1、“An Outline of the Social System”,Talcott Parsons, 1951,Talcott Parsons,Born December 13, 1902 in Colorado Springs, CO his father was a Congregational minister and active in the social reform movement known as the Social Gospel movement. Relatively little information about him before he went to Amhe
2、rst Graduated from Amherst College with a major in biology, leisure and tourism, and philosophy. Went to London School of Economics (LSE). Reputation for intellectual excellence and a radical political stance on the part of many of its staff grounding in sociology Met wife Helen Walker married to fo
3、r whole life,continue Parsons,WWII important lag time for Parsons - the deaths of his elder brother and of both parents between 1940 and 1943 seem to have played a part in what he thought of “as a major failure of his career-the inability to complete a major monographic study of medical practice at
4、that time, based on his empirical work” University of Heidelberg with Ph.D. in sociology and economics Most works influences by time spent with the Program in Social Relations (1946) 1949 elected president of the American Sociological Association Very prominent American Sociologist teaching at Harva
5、rd In 1953/4 Parsons traveled to England - visiting chair of social theory at Cambridge. He was asked to give the annual Marshall Lectures that academic year, with the theme of the relations between economic and sociological theory Died May 8, 1979,Structural Functionalism and Ideas,Main focus Struc
6、tural Functionalism Social Systems/Institutions subsystems, roles, the normative order, and the interpretation of situations by social actors Pattern Variables Gratification/discipline actors emotional involvement Private/collective needs to individual or wider population Universalism/particularism
7、action to particular person Achievement/ascription interaction and achievements Specificity/diffuseness range of roles an actor has Society Breakdown Cultural system symbols for expressions Personality system unique identity Social system modes of interactions between actors,Sociocultural Evolutioni
8、sm,The change in cultures and societies over time Provides models for understanding relationship between technologies, social structure, the values of society, and how/why changes occur over time. Mechanisms of variation and social change,Then how does a society maintain itself?,AGIL & subsystems of
9、 action,A - The function of adaptation. Adaptation is another consequence of goal plurality. With providing additional disposable facilities independent of their relevance to any particular goal. G - The function of goal-attainment. Goal-attainment becomes a problem in so far as there arises some di
10、screpancy between the inertial tendencies of the system and its needs resulting from interchange with the situation. I - The function of integration. In the control hierarchy, integration stands between the functions of pattern-maintennce and goal-attainment. The system as a whole is concerned most
11、with the allocation of rights and obligations. L - The function of pattern maintenance. The function of pattern maintenance refers to the imperative of maintaining the stability of patterns of institutionalized culture defining the structure of the system.,Advocate of “grand theory,“ an attempt to i
12、ntegrate all the social sciences into an overarching theoretical framework Most influential works: The Structure of Social Action (1937) The Social System (1951) Early work The Structure of Social Action (1937) inspired by work from Max Weber, Vilfredo Pareto, and Emile Durkheim Main goal: “action t
13、heory” human action is voluntary, intentional, and symbolic Pattern variablesTodays Readings focused on early developing theories and Social Systems,Parsonss Works,The Structure of Social Action (1937) The Social System (1951) Economy and Society - with N. Smelser (1956) Structure and Process in Mod
14、ern Societies (1960) Societies: Evolutionary and Comparative Perspectives (1966) Sociological Theory and Modern Society (1968) Politics and Social Structure (1969) The American University - with G. Platt (1973) Social Systems and the Evolution of Action Theory (1977) Action Theory and the Human Cond
15、ition (1978),“The Position of Sociological Theory” (1948),Five important postulates:Must be recognized as fundamentally important to any science. Must have social systems. Must conform to the “structural-functional” type. Must be formulated within an “action” frame of reference Must be framed in ter
16、ms of genuinely operational concepts.,1. Fundamental Importance,Some of the highest levels of scientific development need the theoretic system in order to conceptualize ideasWhen people recognize fundamental importance, social science will mature and have more “predictive power” in the science realm
17、,2. Social Systems,“theoretical scheme which articulates our own field with others which are equally part of the same broader fundamental system.”,3. “Structural-Functional” Type,Does not currently fit the analytical mechanics, but this is most desired state because it would cover a wider range of e
