Functionalism is a school of thought that is used in the social sciences to explain the functions or purpose of things.

Functionalism is a general theory or school of thought in the social sciences that was developed in the late 1800s. What it is, essentially, is a belief that everything (i.e. mental state, aspects of culture or society) serves a purpose.

In Sociology…

If you use this term sociologically and apply it to your observations of society, you would try to understand every facet of social behaviour and figure out what it does for society.

So what can crime do for society? Functionalists such as Emile Durkhiem would say that crime is beneficial for society, but just a limited amount. He believes that crime can get society to develop social integration, social regulation, and social change.

In Anthropology…

This view is also similar to how anthropologist defines functionalism. To them, functionalism is a way to see how cultures evolved. Functionalist will look at how societies in the past have adapted to the universal problems of humans. They will study how societies were created. They will research the development of social institutions, laws, etc. and try to understand what their purpose was for any particular culture.

In Psychology…

In psychology, however, functionalism is a bit different. It observes the individual and the individual’s processes rather than looking at entire societies.

So if you are looking at a person through the functional psychologist’s lens, you would look at a person’s mental state and behaviour (positive or negative) and figure out what purpose they serve.

This school of thought, in the discipline of psychology, was born out of Darwinian thinking and serves as a counter to structuralism. The originators of functionalism believed that structuralism was too philosophical; that it was too abstract. They felt that the study of psychology needed to be systematic and empirical.

So that’s how the functionalist school of thought views things. Do you think this system fits your beliefs? Share your thoughts below in the comments.

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