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Talcott Parsons
Harvard Professor of Economics, and
then Sociology, 1927-1973
Founded the Department of
Social Relations combining
Sociology, Anthropology,
and Psychology, 1944
Key works:
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Talcott Parsons
and Grand Theory
The dominant figure in American sociology if not worldwide from the mid-1940s to the mid-1970s. (Bell, 1979)
Talcott Parsons was probably the most prominent theorist
of this time, and it is unlikely that any one theoretical
approach will so dominate sociological theory again.
(Turner 1998)
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Goal Attainment
Refers to establishing priorities among
system goals and mobilizing system
resources for their attainment
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Talcott Parsons:
The Social System
Integration
Denotes coordinating and maintaining
viable interrelationships among system
units
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Talcott Parsons:
The Social System
Latency
Embraces two related problems
Pattern Maintenance
Pertains to how to ensure that actors in the social
system display the appropriate characteristics
Motives
Needs
Role-playing
Tension Management
Concerns dealing with the internal tensions and
strains of actors in the social system
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ADAPTATION
Economic:
Energy for
Environmental
Interactions
INTEGRATION
Cultural-Legal
System:
Institutions of
socialization and
social control
ACTION SYSTEMS
within
PARSONS AGIL
MODEL
GOAL ATTAINMENT
Political:
Selective
Group-Determination
LATENT PATTERN
MAINTENANCE &
TENSION
MANAGEMENT
Kinship (family)
System:
Values and Norms,
Beliefs and Ideologies
Bare Materials (Human Nature)
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Integration
Coordinating various relationships within
the sports world
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Tension Management
Dealing with internal tensions and strains of
actors in the social system
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INCREASED SOCIAL
STRAIN
Critical mass
Dissatisfaction
Value inconsistencies
DEVELOPMENT OF MEANINGFUL
IDEOLOGY
Acceptable claim to legitimacy
Symbols with wide appeal
Coherent
Relevant
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