreed upon shared social values within society which help to unite society. The problem is that Functionalism never provides evidence of value consensus’ existence, rather it is an assumption the theory is reliant on. 

 

Functionalism utilises ideas such as stratification, a natural division of labour within society, to make inequality a desirable trait within society as the usage of skill is based on hierarchy. This hierarchal nature allows for certain groups that possess a more dominant position within society to structure society in their favour, and they can do this through ideals such as social order. Functionalism allows for this abuse of power and resulting exploitation of the powerless to be ignored. 

 

Additionally, Functionalism gets criticised for using words like 'stability' that hide injustice in society. This is because by making stability of the society the goal, the theory provides an incentive for people to conform regardless of how unjust their situation is.

 

According to functionalism, institutions support social integration and cohesiveness by carrying out essential tasks that support social stability and order. For instance, whereas economies provide work and revenue, families offer emotional support and socialisation.

Functionalism frequently ignores the experiences and viewpoints of marginalised groups in favour of concentrating on the dominant or mainstream groups in society. For instance, it can ignore the ways that social structures like the family or the economy might support racial or gender inequality.

Fairness and justice concepts are arbitrary and subject to individual ideals and convictions. But the functionalist emphasis on stability and order can contribute to the persistence of unfair social conditions like racism, misogyny, and poverty. This is seen in functionalist views of institutions that may minimise the influence of conflict and power on society's development.

Any attempt to alter society may be perceived as weakening its ability to function as a well-oiled machine. This can result in the repression of dissent and upkeep of the status quo, even though it is unfair or detrimental to some social groups.

Functionalist theories of society's operation are frequently oversimplified and fail to take into account how complicated social life is. It disregards the ways in which some social groups could be harmed by institutions because it thinks that they always serve a beneficial purpose. Additionally, it minimises the influence of conflict and power in forming social ties, which tends to normalise current social hierarchies. Functionalism may not be sufficient to comprehend social development and alleviate structural inequity as a result.

Symbolic interaction will attempt to look at why and how these gender stereotypes were formed within society as opposed to how conflict theory would explain this interaction as a power struggle between males and females in society.

Symbolic interaction theorizes that displays of gender identity is a socially reinforced behaviour and that people are subconsciously made to believe certain attributes about gender through their parents and mass media. The teacher is subconsciously applying the gender roles that she has internalised through her upbringing onto her students due to the societal 'expectations' of boys and girls and their different roles in our society. Due to that, the teacher is handing the girls toys related to more domestic skills, for example cooking, and handing the boys toys that are more likely to help them develop real life skills. For example, puzzles improve children's intelligence and help them develop problem solving skills that be applied in their future.

On the other side, symbolic interaction theory sees this condition as tied to meaning and symbols tied to various toys and activities. The symbolic interaction theory asserts that people understand and produce meaning through their interactions with others and environmental objects.

In this situation, gendered meanings and symbols associated with certain toys and activities may have an impact on educators. Although puzzles and toys for spatial development may be related to masculinity and problem-solving, dolls and cooking games may be associated with femininity and parenting. Due to its perceived significance and symbolism, this may result in teachers giving these items to the appropriate genders.

In conclusion, due to globalisation individuals have larger choice in in society and more freedom therefore they do not have to have to conform to social norms.

considered as the one associated with housework. When the teacher made the decision to choose different types of toys to different genders, boys were encouraged to develop skills in scientific learning while girls just learn how to do the housework.

 Symbolic interactionism is a micro-level theory that focuses on meanings attached to human interaction, both verbal and non-verbal, and to symbols. In the material, teacher offered boy with puzzles and spatial developmental toys to boys and offered girls with dolls and cooking games. From a symbolic interactionism perspective, the teacher’s action depends on the symbol of gender. In people traditional consciousness about gender, boys as considered to be the one who do well in logic and science and girls likely to play dolls and cook. It is the symbol of gender. In general idea, man as considered to make a living to support family and women need to do housework to run the household better. The teacher chose different toys to meet needs of the kids of different genders, depending on the gender roles.However, the teacher ignored what the kids really want.

According to Durkheim, society is an organism with various elements working together to maintain the orderly and efficient functioning of society and its evolution. 

Because he believed that society is made up of structures that work together, Durkheim is sometimes referred to as a structural functionalist by scholars. In this perspective, he distinguished between structure and function.

Although Durkheim believed that individuals made up society, he did not view society as simply the culmination of all of the behaviours, activities, and thoughts of its members. Instead, Durkheim claimed that society has its own structure separate from the people that make up it.

Durkheim also believed that social structures and conventions as well as social facts, shared attitudes, and social currents might influence, restrain, and even coerce those within them (Lukes, 2015). 

Durkheim was particularly interested in the topic of social order and issues like how contemporary societies can remain cohesive in light of the fact that they are made up of a large number of individuals who each act independently and with distinct, independent, and distinctive interests. 

