From Unilineal Cultural Evolution to Functionalism Essay

From Unilineal Cultural Evolution to Functionalism Several anthropological theories emerged during the early twentieth century. Arguably, the most important of these was Functionalism. Bronislaw Malinowski was a prominent anthropologist in Britain during that time and had great influence on the development of this theory. Malinowski suggested that individuals have certain physiological needs and that cultures develop to meet those needs. Malinowski saw those needs as being nutrition, reproduction, shelter, and protection from enemies. He also proposed that there were other basic, culturally derived needs and he saw these as being economics, social control, education, and political organization Malinowski proposed that the culture†¦show more content†¦She described cultures as being of four types Apollonian, Dionysian, Paranoid and Meglomaniac. Benedict used these types to characterize various cultures that she studied. The most famous exponent of the school of Culture and Personality is Margaret Mead. Margaret Mead was a student of Franz Boas and Ruth Benedict. Though in the course of her career she would eclipse the fame of her tutors, particularly the latter. Mead’s first field study was on the Pacific Island of Samoa, where she studied the lives of the adolescent girls in that culture. From this field study, she produced her famous work Coming of Age in Samoa (1949). In this work, she investigated the relationship between culture and personality by comparing the lives of adolescents in Samoa to those of American youths. She concentrated particularly on the sexual experiences of the girls she studied in Samoan culture; drawing the conclusion that the sexually permissive atmosphere of Samoan culture produced healthier less â€Å"stormy† adolescents than that of her own more repressed American culture. The theories of Culture and Personality and Functionalism addressed and rebutted many of the more quaint aspects of the Evolutionary and Diffusionist theories of the nineteenth century. The methodology developed by these pioneers is still in use by anthropologists today. That is, participant observation and a complete involvement in the culture and language of the people beingShow MoreRelatedFieldwork in Various Anthropological Schools of Thought Essay1167 Words   |  5 PagesCultural anthropology is a social science that studies the origins and development of human societies (History World International, 2001). Many theories to explain cultural variations among humans have emerged. As a result, numerous anthropological schools of thought have been established based on these theories since the nineteenth century. These schools of thought encompass the dominant beliefs about culture during a time period and are constantly changing as new knowledge is acquired. As schoolsRead MoreS ummary of the Development of Anthropological Theory from the XIX century to the Present XXI century2646 Words   |  11 Pagesthoughts and theories evolving throughout time. The purpose of this essay is to summarize the development of anthropological theory from the late nineteenth century to the present twenty-first century. The concept of Degeneratism was a widely popular theory spanning from the Renaissance to the early nineteenth century. Degeneratism is â€Å"a biblical based explanation of cultural diversity†¦ [where] prior to the destruction of the Tower of Babel, all people belonged to God. When God destroyed the Tower, [it]Read MoreGender Inequality In Society1808 Words   |  8 Pagesand answer the question to the problem of gender inequality. Only through history can we see where the true problem started and how to successfully solve it. Historicism supports the claim that gender inequality exists within cultures, however, functionalism suggests that gender roles exist to maximize social efficiency. It sees society as a complex system and creates a division of labor through gender norms to suggest women are homemakers while men are the providers. While the functionalist perspective