In sociology, classical theories are defined by a tendency towards biological analogy and notions of social evolutionism:įunctionalist thought, from Comte onwards, has looked particularly towards biology as the science providing the closest and most compatible model for social science. For Talcott Parsons, 'structural-functionalism' came to describe a particular stage in the methodological development of social science, rather than a specific school of thought. In the most basic terms, it simply emphasizes 'the effort to impute, as rigorously as possible, to each feature, custom, or practice, its effect on the functioning of a supposedly stable, cohesive system'. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements namely norms, customs, traditions, and institutions.Ī common analogy, popularized by Herbert Spencer, presents these parts of society as 'organs' that work toward the proper functioning of the 'body' as a whole. This approach looks at both social structure and social functions. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole, and believes that society has evolved like organisms. Structural functionalism, or simply functionalism, is 'a framework for building theory that sees society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability'.

Structural functional theory definition