Talcott Parsons

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Talcott Parsons
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Biographical Information

• Son of a congregational Minister
• Majored in Biology
• He was converted to social sciences but biology
  did play a major role in his works
• The influence of Marx and Weber in his studies.
• Taught at Harvard until 1973
• Continued with works in sociobiology and other
  disciplines
• Reference point for more modern theories

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Parsons System Levels

• There are four systems in his theory of action
  cultural, social, personality, and the
  behavioural.
• Basic unit of analysis is meaning in the cultural
  system
• A key concept being socialization
• Role interaction being the basic unit of analysis
  in the social system.
• The definition of plurality

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Levels Cont...

• Basic unit of analysis is the individual actor in
  the personality system.
• The human being in its biological sense as being
  the basic unit of analysis in the behavioural
  level.
• His view of socialization illustrates how all of
  these systems are interrelated.

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Parsons Theory of Action

• Starts with the role player or actor-single or
  collectivity.
• See illustration (handout)
• 1.Actor as motivated
• 2.Action takes place in a situation
• 3. Means and conditions
• 4. Cannot ignore the rules of the game

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Parsons Four Function Paradigm

• He wanted to reduce the lack of certainty in his
  theory of action.
• The AGIL model
• The concept of social equilibrium and its role in
  the four function paradigm.
• AGIL adaptation, goal attainment, integration
  and latent patter maintenance.
• Handout

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Parsons Sick Role

• Background information
• Illness is not simply a matter of biological and
  psychological condition.
• The influence of Frueds Psychoanalytic theory.
• Sick role is also a social role
• Parsons viewed sickness as a type of deviant
  behaviour
• Sickness as dysfunctional
• The concept of equilibrium

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Components of Sick Role

• Criminals are punished but the sick are provided
  with therapy.
• The exemptions and exclusions of the sick
• 1. The sick person is temporarily excused from
  normal social roles
• 2. The sick person is not held responsible for
  the illness.

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Acceptance of Obligations

• In order to be granted exception, patients
• 1. want to get well.
• 2. are expected to seek medical advice and
  cooperate with medical experts.

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Major contributions

• Description of a pattern set of variables which
  defines what is normal for the sick.
• The patient-physician relationship
• The sick role has stimulated a large body of
  research in medical sociology.
• Some examples...

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Criticisms of the Sick Role

• 1. The sick role does not account for
  variability.
• 2. The sick role is applicable in describing
  acute illnesses.
• 3. The sick role does not account for the variety
  of settings.
• 4. The sick role is more applicable to
  middle-class patients with middle-class values.

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Symbolic Interactionism

• The labelling approach to sickness
• Individual strategies in coping with sickness
  passive cooperation to positive action.
• Based on the view of deviant behaviour being
  subjective.
• Eg. Marijuana users
• Social groups make rules and norms about
  behaviours.
• A vehicle for explaining illness behaviour.

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Labelling Theory and Illness Behaviour

• Freidsons model
• Three types of legitimacy involved
• 1. Conditional legitimacy
• 2. Unconditional legitimacy
• 3. Illegitimacy

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Criticisms of Labelling Theory

• A critical variable is the social audience
• It does not explain what causes deviance
• If deviant acts may share similarities, these
  characteristics can be more important than the
  reactions of the audience.
• It does not explain why certain people commit
  deviant acts and others do not.

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Is Sickness Deviant?

• In this perspective useful for sociological
  inquiry? Is it true?

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Sick and Disabled

• Illness disrupts our daily routine, causing
  varying degrees of suffering and threatening
  future plans.
• Acute illnesses versus chronic afflictions.
• The chief business of those who are chronically
  ill or afflicted with disease.

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Goffmans Stigma

• Contributed the most to intellectual progress-
  Robert Merton
• Born in Alberta in 1922
• Taught at Berkley until 1969.
• Was most influenced by Mead as evident by the
  focus on the self.
• His work on mental hospitals-stripping of the old
  self (total institutions)

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Goffmans Stigma

• An attribute which is deeply discrediting.
• The difference between the discredited and the
  discreditable.
• There are three main forms of stigma for Goffman
  
• 1. Abominations of the body.
• 2. Blemishes of individual character.
• 3. The tribal stigmas of race.

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Stigma cont...

• Stigma represents a rupture between the
  individuals virtual and actual social identity.
• Trying to portray normal as much as they can.
• Can have a negative impact on self-concept but
  remember it is imposed on individuals by society.
  
• Concealing methods.

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Four dimensions of Stigma

• Fife and Wright
• 1. Social rejection
• 2. Financial insecurity
• 3. Internalized Shame
• 4. Social Isolation