Families and Households Flashcards
Perspectives:
What two Functionalists studied the family?
- Murdock (1949)
- Parsons (1955)
Perspectives:
What did Murdock (1949) study and what did he find?
- Studied 200 different societies
- Concluded that the nuclear family was a universal characteristic of society
Perspectives:
What were Murdock’s (1949) four functions of the family?
- Stabilisation of adult personalities
- Reproduction
- Primary socialisation
- Meeting the families economic needs
Perspectives:
What did Parsons (1955) say about the family?
- Functional fit theory
- Lost some of its functions
- Warm bath theory
Perspectives:
What is functional fit theory?
The family changes to fit the needs of society
- Pre-industrial - extended
- Industrial/post - nuclear
Perspectives:
According to Parsons (1955) what functions has the nuclear family retained?
- Stabilisation of adult personalities
- Primary socialisation
Perspectives:
What is the warm bath theory?
Where the woman (expressive) takes all the stress off the man (instrumental) when he comes home
Perspectives:
What Marxists studied the family?
- Engels (1994)
- Althusser
- Zaretsky (1976)
Perspectives:
What did Engels (1994) say about the family?
- The development of private property and monogamy ensured that bourgeois men maintained control of the means of production through inheritance
Perspectives:
What did Althusser say about the family?
- Provide an ideological function
- They transmit ideas and beliefs that inequality is justified
Perspectives:
What did Zaretsky (1976) say about the family?
- Provide an economic function
- They were a unit of production but now are a unit of consumption
- Children use pester power as a result of media targeting
- The family offers a haven for workers to escape and distract from their exploitation
Perspectives:
What view is liberal feminism?
March of progress (similar to Young and Willmott)
Perspectives:
What are some legislation that liberal feminists champion?
- Equality Act 2010
- Sex Discrimination Act 1975
- Divorce Reform Act 1971
Perspectives:
What do radical feminist believe about the family?
Women are oppressed by the patriarchal structure of the family
Perspectives:
What did Greer (2000) say about the family?
Only men benefit from marriage and the family
Perspectives:
What do difference feminists argue?
We cannot generalise women’s experiences
Perspectives:
What did Crenshaw (1989) come up with?
Intersectionality - multiple forms of inequality and disadvantage sometimes compound themselves
Perspectives:
What two New Right thinkers studied the family?
- Almond
- Murray
Perspectives:
What does Almond say about the family?
- Government policies have fragmented the family by undermining the nuclear family
- Divorce Reform Act 1969
- Civil partnerships
- Tax allowances
Perspectives:
What does Murray say about the family?
- “Single parents are the most important social problem of our time”
- The welfare state has created a culture of dependency
- Benefits act as a perverse incentive
Perspectives:
What families do the New Right have issues with?
- Fatherless families
- Unemployed parents
- Cohabiting couples
- Reconstituted families
