Notes only
Functionalist theory
Functionalism emphasizes the consensus and order that exist in society, focusing on social stability and shared public values. From this perspective, disorganization in the system, such as deviant behavior, leads to change because societal components must adjust to achieve stability. When one part of the system is not working or is dysfunctional, it affects all other parts and creates social problems, which leads to social change.
The functionalist perspective achieved its greatest popularity among American sociologists in the 1940s and 1950s. While European functionalists originally focused on explaining the inner workings of social order, American functionalists focused on discovering the functions of human behavior. Among these American functionalist sociologists is Robert K. Merton, who divided human functions into two types: manifest functions, which are intentional and obvious, and latent functions, which are unintentional and not obvious. The manifest function of attending a church or synagogue, for instance, is to worship as part of a religious community, but its latent function may be to help members learn to discern personal from institutional values. With common sense, manifest functions become easily apparent. Yet this is not necessarily the case for latent functions, which often demand a sociological approach to be revealed.
Functionalism has received criticism for neglecting the negative functions of an event such as divorce. Critics also claim that the perspective justifies the status quo and complacency on the part of society's members. Functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment, even when such change may benefit them. Instead, functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate naturally for any problems that may arise.
References
Anderson, M.L. and Taylor, H.F. (2009). Sociology: The Essentials. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
CliffsNotes.com. Three Major Perspectives in Sociology. 22 Jun 2011. http://www.cliffsnotes.com/study_guide/topicArticleId-26957,articleId-26837.html.
Best Known For: * Theories of deviance * Developing the concepts of "self-fulfilling prophecy" and "role model" * Is considered one of America's most influential social scientists
Birth:
Robert K. Merton was born July 4, 1910.
Death:
He died February 23, 2003.
Early Life and Education:
Robert K. Merton was born Meyer R. Schkolnick in Philadelphia into a working class Eastern European Jewish Immigrant family. He changed his name at the age of 14 to Robert Merton, which evolved out of a teenage career as an amateur magician as he blended the names of famous magicians. Merton attended Temple College for undergraduate work and Harvard for graduate work, studying sociology at both and earning his doctorate degree in 1936.
Career and Later Life:
Merton taught at Harvard until 1938 when he became professor and chairman of the Department of Sociology at Tulane University. In 1941 he joined the Columbia University faculty where he was name to the University's highest academic rank, University Professor, in 1974. In 1979 Merton retired from the University and became an adjunct faculty member at Rockefeller University and was also the first Foundation Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation. He retired from teaching altogether in 1984.
Merton received many awards and honors for his research. He was one of the first sociologists elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the first American sociologists to be elected a foreign member of the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. In 1994, he was awarded the National Medal of Science for his contributions to the field and for having founding the sociology of science. He was the first sociologist to receive the award. Throughout his career, more than 20 universities awarded him honorary degrees, including Harvard, Yale, Columbia, and Chicago as well as several universities abroad. He is also credited as the creator of the focus group research method.
Merton was very passionate about the sociology of science and was interested in the interactions and importance between social and cultural structures and science. He carried out extensive research in the field, developing the Merton Thesis, which explained some of the causes of the Scientific Revolution. His other contributions to the field deeply shaped and helped developed fields such as the study of bureaucracy, deviance, communications, social psychology, social stratification, and social structure. Merton was also one of the pioneers of modern policy research, studying things such as housing projects, the use of social research by the AT&T Corporation, and medical education.
Among the notable concepts that Merton developed are "unintended consequences," the "reference group," "role strain," "role model," and "self-fulfilling prophecy."
Major Publications * Social Theory and Social Structure (1949) * The Sociology of Science (1973) * Sociological Ambivalence (1976) * On The Shoulders of Giants: A Shandean Postscript (1985) * On Social Structure and Science * References * Calhoun, C. (2003). Robert K. Merton Remembered. http://www.asanet.org/footnotes/mar03/indextwo.html * Johnson, A. (1995). The Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology. Malden, Massachusetts: Blackwell Publishers.

Functionalism is a sociological macro-perspective based on the concept of consensus.

That is to say, "macro-perspective" because it focuses on society as a whole rather than on the individual, and "consensus" because, as the name suggests, Functionalism is about how social institutions and aspects of society function in relation to one another.

Marxism, while also being a "macro-perspective", is based on the theory of "conflict", meaning that the different facets of society battle one another instead of working in harmony. Symbolic Interactionism is an example of a "micro-perspective", as it focuses on the daily interactions of the individual.

Functionalists believe that everything in society exists in order to perform a specific function. Social institutions such as the family, the school and the workplace have their specific functions, largely in the socialisation of the individual. This concept of many functioning parts making up society as a whole has led to the analogy of the human body; each institution is useless on its own, but comprises an integral part of society. According to Emile Durkheim, the founder of Functionalism, even crime is necessary in society to a certain extent. However, too much crime can bring about a state of "Anomie" or "lawlessness", disrupting the harmony of the functioning society.