Family Theorists Flashcards
What did Tallcot Parsons (1959) write about?
He argued that families have 2 functions
Primary and secondary socialisation
Stabilisation of adult personality (warm bath theory)
What was Tallcot Parsons ‘warm bath theory’ talking about?
The family is used to relax members through 2 functions
Emotional support from married couples
Parents indulge their childish side (playing with their children)
What were George Murdocks 4 functions of the family?
Sexual
Reproduction
Economic
Education
What are criticisms of Murdocks work?
His stages are functions are unrealistic as all people are different
It sees infertility as a ‘dysfunction’
What were Engles comments on the purpose of the family?
He wrote that the nuclear family was set up to pass capital to heirs
As well as saying that monogamous marriage was made so that women became economically dependent on their husband
The only way to free women was to get them back into work
What were Zaretskys comments on the family?
Claims that the family provides a ‘cushion effect’ from the effects of the alienating work men undertake
He claims that productivity increases due to the cushioning effect
What did Firestone (radical feminist) write about Biology ?
She believed that women are chained due to biology and must be set free
What did Feeley write about patriarchal family?
How a father-dominated family environment prepares children for work
What did Charles Murray (1989) write about?
The emergence of the British underclass and how a return to the traditional family unit is needed to combat this
What did Ulrich Beck (1992) write about?
Risk society and the negotiated family
We live in a risk society where tradition has less influence and more choice Is available to us
What did Murdock (1949) write about regarding family across the world?
He said that the family was universal
What does Parsons about education?
It acts as a bridge between the family and individualistic values and the wider world alongside its universal values
What did Durkhiem say about education?
Essentially for social cohesion
