Structural Functionalism

Talcott Parsons and

the structure-agency
debate
Talcott Parsons (1902–1979)

 US sociologist who attempted to integrate all the social sciences

into a science of human action.
 Parson’s ‘voluntaristic theory’ of social action
 Social agency is not reducible to arbitrary actions or total free will,
but is …
 framed within the patterned structure of relationships which are
reproduced in…
 social order and norms
 Thus, Parsons has a notion of individual agency but this is NOT
reducible to biological or psychological factors but involves
 A synthesis between individual actions and social systems
Structural Functionalism (SF)

 Parsons a structural functionalist.

 Functionalism originally attempted to explain social
institutions as collective means to fulfil social needs,
especially social solidarity
 social institutions are functionally integrated to form a
stable system
 SF develops from this to hold that society consists of
various institutions, e.g. police, hospitals, schools, etc.,
each of which has its own function.
Parson’s contribution to SF
 Parsons argued that the crucial feature of societies is homeostasis
(maintaining a stable state) ("The Social System" 1951).
 He believed in the interconnectedness of different elements of
society
 This supported individual integration into social structures.
 His great achievement was to construct a system or general
theory of social action to include all its aspects, drawing on
several disciplines and reinterpreting previous theories ("The
Structure of Social Action" 1937).
 Structural determinist I.e. emphasis the power of the social system
to shape the behaviour of individuals.
How did Parsons see the Structure-
Agency problem?
 Voluntaristic theory of action acknowledged an individual's capacity to 'act
on the basis of their own decisions, desires and choices and not on the
requirements enforced by the brute workings of an economic system that
thrived on the inequalities of wealth and power' (Layder, 1994: 15).
(contra Marxism)
 The successful functioning of society required altruism, or collectivism, as
opposed to the notion of instrumental rational action. (contra individualism)
 opposed to positivist social science (biological determinism) as this
overlooks the purposeful character of human action
 Q: ‘How can society persist given that each of its members pursues his or
her own goals?’ (Parsons, 1951 89-94).
 A: ‘people are both goal-oriented and constrained' (Baert, 1998: 48).
Social order and norms
 'Order', he argued, was the result of the influence of certain values
in society rather than in structure such as the economic system
(capitalism).
 counter to Weber, who noted the experiences of alienation and
anomie in modern, industrial societies.
 Closer to Durkheim, who suggested that societies are reflections
of the 'collective consciousness', in which people internalise the
shared norms and standards of society.
 Link between 'values' and 'norms' he argued ,was to be found in
the fact that the core values of individuals and groups found
expression in norms.
 'Order' thus amounts to a reflection of the general values of a
society
Social order and norms (2)

 “ the problem of order, and thus of the nature of

stable systems of social interaction that is, of social
structure, thus focuses on the integration of the
motivation of the actors with the normative cultural
standards which integrate the action system, in our
context, interpersonally” (Parsons, 1951: 36-7).
 Order = successful integration of individuals +
normative standards + uphold social structures
 Q: Is Parsons making any assumptions here?
How do these processes of
integration take place?

 four levels at which the individual is socialised into

society.
 Each level represents a separate category with its own
dynamics
 but TOGETHER they underpin the social system.
Integration 1 – Physiological

System of Level Aspects of Experience

Physiological system Role of the body in social
The basic ‘organic’ level of reproduction: the human
social interaction body is a precondition for
the development of
individual psychology.
Body is container of
different drives (essentialist)
Integration 2 – Personality system

System or level Aspect of experience

Personality system Individual psychology +
individual's biographical engaging with social
blueprint of the attitudes, structures at the level of our
beliefs desires, drives, unconscious
derived from early reflexes and inhibitions. Very
socialisation influenced by Freud.
Concerned with
internalisation of values.
Integration 3 –social system

System or level Aspect of Experience

The social system as an entity The family is the primary agent of
('structure') socialisation
The social system as processes We derive status and roles from
(how social interactions are position in family.
shaped by, and in turn, shape, The functions of the family mirror
social structures). those of society
Function of the family: the
primary socialisation of children
and the stabilisation of adult
personalities
Integration – social system (2)
 Parsons on social systems “Social systems emerge from
interactions which are repeated over time and which produce
durable expectations about the behaviour of those involvedm, In a
fully developed social system such as modern societym these
expectations become ‘institutionalised’. That im they become part
ocf the accepted fabric of soceity which people have to take into
acount when formulating their behaviour” (Layder, 1994: 17).

