The manifest purpose is to relieve oneself of work and make someone else perform the terrible job.

The latent functions are that slavery was a productive system that was economically effective and could be used to a variety of jobs, including industrial, mine, and agricultural work. Also, slavery had the potential to generate a tremendous quantity of wealth.

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

The American economy has grown on the foundation of slavery. The early structure of the nation was constructed by enslaved people, who also produced valuable goods like cotton and tobacco. African American labour was essential in manufacturing, agriculture, and services after freedom. Slavery in American history also promote the development of world economy. 

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

At that time blacks and children of blacks and whites would be slaves except whites would not be considered part of slavery.And I think the powerful rich or educated will be free from slavery.

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

I think a lot of times slavery is going on now.  Things like forced labor, sex slavery, or human trafficking I think are slavery, so I don't think it's fair.  Even if it's unfair, it still happens now.

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 we only think about society as a working machine, where every attempt to bring change is treated with oppression, we would perpetuate inequality and injustice. Change is necessary for progress, and society should be open to new ideas and perspectives that challenge the status quo.

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

Functionalism is a sociological theory that views society as a system of interdependent parts that work together to maintain stability and order. However, functionalism tends to ignore the inequalities and power imbalances that exist within society, and it does not adequately account for social change and conflict. Therefore, the problem with functionalism is that it oversimplifies the complexities of society and fails to address the root causes of social issues such as slavery.

The main purpose of child labour is using children as a source of cheap labour, making them work without getting paid or treated the right way. The worst forms of child labour include children being separated from their families, working overtime, in dangerous for their health or even life conditions, or left out on the streets, often at a young age. Most frequently children who suffer from child labour are from poor countries or families

Child labour does not contribute to social cohesion or integration. Instead, it can have a number of negative effects. Children who are working are often unable to attend school and may not have the opportunity to interact with other children in a structured environment. This can limit their opportunities for socialisation and may impact their ability to form strong relationships with others.

In addition, child labour can perpetuate cycles of poverty, as children who are forced to work may not have the opportunity to develop the skills and education necessary to break out of poverty in the future. This can contribute to social inequalities and may make it more difficult for marginalised groups to fully integrate into society. Child labour weakens social cohesion and integration, and it is harmful to society. 

Child labour can affect both boys and girls, and children from all social and economic backgrounds can be at risk. However, certain groups may be more vulnerable to child labour, including children who are living in poverty, children who have been displaced from their homes, and children who belong to minority groups.

Child labour is work that hurts a child's physical and mental development and takes away their childhood, potential, and dignity. Child labour needs to be stopped because it often involves hazardous work conditions that can lead to injuries and also robs the children of their childhood, forcing them to grow up too fast.

By viewing society as a working machine, we will never be able to overcome the morally incorrect ways society mistreats children by making them work and do manual labour because that's what they will always be seen as- a working machine. Furthermore, by viewing society (the children of society in this case) as a working machine we aid in helping the capitalist society to continue to oppress and abuse the lower working class. This is because capitalism is founded on the exploitation of the working class and since it is founded on massive inequality between classes, it thrives on oppression and keeping the protests of the working class and the poor silenced to stifle creativity and innovation. If every attempt for change is met with oppression, people may be less likely to try to come up with new ideas or solutions to problems which keeps society segregated- the poor from the middle class from the rich. 

One of the main criticisms of Functionalism is that it over emphasises ‘stability’ and disregards the fact that society can act according to their own needs. Child labour is cost-effective which is the main reason why it exists but it oppresses a particular group in society (the poor) which does not contribute to social order. Therefore, the functionalist approach to society simply does not work. In relation to value consensus, functionalists argue that there needs to be some form of social integration however, with child labour there is no social integration and in fact causes a separation within society. 

 The manifest purpose of the suffragette movement was to secure voting rights for women. Its latent functions included challenging gender norms and promoting women's equality in various aspects of life.  

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

The suffragette movement played a crucial role in promoting social cohesion and integration by challenging the existing patriarchal norms and promoting women's rights. It brought together women from different backgrounds and provided a platform for them to voice their opinions and fight for their rights.  

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

The suffragette movement included women who were fighting for their voting rights. Women in the UK from all social classes, races, and backgrounds who were influenced by this issue joined this movement. Whereas, men and some women who did not concur with movement did not contribute to its change.   

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

It is evident that the suffragette situation was unfair, as women were deprived of their right to vote, making their voices unheard in political situations. This needed to change as all citizens were influenced by the final decision in this political matter, making it reasonable for citizens who are mentally capable of voting to do so. Similar conditions still exist in society, where certain groups are denied their rights, and their voices are not heard. Such conditions need to be addressed and changed in order to maintain a stable and integrated 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?  

If society is thought to be a working machine, where every attempt to bring change is treated with oppression, we would end up with an oppressive society that does not value individual rights and freedoms. Consequentially, there will be more conflict and resistance as people will constantly fight for their rights, which would result in chaos and corruption. 

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

Functionalism is a theory that perceives a society as people who work together to maintain social order and integration. However, the imbalances and inequalities are not considered. It speculates that a society is fair and stable, and any attempt to go against or change the system is considered to be threat. Therefore, people are unable to voice their opinions or fight for their rights due to any inequalities, stripping them of their freedom. 

