Radcliffe Brown, a British social anthropologist, gave the concept of social structure a central place in his approach. In his view, the components of the social structure have indispensable functions for one another. The continued existence of the one component is dependent on that of the others—and for the society as a whole, which is seen as an integrated entity. His comparative studies of preliterate societies demonstrated that the interdependence of institutions regulated much of social and individual life. Radcliffe Brown defined social structure empirically as patterned, or normal, social relations. These rules bind society’s members to socially useful activities.