Families - Functionalism And The Family - George Murdock And Parsons

Question 1

How many societies did George Murdock study and what did he find in all of them?

Answer 1

He studied 250 societies and found some form on nuclear family in all of them

Question 2

How many significant functions did Murdock find in these families

Answer 2

4

Question 3

What were the names of the 4 functions

Answer 3

Sexual , economic , reproductive and educational

Question 4

Sexual function meaning - Murdock

Answer 4

Stable sex drive will prevents sexual jealousy

Question 5

Economic function meaning - Murdock

Answer 5

Providing shelter and food at home

Question 6

Reproductive function - Murdock

Answer 6

Produces the next generation of society

Question 7

Educational function - Murdock

Answer 7

Children are taught the norms and values of society

Question 8

Criticisms of Murdock

Answer 8

Sociologists- criticised his ideas to be outdated
Feminists- argue that women are at a disadvantage in his idea of the family
Marxists- argue that the family is a tool of capitalism and it main function is to keep social inequalities

Question 9

Household

Answer 9

people who live together who may
not be family.

Question 10

Family

Answer 10

a type of household where the people living together are related

Question 11

Kinship

Answer 11

being related by birth or blood.

Question 12

Talcott Parsons - functionalism and social change

Answer 12

-As society changes family structures and relationships do too
-each individual has a distinct role to fill

Question 13

Industrial revolution brought 4 changes:

Answer 13

• Geographically mobile workforce
• social mobility
• emerged of specialised agencies
• change of functions for family

Question 14

Geographically mobile workforce - Parsons

Answer 14

People are required to move where their jobs are. Parsons argues that the nuclear family fits better in todays society

Question 15

Social mobility - Parsons

Answer 15

The movement of individuals between social classes

Question 16

Emerge of specialised agencies - Parsons

Answer 16

Families don’t need to provide much because of NHS, free school

Question 17

Change of functions of family - Parsons

Answer 17

Parsons believed that family structures change along with society and that each type of family is created to ‘fit’ society at the time.

Question 18

Criticism of Parsons

Answer 18

He was criticised for idealizing the nuclear family, ignoring dysfunction such as domestic abuse, child abuse and gender inequality

Question 19

Primary socialisation

Answer 19

equip them with basic skius and society’s valves.

Question 20

The Stabilisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory)

Answer 20

family is a place where adults can relax and release tensions and able them to return to work refreshed.

Question 21

Roles within the Family

Answer 21

-The men have a more ‘instrumental role’ and are the breadwinners
-The women are have more of the ‘expressive role’ and supposed to stay at home with the children

Question 22

Evaluation of Functionalism

Answer 22

-is too optimistic in its assumption that all institutional functions are beneficial.
-Marxists argue that social stratification is harmful and exploitative of lower social classes.
-Feminists argue that the family can be dysfunctional and exploitative of women.