SOCIOL 2S06 Lecture 17: SOCIOL 2S06 Lecture 17& 18 - November 7th & November 11th.docx
15 Jan 2014
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B) merton"s criticism of earlier structural functionalism: functional unity, he argued that earlier structural functionalism suggested that all social beliefs and practices are functional for society as a whole as well as individuals in society, merton saw this assumption of functional unity as problematic, he argued that we might have this kind of functional unity in small societies but such functional unity is unlikely in a large and complex society, universal functionalism, earlier structural functionalism suggested that all social structures and beliefs have positive functions for society and individuals, merton saw this as problematic as well argued some structural structures and beliefs might not have positive functions, example: nationalism has a positive function it helps to unify the people of a country but nationalism also has a negative function it could help to generate hatred of people who are from elsewhere.
