Structuralism is a sociological grouping of theories which relate to the same conception of individual and society.
The group includes those theories which ascribe to society the cause of the nature of that society. It describes society as deterministic, controlling individuals by the process of socialisation in which they learn the "script" of society.
In other words,
structuralist theorists study
society as a whole and firmly believe that it is
society which shapes the
individual.
Theories included in the structuralist set are Functionalism, Marxism and Marxist Feminism.