 Parsons on individual units of society such as the family: “It is

because the human personality is not "born" but must be "made"
through the socialisation process that in the first instance families
are necessary. They are factories which produce human
personalities” (Parsons, 1955: 16)
Integration 4 – Cultural System

System or Level Aspect of Experience

The cultural system - human Education a bridge between the
interaction over time creates a Family and wider society
store of knowledge & tradition Preparing us for our adult roles in
society.
The cultural system contains
the core values and beliefs of a Education is the main secondary
agent of socialisation.
given society, and enables these
values to be passed down. In advanced industrial society we are
judged in terms of achieved status
ls how a society reproduces
and universalistic values
itself culturally.
Integration 4 – Cultural System (2)

 Schools are examples of the meritocratic principles of

society
 This means that everyone is treated in the same way
and that everyone has the same chances to succeed.
 Therefore those that achieve the most in school do so
on merit.
 Talent will naturally rise to the top: Ability + Effort =
Merit.
 Schools ensure that the best people will perform the
most important jobs - and this will benefit society as a
whole.
Universalistic values
 a) The value of achievement by rewarding those who
achieve through exam success.
 b) The value of equality of opportunity by offering
everyone an equal chance to succeed.
 c) role allocation by testing and evaluating students,
schools match the students' talents and capacities to
the jobs they are best suited for.
 Does your school or college actually do this in practise?
Does this happen in the world of work - the economy?
Structural Functionalism 2

Talcott Parsons
Roles and Norms
 P interested in the external forces that shaped individual
motivations and interests
 individuals adapted their choices they made (roles) to the 'norms'
of society
 There is a correspondence between the roles taken by individuals
in society and the prevailing norms of a society
 Meritocracy was a successful way of allocating roles in ways that
ensured the ultimate wellbeing or stability of the social system.
 Social stratification, he suggested was an outcome of the role
allocation which created the "differential ranking of human individuals who
compose a given social system and their treatment as superior or inferior
relative to one another in certain socially important respects" (Parsons,
Analytical Approach to Social Stratification, 69)
Fundamental Axes of Stratification:
 Ascription vs. Achievement - Ascribed Status and Achieved
status
 Moral Evaluation defined by:
1. Membership in kinship unit (by birth, marriage)
2. Personal qualities (sex, age, personal beauty, intelligence strength)
3. Achievements (result of individual's actions)
4. Possessions (material & non-material things belonging to an
individual and transferable)
5. Authority ("institutionally recognized right to influence actions of
others", p. 76; resides in position or office)
6. Power (ability to influence others and secure possessions)
Stratification (class or status
differences)
 "the class status of an individual is that rank in the system of stratification
which can be ascribed to him (sic) by virtue of those of his (sic) kinship
ties which bind him to a unit in the class structure" (Parsons Analytical
Approach to Social Stratification, 77-8)
 Stratification (in USA):
 Occupation: universalistic criteria; achieved status; not determined at birth;
equality of opportunity
 Kinship: ascribed status determined at birth
 Contradictions women not allowed to compete on an equal footing for the
jobs of men otherwise, this would threaten the stability of the family, and
hence of society.
Stratification and gender roles
 Separation of sex roles to prevent competition:
 Exclusion of Women's Independent Status
 "The separation of the sex roles in our society is such as, for the
most part, to remove women from the kind of occupational status
which is important for the determination of the status of a family"
(Parson, 80)
 Instrumental Roles = men = outside family; occupational world;
adaptation of society
 Expressive Roles = women = inside family; tension management in
family; socialization of children
 Q: In the light of this account, is stratification and the social
organisation of gender roles a social fact? Or a social construct?
Pattern variables & the social system

