2. Born to ill-educated, working class parents, the details of the boys’ lives constitute a veritable catalogue of social ills.
Venables’s parents were unstable and depressed and the father eventually abandoned the family. The boy’s older and younger siblings were both developmentally challenged and he suffered the brunt of his suicidal mother’s physical and verbal abuse. When arrested for the murder of Jamie Bulger, Venables was described as “nearly illiterate”
Thompson’s environment was even worse. The second to the youngest of seven violent and aggressive boys, he was, early on, exposed to the criminal habits of his brothers, one of whom was an arsonist and another who was a master thief. Both parents were alcoholics and the father beat the mother regularly.
Given the effects on the boys of the atrocious environments and their family histories of alcoholism and abuse, could Venables and Thompson be said to be morally responsible for the actions which led to the tragic death of Jamie Bulger?

3. Sociological Perspectives (P1+M1)
FUNCTIONALISM

4. What is a Theory?
A theory sets out to provide an explanation of something.
Sociology is the study of society.
Sociological perspectives or theories seek to explain all aspects of society.

5. The Main seven…
The main seven sociological perspectives that we shall study as part of this health and social care unit are;
Functionalism
Marxism
Interactionism
Feminism
Post modernism
New right
collectivism

6. Functionalism
Functionalism founded in early 19th century and is one of the main perspectives
A main early writer was Emile Durkheim
In 40’s and 50’s American Talcott Parsons was a prominent functionalist writer.

7. What is functionalism?
There are different systems or parts within a society that when put together make the whole. E.g, family, religion, education.
Studied on their own they make no sense.
Therefore, Each has to be studied as a part of the whole in order for it to make sense.
All parts of society are interrelated and when put together they form the complete system.

8. Put another way…
If you were an alien sent from another planet to investigate humans and you returned to your planet with some kidneys and a set of lungs these would not on their own explain to your alien friends how a human body from earth works! You would require a complete body with all the parts included in order to explain how a body functions. Functionalists see society in the same way. All parts are as important as all other parts and must work together.

9. FUNCTIONALISM sees all behaviour in society as structured.
All behaviour is organised in terms of rules. The rules, norms and values are passed down and controlled by culture.
The structure of society is the sum total of Normative behaviour. This is how society remains structured.
All institutions in society (education, family, religion) are made up of interconnected roles and interrelated norms.
E.g, the family is made up of the interconnected roles of husband, wife, mother, father, son, daughter. All of these roles are controlled by a set of interrelated norms. WE LEARN THESE THROUGH SOCIALIZATION…

10. Task THINK ABOUT YOUR FAMILY SITUATION.
WRITE DOWN ALL THE ROLES THAT YOU HAVE TO PLAY WITHIN YOUR FAMILY.
WRITE DOWN SEVERAL KEY EXPECTATIONS (OR NORMAL BEHAVIOUR) FOR EACH ROLE.
What could you do that would be out of the ordinary?

11. Social Functions
Functionalism states that all parts of society have a role to play..
In your groups discuss and write down what you think the social functions of the following are;
1- the family
2- educational establishments
3- work- jobs
what do they actually do/provide us with?
What would happen if we didn’t have them?
How do they link with the others? how does the family support education? How does education support work?

12. Value consensus
FUNCTIONALISM sees all parts of society as having a role to play which fits in with all other parts of society.
functionalists believe that in order for all these parts to fit in and work together there must be value consensus.
Value consensus: The value that is given to something must be the same and be viewed the same by all the different institutions in the society. all of society will play a part in making sure that this value or view continues. ONCE THIS HAPPENS THIS VALUE WILL IN ITSELF CONTINUE TO INTERGRATE ALL THE DIFFERENT INSTITUTIONS.

13. Social Order
Functionalism sees society as having interrelated parts that function together in order for the society to function as a whole.
All of these parts share a value consensus about all sorts of things within the society and all therefore play their own part in maintaining the existence of these values. All of this is possible because of social order.
Social order ensures stability of the various social systems. Social order is the result of shared values, norms and goals. Every part of the society works towards the same goals through shared culture. Thus social order is maintained.

14. In summary How we behave is a direct result of socialisation.
We have little choice in this. We are programmed to behave in certain ways depending on our culture.
Culture is maintained by shared values or value consensus.
Value consensus is maintained by all parts of society being interrelated and working together as one for common goals.
These goals are the value consensus. These goals are also what we aspire to through the socialisation process. And so, the whole process is like a circle.

15. How does this relate to health and social care?
How do you think functionalists would view ill health?
Functionalists view ill health in terms of it being DEVIANT!
If you are ill you cannot participate in your everyday roles and responsibilities. Therefore you are letting down all of the social situations in which you must be involved and those situations cannot operate efficiently.

16. Parsons – sick role What do you think Is met by the sick role?
The sick role is the name given to how you should act when you are ill. If you cannot fulfil your everyday roles you must take on the sick role. So you must act ill. This means you can opt out of everyday life.

17. DISCUSS- WHAT YOU THINK YOU NEED TO DO TO FULLFILL THE SICK ROLE?
YOU MUST;
Take all reasonable steps to get better
Co operate with medical professionals
Take the medicines prescribed
Be cared for and accept help
THIS MEANS;
You can stay in bed and opt out of your normal responsibilities
Phone in sick
Not look after anyone else!
Therefore illness has the function and role of making you better