Functionalism
Definitions:
Theory that specific cultural institutions function to support the structure of society or serve the needs of individual in the society.
Study of the relationships among different elements of culture and the ways in which these elements support one another
When???
•emerged in the early twentieth century
•two versions developed between 1910 and 1930
–Biocultural (psychological)
–Structural
Who???
•Bronislaw Malinowski & A.R. Radcliffe-Brown
•Malinowski focused on biocultural (psychological) functionalism
•Radcliffe-Brown focused on structural-functionalism
Malinowski-
•focused on human physical and psychological needs
• He proposed 7 universal human needs:
–nutrition -safety -relaxation
–reproduction -growth -movement
–bodily comfort
* studied cultures to figure out how they functioned to meet these needs
Radcliffe-Brown-
•focused on social structure rather than biological needs
•suggested that a society is a system of relationships
•religion supports social structure by giving individuals a sense of dependence on their society
Other-
•Functionalists believe that each part of society has a FUNCTION [a job to do] to make sure that society runs smoothly and everything stays in harmony. For example education has a function to make sure people are educated to be good at the job they will get after school.
•They look at society on a MACRO scale [this means that they look at society on a large scale]. They want to generalize their ideas to the whole of society. For example they look at what education does for society as a whole not just certain people in society.
http://www.anthrobase.com/Dic/eng/def/functionalism.htm
http://www.as.ua.edu/ant/cultures/cultures.php?culture=Functionalism
a question a functionalist might ask is:
What function does the church serve in a particular society?
a question a functionalist may ask:
What does the death penalty provide for a society?
[…] Melonaskwi was believe that individual is more important than institutes Individual runs the institutes. He perform all activities in social life. Whenever change come in any society, the reasons behind that changes are individual’s involvement. Individual is the basic entity of any culture they perform according to their needs to search solution to current problems. […]