Social Work Theories

The Functionalist Theory claims that society is in a state of balance and kept that way through the function of society's component parts. This theory has underpinnings in biological and ecological concepts . Society can be studied the same way the human body can be studied - by analyzing what specific systems are working or not working, diagnosing problems, and devising solutions to restore balance. Socialization, religious involvement, friendship, health care, economic recovery, peace, justice and injustice, population growth or decline, community, romantic relationships, marriage and divorce, and normal and abnormal family experiences are just a few of the evidences of functional processes in our society.

From Introduction to Sociology (http://freesociologybooks.com/Introduction_To_Sociology/03_Social_Theories.php)

The bibliography below is not specific to any class assignment and is designed to only provide an overview of Functionalism.

 

References

Alexandrescu, F. M. (2009). Not as natural as it seems: The social history of the environment in American sociology. History of the Human Sciences, 22(5), 47-80.

Argaman, E. (2009). Arguing within an institutional hierarchy: How argumentative talk and interlocutors' embodied practices preserve a superior-subordinate relationship. Discourse Studies, 11(5), 515-541.

Árnadóttir, S. (2010). Functionalism and thinking animals. Philosophical Studies, 147(3), 347-354.

Beamish, T. D. (2007). Economic sociology in the next decade and beyond. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(8), 993-1014.

Biggart, N. W., & Lutzenhiser, L. (2007). Economic sociology and the social problem of energy inefficiency. American Behavioral Scientist, 50(8), 1070-1087.

Case, P. F. (2008). The relationship of race and criminal behavior: Challenging cultural explanations for a structural problem. Critical Sociology (Sage Publications, Ltd.), 34(2), 213-238.

Chamlin, M. B., Burek, M. W., & Cochran, J. K. (2007). Welfare policy as social control. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 18(2), 132-152.

Charnovitz, S. (2011). The illecitimacy of preventing NGO participation. Brooklyn Journal of International Law, 36(3), 891-910.

Chattoe, E. (2006). Using simulation to develop testable functionalist explanations: A case study of church survival. British Journal of Sociology, 57(3), 379-397.

Demerath III, N. J. (1996). Who now debates functionalism? from system, change and conflict to "Culture, Choice, and Praxis". Sociological Forum, 11(2), 333.

Dereli, E., & Karakuş, Ö. (2011). An examination of attachment styles and social skills of university students. Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology, 9(2), 731-744.

Diehl, D., & McFarland, D. (2010). Toward a historical sociology of social situations. American Journal of Sociology, 115(6), 1713-1752.

Donaldson, L. (2005). Following the scientific method: How I became a committed functionalist and positivist. Organization Studies (01708406), 26(7), 1071-1088.

Duncan, J., & Ley, D. (1982). Structural Marxism and human geography: A critical assessment. Annals of the Association of American Geographers, 72(1), 30-59.

Faia, M. A. (2002). Differential equation modeling as a source of theoretical insight: Four disparate examples. Quality & Quantity, 36(2), 169-195.

Green, C. D. (2009). Darwinian theory, functionalism, and the first American psychological revolution. American Psychologist, 64(2), 75-83.

Guada, J., Hoe, M., Floyd, R., Barbour, J., & Brekke, J. (2012). How family factors impact psychosocial functioning for African American consumers with schizophrenia. Community Mental Health Journal, 48(1), 45-55.

Heiskala, R. (2001). Theorizing power: Weber, Parsons, Foucault and neostructuralism. Social Science Information, 40(2), 241-264.

Hiddleston, E. (2011). Second-order properties and three varieties of functionalism. Philosophical Studies, 153(3), 397-415.

Horton, M., & Poston, T. (2012). Functionalism about truth and the metaphysics of reduction. Acta Analytica, 27(1), 13-27.

Knudsen, M. (2010). Surprised by method--functional method and systems theory. Forum: Qualitative Social Research, 11(3), 1-18.

Lee, J. A., & Phillips, S. J. (2006). Work and family: Can you have it all? Psychologist-Manager Journal, 9(1), 41-57.

Littlewood, R. (2009). Functionalists and zombis: Sorcery as spandrel and social rescue. Anthropology & Medicine, 16(3), 241-252.

Mestrovic, S. G., & Lorenzo, R. (2008). Durkheim's concept of anomie and the abuse at Abu Ghraib. Journal of Classical Sociology, 8(2), 179-207.

Patterson, Silver Wolf (Adelv unegv Waya),David A. (2010). Analyzing HIV/AIDS and alcohol and other drug use as a social problem. Journal of Gay & Lesbian Social Services, 22(3), 211-225.

Puig, N., & Vilanova, A. (2011). Positive functions of emotions in achievement sports. Research Quarterly for Exercise & Sport, 82(2), 334-344.

Sánchez-Cuenca, I. (2008). A preference for selfish preferences: The problem of motivations in rational choice political science. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 38(3), 361-378.

Sánchez-Cuenca, I. (2008). A preference for selfish preferences: The problem of motivations in rational choice political science. Philosophy of the Social Sciences, 38(3), 361-378.

Seli, G. (2009). Fine-grained functionalism: Prospects for defining qualitative states. Philosophical Psychology, 22(6), 765-783.

Simon, W., & Gagnon, J. H. (2003). Sexual scripts: Origins, influences and changes. Qualitative Sociology, 26(4), 491-497.

Staubmann, H. (2007). Functional and causal analysis in Parsons' theory of action. Conference Papers -- American Sociological Association, , 1.

Strawn, A. M. (2009). Social theory in the function of education. Petroleum - Gas University of Ploiesti Bulletin, Educational Sciences Series, 61(1), 35-40.

Tolpin, M. (2009). A new direction for psychoanalysis: In search of a transference of health. International Journal of Psychoanalytic Self Psychology, 4, 31-43.

Willetts, P. (2006). The Cardoso report on the UN and civil society: Functionalism, global corporatism, or global democracy? Global Governance, 12(3), 305-324.

Zafirovski, M. (2010). The Merton theorem revisited and restated: Conservatism and fascism as functional analogues. American Sociologist, 41(2), 142-173.