Theorizing Capitalist Society - Essay Example

Theorizing capitalist society Functionalism approach is an analogous explanation of society as a living organism, which has several parts that work together. The parts must always work in harmony towards a common goal of maintaining the full functioning of the organism. A society consists of several parts or constituents that are equally essential in its operations. The constituent parts of a society include the economy, polity, religion, culture and the education system. Social harmony is achieved when all the parts are functional and in decent shape. This essay will explore the functionalism approach and will proceed to demonstrate the applicability of this theory to the social issue of caring for the elderly. The paper will also demonstrate the aspect of functionalism in the nursing homes as well as the dysfunctions. Functionalism Approach According to Durkheim & Anthony (1972), the theory of structural functionalism claims that society is best understood as a complex system with several interdependent components, which operate together to maintain stability. Functionalism remained the most dominant approach in sociology for a long period in US and Europe. There are several fundamental elements that hold for all approaches of functionalism in sociology. The first element is that social systems are made up of parts that are interconnected. The underlying interconnections help the social system to maintain their primary function. It is imperative to note that function or purpose of a social system holds the rationale of the existence of such a system (Durkheim & Anthony, 1972). The moment a social system becomes functionless the existence of the system loses logic. The society strives to maintain the interconnections between the social systems, as any malfunction due to poor connection could be disastrous to the society. The second fundamental element of functionalism is that the sections of a scheme can be unspoken in expressions of how everyone adjoins to meeting the needs of the total. Any system gets its meaning from the benefits that people in the society reap from it (Durkheim & Anthony, 1972). Any explanation that does not include the benefit of the system to the people is not complete. One cannot separate the understanding of the system from its contribution. The third element is that social systems strive to uphold some equilibrium among them, as an alteration in one part of the system leads to alterations to other elements of the whole. Anytime there is a disturbance in the equilibrium due to a failure of a single social system, the equilibrium shifts in a manner to rectify the source of the disturbance. That is why a society cannot remain in a state of anomie for a long time. Social issues and Functionalism Introducing Functionalism Functionalism is a theory that sociologist use to construe social problems through the process called functional analysis. Functionalists compare society to a machine, which adjusts itself (Durkheim & Anthony, 1972). It is necessary to note that a machine is made up of a combination of parts, which perform different functions. Each function can only be fulfilled adequately if the part is functioning well, and the machine runs smoothly. The society is also like a machine, and it has many parts that have different functions. When parts of a society are functioning properly, they contribute to the well-being of the society (Durkheim & Anthony, 1972). A good example that proves the importance of interdependence between parts in a society is the relationship between social security and healthcare. The findings of medical canvassers assist not only the aged but also kids and grown-ups of all times. In a similar manner, those who gain from communal safety are not merely the 39 million leaved and immobilized employees who obtain monthly tests, but also the 62,000 citizens who labor for this central organization. The societal parts do not always function properly as one would expect, as several factors, political, economic or environmental can cause failures in operations of social components. Functionalists refer to these failures as dysfunctions, which can cause serious problems if not fixed within a short period. Persistent dysfunctions are what functionalists refer to as social problems, because they disrupt the operations of the society. For example, rules and regulations can deny people emergency services that they may require by delaying them, as decisions go through the red tape. Relating Functionalism to social problems This text has made it clear beyond any reasonable doubt that society is a communal scheme composed of elements that are interrelated and that they function together. The equilibrium of the society is attained when all the parts are functioning well. This implies that the operations of the parts are so tuned that they fit into each other and operate without friction (Durkheim, 1972). Social problems arise when one or more parts of the society fail to function in harmony with the rest of the parts. The paper will now focus on aging and provision of care to the aging population, and demonstrate how functionalism is evident. The aging population is causing many social problems because the young population should balance between their career and caring for their aged parents, who are totally dependent on them for a livelihood (Durkheim, 1972). To ensure that the younger population does not crush under the burden of caring for their aged parents or relatives, they place them in nursing homes. There must be smooth coordination between the nursing homes and relatives of aged and the government for the nursing homes to function appropriately. Ray (1999) contends that in the past women used to work at home and they were extremely essential to caring for the old. However, women started pursuing careers, which required them to work away from home. This social change means that