Analyse & Kritik

Journal of Philosophy and Social Theory

Suchergebnisse

"Gerry Mackie"

Titel: Functionalist Socialization, Family and Character
Autor: Gerry Mackie
Seite: 40-59

Abstract: According to functionalism, the family internalizes and transmits society's supposed value consensus from one generation to the next, and such socialization explains morality, social order, and cultural uniformities. I present three investigations that challenge the concept of functionalist socialization, and propose alternative theories that may better explain observations. First, I present evidence from developmental psychology based largely on American subjects and an ethnographic report from Burkina Faso which suggest that the characters of children are not formed by parental socialization. Second, I report data from Europe which suggest that the weaker is family and its supervision, the stronger is character and internalized morality. Third, I report an account of European modernization which suggests that weaker family ties broaden extrafamilial associations and generalize moral orientation. Finally, I suggest that Schelling's game-theoretic account of social conventions is a better explanation of cultural continuities and discontinuities than is functionalism.

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Funktionalismus
2002 (24) Heft 1

Editorial
Vor gut 50 Jahren wurde die amerikanische Soziologie fast vollständig von T. Parsons' Programm des 'strukturellen Funktionalismus' dominiert. Erst in den 1960er Jahren begann das strukturfunktionale Programm an Einfluss zu verlieren, als seine auf Bestanderhalt und Stabilität ausgerichtete Grundidee mit der sich rapide verändernden Gesellschaft des sich verschärfenden Vietnamkriegs, der black-power-Bewegung und der Studentenrevolte in zunehmenden Widerspruch geriet. Starke Armut und einseiti...

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