Functions of the social system. social function

Social function of the state is that the state is obliged to provide its citizens with a guaranteed minimum of life's goods, including food, housing, medical care. Social security of the individual involves ensuring the minimum necessary standard of living for everyone. The social function includes a fair distribution of material wealth, the fight against unemployment, material support for certain segments of the population, namely pensioners, the disabled, children, people affected by natural disasters, refugees. In addition, the state is responsible for creating proper conditions for work, recreation, and health improvement of the population.

The social function is diverse in content and large-scale in scope of activity. Its main purpose is to ensure public well-being, to create equal opportunities for all citizens to achieve it.

In the implementation of the social function, a large place belongs to the implementation of state policy in the field of education, science, culture, and the health of citizens. In these areas, the social function is carried out in the form state support(financial, material, program, etc.) educational, educational and scientific institutions as well as cultural institutions. As for the management and organization of their work, they are autonomous, free in their activities, and state intervention is unacceptable here.

social function diverse in terms of types and volume of state activity. Its main purpose is to eliminate or mitigate possible social tension in society, to prevent a large gap between wealth and poverty, to develop health care, education, and culture. The considered function is connected with the concept of the social state. Many states characterize themselves as social. This means that they consider it their important task to take care of all those citizens who, for whatever reason, are not able to provide for themselves a normal existence worthy of a person. The state carries out measures aimed at protecting against unemployment, takes care of children and disabled people.

According to Article 7 of the Constitution Russian Federation“The Russian Federation is a social state whose policy is aimed at creating conditions that ensure a decent life and free development of a person.”

To perform a social function, the state creates funds that are spent on the payment of pensions, benefits, health care, and education. It develops and implements programs that stabilize employment and reduce unemployment. Great success in the social sphere has been achieved by the Scandinavian states, in which state and legal regulation is aimed at achieving economic stability and redistributing income in favor of the poorest segments of the population. These states have a high level of progressive taxation. The state, acting as an equal economic entity, implements the function of ensuring a high standard of living for the population and assumes responsibility for creating decent living conditions for its citizens.

The task of the welfare state is to provide its citizens with the following conditions:

a. Every citizen must have a decent living wage;

b. Every able-bodied person should be able to earn for himself and for the maintenance of the whole family;

c. Disabled people or citizens who for some reason do not have the opportunity to work (children, the sick, the disabled, pensioners, the unemployed, refugees and migrants) should be able to maintain a normal standard of living through the redistribution by the state of funds accumulated by entities participating in the economic life of the country.

In developed countries, the social activity of the state is regulated by a special branch of law - social law. In some European countries, the Social Code has been in force for many years, which brings together the rules on various types social benefits and social security, forms of social assistance (victims of war, families of military personnel, youth, children, families with many children, etc.).

Thus, the social functions of the state are:

Support for socially unprotected segments of the population (unemployed, pensioners, disabled people);

Occupational safety and health of people;

Support for family, motherhood, childhood;

elimination social inequality through the redistribution of income;

Encouragement of charitable activities;

Financial support for educational and cultural programs;

The fight against unemployment.

The social functions of the state are enshrined in a number of international documents: Art. 55 of the UN Charter; Art. 1-a and 1-b of the Statute of the Council of Europe; Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1973