the equilibrium between the parts of society was disturbed, and the society had to adjust in order to restore the equilibrium. This is how nursing homes came up and took the burden of caring for the aged people. There were many old people to be cared for, and the number of women who used to do the caring was decreasing. Therefore, there were many old people without anyone who can care for them. Durkheim (1972) states that besides the obvious functions of nursing homes, they also manifest functions that come in line with nursing home services. Caring for elderly parents strains the relationship between the caring children and their elder siblings. Many children realize that the love they had for their parents recovers gradually after they place them in nursing homes. The purpose of restoring the children’s’ love for their parents was not the intention of the nursing homes. Therefore, it becomes a latent function. Nursing homes rely entirely on other parts of the society to obtain their supplies and financial support. These parts include the polity and economy for the policy formulation and decision making, as well as production and distribution of goods and services respectively. Further, they require the support of fully functional medical services for the treatment of aged patients and referral services. A dysfunction by any of these parts will cause a serious crisis in the nursing homes. Nursing homes are also affected by dysfunctions, which might be caused by staff negligence. Most of the nursing homes are unpleasant, and many people refer to them as human junkyards. They are not well maintained, and some of them stink of human waste, making them the last choice to take a human being to (Ray, 1999). Old people who are admitted to nursing homes become lonely and their physical condition deteriorates as they wait to die. Further, they have to put up with rigid and strict controls. Neglect is the chief dysfunction in nursing homes, which results from failure of caregivers to attend to patients and failure to give them medicine at the right time. Other dysfunctions include use of drugs to restrain stubborn patients, physical abuse and psychological torture. Physical abuse entails pushing old people or beating them; psychological torture includes shouting at old people or threatening them (Dominick, 1972). Functionalism approach has both strengths and weaknesses, which the paper will briefly discuss as it winds up the analysis of this approach. Strengths The major strength of functionalism approach is the assertion that societal facts and conditions have purposes, which must be accomplished for social stability (Dominick, 1972). For example, a medical doctor and a garbage collector all play equally vital roles that somehow complement each other. If the coordination between these two professionals is lost, then smooth social-functioning will not be possible. Further, functionalism has a higher degree of applicability in explaining human behavior and aspects of social life and social systems than other sociological theories (Durkheim & Anthony, 1972). The understanding of the functionalism approach helps organizations to delegate duties among their departments, and proper coordination of those departments contribute to enormous success in organizational set ups. Weaknesses Although it would be naive to do so, it is nevertheless assumed under functionalism approach that parts of a society reach a consensus to operate in harmony (Dominick, 1972). The second assumption is that individuals in the society strive to achieve the ordinary good for the entire society. The western society comprises people, who compete for resources, power and wealth, but they are not a harmoniously operating lot. Further, some people can reason a vice, like deprivation among the members of the society is functional. Therefore, it would be necessary to maintain the function of poverty in the society so that social functions can remain at equilibrium (Durkheim & Anthony, 1972). This would mean that effort by the government agencies and non-governmental organizations to eradicate poverty are likely to result in social days function. On such grounds, functionalism seems to contradict the functionality of the social systems. Furthermore, it is not sufficient to explain human societies in terms of functions and roles, as some institutions work against one another, but remain in the same line of operation (Dominick, 1972). For example, there are industries that compete over markets and customers, without any smooth interconnections between them. Further, churches oppose each other and maintain permanent rivalry among themselves, without any degree of social problems. In conclusion, functionalism approach is an analogous explanation of society as a living organism, which has several parts that work together. Functionalism remained the most dominant approach in sociology for a good period of the twentieth century in America and Europe. The equilibrium of the society is attained when all the parts are functioning well. The society is also like a machine; it has many parts that have different functions. When parts are functioning properly, they contribute to the well-being of the society. The major strength of functionalism approach is the assertion that societal facts and conditions have purposes, which must be accomplished for social stability. This approach has a weakness because it assumes that social parts work harmoniously with each other. There may be conflict and friction between the various parts. References Durkheim, E & Anthony G. (1972). Selected Writings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Dominick, L. (1972). Émile Durkheim: Sociologist and philosopher. Ithaca: Cornell University Press Durkheim E. 1972. “Anomie and the moral structure of industry.” Cambridge: Cambridge university press. Ray, L. (1999). Theorizing classical sociology. New York: Open University Press. Read More