 P retained an idea of ‘voluntarism', i.e. that we

exercise some degree of freedom or agency in taking
different courses of action.
 He also argued that individuals confronted a range of
options or choices (PVs)
 refer to the concrete opportunities in which we make
decision which reflect general social parameters of
social behaviour.
 While we have freedom to make choices, the choices
and decisions we do make are generally shaped by
existing social values and conventions.
Pattern Variables –influences on our
choices/agency

 Particularism vs universalism. In some contexts we related to people

according to the rules or standards that we apply generally (universalism),
in other cases we apply qualifications or exceptions so that we favour or
discriminate against them (particularism).
 Performance vs quality; related to the scenario above, whereby we alter
our attitudes or treatment of others according to who they are rather than
what they might achieve (e.g Black boys in the education system)
 Affective neutrality vs affectivity: refers to the degree of investment we
have in engaging with different groups. We distinguish between certain
intimate or open relations (affectivity) vs more 'business-like' or
transactional relations (aff. Neutrality).
 Specificity vs neutrality: some interactions are very basic/instrumental or
transactive (i.e. buying an item/booking a hotel room), others are more
complex and involve different layers of common interests, so diffuse
(relationship with partner).
Social system in fulfilling the
functional needs of society
 A successful society must meet the needs of its members in order
to reproduce itself
 Through meeting these needs societies establish an equilibrium
 Allocation of resources - material, human, cultural (money and
distribution systems).
 Defining and sustaining the pursuit of certain fundamental goals
(political and decision-making or executive systems)
 Maintaining solidarity (the management of conflict.
 Sustaining the motivations of its actors (socialisation, reproduction
of values and norms).
Adaptation/ Goal Attainment/
Integretion/ Latency
 Parsons - the relationship between people and society is a mutual
one because certain human responses or adaptations are
required in order to ensure that the four 'needs' of the system are
met. These are:
 Adaptation - both agents and structures need to relate
appropriately or adapt to the environment and resources available
 Goal attainment - the decision-making or political systems and
structures must appropriately motivate social actors
 Integration - appropriate structures and mechanisms must be
constructed in order to maintain order
 Latency – the maintenance of the cultural and socialising
structures and mechanisms.
Critiques of Parsonianism

 Cold War ideological and political concern

 propagates the superiority of capitalism and western
liberal democracy.
 Universalistic - assumes a normative model of human
relations, uniform cultural and social values
 Individual vs society - little or no sense of mediating
group structures such as classes, regional or national
or ethnic categories
 Mechanistic view of socialisation (4 levels)
Critiques of Parsonianism (2)
 Assumes normative values - no sense of resistance to
'mainstream' values, or of difference or dissent, or of
the marginalisation or suppression
 Insufficient attention paid to social conflict.
 No sense of power; assumes that all actors have equal
access to social goods and services
 As with any other sociological theorist, he cannot
establish a precise correspondence between action
theory (agency) and system theory (structure), so the
dilemma persists.
 Merton’s Functional theory
 Robert Merton

 A student of Parsons

 But critical of some elements

 Tried to bring Marx back in

 Opposed to grand theory

 Theory of the Middle Range

 Criticisms

 opposed functional unity.

 Need not be functional for all parts of society

 opposed universal functionalism.

 Not all elements of a society are functional

 opposed indispensability.
 Different societies have different functions.

 Structures work differently in different settings

 Merton’s theory
 focus on groups, organizations, societies, and culture
 standard patterns of behavior and society

 functions
 observed consequences that make for adaptation or
adjustment of a system.

 dysfunctions—negative consequences

 nonfunctional—none of the above

 levels of analysis—functional for one and not for another

 manifest—planned functions

 latent functions—unplanned unanticipated consequences

 Merton and anomie

 A good example of middle range theory

 A theory of deviance

 We agree on the values—the American dream

 We don’t all have access to the means—structural

barriers

 We create new means—deviance

 Davis and Moore

 The functional theory of stratification

 What is the function of inequality?

 It gets people into positions that are needed

 Important positions
Criticisms of structural-functionalism

 It is ahistorical.

 Could not deal with change

 Conservative bias

 Vague terms

 Teleology
 explain by consequences a logical problem