The reason why america still allows the use of guns have some reasons:

The reason is about the Constitution of the United States, it indicated that “being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.” So it is quite hard to change the law. Due to America immigrating from Europe in the 17th century and the American Revolution War all rely on guns. (https://constitution.congress.gov/constitution/amendment-2/)

It makes American citizens have the ability to self defence at home which means that everyone from different races could have the same power to avoid persecution, so it contributes to social cohesion and integration by increasing citizens’ sense of security.

Most American citizens above 21 years old are included in the gun rights to bring guns at most places. And former criminals, minors, drug addicts and persons with mental illness are excluded from gun rights.

a.It’s unfair. I think it needs to change. Because there have been more and more gun homocides in the United States. The United States also has the highest homicide-by-firearm rate of the world’s most-developed nations. (Jonathan, 2022) https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/us-gun-policy-global-comparisons?gclid=CjwKCAiAl9efB

b.From the perspective  of government, they should be set up law enforcement, and people under the age of 18 can not own guns, If someone be prisond for gun crimes, they can not buy guns again. From the perspective of society, they should give oppotunities to people who correct their mistakes instead of discriminating against them. From the perspective of family, they should strengthen family education, and communicate more with their child.

c.Kill with a knife.

It would cause the society to strongly resist the oppression and then lead to falling apart of the working machine. As lack of gun control in America, oppression would lead to violence and crimes.

Thorugh a structural functionalist perspective, there would be some negative effects by overcontrolling guns.  The maintenance might deteriorate in terms of social stability. In addition, holding guns could be a method of ensuring protection, or guns are able to hinder stability and order by causing violence in a sense.

Based on the idea of structural functionalism, the social facts surrounding child labour may be interpreted as an established social reality (institutionalised) connected to the presence of social structures and institutions around it. The change of a family institution's function as a child care institution into an economic institution has an influence on the rise of child labour. In this situation, the child is a social structure element who serves as the family's provider in order to meet the family's economic demands. As a result, functional child labour is for the family. With the employment of underage children, the existence of child labour is also functional for enterprises. Entrepreneurs gain since the income paid is low. Working is not only functional for the child in terms of meeting basic necessities (pocket money, clothes, and amusement expenditures), but it is also dysfunctional in that the child will lose time to learn, play, and socialise with family members. If a child is exploited at employment, it can have a negative influence on his physical and emotional health. (Soepeno & Suyadi, 2017) 

It can be concluded that the existence of child labour has a manifest function for the social system. The latency function refers to the ineffectiveness of regulation as a tool for overseeing the problem of child labour, as well as the rejection of regulation by the social system. 

Thinking about society as a working machine may lead to oppression, and oppression would cause violent resistance or crimes. Because society is driven by people, not components, and people have their own mind and emotion, which can’t be predicted or controlled easily.

As for the lack of gun control in America, every American citizen has the ability to bring guns for self defence. But oppression may change people’s mind and ability into aggressive damage to others. There are 120 Americans killed by guns every day (Everytown, 2023). 

In conclusion, we have to realise the importance of people in society, and think about humanistic care as an essential part of social cohesion. It’s not reasonable to use functionalist theory to think about all the social problems.

Conflict theorists such as Marxists and Feminists point out that Functionalists have a rose tinted view of society as they focus too much on the positive functions that institutions perform, ignoring the negative ways in which institutions and socialisation can have on certain people. This is especially the case when we look at child labour in relation to functionalism. 

Although child labour has been the norm throughout history, the fact of children working and the difficult conditions under which children work on a regular basis has become more evident through recent years as society has attempted to understand the extent of the detrimental causes and negative consequences of child labour. 

For example, the functionalist view is greatly based on the idea that in society, the stabilisation of adult personalities is a major family function. However, there has been new research and statistics that have proven that the family is changing and that there are less and less nuclear families which was the family structure that the functionalist views were based on. This is because less men go out and work, instead they stay at home while the other members of the family do the ‘bread-winning’. 

In conclusion, it can be said that the view that order and stability are created and maintained by how societies are organised through families and other social constructs could be refuted and said to be outdated as we face new issues such as child labour.

This organization strives for women's deserved social status by challenging the gender inequality in today's society. To a large extent, it has promoted social cohesion and fairness, which means that women can integrate into society in a more suitable environment, thus protecting their own interests. On the contrary, due to the disunity of social values. This organization offends the interests of many other people, so it is against human analysis and may lead to social instability.

Child labour is not contributing to our society in any ways possible. Firstly it is because when working children can’t attend school. School is one of the most important institutions and that eventually provides the feeling of belonging and solidarity for the people (Durkheim, 1912). It gives us not only the knowledge and ability to study, but also the opportunity to communicate with our peers, people older and younger, etc. and, most importantly, school gives us the understanding of some social norms and values, which are crucial to know but are never actually tought. By not having that opportunity, children who are in the child labour are lacking communication and, because of that, they don’t have the elementary understanding of social norms and obligations that make our society work and they might most probably feel left out not only of the social part of the life, but of the educational one as well.

Secondly, child labour is a violation of the basic human rights.

 

In relation to value consensus, Functionalism argues that social integration is necessary for society to establish social order, however people can act according to their own needs which results to the existence of child labour as the majority of society prioritise their own needs of production instead of the health and working conditions of children. This achieves the opposite of social order and instead causes segregation between those of higher incomes and those of younger incomes. 

 

However, the functionalist approach does work as the analogy used by Durkheim and Spencer of the human body to argue that just like how organs must function properly for the body to function, so does different parts of society does work with child labour as it is a result of the ignorance of society on this serious issue. Child labour is also an interdependent and can effect different parts of society and society as a whole.