The social function of the state is designed to ensure the social security of the individual, normal living conditions for all members of society, regardless of their direct participation in the production of goods. In the rule of law, the distribution of material goods is carried out in addition to the free equivalent exchange between producers and consumers. The social policy of the rule of law implies: Distribution social benefits, regardless of labor contribution, in order to ensure a decent standard of living for all. 2) The state allocates the necessary funds for health care, cultural recreation, education, housing construction, efficient transport and communications. This ensures the proper implementation of social rights, which should be used to the maximum extent by all citizens of the state. The formation of a social legal state goes through a difficult and long way. Initially, the development and enrichment of society leads to its stratification into classes. Formally, the proclamation of equality reproduces material inequality, which gives rise to a crisis and acute social conflicts in society. And only gradually the rule of law acquires the features of a social state, supplements the guarantees of free development of the individual with material guarantees of social security. This way of social regulation is enforced and supported by the coercive power of the totalitarian state. The opportunity for the top of society to have more high level consumption in comparison with the bulk of the population is created artificially by appropriating the results of someone else's labor, limiting material incentives for labor contribution to the production of social benefits. As a result, this leads to a decrease in social activity, a decrease in the level of scientific and technological progress, a decline in the culture and morality of the people, and leads society to a state of stagnation. Many states characterize themselves as social. This means that they consider it their important task to take care of all those citizens who, for whatever reason, are not able to provide for themselves a normal existence worthy of a person. The state takes measures aimed at protecting against unemployment, takes care of children and disabled people. Thus, Article 39 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation says in particular: “Everyone is guaranteed social security by age, in case of illness, disability, loss of a breadwinner, for raising children and in other cases provided for by law. In the Russian Federation, federal programs for the protection and promotion of public health are financed, measures are taken to develop the state, municipal systems, activities that contribute to the strengthening of human health, the development physical culture and sports, ecological and sanitary-epidemiological well-being (Article 41 paragraph 2). Voluntary social insurance, the creation of additional forms of social security and charity are encouraged (Article 39 paragraph 3). Thus, the state takes various measures to improve the living standards of citizens. Only in conditions of freedom and economic independence of producers of material and spiritual goods is the state able to conduct a fair social policy in relation to the population of the country.

Society is a complex social formation, and the forces operating within it are so interconnected that it is impossible to foresee the consequences of each individual action. In this regard, institutions have overt functions that are easily recognized as part of the recognized purposes of the institution, and latent functions that are carried out inadvertently and may not be recognized or, if recognized, are considered a by-product.

People with significant and high institutional roles often do not realize enough latent effects that can affect their activities and the activities of people associated with them. As good example The use of latent functions in American textbooks is most often cited by the activities of Henry Ford, the founder of the campaign that bears his name. He truly hated the unions big cities, large loans and installment purchases, but as he advanced in society, he stimulated their development more than anyone else, realizing that the latent, hidden, side functions of these institutions work for him, for his business. However, the latent functions of institutions can either support recognized goals or make them irrelevant. They can even lead to significant damage to the norms of the institution.

How does a social institution function? What is its role in the processes taking place in society? Let's consider these questions.

Explicit Functions social institutions. If considered in the general view activity of any social institution, then we can assume that its main function is to satisfy social needs, for which it was created and exists. However, in order to perform this function, each institution performs functions in relation to its participants that ensure joint activities people who want to meet their needs. These are primarily the following functions.
1. The function of consolidation and reproduction of social relations. Each institution has a system of rules and norms of behavior that fixes, standardizes the behavior of its members and makes this behavior predictable. Appropriate social control provides the order and framework in which the activities of each member of the institution must proceed. Thus, the institution ensures the stability of the social structure of society. Indeed, the code of the institution of the family, for example, implies that members of society should be divided into sufficiently stable small groups - families. Via social control the institution of the family seeks to ensure the state of stability of each individual family, limits the possibility of its disintegration. The destruction of the family institution is, first of all, the appearance of chaos and uncertainty, the collapse of many groups, the violation of traditions, the impossibility of ensuring a normal sexual life and high-quality education of the younger generation.
2. The regulatory function is that the functioning of social institutions ensures the regulation of relationships between members of society by developing patterns of behavior. The whole cultural life of a person proceeds with his participation in various institutions. Whatever type of activity an individual engages in, he always encounters an institution that regulates his behavior in this area. Even if some kind of activity is not ordered and regulated, people immediately begin to institutionalize it. Thus, with the help of institutions, a person exhibits predictable and standardized behavior in social life. He fulfills the role requirements-expectations and knows what to expect from the people around him. Such regulation is necessary for joint activities.
3. Integrative function. This function includes the processes of cohesion, interdependence and mutual responsibility of members social groups occurring under the influence of institutional norms, rules, sanctions and systems of roles. The integration of people in the institute is accompanied by the streamlining of the system of interactions, an increase in the volume and frequency of contacts. All this leads to an increase in the stability and integrity of the elements of the social structure, especially social organizations.
Any integration in an institution consists of three main elements or necessary requirements: 1) consolidation or combination of efforts; 2) mobilization, when each member of the group invests its resources in achieving goals; 3) the conformity of the personal goals of individuals with the goals of others or the goals of the group. Integrative processes carried out with the help of institutions are necessary for the coordinated activities of people, the exercise of power, and the creation of complex organizations. Integration is one of the conditions for the survival of organizations, as well as one of the ways to correlate the goals of its participants.
4. Broadcasting function. Society could not develop if it were not possible to transfer social experience. Each institution for its normal functioning needs the arrival of new people. This can happen both by expanding the social boundaries of the institution and by changing generations. In this regard, each institution provides a mechanism that allows individuals to socialize to its values, norms and roles. For example, a family, raising a child, seeks to orient him to the values ​​of family life that his parents adhere to. Government agencies seek to influence citizens in order to instill in them the norms of obedience and loyalty, and the church tries to accustom as many members of society to the faith as possible.
5. Communicative function. Information produced in an institution should be disseminated both within the institution for the purpose of managing and monitoring compliance with regulations, and in interactions between institutions. Moreover, the nature of the institute's communicative links has its own specifics - these are formal links carried out in a system of institutionalized roles. As the researchers note, the communicative capabilities of institutions are not the same: some are specially designed to transmit information (means mass media), others have very limited opportunities for this; some actively perceive information ( scientific institutes), others passively (publishers).

