SOCA01H3 Chapter Notes -Helen Rose, Impression Management, Erving Goffman
Document Summary
As a macro theoretical perspective, functionalism focuses on large-scale phenomena or even entire societies. Functionalists are impressed with how societies organize themselves and persist over time. The analogy is often made to society as a living organism in which each part contributes to the survival of the whole by serving its own unique function but also by working with other parts. Functionalists maintain that if an aspect of social life fails to contribute to a society"s stability or survival, it will not be passed on. In response to the question of why people behave in ways that contribute to the integration of society, the functionalist"s answer focuses on norms that is, on sets of socially derived expectations about appropriate behavior in particular settings. The most important of these norms are learned in childhood during socialization. Norms in turn are organized around statuses and roles. Status refers to particular social positions that people hold.
