2nd Edition

The Social System

By Talcott Parsons Copyright 1991
636 Pages
by Routledge

636 Pages
by Routledge

This book brings together, in systematic and generalized form, the main outlines of a conceptual scheme for the analysis of the structure and processes of social systems. It carries out Pareto's intention by using the "structural-functional" level of analysis.

1. The Action Frame of Reference and the General Theory of Action Systems: Culture, Personality and the Place of Social Systems 2. The Major Points of Reference and Structural Components of the Social System 3. The Structure of the Social System, I: The Organization of the Components into Sub-Systems 4. The Structure of the Social System, II: Invariant Points of Reference for the Structural Differentiation and Variation of Societies 5. The Structure of the Social System, III: Empirical Differentiation and Variation in the Structure of Societies 6. The Learning of Social Role-Expectations and the Mechanisms of Socialization of Motivation 7. Deviant Behavior and the Mechanisms of Social Control 8. Belief Systems and the Social System: The Problem of the "Role of Ideas" 9. Expressive Symbols and the Social System: The Communication of Affect 10. Social Structure and Dynamic Process: The Case of Modem Medical Practice 11. The Processes of Change of Social Systems 12. Conclusion: The Place of Sociological Theory Among the Analytical Sciences of Action

Biography

With a new preface on interpreting Parsons by Professor Bryan S. Turner, University of Essex.