Beginning with historical particularism, it is the first American-born school of anthropology, founded by the “father of American Anthropology” Franz Boas. It was also born out of rejecting the previous social ideas of scientific racism as well as parallel evolution. Boas was originally trained in the physical sciences and shifted toward anthropology when he began to study Inuit migration patterns (McGee & Warms 2012: 112). He became an advocate of fieldwork, encouraging his students to collect detailed, in-depth studies of the culture being studied. Boas trained a number of great anthropologists that drew inspiration from him, one that included Alfred Kroeber. Kroeber was a theorist in historical particularism; however, he did stray from Boas …show more content…
Armchair anthropologists, Sir Edward Burnett Tylor, and Herbert Spencer, who studied Nineteenth-Century Evolutionism, influenced functionalism theoretically (McGee & Warms 2012: 151). Functionalism did not collect data the same way nineteenth-century evolutionist did; it relied heavily on fieldwork, much like historical particularism. Functionalism viewed societies as timeless and therefor did not account for social change. One of the main key figures during the popularity of functionalism would be the “father of participant observation” Bronsiloaw Malinowski. Malinowski is important to functionalism like Boas is to historical particularism. Functionalism can be divided into two different branches. There is psychological functionalism, as well as structural functionalism. Psychological functionalism is interested how societies function to meet the psychological need as well as basic needs. This school of thought is linked to Malinowski. Malinowski believed that all cultures have the purpose to “satisfy seven needs: nutrition, reproduction, bodily comforts, safety, relaxation, movement and growth,” (McGee & Warms 2012: 152). This idea is based on psychological needs and not necessarily physical ones. Structural functionalism studies how societies maintain equilibrium and the status quo. A.R. Radcliffe-Brown is attributed to the school of structural functionalism along with influence from sociologist Emile Durkheim (McGee & …show more content…
Both schools of thought strongly suggest if not require their anthropologist to spend a long period of time with the people they are studying. Franz Boas worked closely with the Kwakiutl for his entire life (McGee & Warms 2012: 112). Similarly, Paul Radin worked with the Winnebago for approximately fifty years (McGee & Warms 2012: 116). It is also highly encouraged that the anthropologists should learn the local language and not rely solely on a translator to communicate with the natives. Boas affirmed, “the categories of language compel us to see the world arranged in certain definite conceptual groups” (Boas 2012: 124). Boas suggests that anthropologists must view their work from an emic perspective. An emic perspective is learning and understanding a culture by participating being enriched in the surroundings. The only way to fully understand and become part of the culture is to learn the language. Benjamin Whorf, a linguist who developed the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis, also promoted the importance of language. He states that language shapes how humans perceive the world around them and also influence how they behave (Whorf 2012: 117). This idea of fieldwork is still valued and practiced in today’s anthropological studies. However, Boas’s student Kroeber differs slightly with this idea. Kroeber was not as interested with the idea of focusing
The field of anthropology looks at culture more analytically than any other social science. Cultural anthropologists are concerned with describing and analyzing societies and cultures as life ways. In attempting to study the life way of the Center members anthropologically, Myerhoff is beginning with the preconceived notion that there actually is a culture that exists among the individuals. It seems that she begins her research with certain assumptions about this culture. However, as her studies progressed, it is clear that she realized that her research would need to be much more intense than she had planned in order to fully unders...
Robbins, R. H. (2014). Cultural anthropology: a problem-based approach (Second Canadian ed.). Itasca: F.E. Peacock.
Functionalism views society as the stability and assimilation of a range of forces that function within it. While society is a separate entity with a life of its own, there are individual elements contributing to that stability. Functionalism as a sociological theory emphasizes assimilation rather than the dissociation of society. Therefore, the society is seen as a whole that is compromised of parts which give one another their identity and their function. The part, whether that is education, such as a school, or sports, such as a football team, operates in relation to the other parts, and cannot be entirely understood in isolation from the other parts. All the parts are interrelated, and when there is a disturbance in any one of the parts, is when you can see the interdependence. But what is important about this theory is that “there will always be some reorganization and tendency to restore equilibrium” (Wallace and Wolf 17). Functionalist do not believe it’s crucial that the people involved in the society to be aware of this interconnectedness anymore than the brain and heart consciously realize that they work together as an organism.
In the book titled Around the World in 30 Years, Barbara Gallatin Anderson’s makes a precise and convincing argument regarding the acts of being a cultural anthropologist. Her humor, attention to detail, and familiar analogies really allow for a wholesome and educating experience for the reader. Her credible sources and uniform writing structure benefits the information. Simply, the book represents an insider’s look into the life of a cultural anthropologist who is getting the insider’s look to the lives of everybody
Everyone goes through stages of life and everyone goes through them differently, there are some people that will go through life and not have any problems. While there are some people who will go through life and then will get a disease that will slowly kill them. Does getting a disease in old age make it harder for a person to live the rest of their life out? The functionalist perspective would best explain the expected outcomes, because it tries to help out society and make sure there is some stability.
