Families and households unit 1

Question 1

What were Murdocks four family functions?

Answer 1

Reproductive- Brings new members into society.
Sexual- Creates a strong emotional bond between a couple.
Educational- Primary socialisation: This transmits values and culture to the next generation within society. I.e values and respect.
Economic- Parents use their wages in the family to buy things like food.

Question 2

What are the criticisms to Murdocks four family functions?

Answer 2

1. It is ethnocentric.
2. It is very dated. Things have changed such as there is now only 3 prominent functions:
3. Reproduction.
4. Sexual.
5. Socialisation.
6. He emphasises two parent families that are heterosexual.

Question 3

What functions do the extended families provide?

Answer 3

1. Provide food and shelter.
2. Equipt its members with the basic skills and education they needed.
3. Health of the members.

Question 4

What do liberal, Marxist and radical feminists say about the family?

Answer 4

1. Marxist: They see patriarchal oppression by men as central to women’s experience. They see social-class relationships as the main issue. Things like domestic labour lead to women being further exploited in the home. Women also make the next generation of workers for free as the bourgeoisie don’t have to pay- Benston. They also make sure that the male workforce is fit and healthy.
2. Radical: They believe that it is the patriarchy that exploits women. It teaches children patriarchal ideology.

Question 5

Define Kinship

Answer 5

Kinship: People that you are related to by blood, or they are legally bonded. They usually share legal rights and are expected to support each other.

Question 6

Describe the functionalist view of the family:

Answer 6

The family is set up for the greater good of society. It helps to maintain social order & stability. It also plays a considerable role in constructing and maintenance of an effective economy.

Both adults and children are able to benefit from the emotional wellbeing that it provides.

Question 7

Describe the effects of industrialisation of the family.

Answer 7

1. There was the emerge of a ‘geographical mobile workforce’. A major wave of urbanisation consequently occured.
2. People were able to improve ones self materially.
3. Specialised agencies that took over some of the families functions. For example, they no longer grew their own food.

Question 8

What did Parsons claim that the nuclear family could act as?

Answer 8

A ‘Warm bath’ as it relieves pressures from work and society.

Question 9

Why can the family be described as a safety valve?

Answer 9

Due to its emotional support and security. It prevents stress from being overwhelming to adult family member, and it stabilizes adult personality by destressing the individual.

Question 10

What did Parsons mean by the instrumental leader and t the expressive leader?

Answer 10

Instrumental: This is where the husband is responsible for the economic welfare and living standards.

Expressive: the woman’s role of emotional support and care of family members.

Question 11

What are the strengths of the functionalist view of the family?

Answer 11

1. It was the first theory to state that in almost all societies we can see the two-generation nuclear family with adults of both sexes and dependant children.
2. Many people still desire to live in the type of nuclear unit that Parsons outlines.

Question 12

What are the criticisms of the functionalist view of the family?

Answer 12

Fletcher- Argues that it is wrong to say that the family has lost all of its functions. He argues that it carried out three vital functions: Satisfying long-term sexual and environmental needs of parents, raising children in a stable environment, and the provision of the home to which all family members return to after work.

Question 13

Why do interpretivists believe that parsons theory of the family is inadequate?

Answer 13

It paints a picture of children being ‘empty vessels’ being pumped with ideology. This is an oversocialized view of children.

Question 14

What does Cheal suggest about the nuclear family?

Answer 14

That there is a dark side that functionalism rarely acknowledges.

Question 15

What statistics go with Cheals view that the family has a dark side?

Answer 15

1. 3 domestic killings each fortnight. Account for 40% of all female murders.
2. Around 4 children per week die at the hands of their parents.
3. 1 in 20 children had been sexually abused. 1 in 14 had been physically abused.
4. Violence against female partners accounts for about 1/3 of all reported violence.

Question 16

What does Benston say about the family?

Answer 16

The nuclear family is important as it rears the future workforce at a little cost to the capitalist state. Women’s domestic labour and sexual services also help to maintain the present workforces physical and emotional fitness.