Concept
manifest and latent functions
Merton’s distinction: a manifest function is an intended consequence that contributes to a system’s adjustment; a latent function is a consequence of the same kind that is unintended and unrecognised.
In 1949 Merton divided the consequences a pattern has for a system into two groups. Manifest functions are consequences that contribute to the adjustment or persistence of a unit (a person, a subgroup, a system) and were intended as such. Latent functions are consequences of the same kind that are unintended and unrecognised.
The distinction is especially useful for making sense of practices that do not reach their stated purpose yet carry on: before calling them “superstition” or “inertia”, it makes you ask “what else does it do?”. Merton’s examples are the Hopi rain ceremonial and the political machines of American cities.
“Latent” does not mean a secret plot; it only means that nobody intended or noticed it.
Example
A ceremony that produces no rain (its aim) but brings the community together and strengthens its identity has a latent function.