Sociological Theory

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Functional School of Thought

From the 1940s the functional perspective in sociology emerged as the most dominant theoretical school in the discipline and it continued to rule for two decades. It was mainly the American sociology where functionalism prospered. It is considered as the most disputed sociological perspective in the history of sociology. Quite appropriately, Don Martindale commented that the most primary theoretical and methodological debates in post-war social science have centred on functionalism and alternatives to it. It is true that beyond the 1960s the functional school lost its appeal and vigour, but it continued to impress sociological thinking as an alternative qualified version of the orthodox paradigm came to existence. ...