Family Sociologists Flashcards
Who is known for Functionalism and what are their key ideas?
George Murdock is known for Functionalism. He proposed that the family performs four essential functions: sexual, reproductive, economic, and educational. He also stated that the nuclear family is a universal institution and that cultural universals, including the family, are key to societal stability.
What are Talcott Parsons’ contributions to Functionalism?
Talcott Parsons is known for Functionalism. He argued that the family performs two essential functions: primary socialization and the stabilization of adult personalities. He introduced the ‘Warm Bath Theory,’ suggesting that the family relieves stress for its members, and discussed instrumental and expressive roles within the nuclear family.
What are Friedrich Engels’ views on the family?
Friedrich Engels is known for Marxism. He believed that the family emerged to ensure inheritance of private property, that monogamous marriage is a tool to maintain capitalist systems, and that the family reinforces class inequality.
What key ideas are associated with Eli Zaretsky?
Eli Zaretsky is known for Marxism. He argued that the family serves capitalism by reproducing labor power, provides a ‘safe haven’ from exploitation at work, and that consumerism within the family supports capitalist economies.
What does Ann Oakley contribute to Feminism?
Ann Oakley is known for Feminism. She posited that gender roles are socially constructed rather than biologically determined, criticized the ‘conventional family’ as oppressive to women, and challenged the functionalist view of gender roles in the family.
What are Delphy and Leonard’s views on the family?
Delphy and Leonard are known for Radical Feminism. They argue that the family is a patriarchal institution, that men benefit from women’s unpaid labor, and that women perform emotional labor to maintain family structures.
What does Jennifer Somerville say about Liberal Feminism?
Jennifer Somerville is known for Liberal Feminism. She states that changes in family structures have improved women’s positions, but gender inequality persists. She supports policies like childcare to improve women’s independence and critiques radical feminism as overly pessimistic.
What is the focus of Rapoport and Rapoport’s research?
Rapoport and Rapoport are known for Diversity in Families. They identified five types of family diversity: organizational, cultural, class, life-stage, and generational. They challenged the nuclear family as the dominant type and emphasized the changing nature of family forms in modern society.
What are Ulrich Beck’s contributions to Postmodernism?
Ulrich Beck is known for Postmodernism. He introduced the concept of the ‘negotiated family’ in a risk society, noted that individualization has led to greater family diversity, and discussed the decline of traditional family structures due to modernity.
What does Judith Stacey say about the postmodern family?
Judith Stacey is known for Postmodernism. She describes the ‘postmodern family’ as reflecting choice and diversity, notes that family roles are fluid and changeable, and challenges the idea of fixed family structures.
What are Young and Willmott’s key ideas?
Young and Willmott are known for Functionalism and the Symmetrical Family. They identified the emergence of the ‘symmetrical family’ due to industrialization, noted greater equality in gender roles in the family, and discussed stages of family development, including the shift to the privatized nuclear family.
What does Charles Murray argue in the New Right perspective?
Charles Murray is known for the New Right. He criticizes welfare dependency and the ‘underclass,’ argues that single-parent families contribute to social problems, and views traditional nuclear families as the ideal for social stability.
What are Sylvia Walby’s contributions to Feminism?
Sylvia Walby is known for Feminism. She discusses the intersection of patriarchy and capitalism in family life, views domestic abuse as a systemic issue tied to patriarchal control, and argues that the family contributes to women’s subordination in broader society.
What is Hakim’s Preference Theory?
Hakim is known for Preference Theory. She argues that women make active, rational choices about work and family roles, identifies three types of women: home-centered, work-centered, and adaptive, and challenges the idea that women are always oppressed in families.
What does Anthony Giddens say about modern relationships?
Anthony Giddens is known for Postmodernism. He discusses the rise of the ‘pure relationship,’ where couples stay together for emotional satisfaction, notes individualization and choice in modern family forms, and highlights the decline of traditional family norms.
