There are many perspectives of viewing society and it’s inner workings. Viewing this world from that of a Functionalist perspective would be seeing the world working together as different pieces to the puzzle. Society is viewed almost as a machine, with integrated parts that have specific roles, and when one role doesn’t work, then society will fall until that role is replaced. These different roles all have functions, intended (manifest), unintended (latent), or unintended ones that hurt society (dysfunction). Society has a value consensus in which people of that society as a whole value the way they want to live. The functionalist perspective can see how different roles in society end up affecting the ways others live and perform.
The government pays for education of children to learn, which is funded by families paying taxes to keep it sustained. These children grow up from the school system, get paying jobs, start a family and become part of society, then put their kids through school, as they are paying taxes to do so. This cycle keeps repeating until there needs to be a change because it is in a state of anomie, or things just aren’t working. Things like this usually happen when there is a recession, and just not enough money is flowing into the school system to fund all of the programs. An example of this recently would be the Chicago teacher’s union strike. There wasn’t enough money, so the classes were getting bigger, and there was a smaller teacher to student ratio. Everything was in dysfunction because it was never meant to change for the worse. No one had planned that the kids would be out of school, so it threw the entire system for a loop.
Another example for functions or dysfunctions in society could be seen as a butterfly effect. If someone in the service sector doesn’t show up for work, or shows up late, on a certain day to drive a bus or other form of transportation, someone that was depending on that bus could miss an important meeting they had. If they miss that important meeting they had it could be them getting fired, or a product not getting released on time. If that product isn’t released on time, the buyers for that product won’t be able to use it, or sell it, which could affect how that relates to their day. It could just go in a circle with people it affected, all because of that one person, society has lead to social change. The consensus for the way that people would want to live
This way of living brings people together and gives every sheep in the herd a specific role or purpose, integrating all ways of living. There are two ways at looking at this way of solidarity, the first being that of Mechanical solidarity. Mechanical solidarity refers to the likeness or similarity of society. It is seen more in pre-industrial societies in which there was a less professionalized way of living. It could also be seen today in smaller towns, or very rural areas where there are less people that are specialized in certain fields of work. If you were to get a prescription for medicine, you would know the people you were diagnosed by, and the people you got the medicine from. It is based more upon real social relationships. There can be a limited belief system and values because people tend to run in the same line of work, such as farmers or even the Amish community.
Another way of looking at ways people are brought together can be summarized as Organic solidarity. This is a more professional way of looking at social relationships in that a relationship between people is based upon the roles of the people. Their values and beliefs vary greatly because there is a broader spectrum of professions and specialties in society. This tends to happen more often nowadays and is seen very prominently in urban and suburban areas. Functionalists could see this forming in college students by following their paths of study. One could look at the engineering path of college. When first starting out, all different areas of engineering are required to take general classes needed by all in the major, also known as 100 level classes. As they progress towards their final destination, whether it be mechanical, computer, or even bio-engineering they branch off into different classes that are more specific to what they are studying, or 400 level classes. This shows a more differentiated society and the division of labor is split even more than in used to be before today’s society.
Viewing society through the functionalist perspective shows how people interact with one another, and the ways that they work affect society in a whole. This way shows that if one person, or group were to go out of line, society in a whole may stop until that piece in the puzzle is put back.
The government pays for education of children to learn, which is funded by families paying taxes to keep it sustained. These children grow up from the school system, get paying jobs, start a family and become part of society, then put their kids through school, as they are paying taxes to do so. This cycle keeps repeating until there needs to be a change because it is in a state of anomie, or things just aren’t working. Things like this usually happen when there is a recession, and just not enough money is flowing into the school system to fund all of the programs. An example of this recently would be the Chicago teacher’s union strike. There wasn’t enough money, so the classes were getting bigger, and there was a smaller teacher to student ratio. Everything was in dysfunction because it was never meant to change for the worse. No one had planned that the kids would be out of school, so it threw the entire system for a loop.
Another example for functions or dysfunctions in society could be seen as a butterfly effect. If someone in the service sector doesn’t show up for work, or shows up late, on a certain day to drive a bus or other form of transportation, someone that was depending on that bus could miss an important meeting they had. If they miss that important meeting they had it could be them getting fired, or a product not getting released on time. If that product isn’t released on time, the buyers for that product won’t be able to use it, or sell it, which could affect how that relates to their day. It could just go in a circle with people it affected, all because of that one person, society has lead to social change. The consensus for the way that people would want to live
This way of living brings people together and gives every sheep in the herd a specific role or purpose, integrating all ways of living. There are two ways at looking at this way of solidarity, the first being that of Mechanical solidarity. Mechanical solidarity refers to the likeness or similarity of society. It is seen more in pre-industrial societies in which there was a less professionalized way of living. It could also be seen today in smaller towns, or very rural areas where there are less people that are specialized in certain fields of work. If you were to get a prescription for medicine, you would know the people you were diagnosed by, and the people you got the medicine from. It is based more upon real social relationships. There can be a limited belief system and values because people tend to run in the same line of work, such as farmers or even the Amish community.
Another way of looking at ways people are brought together can be summarized as Organic solidarity. This is a more professional way of looking at social relationships in that a relationship between people is based upon the roles of the people. Their values and beliefs vary greatly because there is a broader spectrum of professions and specialties in society. This tends to happen more often nowadays and is seen very prominently in urban and suburban areas. Functionalists could see this forming in college students by following their paths of study. One could look at the engineering path of college. When first starting out, all different areas of engineering are required to take general classes needed by all in the major, also known as 100 level classes. As they progress towards their final destination, whether it be mechanical, computer, or even bio-engineering they branch off into different classes that are more specific to what they are studying, or 400 level classes. This shows a more differentiated society and the division of labor is split even more than in used to be before today’s society.
Viewing society through the functionalist perspective shows how people interact with one another, and the ways that they work affect society in a whole. This way shows that if one person, or group were to go out of line, society in a whole may stop until that piece in the puzzle is put back.