1. TRADITIONAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE FAMILY Flashcards
Functionalist perspective
.Society is harmonious
.The different parts of society (institutions) work together to support the survival of society
.Each part has a specific purpose/ role/function to play in supporting society
.Meritocratic society
.Bound by some collective purposes
Marxists and Feminists perspective
There is great inequality in society and certain groups benefits at the expense of others.
They see a minority holding power and using this to control others.
The institutions of society mainly serve this powerful minority.
The mass of people in society are ‘controlled’ because they are taught to except society as it is and to see inequality as normal.
George Peter Murdock - Family Functions
4 functions of family:
SEXUAL: teach how to express sexuality in a socially approved context - heterosexual
REPRODUCTIVE: family reproduces and provides a stable environment to rear children.
EDUCATIONAL: ‘groomed’ into society’s value consensus & collective conscience
ECONOMIC: The family provides food, shelter and other material needs for the family
contributes to our social cohesion and social solidarity
Parsons - ‘Functional Fit’ theory - types of society
- Traditional pre-industrial society (BEFORE when the extended family was dominant)
- Modern industrial society (NOW where the nuclear family is dominant)
The industrialisation has caused the family to ADAPT and FIT the specific society that we are in
Parsons - ‘Functional Fit’ theory - kinds of family structure
Nuclear Family – just parents and their dependent children
Extended Family – 3 generations living under one roof
Parsons argues that the particular structure and functions of the given type of family will ‘fit’ the needs of society in which it is found
Parsons - Structural Differentiation
.during Industrialisation, the families began to lose some of their functions to other newly created institutions such as : Education, Healthcare, Law & Order, Media
.different structures (institutions) have taken over many of the functions the family used to have e.g. the NHS!
→This means that extended families were not necessary any longer
Parson’s - functions of the family
1) Primary socialisation - specifically taught children the norms and values associated with their family and/or community (schools and other institutions taught universal norms)
2) Stabilisation of Adult Personalities - helped to prevent adults from behaving in disruptive or dysfunctional ways.
→instead encouraging them to conform to social norms, especially at times of stress
Parsons- Warm Bath Theory
a man came home from a hard day at work, he could relax into his family like a warm bath and it would take away the stress and refresh him for the next day’s work.
Functionalist Evaluation
,Marxists and feminists who argue that this paints too rosy and idealistic a picture of family life
.The Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley offers a different perspective on Parsons’ warm bath theory when she describes women in the family as takers of shit
.These theories are outdated and suggest families are all traditional nuclear families with men going to work and women in domestic roles
Organic Analogy
Society was like a human bodySociety was made up of various institutions that acted like the organs of the body: they all needed to be functioning properly for the body to function
Consensus theory
See people in society as having shared interests and society functioning on the basis of there being broad consensus on its norms and values
Social Cohesion
The extent to which people in society are bound together and integrated and share common values.
Social Order
The connection between people and institutions that maintains a stable society
Capitalism
.Proletariat being employed by the Bourgeoise for a wage to make products
→which are sold to consumers for more than they cost to make
→which results in a SURPLUS of money or PROFIT for the business people
Marxism - Society’s 2 main parts :Infrastructure
.The economy of society; it’s the basic physical and organizational structures needed for a society to function
. e.g. roads, factories, shops and hospitals
Marxism - Society’s 2 main parts : Superstructure
.The culture, ideology, norms, and identities that people inhabit
.e.g. Education, Media, Family, Technology, Welfare
Karl Marx: 2 classes
Bourgeoise & Proletariat
Marxist function of family - Althusser : Ideological Functions
.Socialises children that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable
.Parental power over children – someone is always in charge – preparation for working life
.Family promotes a set of ideas/beliefs which justify inequality and maintain capitalism.
Zaretsky - Marxist
.The ‘haven’ that functionalists say the family is, is just an illusion.
.Criticises warm bath theory – men can’t have power at work, so will be ‘king of the castle at home’. Keeps them happy so will just continue to be exploited at work
Marxist function of family - Inheritance of Property
.‘Primitive communism’ = classless society, which was pre-private property. Here society owned the means of production communally. Because of this, there wasn’t really a nuclear family.
.Men could then pass down their wealth to their children
.Wealth remained in hands of the bourgeoisie.
Marxist function of family - A Unit of Consumption
.Capitalism is exploitative because it makes profits at the expense of workers’ pay
The family plays a major role in generating these profits:
.Advertising – keep up to date with latest products. ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’
.Media target children – ‘pester power’
Young and Willmott - ‘March of Progress’
Functionalist
Argue the family has adapted to changes in western industrial societies and that these changes represent progress
Young and Willmott - 3 Main Stages of Family Life
Stage 1 = preindustrial family which was a unit of production Stage 2 = extended family which survived in working-class areas such as Bethnal Green in the 1950s Stage 3 = the nuclear, symmetrical family dominant in the 2nd half of the 20th century
Young and Willmott Evaluation
.Exaggerate the fit between the family and a particular time period
.Question whether a single-family type is, or has ever been, dominant in western industrial societies
Feminists the ‘Symmetrical Family’ (Young and Wilmott) as a myth
Feminist - Ann Oakley (1974)
. Family is essentially a conservative institution that preserves the social order
. The family as a place of work
.Domestic violence
.Dependency on men
Ann Oakley’s Findings
.15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework
.25% high level in childcare (but only in the more pleasurable aspects)
.Men take on the more pleasurable household tasks
Ferri and Smith - Feminist
Dual burden -Women working still have to do housework AS WELL AS paid work
Radical Feminist- Germaine Greer
.women as wives - subservient to their husbands
.women as mothers - ‘mothers bear children in pain’
.women as daughters - that daughters are quite likely to experience sexual abuse from their fathers, step-fathers and other male relatives
Engles - Marxist
Nuclear family had a clear economic function for capitalism
→by ensuring that wealth remained in the hands of the bourgeoisie.
Parsons’ roles
Intrumental - husband is the financial breadwinner
Expressive - wife provides primary socialisation and housewife
