Should euthanasia be legalized?Recently, a Texas family discovered the pain of losing a child due to a tragic accident. However, their suffering and that of the children could have been reduced if euthanasia had been legalised. Although many people have a different point of view on the legalization of euthanasia (or as some say, “doctor-assisted suicide”), you will certainly have a much stronger opinion if you have experienced having a family member in this situation, like like the Newton family in Texas. Below, we discuss euthanasia from a structural functionalist perspective. Recently, a family decided to discontinue treatment for their 21-month-old daughter in the only “humane way” possible: nutritional abstinence (Bever, 2014). In September, 19-month-old Natalie Newton entered the family pool without her parents' supervision. When she was found, Natalie was blue in the face from lack of oxygen and was immediately rushed to hospital. Although they managed to revive her, doctors informed the family that Natalie would not survive; she was deaf, blind, unable to move, and ultimately brain dead from being deprived of oxygen for as long as she had been. While Natalie remained motionless and dead to the world, her parents begged doctors to euthanize their little girl. However, currently in the state of Texas, euthanasia is illegal and the hospital ethics committee would not allow it. The only method they considered humane was to deny Natalie both nutrition and hydration. While it is always traumatic for any parent to see their child die, the Newtons witnessed it take nine full days for Natalie to finally die from lack of nutrition. The parents discuss... middle of paper... murder. Perhaps it would even drive healthy individuals to commit suicide, which would eventually even be considered part of the norm. Overall, a structural functionalist perspective would break down the concept of euthanasia and reclaim its importance to society. Euthanasia would be given a function, and a structural functionalist would show what this function does for the population. They would view euthanasia as having two functions, one that is obvious (manifest) and one that has unintended (latent) consequences. This sociological perspective could also see euthanasia as having negative impacts and conferring on it a latent dysfunction. Natalie Newton's family is obviously in favor of legalizing euthanasia and a structural functionalist might support their opinion. From this sociological perspective it can be said that euthanasia is a necessity for society.