The functionalist thoery can be traced to a movement in the late nineteenth-century under the influences of Darwinism on the biological and social sciences. ... Some of the more famous functionalists are Charles Darwin, Emile Durkheim, and Horace Kallen. Horace Kallen's article in the article in the Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, states that functionalism has influenced every discipline. ... In Adam Ferguson's An Essay on the History of Civil Society, he states that the conflict theory of society has reevaluated the importance of specific institutions so that social order can b...

• Word Count: 542
• Approx Pages: 2
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Consequently, future generations of these species will be better adapted for the new environment (Darwin 354-55). People of the late nineteenth-century adapted Charles Darwin's theories on evolution to justify the social stratification between the wealthy and the poor; the notion of "natural selection" was changed by socialists to best suit their needs. Proponents of Darwin's ideas were referred to as Social Darwinists, who firmly believed that those at the top of the social ladder were undoubtedly better than those who resided at the bottom. ... When the Time Traveler reaches the f...

• Word Count: 1341
• Approx Pages: 5
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Social: The growing wealth of the wealthy advanced the style of living in the middle and upper classes to a point where the Victorian had to struggle for things his father had been able to ignore. ... Many of the middle class, now that they had political standing and social opportunities, were eager to acquire the education, or at least the veneer of culture, which they lacked. ... Political, social and economic power was no longer held solely by the upper classes. ... As social dissolution occurred, the centre of life became the individual, and it is only through dissolution that the in...

• Word Count: 1835
• Approx Pages: 7
• Grade Level: Undergraduate

Light, D. et al (1982:550) defined social change as variations overtime, in the behaviour patterns, culture, and structure of society. ... Social and political changes appear to continuities and discontinuities in a group of people. Social and political changes happen everywhere and at any time although the rate may vary depending on many factors. Some social and political changes are unintended, unplanned and often generate controversy. ... Modern day liberalisation has attached certain values to issues of change e.g. integration, conformity, social solidarity, harmony, freedom of expression...

• Word Count: 3485
• Approx Pages: 14
• Has Bibliography
• Grade Level: Undergraduate