iews society as the sum total or "integration" (226) of various forces interacting organismically within it. Society as a whole is conceived as an entity with a life of its own. Whatever its individual elements may consist of, they result in formation of a social collective, also called a "conscience collective" (226). Individual elements within the collective may be representative of that organic whole. As a practical matter, this means that the society created by the elements supersedes individual consciousness of particular features--whether persons or groups--within the integrated whole.
The position of the individual in society analyzed as functionalist is measured either mechanically or organically, but always in relation to the society as integrated organism. To varying degrees, Radcliffe-Browne and Parsons assume a general impulse toward social integration and shared social outlook. That outlook is the focus of many different individual social outlooks, and it is highly "structured" rather than in a constant state of conflict or chaos. Functionalism's main assumption is that individuals have a mutual interest in the coherence of social units and subunits, where Durkheim's view of the division of labor comes into play. This concept operates as a natural law governing human interaction. As interaction becomes more complex and labor divisions become more specialized, the moral structures of society tend toward an organic collective conscience, because no single person or group can provide for all its wants and needs. Rather, individual constituents of a society rely upon one another and so constitute the society itself. In other words, a fully developed society itself is characterized by complex division of labor that is nevertheless (or for that very reason) a coherent whole.
Swingewood says that as a theory functionalism emphasizes social integration rather than dissociation. But functionalism is relevant to social complexi...