The explicit functions of institutions are both expected and necessary. They are formed and declared in codes and fixed in the system of statuses and roles. When an institution fails to fulfill its explicit functions, it is bound to face disorganization and change: these explicit, necessary functions can be appropriated by other institutions.

latent functions. Along with the direct results of the actions of social institutions, there are other results that are outside the immediate goals of a person, not planned in advance. These results may have great importance for society. Thus, the church seeks to consolidate its influence to the greatest extent through ideology, the introduction of faith, and often achieves success in this. However, regardless of the goals of the church, there are people who, for the sake of religion, leave production activities. Fanatics begin to persecute non-Christians, and the possibility of major social conflicts on religious grounds. The family seeks to socialize the child to the accepted norms of family life, but it often happens that family education leads to a conflict between the individual and the cultural group and serves to protect the interests of certain social strata.

The existence of the latent functions of institutions is most convexly shown by T. Veblen, who wrote that it would be naive to say that people eat black caviar because they want to satisfy their hunger and buy a luxurious Cadillac because they want to buy good car. Obviously, these things are not acquired for the sake of satisfying obvious urgent needs. T. Veblen concludes from this that the production of consumer goods performs a hidden, latent function - it satisfies the needs of people to increase their own prestige. Such an understanding of the actions of the institute for the production of consumer goods radically changes the opinion about its activities, tasks and conditions of functioning.

Thus, it is obvious that only by studying the latent functions of institutions can we determine the true picture of social life. For example, very often sociologists are faced with a phenomenon that is incomprehensible at first glance, when an institution continues to successfully exist, even if it not only does not fulfill its functions, but also prevents their implementation. Such an institution obviously has hidden functions by which it satisfies the needs of certain social groups. A similar phenomenon can be observed especially often among political institutions, in which latent functions are developed to the greatest extent.

Latent functions, therefore, are the subject that should primarily interest the student of social structures. The difficulty in recognizing them is compensated by creating a reliable picture social connections and features of social objects, as well as the ability to control their development and manage the social processes taking place in them.

Relationships between institutions. There is no social institution that would operate in a vacuum, in isolation from other social institutions. The action of any social institution cannot be understood until all of its interrelations and relationships are explained from the standpoint of the general culture and subcultures of groups. Religion, government, education, production and consumption, trade, family - all these institutions are in multiple interaction. Thus, the conditions of production must take into account the formation of new families in order to meet their needs for new apartments, household items, childcare facilities, etc. At the same time, the education system largely depends on the activities of government institutions that maintain the prestige and possible prospects for the development of educational institutions. Religion can also affect the development of education or government agencies. The teacher, the father of the family, the priest or the functionary of a voluntary organization are all affected by the government, since the actions of the latter (for example, issuing regulations) can lead to both success and failure in achieving vital goals.

