Functionalist Theory: Critical Analysis
A very basic and inadequate description of Functionalist Theory is that it is a social/anthropological theory that people within a society generally agree on what is worthwhile/good, and that this agreement or value forms the basis of cooperation, stability and order within that society. These values are stratified or ranked in society and allow the evaluation and ranking of individuals within society: people who are successful in terms of those values receive a high ranking and be rewarded; people who are less successful in terms of those values receive a low ranking and are not rewarded. (Sociology Guide.com, 2011).
Comparison of Three Theorists in the Functionalist Category: John Dewey, Talcott Parsons and Robert K. Merton
John Dewey (1859 -- 1952) was a philosopher and psychologist who was also one of the founders of the Functionalist Theory within his field of Psychology. Intent on advocating democracy, Dewey concentrated on society and educational reform in his works. Some scholars describe Dewey as a "genetic psychologist" who believed in both "child-centered" and "discipline-centered" theories of education (Fallace, 2010, p. 129). Dewey believed that children and adolescents learn by inductive and deductive reasoning, while adults "construct new knowledge" by social constructivism, and children cannot be expected to learn as adults learn (Fallace, 2010, p. 130). Accordingly, Dewey and the theorists who followed him espoused certain stages of learning according to stages of consciousness "within the biological and social inheritance of the race" (Fallace,...
Using an example of engineers vs. unskilled laborers at a factory, Tumin asserts that while the unskilled laborers might appear more dispensable, over time their functions are just as vital to the operation of the factory, reducing Davis and Moore's claim to a fantasy world removed from the realities of forward-moving time (Tumin, 1953). The main problem with such a justification, however, is that functional importance is determined by
Attribution Theory Covered in the Readings Human beings are naturally an inquisitive set of species; they are always wondering how and why things occur. For this reason, they create sciences, philosophies and religions as approaches of answering their questions. For decades, this curiosity has influenced their personal, interpersonal, cultural and societal lives in intricate ways. Much of this is observed in our daily lives through our conversations and mindset interactions
However, in the most recent theory of evolution which discusses the living world appears as the result of chance and an output of different randomly selected natural mills. This kind of development came to present as a result of the need of more subjects or topics in areas such as cybernetic, general system theory, information theory, theories of games which is needed in most decision making process in line
Teachers will continue to lead the educational process, but they need to be very sensitive about the issues facing the society as a whole and the children as individuals in this society. Then, education becomes a means of identifying the issues in the life of the students and gaining knowledge and understanding about them. Education in this global society also has to acknowledge that cultural diversity is valued and
Social and Political History How do the functionalist and conflict theories relate to the conceptualizations of government and sovereignty presented by Heywood? How much is enough government? What level of government do we need to get our collective business done? How much sovereignty is appropriate for the American government to have, particularly in view of terrorist threats in the post 9/11 environment? When does government and sovereignty interfere with the full
Talcott Parsons' analysis U.S. sex roles 1940s essay, "Sex Roles Amer Parsons' essay "Sex Roles in the American Kinship Theory," analyzes the American social structure of the 1940's from several different perspectives. Specifically, the author examines societal structure from a familial or "kinship" (Parsons 1943:300) perspective, an occupational perspective and, finally from a perspective between the two sexes. The primary focus of his argument is that the unit of the
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