Functionalism

Question 1

Name Murdock’s 4 essential functions that families need to meet the needs of society.

Answer 1

Stable satisfaction of the sex drive, reproduction of next generation, socialization of the young and meeting its members economic needs.

Question 2

functionalists believe society is based on a _____ consenus

Answer 2

value

Question 3

What is a value consensus?

Answer 3

a set of shared norms and values into which society socialises its members

Question 4

What do functionalists often compare society to?

Answer 4

a body, e.g organic analogy.

Question 5

Why do functionalists compare society to a body?

Answer 5

Because bodies have vital organs that performs vital functions to the well being of the body as a whole. so the family meets societys needs.

Question 6

Name the 3 sub-systems that depend on each other

Answer 6

family, education and economy

Question 7

What can be seen to functionalists as the ‘building block to society’?

Answer 7

society

Question 8

Name at least two criticisms of Murdock’s take on the nuclear family.

Answer 8

Feminism - oppressing women, only serving men
Marxists - meets the needs of capitalism, not family members
general views - can be performed by non-nuclear structures.

Question 9

What theorist believes the family performs different functions to others depending on the society it is found in?

Answer 9

Talcott Parsons (1955)

Question 10

what are the two kinds of family structure Talcott Parsons believes in

Answer 10

Nuclear and extended

Question 11

which family was more dominant in the industrial era and why?

Answer 11

Nuclear - because they were better fitted for a geographically mobile workforce

Question 12

What two functions of the family does Talcott Parsons believe in

Answer 12

Primary socialisation and stabilisation of adult personalities

Question 13

What is the warm bath theory?

Answer 13

Where a woman runs a bath after work to distress him from the capitalist system

Question 14

What kind of theory is functionalism?

Answer 14

Structuralist, consensus and macro

Question 15

What are the two roles functionalists believe should be in place in a family?

Answer 15

Segregated conjugal roles. Instrumental - man, breadwinner

expressive - woman, emotional needs

Question 16

monogamy minimises _____ in society

Answer 16

conflict

Question 17

Why do family structures change in society?

Answer 17

to meet the needs of society, can change in response to industrialization

Question 18

What does Young & Willmott say about the nuclear family in the pre-industrialisation

Answer 18

It existed because of families working in knitting mills etc

Question 19

does functionalists believe that the modern nuclear family have less functions or more?

Answer 19

less because families now tend to be a unit of consumption instead of production

Question 20

Why is the nuclear family now outdated?

Answer 20

because of family diversity

Question 21

do functionalists see the nuclear family being beneficial to and society or not?

Answer 21

they do because everyone works together to get jobs and needs done.

Question 22

what could be two criticisms of the fucntionalist perspective on family

Answer 22

1. It benefits the capitalist system (Marxism)

2. Nuclear family is unequal and unfair (feminism)

Question 23

How does the nuclear family stabilise adult personalities?

Answer 23

marriage and family life perform the function of protecting members from stress of day to day life. e.g warm bath theory