This paper examines the contributions of Bronislaw Malinowski to twentieth-century anthropology, with particular focus on his development of participant observation and his functionalist theory of culture. It traces the origins of Malinowski's fieldwork methodology in the Trobriand Islands and explains how his approach differed from earlier anthropological methods. The paper outlines the core principles of functionalism — including the view of society as an interdependent system oriented toward meeting individuals' basic biological and social needs — and discusses how Malinowski elaborated these ideas in A Scientific Theory of Culture and "The Groups and the Individual in Functional Analysis."
Bronislaw Malinowski is one of the twentieth century's most prominent and influential anthropologists. He is highly regarded for his pioneering work in the field of ethnographic fieldwork, making major contributions to the study of Melanesia and of reciprocity. Malinowski's work can best be described as operating from a functionalist approach to society.
The majority of Malinowski's work occurred in the field, studying the cultures of numerous indigenous peoples. Early in his career, he traveled to what is now Papua New Guinea in order to study the local people. When World War One broke out, Malinowski found himself stranded on the island and, compelled partly by loneliness, decided to participate fully in Trobriand society. During this time, he learned the native language and bonded closely with the people. It was also during this unintentional period of immersion that he developed his theory of participant observation, which is now a key methodological approach within functionalist anthropology.
Prior to Malinowski's work, anthropologists tended to conduct their fieldwork through structured interviews while maintaining a deliberate distance from their subjects. Malinowski's participant observation was based on the argument that anthropologists must have daily contact with their subjects if their intent is to adequately record the "imponderabilia of everyday life that is so essential to understanding a different culture." According to Malinowski's theory, the goal of the anthropologist is to "grasp the native's point of view, his relation to life, to realize his vision of his world."
Based on this fundamental belief in participation, Malinowski went on to develop the school of social anthropology known as functionalism. Malinowski's version of functionalism was established in contrast to Radcliffe-Brown's structural functionalism in that Malinowski argued that "culture functioned to meet the needs of individuals rather than society as a whole." Accordingly, "when the needs of individuals, who comprise society, are met, then the needs of society are met."
Using a functionalist approach to anthropology, the feelings of people and their motives are essential to understanding the way a society functions. The only way to truly gain this knowledge and understanding is through active participation within the society. Malinowski states: "Besides the firm outline of tribal constitution and crystallized cultural items which form the skeleton, besides the data of daily life and ordinary behavior, which are, so to speak, its flesh and blood, there is still to be recorded the spirit — the natives' views and opinions and utterances." This recording of the spirit in order to understand a society is the essence of functionalism.
Functionalism is the sociological paradigm that attempts to explain all social institutions as collective means necessary to fulfill an individual's basic biological needs. It also encompasses a social institution's ability to fulfill an individual's social needs, including the need for social stability.
As a theory, functionalism studies the structure and workings of a given society. A functionalist sees society as being comprised of interdependent segments that work together in order to fulfill the functions needed for the society as a whole to survive. To accomplish this, the individuals who make up the society are socialized into roles and behaviors, each of which fulfills a specific need of the society. Thus, according to a functionalist, all behavior is structural — that is, aimed at accomplishing a specific societal goal. For this reason, the functionalist views rules and regulations as being created in order to organize the relationships between the various members of society.
According to functionalism, societal values also play an important role in governing a society by offering general guidelines for acceptable behavior through the establishment of roles and norms. For example, such societal institutions as the family, economy, education, and government are essential aspects of social structure, with each institution playing a role related to those of the other institutions. In this sense, individuals become interconnected through these institutions and thereby form a community.
Functionalism is based on three fundamental concepts. First, functionalism views society as a system — a collection of interdependent parts, each exhibiting a tendency toward equilibrium. Second, in order for a society to survive, certain functional requirements must be satisfied; reproduction is a clear example, since without it a population cannot persist. Third, all societal phenomena and trends exist for the sole reason that they serve a specific function in society; in other words, nothing occurs without a purpose. With these core concepts in mind, one can say that a functionalist regards society as essentially a living organism: like a living organism, it is comprised of interdependent parts working together to form systems that function collectively so that the greater body may survive.
"Scientific basis and institutional categories in functionalism"
"How groups and individuals fulfill cultural functions"
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