Last Updated on August 27, 2026 by Karl Thompson
These functionalism revision notes bring together everything you need for the A-level sociology exams: the key ideas, the main thinkers, and how functionalism is applied across the specification. Use them to consolidate before short-answer and 10- and 20-mark questions.
Functionalism is examined as part of Theory and Methods, mainly on Paper 3 (Crime and Deviance with Theory and Methods) and also on Paper 1 (Education with Theory and Methods).
The two companion posts:
Functionalism in Sociology: An Introduction — if you are meeting the perspective for the first time.
The Functionalist Perspective: Durkheim and Parsons Explained — the theory in depth, for essay-level detail and evaluation.
Functionalism Summary Mind Map
Introduction: society as a system
- Historical context: the 1890s to the 1950s
- Parsons uses the term “organic analogy” to describe society
- Parsons sees three similarities between society and a biological organism: both are self-regulating, both have needs, both have sub-systems performing specific functions
Emile Durkheim (1858–1917) — the first ever Professor of Sociology
- Concerned with understanding the rapid social change brought by industrialisation
- Traditional society based on mechanical solidarity and a strong collective conscience
- Industrial society is more complex, producing change and anomie; the challenge of modernity is achieving organic solidarity
- Society exists as a separate entity above its members, as a system of social facts, affecting people irrespective of their individual thoughts and feelings
- Studied suicide to demonstrate this
Talcott Parsons
- Society is based on value consensus and social order
- Society needs individuals to be integrated, achieved through socialisation and social control
- The social system has four basic needs (AGIL): adaptation and goal attainment (instrumental), integration and latency (expressive)
- Social change is gradual and evolutionary — societies move from simple to more complex forms
Robert Merton
- Three internal critiques: not everything is necessary, not everything is interconnected, some institutions are dysfunctional
- Latent and manifest functions: unintended and intended, so functions are more complex than Parsons suggested
Overall evaluations
- ✓ Durkheim’s suicide study — the patterns still hold today
- ✓ Governments treat society as a system when making policy
- ✓ Development theory treats societies as systems
- ✗ Logical criticism — functionalism is teleological, explaining an institution’s existence by its effect, and that effect may not be necessary
- ✗ Conflict perspectives — it ignores power inequality and exploitation
- ✗ Action perspectives — it is deterministic
- ✗ Postmodernism — society is not as stable, orderly or predictable as functionalists suggest
Key studies and examples you can use
- Durkheim’s 1897 study of suicide, and the fact that official statistics show similar patterns today
- Brexit and the divisions it exposed — an illustration of how difficult solidarity based on difference is to achieve
- Musharef in Educating Yorkshire — a school functioning much as Parsons described
- Police and media responses to high-profile crimes, terrorist attacks and the London riots, which appear to reinforce social integration and regulation at the societal level
Functionalism applied to other topics
The Functionalist perspective on the family
- The four universal functions of the family
- Functional fit theory
- Primary socialisation
- Stabilisation of adult personalities
- Traditional gender roles
The Functionalist perspective on education
- Secondary socialisation
- Social solidarity
- Skills for work
- Meritocracy
- Role allocation
Modernisation theory — functionalism applied to development
- Aid injections and the five stages of growth
- Cultural barriers
- The capitalist and industrial model of development
Functionalist and social control theories of crime
- Bonds of attachment theory
- The positive functions of crime
- The inevitability of crime
Functionalist research methods — positivism
- Social facts
- Objectivity
- Official statistics
- Correlations
- Generalisability
- Science
Functionalism Key Ideas in Pictures
Pictures can be a powerful tool for helping remember some of the key ideas within Functionalism, below are some visual representations of some key functionalist concepts….
The Organic Analogy/ society as a system
Institutions in society work together, like organs in a body
Social Structure
Society’s Structure is made up of institutions
Social Facts
Durkheim theorized that social facts were ways of thinking, feeling and acting which were external to the individual and which constrained the individual.
Value Consensus
Society is based on shared values
Social Evolution
Societies gradually become more complex over time.
Mechanical and Organic Solidarity
Functional Fit Theory
The nuclear family emerged to ‘fit’ industrial society
Socialisation
Individuals learn the norms and values of society, within institutions
Stabilisation of Adult Personalities
Traditional gender roles within the nuclear family provide necessary emotional and psychological support for individuals.
Meritocracy
Individuals are rewarded on the basis of effort + ability. Both meritocracy and role allocation are key ideas in the Functionalist perspective on education.
Role Allocation
Where the exam system ‘sifts’ people into appropriate jobs based on their level of achievement
Social Integration
The more connections people have to others and institutions within society, the more integrated they are.
Social Regulation
Social regulation is the extent to which there are clear norms and values (‘rules’) which guide people in life.
Anomie
Anomie is a state of normlessness, brought on by rapid social change or breakdown. Lack of social integration or regulation can both lead to anomie
Applying this in the exam
Functionalism comes up in three ways on Papers 1 and 3.
As the subject of the question — “Outline and explain two criticisms of the functionalist view of society (10)”. There is a worked example of exactly this question.
As the perspective being evaluated in a 20-mark essay, where the mark scheme expects other perspectives used against it. Marxism, feminism and interactionism all do different work here, and using more than one is what separates the top bands.
As the criticism of something else — functionalism is what you evaluate interactionism and postmodernism against on the consensus-conflict and structure-action arguments.
The most common mistake is describing all four of Parsons’ functions and stopping. Description is AO1. The marks are in saying what the evidence does to the claim.
Signposting and Related Posts
These revision notes have been written for students studying Theory and Methods as part of the AQA’s A-level sociology course, examined on Paper 3 (7192/3) and Paper 1 (7192/1).
Functionalism in Sociology: An Introduction — the starting point if the notes above assume too much.
The Functionalist Perspective: Durkheim and Parsons Explained — the depth version, for essay-level detail.
Merton’s internal critique of functionalism · Durkheim on social facts · Durkheim on the role of education
To explore the other perspectives, return to the main social theories for A-level sociology page.
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