evaluation of parsons

Question 1

peter laslett (1965)

Answer 1

study of british parish records suggested that the most common family type was nuclear (pre industrial) rather than parson’s extended family

this was because people married at a late age and died young

Question 2

mike anderson (1973)

Answer 2

studied industrial town preston in 1851

extended family was most common rather than parson’s nuclear family

people sough extended kin as part of a mutual support system in order to pool low wages to pay high rents and share accomodation

Question 3

pete willmott and mike young (1969)

Answer 3

survey in bethnal green, london

working class organised themselves into extended families

women at the heart of these families mutually supporting each other in terms of childcare and men helped each other find work

contradicts parson’s view that a nuclear family best suits an industrial society

Question 4

ronald fletcher (1969)

Answer 4

does not believe structural differentiation led to a loss of functions in society

argues that the nuclear family still carries out its education, welfare and health functions but is now assisted by the state

Question 5

william goode (1964)

Answer 5

there is a universal trend towards families due to industrialisation

families are becoming smaller, more privatised and mobile

nuclear is the best fit for modern life

Question 6

interpretivist critique

Answer 6

criticise functionalists for viewing children a ‘empty vessels’ or ‘blank slates’ that are filled up by parents with culture, values and so on

socialisation is a two way process in which children can influence the behaviour of parents

Question 7

laing and cooper

Answer 7

see the family as a destructive and exploitative institution

nuclear family does not stabilise adult personalities at all - cauldron of competing wills and power games which often led to individuals being scapegoated

dysfunctional family

Question 8

bell and vogel

Answer 8

children act as scapegoats - stress relief for adults who can vent frustrations to family rather than wider society

good because it stabilises family and society

Question 9

cereal packet family

Answer 9

the power of the image of a traditional family

laden with assumptions about how a family should be

creates a normalised social construction of how a family should be