Robert Merton thought a _____ occurs when one social structure or institution has negative consequences for another.

Question

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According to Robert Merton, a dysfunction occurs when one social structure or institution has negative consequences for another. This means that a dysfunction is an unintended negative consequence of a social system. This is different from a manifest function, which is the intended positive consequence of a social system, and a latent function, which is the unintended positive consequence of a social system. Nonfunction is not a term used by Merton in his theory.

Robert Merton Thought a _____ Occurs When One Social Structure