An analysis of the numerous interconnections of institutions can explain why institutions are rarely able to fully control the behavior of their members, to combine their actions and attitudes with institutional ideas and norms. For example, schools can apply standard educational plans for all students, but the reaction of students to them depends on many factors beyond the control of the teacher. Children whose families encourage and carry out interesting conversations and who join the reading of books that develop them acquire intellectual interests more easily and to a greater extent than those children whose families prefer watching TV and reading entertainment literature. Churches preach high ethical ideals, but parishioners often feel the need to neglect them under the influence of business ideas, political allegiances, or the desire to leave the family. Patriotism glorifies self-sacrifice for the good of the state, but it is often inconsistent with the many individual desires of those raised in families, business institutions, or some political institutions.

The need to harmonize the system of roles assigned to individuals can often be satisfied by agreement between individual institutions. Industry and commerce in any civilized country depend on the support of the government, which regulates taxes and establishes exchanges between individual institutions of industry and commerce. In turn, government depends on industry and commerce to economically support regulations and other government actions.

In addition, given the importance of some social institutions in public life, other institutions are trying to seize control over their activities. Since, for example, education plays a very significant role in society, attempts to fight for influence on the institution of education are observed among political organizations, industrial organizations, churches, etc. Politicians, for example, contribute to the development of the school, confident that by doing so they support attitudes towards patriotism and national identity. Church institutions are trying, with the help of the education system, to instill in students loyalty to church doctrines and a deep faith in God. Manufacturing organizations they are trying to orient students from childhood to the development of industrial professions, and the military - to raise people who can successfully serve in the army.

The same can be said about the influence of other institutions on the institution of the family. The state is trying to regulate the number of marriages and divorces, as well as the birth rate. In addition, it establishes minimum standards for the care of children. Schools are looking for cooperation with the family by creating teachers' councils with the participation of parents and parents' committees. Churches create ideals for family life and try to hold family ceremonies within a religious framework.

Many institutional roles begin to conflict because the person who performs them belongs to several institutions. An example is the well-known conflict between career and family orientations. In this case, we are dealing with clashes of norms and rules of several institutions. Sociological research shows that each institution seeks to the greatest extent possible to “disconnect” the individuals included in it from playing roles in other institutions. Enterprises try to include the activities of the wives of their employees in their sphere of influence (a system of benefits, orders, family vacation etc.). Army institutional rules can also be bad for family life. And here they find ways to include wives in army life, so that the husband and wife are related to uniform institutional norms. The problem of fulfillment by a person exclusively of the role of this institution is most definitely solved in some institutions. christian church where the clergy are released from family responsibilities by taking a vow of celibacy.

The appearance of institutions is constantly adapting to changes in society. Changes in one institution tend to lead to changes in others. After changing family customs, traditions and rules of conduct, a new system social security of such changes involving many institutions. When peasants come from the countryside to the city and create their own subculture there, the actions of political institutions, legal organizations, etc. must change. We are accustomed to the fact that any change in the political organization affects all aspects of our Everyday life. There are no institutions that would be transformed without change into other institutions or would exist separately from them.

institutional autonomy. The fact that institutions are interdependent in their activities does not mean that they are ready to give up internal ideological and structural control. One of their main goals is to exclude the influence of the leaders of other institutions and to keep their institutional norms, rules, codes and ideologies intact. All major institutions develop patterns of behavior that help maintain a certain degree of independence and resist the dominance of people grouped in other institutions. Enterprises and businesses strive for independence from the state; educational institutions also try to achieve the greatest independence and prevent the penetration of the norms and rules of foreign institutions. Even the institution of courtship achieves independence in relation to the institution of the family, which leads to some mystery and secrecy in its rituals. Each institution tries to carefully sort the attitudes and rules brought in from other institutions in order to select those attitudes and rules that can least affect the independence of this institution. The social order is good combination interaction of institutions and their observance of independence in relation to each other. This combination avoids serious and destructive institutional conflicts.

