Question

Which situation would Robert Merton have labeled as dysfunctional? A. After a society decides to save money by reducing funding for education and training, it finds that workers do not have the skills needed for jobs. B. After two friends decide they both want to read more, they visit the public library at least once a week. C. After a community decides to hold a fund-raiser, community workers put up posters announcing the date and purpose of the event. D. After deciding to reduce their spending on food, two friends cook most of their own meals instead of going out to restaurants.

Answer 1

Which situation would Robert Merton have labeled as dysfunctional?

Answer: Out of all the options presented above the one that represents the situation that Robert Merton would have labeled as dysfunctional is answer choice A. After a society decides to save money by reducing funding for education and training, it finds that workers do not have the skills needed for jobs. The reason being that he labeled the negative consequences of a social pattern as social dysfunction.

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