Functionalist

• functionalist view of strat

  social inequality is necessary and beneficial
• not all roles of society are equal

  most talented do the most important jobs
• Durkheim says : maintaining social cohesion ensures survival through shared norms and values
• durkheim says stratification binds people together by:

  • divisions of labour make people interdependant and rely on the roles of others
  • edcuation transmits societies values and allocates roles
  • stratification gives people a purpose within structure
• parsons - strat maintains social order and value consensus by:

  • shared belief in what roles deserve status
  • inequality encourages people to strive for success
  • modern society values achieved over ascribed status which promotes social mobility
• davis and moore say strat ensures roles are filled by the most capable individuals by:

  • some roles being more functionally important than others e.g surgeons
  • these roles requiring scare skills and long training periods
  • incentivise with high reward like high pay to attract candidates
  • this creates an unequal reward system and a role hierarchy