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.

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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.

The major objection to Malinowski’s functionalism is that it cannot readily account for cultural variation. Most of the needs he identified–such as the need for food–are universal, all societies must deal with them if they are to survive. Thus, while the functionalist approach may tell us why all societies engage in food getting, it cannot tell why different societies have different food-getting practices. In other words, functionalism does not explain why certain specific cultural patterns arise to fulfill a need that might be fulfilled just as easily by any of a number of alternative possibilities.

A major problem of the structural-functionalist approach is that it is difficult to determine whether a particular custom is in fact functional in the sense of contributing to the maintenance of the social system. In biology the contribution an organ makes to the health or life of an animal can be assessed by removing it. But we cannot subtract a cultural trait from a society to see if the trait really does contribute to the maintenance of the group. It is conceivable that certain customs within the society may be neutral or even detrimental to its maintenance.We cannot assume that all of a society’s customs are functional merely because the society is functioning at the moment. And even if we are able to assess whether a particular custom is functional, this theoretical orientation fails to deal with the question of why a particular society chooses to meet its structural needs in a particular way. A given problem does not necessarily have only one solution. We still must explain why one of the possible solutions is chose.

►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.

1. According to paragraph 2, all of the following statements are true about Malinowskis version of functionalism EXCEPT:

A. It argues that religion and magic help people to feel safe and secure.

B. lit recognizes that secondary needs emerge when cultural traits satisfy a basic need.

C. It,is based on the principle that the cultural attributes of a society exist to meet the needs of individuals in that society.

D. It claims that forms of political organization and social control only develop after all the basic needs of a society have been met

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.

2. Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

A. The analysis of rules, practices, and customs improved Radcliffe- Brown’s approach to the study of functional structuralism.

B. The term “structural functionalism” is used for Radcliffe-Brown’s view that the function of rules, practices, and customs is to maintain social structure.

C. Radcliffe- Brown’s version of functionalism, ,”structural functionalism,” supports the development of social structure by maintaining rules, practices, and customs.

D. Rules, practices, and customs are features of Radcliffe-Brown’s structural functionalism.

►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.

3. According to paragraph 4, the Navajo custom that requires a man to avoid interaction with his mother-in-law serves to

A. allow for teasing between family members of different generations

B. show how societies differ in dealing with relationships between in-laws

C. minimize the chance of conflict between people related to one another through marriage

D. distinguish marital relationships from other social relationships within the community

►The major objection to Malinowski’s functionalism is that it cannot readily account for cultural variation. Most of the needs he identified–such as the need for food–are universal, all societies must deal with them if they are to survive. Thus, while the functionalist approach may tell us why all societies engage in food getting, it cannot tell why different societies have different food-getting practices. In other words, functionalism does not explain why certain specific cultural patterns arise to fulfill a need that might be fulfilled just as easily by any of a number of alternative possibilities.

4. According to paragraph 5, what fact does Malinowksi’s theory apparently overlook?

A. Certain cultural patterns are common to all societies.

B. Societies differ in their approach to a particular social activity.

C. All societies need some degree of cultural variation in order to survive.

D. Different societies have different opinions about what constitutes a basic need.

►A major problem of the structural-functionalist approach is that it is difficult to determine whether a particular custom is in fact functional in the sense of contributing to the maintenance of the social system. In biology the contribution an organ makes to the health or life of an animal can be assessed by removing it. But we cannot subtract a cultural trait from a society to see if the trait really does contribute to the maintenance of the group. It is conceivable that certain customs within the society may be neutral or even detrimental to its maintenance.We cannot assume that all of a society’s customs are functional merely because the society is functioning at the moment. And even if we are able to assess whether a particular custom is functional, this theoretical orientation fails to deal with the question of why a particular society chooses to meet its structural needs in a particular way. A given problem does not necessarily have only one solution. We still must explain why one of the possible solutions is chose.

