structural functionalism
STRUK-cher-ul FUNK-shun-ah-liz-um
ˈstrʌktʃərəl ˈfʌŋkʃənəlɪzəmListen
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Dictionary meaning
a macro-sociological theoretical framework, associated with Émile Durkheim, Talcott Parsons, and Robert Merton, that views society as a complex system of interrelated parts — institutions, norms, and roles — each of which fulfils a function that contributes to the overall stability and integration of the whole; functional institutions are those that promote social order, while dysfunctions are those that disrupt it; the perspective was the dominant framework in mid-twentieth-century American sociology and has been critiqued for its conservatism and neglect of conflict and change
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