18、mpirical analysis (Pareto)“by use of structural categories it simplifies dynamic problems to the point where a significant proportion of them became empirically manageable with the observational and analytical resources we can hope to command in the near future”,4. “Action” Frame of Reference,CANNOT
19、 be completely behavioristic Excluding point-of-view of actor Essential in order to understand the foundation of “motivational categories,” which include: attitudes, sentiments, goals, complexes, etc.,5. Genuinely Operational Concepts,“have theoretical categories of such a character that the empiric
20、al values of the variables concerned are the immediate products of our observational procedures” Currently approach is not possible for most fields of social sciences,Methodological Prerequisites of the Formulation of a System,1. Analysis of the action frame of reference Actor vs. Situation Not phys
21、ical or biological “Analysis of the situation must be fully integrated with the analysis of the action itself” Three fundamental modes of orientation: cognitive, goal directed, and affective.,2. The functional prerequisites of the social system System of social action involving a “plurality of inter
22、acting individuals” Two primary foci: Coordinating activities so that they do not negatively affect each other and contribute into the system Adequacy of motivation,3. The bases of structure in social systems Stable patterns between actors or roles and social relationships Important aspects: Institu
23、tionalization Differentiation,Importance of Institutions,Structural differentiation and integration patterns Dynamic interrelationships of institutions and culture Motivation of institutional behavior Motivation of deviant behavior/social control concerns Dynamic theory of institutional change,Funct
24、ional differentiation,structured units acquire specialized significance in the functioning of the system social interaction is bound to the physical task performance of individuals in a physical environment; it is bound to spatial location in the physical sense spatial location is the community aspe
25、ct of social structure, which can be broken down into four complexes residential location and the social structure around it functional task-performance through occupation, and its locational problems jurisdictional application of normative order through the specification of categories and persons,
26、and the relevance of this to the spatial location of their interests and activities physical demands of communication and of the movements of persons and commodities,“An Outline of the Social System” (1961),Technology,Technology relates to physical demands, but is also based on cultural resources an
27、d their significance as a means for social action,Outlining the structure of complex society as a social system,can be regarded as: the maintenance of its patterns of institutionalized culture at the value level the integration of its system of differentiated norms the coordinated handling of extern
28、al situations,Boundaries,The boundaries of a society tend to coincide with the territorial jurisdiction of the highest-order units of a political organization,In history, the collective values of a society have been concentrated in both religion and politics. Law has been legitimized by religion and
29、 enforced by political authority often interpretation has been debated in the western world, since the Christian era, there has been a separation of church and state individualism social theory advocating the liberty, rights, or independent action of the individual moral community shifted from relig
30、ious organization to an organization which included both religious and secular aspects shift to a politically organized community although values still anchored in religion “In God We Trust” Values now embodied by judicial and legislative agencies,Other main points to article:,While there are limita
31、tions on physical force as an authority, control of a superior socially organized force usually prevents undesired action political organization is organized around the attainment of collective goals maintenance of states of interaction between system and its desirable environment the maintenance of
32、 security against outside, adverse force political organization must also be integrated with legal system the differentiation at highest level of societal organization described as a function of 4 sets of factors societal values that are institutionalized the degree and mode of their institutionaliz
33、ation kind and level of structural differentiation of society kinds of situational exigencies to which the system is exposed,Problem of Structural Change,sources of tendencies toward change consist of external tendencies to change in the cultural systems in the social system change in the genetic co
34、mponents within populations, which impact behavior and social role-performance changes in physical environment change originating in other politically organized systems war, government interrelations, cultural borrowing,Problems of Structural Change continued,internal sources, “strains” if strain (t
