The Three Minute Sociologist (uh oh, this one is 6 minutes!): One view of Functionalism

One view of Structural Functionalism 1. Start with this basic assumption: Society is a set of interdependent parts. 2. Choose a social situation like providing health care for a society. 3. What are the needs of this situation? That is, what is supposed to be done here? 4. Think about this situation as part of a system. 5. Ask yourself: What are the parts that make up the system? What function does each part serve? What are the parts relationships with the other parts? 6. You might want to draw a diagram with circles for each part and arrows that show the connections between the parts. 7. Are there any "gaps" between what is supposed to happen and what the system is able to do? Is this the basis for change?