For this week's topic of discussion we were required to first explore the theorist on our own, and then we discussed that theorist more in depth in the class period. Talcott Parsons was the theorist that we took the time better understand. After exploring the theorist on my own I felt like I had a pretty good grasp and understanding on his concepts, but after discussing him more depth in class I was able to identify more of his theories in todays society.
One of the theories that I was most able to apply in todays society was Parsons theories on the tasks that must be performed for a system or subsystem to survive. These tasks consist of four portions which are, adaptation, goal attainment, integration and latency. Adaptation means how well a system or subsystem as able to adapt to its environment. The second portion is goal attainment. This is literally what it sounds like. Parsons is saying for a system to be successful, they must be able to identify goals and achieve them. The third part of his theory is called integration. When Parsons identified integration as a part that a system must have to be successful, he was meaning to have a hierarchy, or different levels inside of the system. The fourth and final portion that a society needs to be successful is latency. latency meaning, clear norms and values of the institution. Parsons felt that inorder for a system to be successful in general they must be successful in these four categories.
An example of system that I see these theories applying to in today's society is an organization called, Compassion International, you can check out this organization here, http://www.compassion.com/.
Compassions main goal is "Christian child sponsorship organization dedicated to the long-term development of children living in poverty around the world." Compassion International fights daily to reach this goal. This organization by having a goal alone meets Parsons standard of being successful by his findings. I feel Parson was correct when setting these four keys to reaching success inside of a system. However, I do feel that there are other important aspects of being a successful system and I think if a system were to only focus on the four portion that Parsons identified, it may fail. I think each system on an individual basis has different standards that it needs to set and attain on its own.
I love that you found your own example of a social system and applied it to Talcott Parson's concepts. Based on his theory if a system just focused on the 4 aspects it should be a perfectly sustainable social system, however I agree that there may be other things that a social system needs to survive. But, I can really see how if a system only meets a few of his key aspects it will fail. I think we can see in any unsuccessful system that it is lacking one of these aspects.
ReplyDeleteI really like how you kept the factual portion of this brief but to the point. It was very easy to follow and read. I also really like the different examples you gave and I think they helped me better understand the concepts.
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