Functionalist Approach To Society

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Functionalism is seen as a macro-scale approach to society; it sees society as a whole rather than looking at parts of it. Functionalism also uses biological analogy to explain society, this means all the institutions work together to make society. This is particularly useful when observing society in order to understand the way in which it functions and the ways in which all the institutions work together to sustain society as a whole. Functionalists believe that society is interconnected and interdependent and only works when each institution performs its functions. it sees society as fair and just, and it acknowledges that many societies, including the majority of western ones, have democracy and all individuals within a particular society…show more content…
Due to this, may sociologists argue that the functionalism approach is not one which can be used to explain society properly. Also, Marxist sociologists argue that functionalism has failed to explain conflict and change within society. Marxist would say that functionalists approach claims that society is harmonious and built on consensus. However, Marxist and Feminist sociologists argue that exploitation and inequality do exist in many forms, such as social class and gender inequality. However, functionalism failing to acknowledge this is therefore considered to be an approach which has traditional ideology which is outdated. This therefore shows flaws to the functionalist approach and therefore points out the weaknesses within the functionalist approach. In conclusion, the functionalist approach has many strengths and weaknesses about the way in which society functions and the needs it requires. It strengths are seen in the way in which it explains the basic needs and function of society, these explanations can be used by other sociologists to improve and maintain an adequate society. However, other approaches, such as Marxism and Feminism have criticised functionalism due to its lack of acknowledgment of exploitation and inequality, which occurs within
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