In his letter to sir john somers, a member of parliament, locke talked about the unintended economic consequences of interest rate regulation. A perverse effect contrary to what was originally intended. The contributing authors and editors express, in this way, their general interest in the unintended, unanticipated or unexpected consequences of social action, interaction and collective decisions. He changed his name at the age of 14 to robert merton, which evolved out of a teenage career as an amateur magician as he blended the names of famous magicians. For merton, this discipline concerns the social factors that make it possible for science to flourish.
This brief, personal and affectionate memoir reflects my fortyyear association with robert k. Part 3 unanticipated and unintended consequences latent functions and dysfunctions the two facets of the unintended consequences paradigm, raymond boudon mertons functionalism and the. Mertons 1936 article unanticipated consequences of purposive social. The unintended consequences are the ones you never see coming. This idea is related to another of mertons concepts unanticipated consequences. Sometimes the cure can be worse than the disease, as these examples of the law of unintended consequences. Actions have both intended and unintended consequences. In this article, we tackle unintended consequences and how to minimize them in our. An unexpected detriment occurring in addition to the desired effect of the policy. Merton is unarguably one of the most influential sociologists of his time. In an influential article titled the unanticipated consequences of purposive social action, merton identified five. Robert merton this is a template and guideline only.
Merton wrote a famous article on the unanticipated consequences of purposive social. Anticipating and addressing the unintended consequences of. This idea is related to another of merton s concepts unanticipated consequences. Merton, taking inspirations from theories like above and introduces the concept of anticipatory socialization. Pdf the concept unanticipated consequences, coined by robert k. The idea of unintended consequences was popularized in the midtwentieth century by sociologist, robert merton. He also coined many other phrases that have gone into everyday use, such as role model and unintended consequences.
The law of unintended consequences university discoveries. An erosion gully in australia caused by rabbits, an. The law of unintended consequences has long existed dating back to at least adam smith but was popularized in the twentieth century by sociologist robert k. Technology and the revenge of unintended consequences, vantage books, 1997. It is the relationship of the individual with the group. Robert k merton latent and manifest functions best ias. In the social sciences, unintended consequences are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. Merton, unintended consequences of various kinds could rightly be considered a major thread in human history sometimes with beneficial results. Some sociologists since have regarded the exploration of unintended consequences of social action as of the very essence of the sociological project. Although social science research on the unintended consequences of public policies has tended to highlight negative consequences, 10 17 sociologist robert merton noted that unexpected policy consequences also may be positive.
Unintended consequences wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. Robert merton, along with myron scholes, received the 1997 nobel prize in economics for a new method to determine the value of derivatives see the biography for myron scholes for a discussion of the significance of this contribution to knowledge. The first and most complete analysis of the concept of unintended consequences was done in 1936 by the american sociologist robert k. Donald trump and the law of unintended consequences pr. Although everyone is aware of the intended consequences, sociological analysis is required to uncover the unintended consequences. Unintended consequences of smokefree bar policies for low. Schkolnick in philadelphia into a working class eastern european jewish immigrant family. The unanticipated consequences of purposive social action. Anticipating and addressing the unintended consequences of health it and policy. This account draws on the work of sociologist robert k. Unintended but not unanticipated consequences springerlink. This is hyperbole, of course, but the term does provide a label for a ubiquitous phenomenon. In 1969, as one of his steps toward developing a formula for valuing options.
Sociologists call any group that individuals use as a standard for evaluating themselves and their own behaviour a reference group. The term was popularised in the twentieth century by american sociologist robert k. So state kenneth hagan and ian bickerton, world class secondguessers and absolute strangers to nuance. Merton social theory and social structure see other formats. Merton harvard university i i n some one of its numerous forms, the problem of the unanticipated consequences of purposive action has been treated by virtually every substantial contributor to the long history of social thought. Merton has identified five potential causes of consequences we. Merton eugene garfield using the histcite system of algorithmic historiography, we have created a series of online databases available to the public, which contain biblio graphic records and citation links to a series of mertons publications. Like all human dynamics, unintended consequences are as old as human history, but the term was popularized by robert merton, a professor at columbia university and the founder of the sociology of science. Fortunately, i was given a copy of one of the books listed on this site, bill, the buddha, and we, which showed me a path even. According to merton, unanticipated consequences are actions that have both intended and unintended consequences. Most writers have had a mentor at one time or another. In my case it is robert stone that i owe for giving me muchneeded criticism when my writi ng skills were first developing, and stuart kaminsky for doing the same thing more recently.
