Structural Functionalism in Sociology

1 Introduction
In this post I want to focus on is the world that is created by the people who live it.

The starting point for the world created by people is in the early civilizations. It is common knowledge that
civilization began when humans turned from a nomadic - hunting existence to a farming based one. People
could live in the same place for generations, they could specialize into non-farming enterprises. However,
this was still a village existence, not a civilization. The main feature of such villages was the social ties
between the residents - everyone knew everyone else. The next level of structural advancement was the city
or state and thence the beginning of civilization. In this structure, people who lived together within the city
or state were largely strangers.

Civilization required civil services: politics as representation of groups, laws and enforcement as a
mechanism to maintain the integrity of the society, civil services for infrastructure such as roads, sewage
etc., and others. Society came into being. And sociology is a study of society.
2 Structural Functionalism
Structural functionalism is the perspective on sociology where structures within society are explained on
the basis of the function that they serve. As mentioned above, politics exists as a means for groups to
cooperate. Therefore, politics is a social feature that has a functional basis for its existence. It is explained
through structural functionalism.

In this post, I want to explore the functional basis of many different social features. The idea of institution
is an important one in this context. An institution is a shared idea amongst members of a society that
2.1 Culture
Society and culture are so tightly connected that one cannot exist without the other. A group of people
without a shared culture are just a group of people. They don't make a society. When a group of people
share a culture, they become a society. Culture comprises of shared practices and beliefs. It is the basis of
interaction and cooperation within society. The process by which culture is transmitted within the society is
called socialization. Family and primary education play a large role in socialization of children into society.
2.2 Family
The family is an institution in the sense that it is a shared idea in society. The function it provides is to
create independent domestic units that are able to take care of themselves, provide for themselves and to
procreate for the propagation of society through generations. It also provides the function of sharing the
males and females of society equitably.
2.2 Education
It is clear that education has a functional aspect. Higher education provides the social function of producing
people who are able to contribute effectively in a technologically advanced society. So, a mechanical
engineer becomes employable in a car service station in a society where new cars are introduced every
year. Without such mechanical engineers, the society will not be able to sustain production and sales of
modern cars.

Early or basic education fulfills the function of turning "animals" into "social beings". A large part of the
socialization process happens during basic education.
2.3 Industry
The function of industry is self-evident. If society is likened to a complex organism, then the people form
the cells of the organism. As in an organism, cells require food and energy as basic requirements, industry
fulfills the requirements of life for the people in society. A large part (often more than half) of the
population in a society is engaged in industry or equivalent services. Industry covers all essential goods and
services that people need to live - food, clothing, housing, equipment used in houses and workplaces and so
on.
2.4 Health Care
Hospitals, doctors, nursing, support staff, clinics, practitioners etc. provide health care whose obvious
function is to provide services of repair of the human body.
2.5 Law and Enforcement
Laws represent formal enforcement of shared behavior, normally serious in nature. While everyone in
society shares the values and behavior required by the law, there are cases when individuals go against the
law and are required to be penalized for it. The laws and the police who enforce the law are a regulatory
mechanism that preserves the integrity of a society.
2.6 Armed Forces
The function of the armed forces is to provide protection for a society against external aggression.
2.7 Municipal Administration
The function of municipal administration for a city is to provide infrastructure for a city: roads, water
supply, public transport, sewage and garbage disposal, and other facilities that are required by all members
of the society.
2.8 Politics
Within any society, there are groups of classes of people that share commonality through race, religion,
income levels and so on. Often, there is conflict amongst such groups for scarce resources which need to be
divided fairly amongst them. In order to resolve such matters, groups choose representatives who will
negotiate on their behalf. Such interactions between groups is politics.
2.9 Caste System
Surprisingly, even the caste system which represents a major societal structure has a functional basis. The
first thing that the caste system does is that it establishes a workforce specialized in specific crafts:
knowledge and religious matters (bramhin), warfare (kshatriya), pottery (kumbhar), farming (?), cobbler or
leather work (mochi), and so on.

That the caste system was closed (i.e. it was not possible to move out of one's caste) was a matter of
protection by the upper classes which can only be properly understood by considering sociology from the
perspective of social conflict. In this case, the upper classes wanted to maintain their way of life at the
expense of the lower classes.
2.10 Social Classes
Social classes - the upper, middle and lower classes have their origin in the wealth and incomes of
individuals. However, they serve a very important social function. They provide the incentive for people to
strive upwards so as to get the benefits of the higher class in addition to social acceptance in the higher
class. The striving of people to reach the higher class results in people doing more valuable work in society.