Families And Households Flashcards
4 functions of the family - Murdock (1949)
- Stabilise the sex drive - prevents social disruption from ‘free-for-alls’
- Reproduction of the next generation
- Socialising the young - into shared norms and values
- Meet members economic needs - food / shelter.
Parsons (1955)
Argues a functional fit theory where family functions and structure depend on the type of society they’re in.
Industrial society’s functions: geographical mobility
Geographically mobile workforce - industries rise / decline in different areas or overseas, so people move a lot for work. Parsons says the nuclear family is easier to move around and therefore fulfils this function better
Industrial society’s functions: social mobility
Socially mobile workforce - society is constantly evolving, so workforces need to be technically skilled and competent — someone’s status in the force depends on talent / ability, not ascribed status based on family
Parsons - nuclear family fulfils this function better because extended families have sons at home (father has higher status), even though at work they are above him. This causes tensions — the nuclear family fixes as sons move out and form their own socially mobile family
Nuclear family:
Parents and dependent children, fits modern industrial society
Extended family:
3 generations under 1 roof, fits pre-industrial society
Parsons (1955) - loss of functions
Pre-industrial families were multi-functional, units of production (working together on a family farm) and units of consumption, (feeding / clothing members).
Even though this family type is more self-sufficient, parsons argues that a family changes from extended to nuclear when society industrialises, and ends up losing some of its functions and is just a unit of consumption. Other institutions like schools and health care services take over.
The nuclear family specialises in 2 essential function
- primary socialisation of children (skills, society’s values, etc)
- stabilising adult personalities (family to relax and release tensions in order to go back to work refreshed)
2 essential functions of the nuclear family - Parsons (1955)
- primary socialisation of children
- stabilising adult personalities
Criticisms of Murdock (1949)
- Functions can be done by other institutions or non-nuclear families
- Rose-tinted and overly harmonious — feminists say the family benefits men and exploits women, Marxists say the family meets capitalisms needs, not members of society
The family as a unit of consumption - Marxist perspective
Families are a market for selling consumer goods, giving them a role in helping capitalism profit:
- Keepingup with the Joneses — encourage families to consume latest products
- Media targets children, who use ‘pester power’ to make parents spend more
- Children without latest products are mocked / stigmatised by peers
Ideological functions of the family - Marxism
Marxists say the family transmits a set of ideas / beliefs that justify inequality, and maintain capitalism by getting people to accept it as fair / natural / unchangeable
How the family does this:
- Socialising children so they believe hierarchy and inequality are inevitable. Parental power over children gets them used to the idea that someone’s always in charge, preparing them for working life under capitalist employers.
- Zaretsky (1976) — family is a ‘haven’ from the exploitative capitalist world - workers can be themselves and have a private life. Zaretsky —> this is an illusion because families can’t meet all members needs, as it is based on the domestic service of women
Inheritance of property - Marxism
The mode of production (who owns / controls societal forces like tools and materials) have evolved and are now owned by the capitalist class. The family evolved alongside this, leaving primitive communism (no private property) and what Engels calls a promiscuous horde (no family) behind.
Engels - inheritance of property
- A class of men later gained control of the means of production, bringing about the patriarchal monogamous nuclear family
- Engels argues monogamy became essential — men didn’t have to worry about the paternity of their sons and could therefore let them inherit private property — benefitting capitalism
- He says the nuclear family is the ‘world historical defeat of the female sex’ — it puts their sexuality under male control and turns them into just an instrument for reproduction.
- argue that women’s oppression is gradually overcome by changing attitudes via law changes like the sex discrimination act 1975.
- believe we are no moving towards greater equality but