The dual function of intellectuals in relation to institutions. In all complex societies institutions require constant ideological and organizational support and strengthening of the ideology, the system of norms and rules on which the institution relies. This is carried out by two role groups of members of the institution: 1) bureaucrats who monitor institutional behavior; 2) intellectuals who explain and comment on the ideology, norms and rules of behavior of social institutions. In our case, intellectuals are those who, regardless of education or occupation, devote themselves to the serious analysis of ideas. The importance of ideology lies in maintaining loyalty to institutional norms, through which the heterogeneous attitudes of those people who are able to manipulate ideas are developed. Intellectuals Are Called to Satisfy Urgent Needs for Explanation social development and to do so in terms consistent with institutional norms.

For example, intellectuals associated with the political communist institutions set themselves the task of showing that modern history really develops in accordance with the predictions of K. Marx and V. Lenin. At the same time, intellectuals who study political institutions The United States proves that real history is built on the development of the ideas of free enterprise and democracy. At the same time, the leaders of the institutions understand that intellectuals cannot be completely trusted, since in studying the basic foundations of the ideology they support, they also analyze its imperfections. In this regard, intellectuals can begin to develop a competitive ideology that is more suited to the needs of the times. Such intellectuals become revolutionary and attack traditional institutions. That is why in the course of the formation of totalitarian institutions, first of all, they seek to protect ideology from the actions of intellectuals.

The 1966 campaign in China, which destroyed the influence of the intellectuals, confirmed Mao Zedong's fear that the intellectuals would refuse to support the revolutionary regime. Something similar happened in our country in the prewar years. If we turn to history, we will undoubtedly see that any power based on faith in the ability of leaders (charismatic power), as well as power that uses violence, non-democratic methods, seeks to protect the actions of the institution of power from the participation of intellectuals or completely subordinate them to its influence. . Exceptions only emphasize this rule.

So, it is often difficult to use the activities of intellectuals, because if today they can support institutional norms, then tomorrow they become their critics. However, there are no institutions modern world that have escaped the constant influence of intellectual criticism, and there are no features of institutions that can continue to exist for a long time without intellectual protection. It becomes clear why some totalitarian political regimes torn between a certain freedom and the repression of intellectuals. The intellectual most capable of defending fundamental institutions is the person who does so out of a desire for truth, regardless of obligations to institutions. Such a person is both useful and dangerous for the well-being of the institution - useful because he skillfully achieves the protection of institutional values, respect for the institution, and dangerous because, in search of truth, he is able to become an opponent of this institution. This dual role forces fundamental institutions to deal with the problem of ensuring discipline in society and the problem of conflict and loyalty for intellectuals.

A function (from Latin functio - implementation) is the role that a system or a given element of the system (its subsystem) performs in relation to it as an integrity.

Super-complex self-governing systems, which include social systems, are characterized by multifunctionality. This means that, on the one hand, the social system has many functions, but there is another plan: multifunctionality, “combination” of functions is characteristic not only for the system as a whole, but also for its components and subsystems. In a social system there is nothing like what we find in other systems, even one as complex as the brain: a strict localization of functions. In this regard, we can talk about the presence of intra-system solidarity in the society: performing “its” function, the component (subsystem) takes on some of the other functions.

All functions implemented by the social system can be reduced to two main ones.

First, it is a function of preserving the system, its stable state (homeostasis). Everything that the system does, everything that the main areas of human activity are aimed at, work for this function, i.e., for the reproduction of the system. In this regard, we can talk about the subfunction of the reproduction of the components of the system and, above all, the biological and social reproduction of a person, the subfunction of the reproduction of intrasystem relations, the subfunction of the reproduction of the main areas of activity, etc.

Secondly, it is a function of improving the system, its optimization. The question immediately arises: optimizing against what? Obviously, in relation to the natural as well as to the social environment. No less obvious is the organic connection between the two main functions, which is predetermined by the specifics of the social system as adaptive.

After all, the nature around us changes very slowly, catastrophes like glaciation or the “global flood” are very rare in it, and if it were not for the dynamic nature of society, a stable balance between it and nature would be established “for a long time”. Society creates itself anthropogenic factors(local, regional, global) violations of this balance, and then forced to look for means and mechanisms to optimize their relationship with the environment, Pre-optimizing their internal state.

