Functionalism

In biology, different parts of an organism may be described by their functions or the parts they play in maintaining the life of the whole organism. Functionalism in social science similarly looks for the role (function) some aspect of culture or social life plays in maintaining a system. Two quite different schools of functionalism arose in conjunction with two British anthropologists – Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942) and A.R. Radcliffe-Brown(1881–1955).

Malinowski’s version of functionalism assumes that all cultural traits serve the needs of individuals in a society – that the function of a cultural trait is its ability to satisfy some basic or derived need of the members of the group. The basic needs include nutrition reproduction, bodily comfort, safety, relaxation movement, and growth. Some aspects of the culture satisfy these basic needs. In doing so, they give rise to derived needs that must also be satisfied. For example, cultural traits that satisfy the basic need for food give rise to the secondary or derived need for cooperation in food collection or production. Societies will in turn develop forms of political organization and social control that guarantee the required cooperation. How did Malinowski explain such things as religion and magic? He suggested that since humans always live with a certain amount of uncertainty and anxiety, they need stability and continuity. Religion and magic are functional in that they serve those needs.

Unlike Malinowski, Radcliffe-Brown felt that the various aspects of social behavior maintain a society’s social structure rather than satisfying individual needs. By social structure he meant the total network of existing social relationships in a society. Since Radcliffe-Brown’s version of functionalism emphasized the social structure as the system to be maintained through the development of supporting rules, practices, and customs, the term “structural functionalism” is often used to describe his approach.

An example of Radcliffe-Brown’s structural-functionalist approach is his analysis of the ways in which different societies deal with the tensions that are likely to develop among people related through marriage. To reduce potential tension between in-laws, he suggested societies do one of two things. They may develop strict rules forbidding the persons involved ever to interact face to face (as do the Navajos, for example, in requiring a man to avoid his motherin-law) or they may allow mutual disrespect and teasing between the in-laws. Radcliffe-Brown suggested that avoidance is likely to occur between in-laws of different generations, whereas disrespectful teasing is likely between in-laws of the same generation. Both avoidance and teasing he suggested, are ways to avoid real conflict and help maintain the social structure.

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