5 The word detrimental” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. irrelevant B. harmful C. supportive D. decisive

►A major problem of the structural-functionalist approach is that it is difficult to determine whether a particular custom is in fact functional in the sense of contributing to the maintenance of the social system. In biology the contribution an organ makes to the health or life of an animal can be assessed by removing it. But we cannot subtract a cultural trait from a society to see if the trait really does contribute to the maintenance of the group. It is conceivable that certain customs within the society may be neutral or even detrimental to its maintenance.We cannot assume that all of a society’s customs are functional merely because the society is functioning at the moment. And even if we are able to assess whether a particular custom is functional, this theoretical orientation fails to deal with the question of why a particular society chooses to meet its structural needs in a particular way. A given problem does not necessarily have only one solution. We still must explain why one of the possible solutions is chose.

6. The word orientation” in the passage is closest in meaning to

A. Introduction B. Perspective C. Hypothesis D. Statement

►The major objection to Malinowski’s functionalism is that it cannot readily account for cultural variation. Most of the needs he identified–such as the need for food–are universal, all societies must deal with them if they are to survive. Thus, while the functionalist approach may tell us why all societies engage in food getting, it cannot tell why different societies have different food-getting practices. In other words, functionalism does not explain why certain specific cultural patterns arise to fulfill a need that might be fulfilled just as easily by any of a number of alternative possibilities.

►A major problem of the structural-functionalist approach is that it is difficult to determine whether a particular custom is in fact functional in the sense of contributing to the maintenance of the social system. In biology the contribution an organ makes to the health or life of an animal can be assessed by removing it. But we cannot subtract a cultural trait from a society to see if the trait really does contribute to the maintenance of the group. It is conceivable that certain customs within the society may be neutral or even detrimental to its maintenance.We cannot assume that all of a society’s customs are functional merely because the society is functioning at the moment. And even if we are able to assess whether a particular custom is functional, this theoretical orientation fails to deal with the question of why a particular society chooses to meet its structural needs in a particular way. A given problem does not necessarily have only one solution. We still must explain why one of the possible solutions is chose.

7. According to paragraphs 5 and 6, which of the following is a shortcoming of both Malinowski’s and Radcliffe- Brown’s versions of functionalism?

A. Neither of their approaches recognizes the importance of social institutions in maintaining the stability of a society.

B. Neither of their approaches recognizes the importance of cultural practices to provide for the basic needs of a society.

C. Neither of their approaches is able to explain why a society changes its basic cultural institutions, solutions, and practices.

D. Neither of their approaches is able to explain why a society develops its particular cultural. institutions, solutions, and practices.

8. Why does the author begin the passage by discussing a concept from biology?

A. To provide an analogy to the way functionalists in social science think of a society

B. To argue that societies depend on cultural traits for their maintenance in the same way that organisms depend on their parts for Survival.

C. To compare the parts of an organism with the social roles of people

D. To imply that early functionalists were influenced by biology

9. Look at the four squares that indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage.

Its removal is possible because it is a physical structure with defined boundaries.

Where would the sentence best fit?

Click on a square I to "add the sentence to the passage.

A major problem of the structural-functionalist approach is that it is difficult to determine whether a particular custom is in fact functional in the sense of contributing to the maintenance of the social system. In biology the contribution an organ makes to the health or life of an animal can be assessed by removing it. ⬛ But we cannot subtract a cultural trait from a society to see if the trait really does contribute to the maintenance of the group. ⬛ It is conceivable that certain customs within the society may be neutral or even detrimental to its maintenance. ⬛ We cannot assume that all of a society’s customs are functional merely because the society is functioning at the moment. ⬛ And even if we are able to assess whether a particular custom is functional, this theoretical orientation fails to deal with the question of why a particular society chooses to meet its structural needs in a particular way. A given problem does not necessarily have only one solution. We still must explain why one of the possible solutions is chose.

10.

Answer Choices

A. Maintains that cultures protect themselves against disruptive "forces by developing particular rules, practices, and customs

B. Maintains that a culture’s solutions to existing tensions produce further conflicts that must then be dealt with

C. Maintains that cultural traits serve the needs of individuals in a society

D. Regards a society’s customs and institutions as having roles analogous to the organs of a plant or animal

E. Maintains that higher-level social structures arise out of the need to efficiently organize efforts to meet basic needs

F. Maintains that a society’s customs serve to maintain its social structure