As for the interaction of the system with its social environment, it is quite clear that the disturber of the peace here is the monopoly anthropogenic factor. This is also the case in relations with the external, non-systemic social environment, and with the internal system environment. Today, for example, we are very concerned about how the reproduction of the main areas of society (economy, healthcare, ecology, upbringing, education) is going. Being unsatisfactorily reproduced both quantitatively and qualitatively, they entail a narrowing in mass and low-quality biological and social reproduction of a person (deterioration of his psychophysical health, the spread of so-called “deviant behavior” in society, the growth of alcoholism and drug addiction ). At the same time, each component of the system experiences negative impact other components that together make up its intrasystem social environment. The economy, for example, is falling apart not only because of the rupture of traditional economic and financial ties, but also because of the embezzlement of state and public property that has turned into chaos, the regression of health care activities, the mismatch of the control subsystem, etc.

Taken together, the functioning of each of the subsystems, if it continues, threatens to result in a general collapse of sociality and the most natural genocide.

In terms of their importance and priority, the functions that make up the main content of activities in a particular area of ​​society can historically change places. So, for millennia, the function of preserving society and optimizing it was implemented primarily at the expense of the economy, all other areas of activity, including ecology, were still on the periphery of attention in this regard. It had its own iron logic. First, the economy itself had to develop before health care, science, and environmental protection could take their rightful place. Secondly, for the time being, environmental consequences economic growth could be neglected, and the demographic consequences of natural phenomena (for example, the repeated extinction of almost half of Europe as a result of plague epidemics) were covered and overlapped by rapid population growth. In the 20th century, especially in its second half, the situation changed radically.

Today, in order to survive the terrestrial civilization, the sphere of ecological activity must come to the fore, displacing all the others, even the economy. Summing up, we can say: if before, behind the scenes, humanity implemented the slogan “Economy is everything, ecology can be neglected!”, Today it is forced to make a turn of almost 180 ° - “Ecology - first of all, economy - if possible!”.

A social system is a set of elements (various social groups, strata, social communities) that are in certain relationships and connections with each other and form a certain integrity. The most important is the allocation of system-forming links that provide the property of integrity - a condition for a relatively separate functioning and development of a social system.

The functioning of a social system in the external environment is based on a certain orderliness of its elements, relations and connections. Structurally and functionally different aspects of ordering form the basis for the allocation of its subsystems in social systems. As an ordered holistic set of interconnected elements that has a structure and organization, the social system in its interaction with the environment demonstrates a certain behavior that can be reactive (determined by the influence of the environment) or active (determined by its own goals, involving the transformation of the environment and its subordination to its needs). A specific feature is difficult organized systems is the presence in them of the processes of social management, which ensures the autonomy and purposeful nature of the behavior of the social system, and the specific features of management lead to the allocation of classes of multi-level, multi-purpose, self-organizing and other systems.

The theoretical and methodological foundations for the development of the theory of social systems are associated with the names of G.V.F. Hegel as the founder of system analysis and worldview, as well as A.A. Bogdanov (pseudonym A.A. Malinovsky) and L. Bertalanffy. In methodological terms, the theory of social systems focuses on a functional methodology based on the principle of the primacy of identifying the whole (system) and its elements. Such identification should be carried out at the level of explaining the behavior and properties of the whole.

Since the subsystem elements are connected by various cause-and-effect relationships, the problems existing in them can be generated by the system to one degree or another and affect the state of the system as a whole.

Each social system can be an element of a more global social education. It is this fact that causes the greatest difficulty in constructing conceptual models of a problem situation and an object. sociological analysis. A micromodel of a social system is a personality - a stable integrity (system) of socially significant features, characteristics of an individual as a member of society, group, community. A special role in the process of conceptualization is played by the problem of establishing the "boundaries" of the social system under study.

