Families and households - Theoretical views of the family Flashcards
What do Functionalists concerntrate on?
The positive functions of the family and what good the family can do to benefit of the whole of society?
Who are the two key functionalists?
Murdock 1949
Parsons 1959
What is the tribe called and how do they view family differently to Murdock?
Women are allowed to marry several husband
Women have the right to terminate unhappy marriages
Only have duty to her mother’s side of the family
Husband is free from family obligations such as finance so women are seen as independant
Murdock went on to argue that family had four vital functions that it must perform for the benefit of society what are they?
Sexual - the family is centred around a monogamous relationship between two consenting adults. This controls sexual behaviour, stabilises the adult sex dirve and therefore prevents a sexual free for all society
Reproductive - family reproduces the next generation into the norms and values of society
Economic - the family unit financially provides for all the dependants in the unit e.g shelter, food, clothing
Educational - family socialises the next generation into the norms and values of society
What did Parsons look at?
The change of society from pre industrial to industrial and how this impacted upon the family type that we lived in (functional fit theory)
Explain the functional fit theory?
The functions that the family perform depend on the type of society in which they are found:
-Pre-industrial society - extended family - had the function of production and consumption, based on farming/worked on the land
-Modern society - nuclear family - have the function of social and geographical mobility, based on heavy industry/worked in factories
He suggested that over time the family saw a reduction in the amount of functions it carried out. Now only performed 2 vital functions what are they?
Primary socialisation - the family passes on the norms and values of society to the new generation (specifically between the ages of 0-3)
Stabilisation of adult personalities - The family is a relaxing place that takes away any stress or frustration. This prevents an over flow of emotion and serves to stabilise personalities
Is family loosing its functions…why?
Economic - Nowadays both parents if able contribute finanically in the family
Reproduction - choose to have less children, more couples choose to become childless
Similarities of Murdock and Parsons?
Socialisation centered around
Nuclear family
Carry out functions
Macro
What do functionalists not like?
Single parent or same sex families
Prefer marriage over cohabitation
Do not like divorce
Functionalists argue that men should have the instrumental role and women the expressive role but what does this mean?
Instrumental - financially provides for the family, takes control in terms of power and decision making
Expressive - emotionally provides for the family. Primary care giver within the family unit.
What is the New Right view of the family?
Increased divorce and amount of children born out of wedlock has undermined the traditional nuclear family set up
In their view this is dangerous for society as it leads to a lack of socialisation and therefore a lack of morals and values
Who is the key new right theoriest and what did they say?
Charles Murray - single parents were to blame for all of society’s problems and that we are now too dependant on the welfare state. He also came up with the idea of the ‘underclass’ and highlighted to specific groups
- New Rabble - including the long term unemployed, the welfare dependant and single mothers - this group was extremely dangerous for society as children were not socialised properly
-New Victorian - including the respectable middle classes who marry socialise their children properly, work and pay their taxes
What is the case study for the New Right
Benefit street - most people living on the street are welfare dependant (new rabble)
Marxists conecpts: What is bapitalism?
An economic system based on market competition and the persuit of profit in which the means of production are privately owned by indviduals or corporations
Marxists key concepts: What is bourgeoise?
Ruling class, owns the mean of production
Marxists key concepts: What is proletariat?
Working class; wage slaves
Marxists key concepts: What is exploitation?
Using an individual or group to your own advantage; in a capitalist system the bourgeoise exploit the proletariat
Marxists key concepts: What is communism?
Classless society, an economic system basd on the collective ownship of property and the means of production
What do Marxists argue?
The family is being used by the bourgeoise to help maintain the capitalist state and ensure that the rich stay rich
Who are the two key Marxists?
Engles and Zaretsky
Engles: the family had one key function what is it?
To ensure that rich families passed on their inheritance to their rightful heir
What does Engles say?
The monogamous family only emerged with Capitalism
Before capitalism tribal socieites (classless) practised a form of ‘primitive communism’ - no private property
In such societies property was collectively owned and the family structure reflected this
Emergence of Capitalism in the 18th century society and the family changed. Capitalism is based on a system of private ownship
Bourgeoise use their own personal wealth to personally invest in businesses in order to make a profit, they dont investfor the benefit of everyone else. Eventually started to look for ways to pass on their wealth to the next generation
Reproduce inequality - children of the rich grow up into wealth while the children of the poor remain poor. Thus the nuclear family benefits the Bourgeoise more thean the proletariat
Zaretsky: one key function of the family was to….
transmit ideology that helps maintain the capitalist state, and stop the proletariat from rebelling
