Exam 5: Evolutionary and Structural Functionalist Classical Theories

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Assimilation theory: a strategy for achieving the societal balance to which functionalists aspire by ultimately eliminating difference. Social workers have historically served as agents of assimilation. Acculturation is describe as an inevitable process and as the first step leading to structural assimilation. Racial/ethnic minorities and immigrants must acculturate in order to acquire a common cultural code for interacting with the majority culture. Straight-line assimilation says the absorption of immigrant cultures into the main stream is inevitable. This paradigm fails to account for the dejection and active suppression of certain groups by mainstream culture that have taken place throughout history as these groups have been forced to assimilate. Critics of assimilation argue that the cost of assimilation outweighs the benefit and they question the assumption that assimilation is inevitable and advantageous. Language can be a barrier to association. The concept of straight-line assimilation is not part of the culturally grounded approach but the pressures towards assimilation and its related concepts provide important insights into the lives of immigrants.