The concept unanticipated consequences, coined by robert k. Unfortunately, those consequences are not always entirely welcome, intended, or predictable. Robert k merton reference groups best ias institute in. Bunintendedand bunanticipateda development to which merton himself. This collection of essays aims to revive the sociological debate on the unintended, unanticipated and unexpected consequences of social action, as started by robert k. It has been said that the only truly infallible law of nature is the law of unintended consequences. The law of unintended consequences is the outgrowth of many theories, but was probably best defined by sociologist robert k. The books theme originated with famed sociologist robert merton uncredited. This conflation suggests that unintended consequences are also unanticipated, effectively obscuring an interesting and real category of phenomenaconsequences that are both unintended and. The law of unintended consequences, often cited but rarely defined, is that actions of.
Clausewitz was not only wrong, he was seriously wrong. A further example is the now famous law of unanticipated consequences. Indeed, as gavin kennedy likes to point out, when adam smith uses the metaphor. Merton also coined the terms role model and selffulfilling prophesy. An erosion gully in australia caused by rabbits, an unintended consequence of their introduction as game animals in the social sciences, unintended consequences sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences are outcomes of a purposeful action that are not intended or foreseen. Scholes, won the 1997 nobel prize for their work on determining the value of derivatives. Merton has 46 books on goodreads with 7618 ratings. The unintended and unanticipated consequences of robert. Unintended consequences mostly follows the life of a man named henry bowman from the time of his birth until his lifes defining moment, some forty years later. Merton eugene garfield using the histcite system of algorithmic historiography, we have created a series of online databases available to the public, which contain bibliographic records and citation links to a series of mertons publications. He founded the sociology of science and was known for his theoretical work in the analysis of social structures, especially the. Unintended consequences dick dorworthdick dorworth. Unintended consequences can be grouped into three types. Merton, which began with my chance encounter with his 1961 article in the new scientist about the phenomenon of multiples in the history of scientific discoveries.
Robert king merton was a distinguished sociologist perhaps best known for having coined the phrase selffulfilling prophecy. Mertons most popular book is social theory and social structure. He considers that this concept is useful to explain social mobility in the class structure, assimilation of ethnic minorities into the culture of dominant groups. Robert k merton is credited with popularizing the concept of unanticipated consequences. The unintended and unanticipated consequences of robert k.
In spite of this broad interpretation, the volume treats mertons. B unintendedand bunanticipateda development to which merton himself. Merton maintained that not all structures are indispensible to the social system. Popularized by the 20 th century sociologist robert k. There are numerous examples of governments, organizations, and even individuals acting with good intentions, only for their efforts to backfire catastrophically. In the twentieth century sociologist robert merton. Merton laid out his theory of manifest function and latent function and dysfunction too in his 1949 book social theory and social structure. Unintended consequences are said to come in three specific groups. A figure whose wideranging theoretical and methodological contributions have become fundamental to the field, merton is best known for introducing such concepts and procedures as unanticipated consequences, selffulfilling prophecies, focused group interviews, middlerange theory, opportunity structure, and. As merton notes in that essay, analyses of unanticipated consequences go back hundreds of years, to adam smith and before. Merton 1936, has largely been replaced in current social science by its putative synonym, unintended consequences. Bending the law of unintended consequences a testdrive. The abandonment of gender and ethic discrimination, for example, would not be dysfunctional.
Manifest function, latent function, and dysfunction in. Robert merton codified this habit in his oftcited essay, the unanticipated consequences of purposive social action. Intended but unrealized consequences of purposive social. Merton 1936 was responsible for many other sociological ideas captured in phrases that became widely used in ordinary conversation. One perhaps unanticipated consequence of the integration of the eu is that ethnic tensions have risen. The textranked the third most important sociological book of the 20th century by the international sociological associationalso contains other theories by merton that made him famous within the discipline, including. In his 1936 paper, merton listed possible causes of unanticipated consequences. Few novels or any type of media, for that matter resonate so very much with a specific culture or a certain time in history as does rosss book. The unintended consequences are the ones you never see. They quickly became the hottest hedge fund in the land. Merton unintended consequences can be grouped into three types. Merton wrote an article, the unanticipated consequences of purposive social action, which covers five different ways that actions, particularly those taken on a large scale as by governments, may have unexpected consequences. Robert merton revisited, edited by adriana mica, arkadiusz peisert and jan winczorek, presents contributions to the workshop on unintended consequences.
The book explains the reasons for decision failures using the law of unintended consequences. In an influential article titled the unanticipated consequences of purposive social action, merton identified five sources of. Everyone is aware of the intended consequences, but the unintended are more difficult to recognize, and therefore, sociological analysis is required to uncover what they may be. The term sociology and the unintended is used in this book at its broadest. His discussion supported my interest in using the science citation index to demonstrate unwitting replications in science. In the social sciences, unintended consequences sometimes unanticipated consequences or unforeseen consequences are outcomes that are not the ones foreseen and intended by a purposeful action. Ltcm was founded by john merriwether, the former vicechairman and bond trading chief at salomon brothers. In fact, the book will likely infuriate them, for it serves to undermine their central contention, namely, that unilateral and assertive risktaking, including war, is necessary in order to achieve benevolent world hegemony.
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