Ultimately, Durkheim concentrated on issues involving balancing morality and freedom (Adams & Sydie, 2001). The Division of Labor in Society, Durkheim's debut book, clarified the problem of the conflict between morality and freedom.

In functionalist theory, the different parts of society are primarily composed of social institutions, each designed to fill different needs. Family, government, economy, media, education, and religion are important to understanding this theory and the core institutions that define sociology. According to functionalism, an institution only exists because it serves a vital role in the functioning of society. If it no longer serves a role, an institution will die away. When new needs evolve or emerge, new institutions will be created to meet them. 
In many societies, the government provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes the state depends on to keep running. The family relies on the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so they can raise and support their own families. In the process, the children become law-abiding, taxpaying citizens who support the state. From the functionalist perspective, if all goes well, the parts of society produce order, stability, and productivity. If all does not go well, the parts of society must adapt to produce new forms of order, stability, and productivity.

Functionalism emphasizes the consensus and order that exist in society, focusing on social stability and shared public values. From this perspective, disorganization in the system, such as deviant behavior, leads to change because societal components must adjust to achieve stability. When one part of the system is dysfunctional, it affects all other parts and creates social problems, prompting social change.

In many societies, the government provides education for the children of the family, which in turn pays taxes the state depends on to keep running. The family relies on the school to help children grow up to have good jobs so they can raise and support their own families. In the process, the children become law-abiding, taxpaying citizens who support the state. From the functionalist perspective, if all goes well, the parts of society produce order, stability, and productivity. If all does not go well, the parts of society must adapt to produce new forms of order, stability, and productivity.

Functionalism emphasizes the consensus and order that exist in society, focusing on social stability and shared public values. From this perspective, disorganization in the system, such as deviant behavior, leads to change because societal components must adjust to achieve stability. When one part of the system is dysfunctional, it affects all other parts and creates social problems, prompting social change.

The theory of symbolic interaction emphasizes the importance of symbols in social interaction. It holds that society is constructed by the communication and understanding of symbols, and meaning and symbols promote human interaction. In the view of symbolic interaction theory, the behaviour of providing different toys for boys and girls provides a representative "symbol" for the communication and interaction between people. Different toys and games are assigned different gender definitions.  “Puzzles and spatial developmental toys to boys, and dolls and cooking games to girls”, people regard these as symbols and use these symbols to distinguish, understand and define gender.  

And from the conflict theory, gender is different groups in the social structure, and there are inevitable conflicts of interest between them. Treating men and women differently from early childhood will artificially give them stereotyped ideas and cognition. This stereotype serves the dominant group, creating an unequal distribution of power and resources in society.

For this scenario, one of conflict theories - feminism is very relevant. Feminism concentrates on gender inequality and domination, where men occupy more positions of power and other privileges. And male’s occupation of sources and privileges are the reason for interest conflicts in society. In this case, boys are given puzzles while girls are given dolls and cooking. Feminism will explain that different choices for boys and girls reflects that the education system thinks that males will do technical work in society while females will focus more on domestic work in the future. And because of this kind of socialization, the education system teaches boys and girls in a different way at first. As a result, women will be hard to achieve independence, and men will have more high paid work and think they are naturally own the privileges. The actions of this teacher will strengthen the gender inequality in society.

For the perspective of symbolic interactionism, it will see the puzzles , toys, dolls and cooking games as symbols which represent something else. In this case, these toys and dolls are gendered, they represent different gender roles. The puzzles and toys are more complex and need logical skills.

The symbolic interaction may highlight the stereotype because the most people will choose dolls give girls and choose car’s toys to boys. This seem that girls and boys are labeled by society, pink belongs to girls and blue belongs to boys. This situation due to people’s subconscious. People ignore the willing of children and decide the choose from their willing. The society ignore the meaning is not static it can change that boys can play dolls and it will not make them unhealth or something and girls can play puzzles and it is not affect them if can become a wife or good citizens. 

 

Conflict Theories believe that society is built on the basis of the inequality of resource distribution resulting in conflict between the group in possession of valued resources and the group who aims to increase their allocated resources. Conflict Theorists believe that society’s structural power is reliant on the maintenance of inequality and the opposing interests of social groups is the reason for continuous conflict within society.

 

A relevant Conflict Theory within this scenario is Feminism, as it is focused on ideas of gender inequality and how men tend to occupy positions of power and dominance, as well as other privileges that may come as a result. Feminists would argue that the teacher is promoting an unequal division of valuable resources, as the boys are given puzzles and spatial development toys which will aid the development their cognitive abilities; whereas the girls were given dolls and cooking games that would simply promote an interest in domestic activities. Feminists would state that the teacher’s actions were subconsciously replicating the gender norms of society that would place men in a superior position to their female counterparts. In this case, the boys in the class would have an added advantage to their learning abilities. 

 

On the other hand, Symbolic Interactionism believes that individuals and societies are created by social interactions. Symbolic Interactionists believe people’s actions are the response to the personal significance of specific objects.