STRUCTURE FUNCTIONALISM

A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, a British social anthropologist, gave the concept of social structure a central place in his approach and connected it to the concept of function. In his view, the components of the social structure have indispensable functions for each other--the continued existence of the one component is dependent on that of the others--and for the society as a whole, which is seen as an integrated, organic entity.

Radcliffe-Brown defined the social structure empirically as patterned, or "normal," social relations (those aspects of social activities that conform to accepted social rules or norms). These rules bind society's members to socially useful activities. Structural functionalism was elaborated further by Talcott Parsons, a U.S. sociologist, who, like Radcliffe-Brown, was strongly influenced by the French social scientist Émile Durkheim. While Radcliffe-Brown focused on so-called primitive societies, Parsons attempted to formulate a theory that was valid for large and complex societies as well. For Parsons, the social structure is essentially normative; it consists of "institutionalized patterns of normative culture." Social behaviour is structured insofar as it conforms to norms, ranging from general ideas of right and wrong (values) to specific rules of behaviour in specific situations. These rules vary according to the positions of the individual actors: they define different roles, such as various occupational roles, or the roles of husband-father and wife-mother. Norms also vary according to the type of activities or sphere of life: they form clusters called social institutions, such as the institution of property or the institution of marriage. Norms, roles, and institutions are components of the social structure on different levels of complexity.