35、endency to disequilibrium between two or more units of a system) becomes great enough, the mechanisms of control will not be able to maintain that conformity and avoid breakdown of the structure relieving strain resolution restoring conformity with normative expectations arrestation/isolation full c
36、onformity is not restored, however, some accommodation is made by which is accepted change in structure itself,Aftermath:,the impact of these tendencies on the affected structural components and the possible consequences possible generalizations about trends and patterns of change,exogenous endogeno
37、us,Structural Components of the Social System,The Pattern-alternatives of Value-Orientation as Definition of Relational Role-expectation Patterns,The analysis of the differentiation of a social structure must start with the patterns the enter into its relational institutions Social Structure brings
38、out a limited number of ranges which, in their simplest form can be defined as polar alternatives of possible orientation-selection,The Gratification-Discipline Dilemma,Affectivity vs. Affective Neutrality,Contd.,The “ultimate interest of any actor is in the optimization of gratification Affectivity
39、-No actor can subsist without gratifications, while at the same time no action system can be organized or integrated without the renunciation of some gratifications which are available in the given situation,CONTd.,Affectivity-Neutrality formulates the patterning out of action with respect to the ba
40、sic alternative, in direct orientations to the social objects with whom as actors interact in a role, and in its relevance to the structure of the expectations of his action in that role,The Private vs. Collective Interest Dilemma,Self-Orientation vs. Collectivity Orientation,Contd.,Focuses on the s
41、ame intrinsic problem as Affectivy vs. Affective-Neutrality but, is approached from the other end, as it were, namely the permissibility of his pursuing any interest “private” to himself as distinguished from those shared with the other members of the collectivity in which he plays a role.,Contd.,A
42、role, then, may define certain areas of pursuit of private interests as legitimate, and in other areas obligate the actor to pursuit of the common interest of the collectivity May be called “Collectivity-Orientation”,The Choice Between Types of Value-Orientation Standard,Universalism vs. Particulari
43、sm,Contd.,Concerns not subordination to vs freedom from certain value standards whatever their content, but the type of value-standard which is defined as relevant to the role-expectation.,The Choice Between “Modalities” of the Social Object,Achievement vs. Ascription,Contd.,Concerns its application
44、 to the definition of ideal states of affairs where they differ from a given initial state Concerns characteristics of the object which maybe selected as the focus of orientation,The Definition of Scope Interest in the Subject,Specificity vs. Diffuseness,Contd.,A particular instrumental or expressiv
45、e orientation or interest has a certain specificity such that is capable of clear analytical segregation from the other or from moral orientations Diffuseness-alternative to specificity, to treat the object as significant in an indefinite plurality of specific orientation contexts.,Discussion Questi
46、ons:,Looking at social systems today, can you identify some that have been successful in maintaining themselves? What about systems that have failed? Why did they fail?Parsons ideas were not taken well in America why do you think this is? Which aspect of his teachings do you think was most controver
47、sial?,Introduction,Empirically social systems are conceived as open systems engaged in interchange with environing systems, which include: Cultural and personality systems Behavior and other subsystems of an organism And the physical environment This also implies boundaries and their maintenance “A
48、boundary means that a theoretically and empirically significant difference between structures and processes internal to the system and those external to it exists and tends to be maintained” There are three “bases or axes of variability” also called “bases of selective abstraction,” which are import
49、ant in analyzing a system:,1. Structural and Functional Modes of Analysis,Distinction between “structural” and “functional” references for analysis Structural focuses on elements of the patterning of the system that are independent of smaller fluctuations in the relation of the system to its externa
50、l situation Example: The American Constitution has been a stable reference point over time, because although society has changed and it has been adjusted, it has, for the most part, remained constant in important elements Functional relates to the problem of mediation between exigencies: those from the constancy of a structure and those imposed by the situation a system is in,
