Robert K. Merton's Theories

Robert K. Merton's "distinctions between manifest and latent functions (those consequential activities that are present in the actor's mind and those that are not)" (Coser 567) gives sociological analysis a realistic foundation missing from other analysts' work. Merton's manifest and latent functions allow him to focus on the effects of the actor's mixed motivations, choices, and social constraints: "People . . . are not free to act as they please, but have alternative modes of action. These, however, are structurally patterned and institutionalized" (Coser 566).

Randall Collins writes that Merton's sociological contribution in functional terms is

a two-level inquiry, showing how the surface of our beliefs and actions is determined by a structural basis below. Merton interpreted the structural basis as a tendency of the society to maintain itself. There are manifest functions, which are results that people consciously try to attain, and latent functions, which are produced by the action of the social system itself (Collins 198).

Merton's analysis of latent and manifest functions is crucial to a comprehensive understanding of society and its actors because it refuses to accept surface appearance as reality, and because it also refuses to accept any institution---legitimate or illegitimate---as free from functional influences.

For example, as Collins points out, the "machine politics" of big American cities was so firmly entrenched not simply because it was well-funded

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ists have certainly argued that we are affected by others and that we pretend, now and again, to be something or somebody that we are not. Goffman, however, goes much further than others, declaring that we are always playing a role to fit the expectations we think others have of us: We are forever on stage, even when we may believe that we are most spontaneous and sincere in our responses to others. We can never manage, even in madness, to escape the presence of others and the prepotent tendency to shape ourselves according to their expectations (Coser 576-577). There is a close parallel between the ideas of Goffman and Cooley in one regard, but there is also a clear difference. Both sociologists believe that the individual is shaped to some degree by social contact, by one's perception of others and others' perceptions of one, as well as mutual expectations and perceived expectations. On the other hand, there is a great difference in terms of the prevailing human consciousness which each of the two thinkers describes. With Cooley, we are at least left with the possibility that we can be real, whatever the influences of others, while with Goffman there seems to be no opportunity to be real, or authentic, outside of the rol

Category: Psychology - R