Relevance: Sociology Paper I: Sociological Thinkers
CONCEPT OF FUNCTION
Perhaps it is not difficult to describe the term function. You already know how your society functions. You read a newspaper. And you know that it informs you of the world around you. You go to your university or to your workplace. And you know that it provides education and knowledge and prepares you for the world you are going to enter. In the case of your workplace, it has a certain organization and way of functioning. Or as a voter you cast your vote and elect your representatives, because you would like your views to be represented. In other words, it is not difficult for you to understand that all that constitutes of your society, be it the newspaper you read, the university you rely on for your studies, the place of your work, the democratic institutions in which you participate, helps you to relate creatively and positively to your society. In other words, social institutions tend to intensify the degree of your participation in your society as an insider, as an active member. The result is that the cohesiveness of the society is established. This is precisely the function of social institutions.
Function is precisely this contribution that brings order, unity and cohesiveness in a society. Again, there are some functions you are aware of and there are some other functions you are not aware of. Ask yourself why, as a student, you are regularly asked to sit for examinations. The examinations, you know, test your knowledge, enable you to work hard and, as a result, you get stimulated to sharpen your skill and intelligence so that you can become a better member of the society. This is undoubtedly the manifest function of the examinations. We are sure that you are aware of it.
But that is not all. The examinations serve another function which you may not be aware of. The examinations tend to convince you that there are ‘good’ students and ‘not so good’ students; not everyone is equal; merit or intelligence or knowledge is not evenly distributed. In other words, these examinations, in the ultimate analysis, induce you to accept that even in a democracy some kind of hierarchy is unavoidable. This acceptance reduces the possibility of conflict. In fact, this is a lesson of adjustment. Society retains its order, unity, and cohesiveness, despite its inherent inequality or hierarchy. This is the latent function of the examination system, the deeper meaning of which you may not always be aware of.
This brief introduction is likely to arouse your interest. You are now eager to know how Merton redefines functional analysis. But before that you ought to be clear about the concept of function. Merton wants you to examine and re-examine this concept from different perspectives so that its analytical significance comes through clearly. You will find a detailed elaboration of this in his famous book Social Theory and Social Structure.
Different Meanings of Function
Remember when, as a student of sociology, you are using the word ‘function’, you have to be aware of its difference from other connotations assigned to the same word. As Merton says, there are generally five connotations assigned to the word ‘function’.
First, function often refers to some public gathering or festive occasion, usually conducted with ceremonial overtones. And as Merton says, and you too may well anticipate, this popular usage of function does not have the slightest similarity with the sociological concept you are dealing with.
Secondly, the term is often equated with occupation. But this is not what a sociologist is interested in.
Thirdly, function is often used to refer to the activities assigned to the incumbent of a social status. For example, the function of a kindergarten teacher is to educate the child; the function of a doctor is to cure his or her patient and so on. Yet, says Merton, this definition is not sufficient. According to Merton such an understanding diverts attention from the fact that functions are performed not only by the occupant of designated positions, but by a whole range of standardized activities, social processes, cultural patterns and belief systems found in society.
Fourthly, function has got a mathematical meaning. It refers to a variable in relation to one or more variables in terms of which it may be expressed.
But, as Merton says, it is the fifth connotation, which is central to functional analysis. The inspiration behind this usage has been the biological sciences, where the term function is used to refer to these ‘vital or organic processes which contribute to the maintenance of the organism’
A.R. Radcliffe-Brown, the noted social anthropologist, used this connotation in social sciences. ‘The function of any recurrent activity’, according to Radcliffe-Brown, ‘is the part it plays in the social life as a whole and therefore the contribution it makes to the maintenance of structural continuity’. According to Malinowski, another noted anthropologist, the function of social or cultural items is the part they play within the integral system of culture by the manner in which they are related to each other within the system
Now it is for you to reflect on this special connotation of ‘function’ which, as a student of sociology, you are expected to use time and again. There are two things that you ought to remember.
First, what you call society is not chaotic. It has an order, a structure. In other words, all that constitutes your society, its innumerable parts like polity, economy, religion, family, education cannot be seen in isolation. All parts are integrally related. It is this inherent relationship that sustains the society.
Secondly, in order to appreciate the inherent relationship, you have to see how each part contributes to the maintenance of the inherent order and structure. It is this contribution that is called function. So you can say, education has got a function, precisely because the contribution of education is that it gives you knowledge and skill and, as a result,society both coheres and progresses.
Objective Consequences and Subjective Dispositions
It is at this juncture that Merton would invite you to raise a meaningful question, who would decide the function of a social institution or a cultural practice? The participant or the observer?
It would be easier for you to appreciate the meaning of this question if you think of a living example. For instance, someone is about to get married and you ask her why is she getting herself into it. What is its function? It is quite possible that she, the participant, may tell you that she is marrying for the fulfilment of her human needs and her need for love. But, then, Merton would say that the participant is confusing her own subjective motives with the real, objective function of marriage. The objective function of marriage or family is not love but the socialization of the child.
That is why, says Merton, the concept of function involves the standpoint of the observer, not necessarily that of the participant. In other words, social function refers to observable objective consequences, not subjective dispositions. A school child may think that he goes to school because he finds his friends there; but the function of school is something else; it is to add to and aid in the growth of knowledge that the society needs in order to sustain itself.
In other words, in order to see the function of a social institution or a cultural practice, it is not sufficient for the social scientist to remain contented with the subjective dispositions or the motives an actor attaches to it. Instead, the social scientist has to see the objective consequences: how really does the institution contribute to the cohesiveness of the society.
Function, Dysfunction, Manifest Function and Latent Function
It is now clear that functions are those observed consequences, which make for the adaptation or adjustment of a given system. But, then not everything is functional. Not everything helps to make for the adaptation of a system. So, Merton uses another concept called dysfunction. Dysfunctions, according to Merton, are those observed consequences, which lesson the adaptation or adjustment of the system.
Imagine your own society. Modern India, you would agree, intends to be mobile, democratic, participatory and egalitarian. In such a society the institution of caste, far from having a function, has dysfunctions. Instead of intensifying the democratic ideal, caste tends to lessen the degree of mobility, democratization and participation. That is why, castes may be classified as dysfunctional.
With these clarifications it is no longer difficult for you to come to the main problem, manifest function and latent function. Be it a manifest function or a latent function, it is the objective, observed consequence which makes for the adaptation or adjustment of a given system. There is, however, only one difference and it goes to the credit of Merton that he is able to bring it out sharply and intelligently. Whereas the participants are aware of the manifest function, they are not aware of the latent function. In other words, the latent function is neither intended nor recognized.
Why is this so? This is because the participants can see what is immediately visible; they cannot always see the deeper or latent meaning of what they do. But for social scientists, the task is to go beyond the common sense perception of the participants and see the latent consequences of social practices.
Think of Emile Durkheim’s famous analysis of the social functions of punishment. Its immediate, manifest function is obvious. Everyone knows it. It reminds the criminal that society would not permit his deviance. But, then, it has a latent function too, which is not generally recognized. The latent function of punishment, Durkheim would argue, is not what happens to the criminal; instead, it is deeper; it intensifies society’s faith in its collective conscience; the punishment of the criminal is an occasion that reminds the society of its force and its collective morals.