While Durkheim originally defined anomie as a state of 'normlessness,' Merton adapted the term to describe the structural strain that occurs when society emphasizes cultural goals (like wealth) but fails to provide equal access to the legitimate means to achieve them. In Merton's framework, this gap creates a pressure or 'strain' that leads individuals to adapt in various ways, including conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, or rebellion.

While some functionalists argue that deviance can have positive functions, such as clarifying moral boundaries, it is also viewed as dysfunctional when it disrupts social order. Deviance can undermine the predictability and trust necessary for social interaction, potentially leading to social disorganization. When deviant acts become widespread, they threaten the stability of institutions and the collective commitment to shared norms, thereby impairing the overall functioning of the social system.

Functionalism views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote stability. From this perspective, social change, including modernization, is often seen as a gradual, evolutionary process where society adapts to new conditions to maintain equilibrium. This 'slow and adaptive' view suggests that societies naturally evolve toward more complex and efficient structures to ensure continued survival and functionality.

The functionalist approach views society as a complex system whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. In the context of Japanese industry, functionalists would argue that the shared interests and mutual cooperation between different stakeholders serve the function of maintaining organizational stability and economic success for the entire system.

Functionalism examines how social phenomena contribute to stability. While conflict can act as a safety valve or strengthen group identity, reaching an 'unacceptable frequency and intensity' is considered a dysfunction that threatens social order, rather than a functional contribution to the maintenance of the social system.

In functionalism, social facts are viewed as external forces that exert pressure on individuals. Durkheim argued that these facts serve specific functions that help maintain the stability, integration, and equilibrium of the society as a whole. By fulfilling these roles, social facts ensure that the social structure continues to operate effectively over time.

Robert Merton distinguished between manifest and latent functions. Manifest functions are the recognized and intended consequences of social patterns, while latent functions are the unrecognized and unintended consequences. These latent functions often operate beneath the surface of social institutions, providing hidden benefits or outcomes that are not immediately apparent to the participants involved in the social action.

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Robert Merton's strain theory identifies five modes of adaptation: conformity, innovation, ritualism, retreatism, and rebellion. While conformity is the only mode that accepts both cultural goals and institutionalized means, Merton categorized all five as potential responses to the strain between societal goals and the means available to achieve them.

Functionalist perspectives on deviance generally view society as a system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain stability. Strain theory, developed by Robert Merton, suggests deviance occurs when societal goals cannot be met through legitimate means. Social disorganization theory examines how neighborhood conditions influence crime rates, and cultural deviance theory posits that deviance is a result of conforming to subcultural norms that conflict with the dominant culture. All three frameworks align with functionalist sociological inquiry.