Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is “a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability”.. Structural functionalism reached its crescendo in the 1940s and 1950s, and by the 1960s was in rapid decline. According to a functionalist perspective, differences in power, wealth, and other rewards within the social structure are justified, because they motivate the most qualified people to exercise their talents in the most important jobs. The Importance Of Structural Functionalism 1368 Words 6 Pages When considering Structural Functionalism, it’s important to look at it’s impacts on a young person’s opportunity and access to education because it keeps people in the same part of society as their family. "Structural Functionalism has lost much importance, but modified it directs much sociological inquiry." It influenced the development of behaviorism and applied psychology. Society is unequally structured because of people’s inherent inequality in functional importance. A change in one segment of society resulting …show more content… Education is an extremely important area of culture and society. The function of any institution (or ‘recurrent social activity’) was the part it played in the maintenance of the larger structural whole. Structural Functionalism | Overview. [7] By 1980s, its place was taken in Europe by more conflict-oriented approaches [8] , and more recently by 'structuralism'. Structural functionalism is … Radcliffe-Brown’s structural functionalism aimed at understanding how institutions maintained cohesion and equilibrium of a given society (McGee 2003). On September 11, 2001 modern American culture was disoriented due to an attack . A famous metaphor used to describe this approach is that by Herbert Spencer, he says “the interrelated parts of society are organs, which work towards the proper functioning of the body as a whole.” (Urry, 2000) Structural functionalism means that social organizations, that together form a social structure, function to preserve the harmony of the society (Macionis, 1989). Important concepts in functionalism include social structure, social functions, manifest functions, and latent functions. Structural functionalists argued that all political systems, including Third World systems, could most fruitfully be studied and compared on the basis of how differing structures performed these functions in the various political system. Modern Examples of Structural Functionalist Oriented Research September 11, 2001 . The Importance Of Functionalism 1347 Words 6 Pages One major perspective in sociology is functionalism, this theory believes that a society 's beliefs, behaviour and social structure, are interrelated and function as a means to achieve its common goals (Collins Dictionary 2018). Functionalism also influenced the educational system, especially with regards to John Dewey’s belief that children should learn at the level for which they are developmentally prepared. Functionalism was an important influence on psychology. In particular, structural functionalism will be examined as found in the writing of T. Parsons, R. Merton and other scholars. Structural-functionalism emphasized the formal ordering of parts and their functional interrelations as contributing to the maintenance needs of a structured social system. However, by the 1970’s, it was no longer so widely credited. 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