SOCIOL 1Z03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Talcott Parsons, Anomie, Social Darwinism

• School: McMaster University
• Department: Sociology
• Course: SOCIOL 1Z03
• Professor: All

Document Summary

Page 4 of 5: society produces the individual 3. Smallest unit of social analysis is the family 5. Parts of society are interrelated and interdependent 6. Modern social changed create fear and anxiety 9. Functionalism (herbert spencer, emile durkheim, talcott parsons, robert merton) social world is a dynamic system of interrelated and interdependent parts. Social structure exist to help people fulfil their wants and desires -human society is similar to an organism, when it fails to work together the "system" will fail. Society must meet the needs of the majority. Herbert spencer -survival of the fittest justifies why only the strong should survive. Societies evolve because they need to change in order to survive. Environmental pressures allow beneficial traits to be passed on to future generations. Social darwinism draws upon darwin"s idea of nature selection; asserts societies evolve according to the same principles as biological organisms. Laissez-faire approach (opposes regulation of our interference with natural processes)