The variation between Psychofunctionalism and Functionalism brings forth a difference in specifying outputs and inputs. Functionalists are restricted to specification of outputs and inputs that constitutes common-sense knowledge; Psychofunctionalists are not bound by such restrictions. Whereas both sides lay emphasis on physical specification outputs and inputs, Functionalists are keen on classifications that are externally observable. Psychofunctio...
Functionalism is the doctrine that what makes up a particular mental state doesn’t depend on the what it’s made with or how it’s built, but the way it functions or the role it plays within its system. They say that mental states are defined by functional roles and mental kinds are functional kinds. They say that things with minds are just things put together in the right way. As long as something can play the ‘functional role’ that defines, pain for example, then that thing has pains.
Embarking on a journey of anthropological fieldwork will undoubtedly include a plethora of setbacks. At its foundation, fieldwork requires developing rapport with the native people in order to gain access of genuine knowledge pertaining to the specific culture being studied. Subsequently, social communication between the researcher and the native people is a key component to the entire process; yet simultaneously it is a root of the many problems a researcher can encounter while in the field. It is no secret that the cultural background of the researcher can often highly contrast the culture he or she enters during fieldwork. This initial cultural adaptation one must undergo while doing anthropological fieldwork is what many in the realm describe as culture shock.
This essay will examine what a Marxist Sociologist is and what are the differences between Marxism and other Sociological perspectives. One key focus of this essay will be on Karl Marx’s conflict theory and two other sociological perspectives namely; Functionalism and Social action theory. Another key focus of this essay will be to contrast the dissimilarities of the ideologies and beliefs of functionalism and conflict theory. This essay will discuss these sociological theories over other perspectives in sociology due to the influential impact these theories have had on the development of later sociological theories. To contribute additional comparison of sociological theories this essay will examine and contrast Max Webber’s social action
Structural Functionalism or what I call just functionalism, is just another theory that has society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. This approach looks at society through the macro-level of orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape society as a whole, and believes that society has evolved like organisms. This approach looks at both social structure and the social functions. Functionalism has society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms and customs, traditions, and institutions. There is a common analogy, popularized by Herbert Spencer that presents these parts of society as "organs" that works towards the proper functioning of the "body" as a whole. In the most basic terms, it simply emphasizes "the effort to impute and the rigorously as possible, to each feature, custom, or even practice the effect on the functioning of a supposedly stable and cohesive system.
In this essay, the main focus will be on functionalism and its theory from the philosopher Hilary Putnam. This essay will explain what functionalism is and will show examples of functionalism, and how it is used daily in people’s lifestyles. Putnam’s theory is ingenious, but has its flaws, which will be explained in more detail down below. The philosopher Frank Jackson has an objection towards functionalism and theory of the mind as a whole. I do believe that functionalism can provide a complete account of the nature of mind, but Putnam has minor flaws in his theory and my reasoning’s come from Jackson’s theory. My objection towards Putnam’s theory is towards the lack of experience; if there is a lack of experience then, there is no functionalism,
When an anthropologist does fieldwork there are many advantages and disadvantages. One thing an anthropologist must do in order to gain a rewarding experience during his trip to visit another civilization in figuring out the best was to proceed into the certain field he or she is studying. The anthropologist must at first be somewhat familiar with the culture of the area or civilization. (Culture-The totality of socially transmitted behavior patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought.) They must be somewhat familiar with the language of a particular area as well. If one is very unfamiliar with ...
who led the founding of the Berliner Gesellshaft für Anthropologie, Ethnologie und Urgeschichte (Berlin Society of Anthropology, Ethnology and Prehistory), his academic formation gave Boas a strong liberal tradition and an attitude towards race, which rejected the theories that recognized the existence of racial hierarchies based on cultural differences (Stocking, 1974). In 1883, as part of his training at the University of Heidelberg, Boas set out on his first expedition with the two gains of mapping the Canadian Arctic coastline and indulging his new interest in culture, which as a result of the journey, became interest in finding what determines human behaviour. "A year of life spent as an Eskimo among Eskimos", Boas (1938, p. 202) said, "had a profound influence upon the development of my views, […] because it led me away from my former interests and towards the desire to understand what determines the behaviour of human beings." His study of indigenous people, of their appearance, their language and traditions, allowed him to overcome the concept...
...were not accepted by modern Psychology, modern psychology will not be known as it is today if structuralism and functionalism were not founded as schools of thought.
Before discussing the American functionalist school of psychology it is important to analyse the early roots of psychology . From approximately 600 to 300 BC in the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Greece there has been philosophical interest in the mind and behaviour. The Egyptians, despite their experience believed that the heart was the seat of consciousness however Greek philosophers such as Aristotle believed that the heart was the seat of the mind and that the brain did not have a role in sensation and movement, he argued that “the brain is not responsible for any of the sensations at all. The correct view is that the seat and sources of sensation is the region of the heart” (Gross, C. G., 1995). Greek philosophers such as Socrates and Plato speculated on issues seen in modern psychology such as pleasure, pain, knowledge and mental illness.