Structural Functionalism

The origin of contemporary sociological references to social structure can be traced to four main contributors: Herbert Spencer ((1820-1903). Émile Durkheim (1858-1917), Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) and Robert Merton (1910- 2003).

Herbert Spencer a British philosopher came up with the ‘organic analogy’ He envisioned society as a biological organism made up of interdependent parts

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the question of how certain societies maintain internal stability and survives

over time. Talcott Parsons (1902-1979) tried to come up with a grand theory of

society. Robert Merton (1910-2003) believed that any social structure could have a number of functions some which could be manifest (evident) and others latent (covert).

Structural Functionalism is a sociological theory that attempts to explain why society functions the way it does. It does this by focusing on the relationships between the various social institutions that make up society. In this theory society is seen as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. Social structure and social functions are the important elements in this perspective.

The theory holds that our lives are guided by social structures, which are relatively stable patterns of social behaviour. Each structure performs a social function which contributes to the operation of society as a whole. The theory explains the maintenance of parts, structures, institutions, norms or cultural patterns of a social system. It looks at the particular function each part plays or satisfies. This is seen to contribute to the maintenance of the larger system. According to (Parsons, 1951; 1966), society is not just an aggregate of social structures but an actual functioning or operating system, with some varying degrees of coherence, integration, and effectiveness. Therefore the subsystems in society such as politics, law, economics, and education are interrelated and

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may give different contributions to overall systemic performance, the quality and quantity of which may vary.

Durkheim argued that parts of society are interdependent and that this interdependency imposes structure on the behaviour of institutions and their members. It is at this level that this study utilizes the structural functionalist perspective in explaining how various institutions concerned with road safety play their role in reducing accidents. This is because, to ensure a society’s survival, its various social processes must mesh smoothly together to meet the systems needs. Each process, institution and practice is seen as performing a function that meets a societal need (safety) and thereby helps to maintain the society’s structure or equilibrium. Societal processes and institutions are understood in terms of their contribution to an ongoing social whole (Wallace, 1995) .

Just like a society, the road and transport system has many units or parts that perform different roles for the whole (the whole here means the road transport system in Kenya). The current study conceives of the road transport system as consisting of several institutions and structures such as NTSA, the Traffic Police Department, the Criminal Justice System, Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure, KRA, the Kenya Roads Board. Driving/riding schools, Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Insurance Regulatory Authority (IRA), the Automobile Association of Kenya, motorcycle manufacturer among others. To this end, the study presupposes that the survival of the system, in this case

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the road transport system is dependent on the working together of the different institutions to meet the road and transport systems need for safety. Each institution is seen as performing a function that meets that need of safety. As indicated above, in Kenya there are many institutions involved in road traffic safety. These institutions may contribute to or hinder accident causation behaviour among riders depending on how they play their roles within the system. For instance, NTSA has many responsibilities in ensuring road safety. These include developing and implementing road safety strategies, facilitating public safety education on road safety, establish systems and procedures for and overseeing, training, testing and licensing of drivers/riders and general implementation of policies formulated by relevant authorities. The Traffic Police Department is concerned with traffic law enforcement. The traffic offenders are processed through the Criminal Justice System. Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure it is also concerned with road networks and infrastructure. Driving/riding schools are concerned with rider training, the Ministry of Health take care of those injured in the accidents. Ministry of Finance is involved in financing the various ministries concerned with road safety. Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) are mainly concerned with road safety education and campaigns. Primary and secondary schools help in sensitizing learners on road safety, motorcycle rider’s associations sometimes deal with sensitizing riders on road safety. The Kenya Urban Roads Authority (KURA) and Kenya Roads Board are concerned with road networks and audits. As already indicated, all these institutions have a role to play in order to realize road safety. They need to work in a co-ordinated manner to realize safety. Road

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safety interventions in Kenya are known to be sporadic, unregulated and disorganized without systematic and effective approach to improve road safety (Odero et al., 2003). Therefore the institutions which are interdependent can help in reducing motorcycle accidents significantly if they work together effectively.

Within the above institutions there are those which dictate policies and those

that implement the policies. For the boda boda to be able to minimize accidents

which is the main objective of the study, these institutions must work hand in hand.

The Structural Functionalism theory, therefore, helps us to understand the boda

boda motorcycle safety situation in terms of institutions/parts that are not

functioning accordingly and as a team thereby negatively influencing behaviour and as a result contribute to accident causation. The emphasis in the current study is on the implementing institutions of law and policy together with related institutions. Huang (2007) observes that accidents occur when the performance of the joint system cannot meet the requirements of its environment.

Although Structural Functionalism attempts to explain why society functions the way it does, the theory does not consider social inequalities like class or social categories. Therefore it cannot adequately explain why motorcycle accidents are on the increase. The study therefore introduces the Marxist Theory of Social Structures to complement the Structural Functionalist theory in

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explaining socio-cultural and economic factors that influence accident causing

behaviour among boda boda riders.