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Manifest and latent functions are social scientific concepts first clarified for sociology by Robert K. Merton. Merton appeared interested in sharpening the conceptual tools to be employed in a functional analysis.
Contents
Manifest functions are conscious, deliberate and beneficial, the latent ones the unconscious, unintended and beneficial, and dysfunctions are unconscious, unintended and harmful. While functions are intended (manifest) or unintended (latent), and have a positive effect on society, dysfunctions are unintended or unrecognized (latent) and have a negative effect on society.
Functions
Manifest functions are the consequences that people observe or expect. It is explicitly stated and understood by the participants in the relevant action. The manifest function of a rain dance, used as an example by Merton in his 1967 Social Theory and Social Structure, is to produce rain, and this outcome is intended and desired by people participating in the ritual.
Latent functions are those that are neither recognized nor intended. A latent function of a behavior is not explicitly stated, recognized, or intended by the people involved. Thus, they are identified observers. In the example of rain ceremony, the latent function reinforces the group identity by providing a regular opportunity for the members of a group to meet and engage in a common activity.
Peter L. Berger describes a series of examples illustrating the differences between manifest functions and latent dysfunctions:
While Talcott Parsons tends to emphasize the manifest functions of social behavior, Merton sees attention to latent functions as increasing the understanding of society: the distinction between manifest and latent forces the sociologist to go beyond the reasons individuals give for their actions or for the existence of customs and institutions; it makes them look for other social consequences that allow these practices’ survival and illuminate the way society works.
Dysfunctions
Dysfunctions can also be manifest or latent. While functions are intended or recognized (manifest), and may have a positive effect on society, dysfunctions are unintended or unrecognized (ld have a negative effect on society.
Manifest dysfunctions are anticipated disruptions of social life. For example, a manifest dysfunction of a festival might include disruptions of transportation and excessive production of garbage. Latent dysfunctions are unintended and unanticipated disruptions of order and stability. In the festival example, they would be represented by people missing work due to the traffic jam.
Medical science model
Using the systems model, originally developed in medical science, we can understand a complex bundle of interrelated social structures, such as Zulu culture, as a social system. In this framework, the various parts or structural elements of the culture function to maintain the homeodynamic equilibrium of the system. Within this system, manifest functions refer to the clear and intended consequences of a structural feature that help maintain the system's stability. Conversely, latent functions are those consequences that are less obvious or unintended. Both types of functions, manifest and latent, play a role in preserving the ongoing stability or stasis of the social system. Thus, from this perspective, both manifest and latent functions can be seen as beneficial and positive to the system's continuity.
In conducting a functional analysis, dysfunctions are consequences of structural elements that produce changes in their environing social system. The flame of the candle system flickers. The structural cause would be labeled dysfunctional. The candle’s steady state has been disturbed or changed. The concept affords the only relief to structural-functionalism’s inherent conservative bias. Dysfunction signifies the mechanism by which social change is evidenced within a social system. Whether that change is manifest or latent is a relatively simple empirical question. Whether that change is good or bad would seem to require interpretative criteria not afforded by a social scientific paradigm for functional analysis.