Families and Households paper2 section 1

Question 1

what perspective and viewpoint do functionalists take and is their view on the family positive or negative?

Answer 1

• functionalists have a consensus perspective
  -they take a macro view on society
  -they say families have a positive and important role in society

Question 2

what is Murdock’s Four major functions theory?

Answer 2

-Murdock believes the family performs four major functions
-Sexual
-Reproductive
-Economic
-Education- socialisation

Question 3

What does Emile Durkheim- functionalist- believe the family do

Answer 3

• Emile Durkheim believes the family are important in creating value consensus and he believes the family is central in integrating individuals into society so that it functions properly. It is important for creating social solidarity and a collective conscious.

Question 4

what is Talcott Parsons - functionalist - two irreducible functions of the family theory?

Answer 4

-Talcott Parsons believes the family has two main roles
- The primary socialisation of children to internalise societies culture
-The stabilisation of adult personalities- warm bath theory- husband worries about money and job and his family act as a warm bath to wash this away so family provides emotional security

Question 5

What are the key criticisms of the functionalists view on the family?

Answer 5

• functions of the family could be performed equally well by other institutions
• Marxists and Feminists say it has a rose tinted view as the family is oppressive and serves the neds of men and capitalism
• Morgan states the functionalists view on the family over emphasises the importance and efficiency and the approach has painted a picture of family life which is too good to be true.

Question 6

what is Marxist perspective and view on society and do they believe the family is positive or negative?

Answer 6

-Marxists are a conflict perspective that take a macro view on society
-they say the family plays a negative role in society as it upholds the capitalist ideology

Question 7

What are some Marxist theorists views on the family?

Answer 7

-Engles - the family ensures the wealthy stay wealthy through inheritance and marriage
-Zaretsky - he family offers a haven from he hard world of capitalism but this is an illusion as it is based off the un-payed labour of women The family also produce the next labour force and are a unit of consumption- media target children
-L Althusser- the family is an ideological state apparatus that indoctrinates the working class into a state of false consciousness

Question 8

What are the positives of the Marxist view on the family?

Answer 8

-not a natural institution but has taken on the form that it has to serve the needs of capitalism
-a vehicle of social control
-ideological state apparatus along with the media, education and religion
-shaped by the economic base

Question 9

What are the negatives of the Marxist view on society?

Answer 9

• too stereotypical -ignores family diversity
  -too deterministic- views people as passive
  -overemphasises the degree to which parents can socialise children into the philosophies of capitalism
  -exaggerate that it is a function for capitalism whereas functionalists would say its for society as a whole
  -places too much emphasis on capitalism exploiting women as it is not just capitalism but the patriarchy so they both ned to be eradicated is what a feminist would say

Question 10

what is a liberal feminists view on the family?

Answer 10

• women’s oppression is gradually being overcome by changing attitudes and change in the law- sex discrimination act 1975 and more shared domestic labour
  -gender equality has not been achieved but its a gradual change
  -they hold a similar view to march of progress theorists like Willmott and Young

Question 11

What is liberal feminist J Bernard’s view on marriage

Answer 11

Marriage is only beneficial for men and married women and women suffer more illness and initiate more divorce

Question 12

What are the pros and cons of liberal feminism?

Answer 12

pros- outlines women’s disadvantaged position
-shows how the patriarchy can be challenged without a revolution
cons- doesn’t challenge the underlying cause of women’s oppression
-Oakley argues women still do most of the housework
-Henwood shows that although women go to work they don’t earn as much as their male counterparts

Question 13

What do Marxist feminists believe about the family?

Answer 13

Marxist feminist believe that it is capitalism that causes women’s oppression not the patriarchy.
-women reproduce the labour force through their un-payed domestic labour
-women absorb anger- takers of shit-that would otherwise be directed at capitalism
-women are the reserve army of cheap labour -when no longer needed they can be let go.

Question 14

what is Benson - Marxist feminist- theory on the family

Answer 14

-women bear the next generation of wage slaves so if women have children who are male they become the next generation of capitalist wage slaves

Question 15

What is Ansley’s theory on the family as a Marxist feminist?

Answer 15

• women are the takers of shit - slave husbands release their anger from their built up alienated work on their wives therefore they are an anti revolutionary element in society.

Question 16

what are the pros and cons of Marxist feminism?

Answer 16

pros- clearly demonstrates that the nuclear is part of the superstructure shaped by the economic base that exploits women
-cons- its outdated and has a stereotypical view of the family that fails to recognise diversity and other family forms.

Question 17

What do radical feminists believe about the family?

Answer 17

-radical feminists believe men are the enemy and that family and marriage are a key institution in patriarchal society so instead the system needs to be overturned and men and women should live in separatism

Question 18

what does Ann Oakley believe about the family?

Answer 18

-Ann Oakley believes that women work long hours doing dull and repetitive work for which they receive no status quo and no wage often resulting in mental and physical illness.

Question 19

What are the pros and cons of radical feminists view on the family?

Answer 19

pros- reveals that it is the patriarchy which manipulates women within the family rather than capitalism
-the patriarchal nuclear family is not consequently, a natural institution.
cons- liberal feminists like Jenny Somerville state that radical feminists fail to recognise that women’s position has improved considerably- better access to divorce, job opportunities, control over fertility.

Question 20

What do difference feminists believe about the family?

Answer 20

-difference feminists argue that we cannot generalise about women’s experiences everything is different for black women heterosexual women middle class women working class women.

Question 21

What are criticisms of difference feminism?

Answer 21

-other feminists argue that difference feminism neglects the fact that all women share many of the same experiences for example all face a risk of domestic violence.

Question 22

What is the new rights perspective of the Family?

Answer 22

-The New right believe the traditional monogamous nuclear family is the most desirable environment to raise children and that the decline of this family type is causing a state of moral decay.

Question 23

What Is the theorist Charles Murrays thought on the family?

Answer 23

-The decline of the nuclear family has caused the formation of the underclass or the new rabble evident amongst young white males and lower class black men
-this decline and increase in promiscuity cohabitation ect has led to a variety like crime, educational failure, delinquency

Question 24

What do the new right believe about the welfare state ?

Answer 24

-The new right are against the welfare state because it is costly and it creates a dependency culture.
-Having babies enabled them to have a higher living standard - child benefit cap

Question 25

what are supports for the new right?

Answer 25

-N Dennis supports Murray by stating that children brought up without fathers were much more likely to commit crimes than those raised in a two-parent household
-A Halsey states that alternative family types are unhealthy and the lack of a male breadwinners in matrifocal households in deprived areas causes undisciplined children

Question 26

what are criticisms against the new rights view on the family?

Answer 26

-P Abbot states Murrays model of the family is oppressive for women
-A Halsey says it may be unemployment, poverty or other factors causing crime rather than the decline in family type