Question

Robert Merton explained that what is functional for people in one category of a society's population ________

Answer 1

Answer:may not be functional for people in another category of a society's population.

Explanation:

Answer 2

Answer:

Robert Merton explained that what is functional for people in one category of a society's population may not be functional for people in another category.

Explanation:

Robert Merton was a Sociologist in the United States. He followed the works of Emile Durkheim and developed the theory known as the STRAIN THEORY. The Strain theory posits that societal pressure is placed on individual members of the society to achieve social standard/view of "success" without having the means to attain such success. For instance, society believes one is successful when one has monetary success and places pressure on individuals to achieve such monetary success despite not having the means to achieve it.

The Strain theory thus lies in the "pressure" caused by the society to achieve what they deem to be a success.

Robert Merton also made efforts to create a difference between Manifest function and Latent function to distinguish between social behaviors.

According to him, Latent function involves functions that cannot be seen by people in a social setting while Manifest function involves social patterns that can be seen by individuals in a society.