While manifest functions consciously and intentionally aim to achieve beneficial results, latent functions are neither conscious nor intentional, but also generate benefits. These are indeed unintended positive consequences. Bell, Kenton, ed. 2015. In: Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved 11 October 2022. (sociologydictionary.org/manifest-function/) While Talcott Parsons tends to emphasize the manifest functions of social behavior, Merton sees attention to latent functions as an extension of the understanding of society: the distinction between manifest and latent forces the sociologist to go beyond the reasons that individuals give for their actions or for the existence of customs and institutions; It leads them to look for other social consequences that allow the survival of these practices and shed light on the functioning of society. The latent functions of a school include teaching students to follow the rules, giving them the opportunity to socialize, attending events, etc. However, the obvious function of a school is the education of children. In sociology, a function is a sequence of social practice or structure that has a positive effect on society and influences structural continuity. Latent functions are the positive consequences of an institution or other social phenomena that are unintended and often unrecognized. But the obvious functions are the positive consequences that are planned and planned.
However, both functions have positive effects and are beneficial to society. In addition, if a consequence of a social practice is negative and harmful, it is called dysfunction. Obvious dysfunctions are expected disruptions to social life. For example, an obvious malfunction of a festival can include transportation disruptions and excessive waste generation. [6] Latent dysfunctions are unintended and unforeseen disturbances of order and stability. In the example of the festival, they would be represented by people who do not have a job due to traffic jams. [6] Overt functions are the consequences that people see, observe, or even expect. It is explicitly stated and understood by the participants in the respective action. The overt function of a rain dance, which Merton used as an example in his 1957 social theory and social structure, is to produce rain, and this result is desired and desired by the people participating in the ritual. [3] [4] The iPad was an even bigger success, especially since it had a new feature that allowed it to read the drawing. However, research data on the stops shows that they have not achieved the obvious function of making the city safer, as the vast majority of those arrested have been found innocent.
On the contrary, the policy led to the latent dysfunction of racial harassment, since the majority of those affected by the practice were black. Latino and Hispanic boys. Stop and search have also left racial minorities unwelcome in their own communities and neighbourhoods, unsafe and threatened with harassment in their daily lives, and foster distrust of police in general. Continuing the above examples, sociologists recognize that social institutions produce latent functions in addition to manifest functions. The latent functions of the educational institution include the formation of friendships between students enrolled in the same school; providing entertainment and socialization opportunities through school dances, sporting events and talent shows; and feeding poor students with lunch (and breakfast, in some cases) when they would otherwise go hungry. In addition, manifest functions come from all kinds of social actions. But we discuss them mostly as the results of the work of social institutions such as religion, education, the family and the media. For example, the obvious function of the media is to inform the public about important news. Moreover, manifest functions are also the product of social policies, laws, rules and norms. Latent functions are those that are neither recognized nor intended. A latent function of a behavior is not explicitly stated, recognized, or intended by the people involved.
This is how they are identified by observers. [4] In the example of the rain ceremony, the latent function reinforces the identity of the group by providing a regular opportunity for group members to meet and engage in a common activity. [3] The American sociologist Robert K. Merton set out his theory of manifest function (as well as latent function and dysfunction) in his 1949 book Social Theory and Social Structure. The text, ranked by the International Sociological Association as the third most important sociological book of the 20th century, also includes other theories of Merton that made him famous in the discipline, including the concepts of reference groups and self-fulfilling prophecies. The first two on this list fulfil the latent function of promoting and strengthening social ties, group identity and sense of belonging, which are very important aspects of a healthy and functional society. The third fulfills the latent function of redistributing resources in society in order to alleviate the poverty of many people. Manifest and latent functions are social science concepts developed by anthropologist Brownislaws Maliknowski in 1932 during the study of the Trobiand Islanders in the Western Pacific. It was later modified for sociology by Robert K. Merton. [1] Merton seemed interested in refining conceptual tools for functional analysis.
As part of his functionalist perspective on society, Merton took a close look at social actions and their effects, finding that manifest functions can be defined very specifically as the positive effects of conscious and conscious actions. Overt functions arise from all kinds of social actions, but are most often discussed as a result of the work of social institutions such as family, religion, education and the media, as well as a product of social policy, laws, rules and norms. When performing a functional analysis, dysfunctions are consequences of structural elements that cause changes in the surrounding social system. The flame of the candle system flickers. The structural cause would be described as dysfunctional. The steady-state of the candle has been disturbed or altered. The concept provides the only relief for the conservative bias inherent in structural functionalism. Dysfunction refers to the mechanism by which social change within a social system is detected. Whether this change is overt or latent is a relatively simple empirical question. Whether this change is good or bad seems to require interpretive criteria that no social science paradigm provides for functional analysis.
Generally speaking, and here on the basis of the system model first developed in medicine, a coherent bundle of social structures (e.g. Zulu culture) treated as a social system includes those parts (structural elements) that act in such a way that they help maintain the homeodynamic balance of the system of which they are an element. Manifest functions are the obvious and intended consequences that a structural feature shows in maintaining the steady state of the system to which it belongs. Latent functions are less obvious or unintended consequences. Overt and latent functions contribute to the immutable continuity or stasis of the social system. In this very specific sense, both can be interpreted as useful and positive. Latent functions, on the other hand, are positive effects of an institution or other social phenomena that are unintended and often unrecognized.