Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - functionalism

 noun  Date: 1914  1. a late 19th century to early 20th century American school of psychology concerned especially with how the mind functions to adapt the individual to the environment — compare structuralism 1  2. a philosophy of design (as in architecture) holding that form should be adapted to use, material, and structure  3. a theory that stresses the interdependence of the patterns and institutions of a society and their interaction in maintaining cultural and social unity  4. a doctrine or practice that emphasizes practical utility or functional relations  • functionalist noun  • functionalist or functionalistic adjective