functionalism perspectives on the role of family Flashcards
what functions does the family perform
-an economic function
-sexual and reproductive function
-socialisation function
-stabilisation of adult personalities
what is function of fit
as society changes the type of family that ‘fits’ that society and its function changes
who are the two main functional theorists of the family
George Murdock and Talcott Persons
What are the functions of the extended family in pre-industrial society according to Persons
1)It meets the basic needs of the family ;
- It produced food clothing and shelter
2) Education ;
- It educated kids in whatever skills the family specialised in. These skills were limited to hunting , gathering , growing particular crops etc. This socialisation rarely extended to literacy or numeracy.
3)Healthcare ;
- It took responsibility for the health of its members
4) Took the role of a criminal justice system;
-Without a criminal justice system the extended family often pursued vendettas to seek revenge for perceived slights. (e.g blood feuds)
What are the two functions of the nuclear family according to Persons
1) Primary socialisation of children ;
- Persons believed that the family should bear the main responsibility of the socialisation of children into values of society.
- An important part of socialisation according to Functionalists is ‘gender role socialisation. If primary socialisation is done correctly then boys learn to adopt the ‘instrumental role’ (also known as the ‘breadwinner role) - they go on to go out to work and earns money. Girls learn to adopt the ‘expressive role’ - doing all the ‘caring work’, housework and bringing up the children.
2) Stabilisation of adult personality ;
- He argued that the second important specialised function of the family is to relieve the stresses of modern day living for its adult members.
- The nuclear family acts as a ‘warm bath’ family life can relieve the pressure of work and contemporary society just like a warm bath soothes the warm body.
Criticisms of Persons
- Persons neglected agency and free will ;
interactionists argue that persons paints a picture of children as ‘empty vessels; being pumped full of culture by their parents. They argue that Persons fails to acknowledge that children actively create their own personalities and can go against the values taught during socialisation. - Historical evidence ;
Historical studies have shown that there was a wide range of household types in the pre-industrial period.There is no evidence that extended families were the norm
-Persons presented a very positive picture of relationships within the nuclear family although it can tend to be dysfunctional or harmful to its members. David Cheal (2002) argued that functional relationships can easily slip into damaging relationships and love can often turn into hate in moments of intense emotion.
-Fletcher (1988)
He argued that Parsons was wrong to suggest that the nuclear family had undergone a ‘loss of functions’. He argues that the nuclear family continues to perform the functions that Parson’s believed it lost to the state.
e.g Most parents continue to take primary responsibility for providing their children with educational support and daily healthcare.
overall criticisms of functionalism
Downplays conflict –
Both Murdock and Parsons paint a very rosy picture of family life, presenting it as a harmonious and integrated institution. However, they downplay conflict in the family, particularly the ‘darker side’ of family life, such as violence against women and child abuse.
Out of Date –
Parson’s view of the instrumental and expressive roles of men and women is very old-fashioned. It may have held some truth in the 1950s but today, with the majority of women in paid work, and the blurring of gender roles, it seems that both partners are more likely to take on both expressive and
instrumental roles
Ignores female exploitation –
Women have to take on double shifts, and maybe even triple shifts, as they are also treated as reserved labour.
what are instrumental and expressive roles
instrumental roles are those that provide financial support and establish family status and expressive roles involve work inside of the family providing emotional support and physical care for the children.
why does the nuclear family fit industrial society
because industrial society requires a mobile workforce and the extended family was too difficult to move when families needed too move to find work. There was also less need for the extended family as more and more functions started being carried out by the state
Persons (1951)
-function of fit theory
-the type of family has changed from extended to nuclear
-the nuclear family is the only institution that can perform two core functions of society; primary socialisation and stabilisation of adult personalities.
George Murdock
-studied 250 families
-argues that the nuclear family is in all cultures across the world(universal)
-believes the nuclear family performed four essential functions in society
1)sexual control - adult married or cohabiting couples do not have sexy relations with anyone other than their current partner something that provides stability through exclusivity
2)reproduction - familes reproduce society , they create new members to replace the dead ones
3)socialisation- children are taught values and norms that help them become members of society
4)economic production - division of labour ,involving paid employment and un ,family looks after members that cannot support themselves e.g young children , older people , the sick.
Exclusive definition of family - Murdock
A social group characterized by common residence , economic cooperation, reproduction and adults of both sexes at least two who maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children own or adopted
Inclusive definition of the family - Giddens
A group of people related through kinship
What do functionalists say about the family
They believe that the family is one the important institutions playing positive roles necessary for the society
Accordingly if these functions are not performed society will experience certain challenges
Criticisms of Murdock
The main criticism of Murdock is that his definition of family life is very dated and fails to take account of modern social processes which have produced many variations on the theme of the nuclear family. For example:
▪ A revolution in women’s attitudes occurred in the 1960s which resulted in women interpreting getting married, having children, staying at home full-time to rear children and taking all the responsibility for housework and childcare as optional rather than obligatory. These social changes in attitude (which Helen Wilkinson calls a ‘genderquake’) coincided with the feminisation of the economy and workforce and meant that there were alternatives to the traditional and socially expected pattern of settling down to nuclear family life. The genderquake also undermined the traditional distribution of power between men and women in families and led to fundamental changes in how the domestic division of labour was organised.
▪ Women acquired more control over their reproductive rights with the introduction and widespread popularity of the contraceptive pill in the 1960s.
▪ Changes in demography (i.e. birth rates, fertility rates, death rates, life expectancy and migration) have resulted in variations in family type and lifestyle.
▪ Changes in social and religious attitudes have led to legal changes with regard to marriage and cohabitation as well as divorce, abortion and gay rights.