The concept of social function ___________5
Functions of sociology __________________ 10
Theoretical-cognitive ______ ______10
Descriptive function _______________11
Predictive function ____________12
Converter function_________13
Information function ____________13
Worldview function __________14
Cognitive function ______________15
Management function ______________15

Functions of a sociologist _____________________ 17

Conclusion ____________________ _______19

References _____________ _______20

Modern sociology is one of the most important achievements of the human mind, a theoretical reflection of political activity, without which the existence of society is impossible. Sociology is a scientific landmark that acquires special significance in the context of the democratization of society. Namely, in modern conditions, the fate of everyone depends on the level of functioning of political, power structures, institutions, state mechanisms, the effectiveness and validity of political decisions. Political and sociological knowledge determines the possibilities of constructive forces, focuses on overcoming the acute crisis of the entire social system.
A breakthrough in public consciousness in favor of sociology occurred in the early 1990s. Sociology came to higher education - one of the independent branches of knowledge, quickly gaining authority and arousing interest among young people.
Sociology is a relatively young science, but in a short period of time it has achieved recognition in the West and is beginning to make its way in the East. Indeed, no social science can compare with it in terms of research efficiency, various areas people's lives, the development and formation of society, social relations that require a comprehensive and in-depth study. People are looking for answers to questions about everyday life, about global problems, about society and its future in the field of knowledge that can competently help to understand, and sociology is such a field of knowledge.
The effectiveness of sociology is ensured by the wide resonance of its results, by a clear explanation of the urgent problems of everyday life. The work of sociologists created for them the halo of "people with high social responsibility." And this is by no means accidental. A citizen of any country in the West and East is often faced with the conclusions of sociological science, with sociologists discussing acute problems together with politicians, economists, because in order to explain the world, public opinion in the West, and now in the East, tends to choose sociology, and not philosophy, as it used to be.
It has long been noticed that a slave should not understand the justice of the decisions of the supreme power, it is enough that he is informed about them. People deprived of political knowledge are doomed to dumbness. Political education is one of the conditions for turning Ukrainian society from an object of manipulation by the authorities and the opposition in conflict with them into a collective subject of politics. To paraphrase Henri Barbusse, we can say that political education will help every citizen to “translate” the ideas and actions of politicians from the “state language” into human language. Sociology with its inherent functions is called upon to play an important role here.
Due to certain circumstances, they talk much less often about the functions of a sociologist as a representative of a certain socio-professional group. Meanwhile, if we are talking about the functions of sociological knowledge, then we must imagine them not only in a general, abstract form, but also in personified expression at the level of activity of a particular sociologist. Of course, its functions, one way or another, will be connected with the functions of sociology as a science, moreover, will follow from them. However, it is also important to keep in mind that the functions of a sociologist are associated with the nature and content of his work, that specific activity that makes it possible to distinguish the social and professional group of sociologists from any other.
The purpose of this work is to reveal the content of the main functions of sociological knowledge, to define them and show their role in further development sociological knowledge.

The concept of social function

Functions of sociology

Theoretical-cognitive

Sociology as an independent branch of knowledge implements all the functions inherent in social science: epistemological, critical, descriptive, prognostic, transformative, informational, worldview. In general, the functions of the humanities are usually divided into two groups: epistemological, that is, cognitive, and actually social. The epistemological functions of sociology are manifested in the most complete and concrete knowledge of certain aspects of social life. Social features reveal ways and means of optimizing them. Functions exist and operate only in interconnection and interaction. The main of the epistemological functions of sociology is theoretical-cognitive, critical. We are talking about the assessment of the cognizable world from the standpoint of the interests of the individual. Realizing the critical function, sociology approaches reality in a differentiated way. On the one hand, it shows what can and should be preserved, strengthened, developed - after all, not everything needs to be changed, rebuilt, etc. On the other hand, it reveals what really requires radical changes. The theoretical-cognitive, critical function, of course, consists in the fact that sociology accumulates knowledge, systematizes it, strives to compose the most complete picture social relations and processes in the modern world. The epistemological function of sociology includes objective knowledge about the main social problems of development modern society. As for applied sociology, it is designed to provide reliable information about the various processes taking place in different social spheres society, namely, the change in the social structure, family, national relations etc. Obviously, without specific knowledge about the processes taking place within individual social communities or associations of people, to ensure effective social management impossible. The degree of consistency and specificity of knowledge of sociology determines the effectiveness of the implementation of its social function.

Descriptive function