Functionalist Theory of the Family

Question 1

Functionalist View on Society

Answer 1

• based on VALUE CONSENSUS. This enables them to cooperate harmoniously to meet society’s needs and achieve shared goals.
• regard society as a system made up of different parts / sub systems that depend on each other, e.g. family, education system, etc.
• compare this to a biological organism like the human body e.g. just as organs such as the heart or lungs perform functions vital to the well being of the body as a whole, the family meets some of society’s essential needs, such as the needs to socialise children.

Question 2

Functionalist View - What is a Value Consensus

Answer 2

a set of shared norms and values - into which society socialises it’s members

Question 3

Functionalist View on the Family

Answer 3

• see this as a particularly important sub system - a basic building block of society

Question 4

Functionalist View - Murdock

Answer 4

argues the family performs four essential functions to meet the needs of society and it’s members:

• Stable satisfaction of the sex drive: married heterosexual couples enjoy healthy sex life, preventing social disruption caused by a sexual ‘free for all’
• Reproduction of the next generation: society could not continue
• Socialisation of the young: into society’s shared norms and values
• Meeting it’s members economic needs: such as food and shelter

Question 5

Criticisms of Murdock

Answer 5

• accepts that other institutions could perform these functions
  But he argues that the sheer practicality of the nuclear family as a way of meeting these 4 needs explains why it is universal - found in all human societies without exception.
• these functions could be performed by other institutions equally well, or by non nuclear family structures.
• Marxists and Feminists reject his ‘rose tinted’ harmonious consensus view that the family meets the needs of both wider society and it’s members. Functionalists ignores the negative conflict and exploitation
  1. Feminists see the family as serving the needs of men
  2. Marxists see the family as meeting the needs of capitalism instead

Question 6

Functionalists Parsons Functional Fit Theory

Answer 6

• the functions the family performs depends on the kind of society in which it is found .
• the functions that the family has to perform will affect it’s structure
• distinguishes between two types of family structure: nuclear family and extended.
• the particular structure and functions of a given type of family will ‘fit’ the needs of the society in which it is found
• there are two basic types of society - modern industrial and traditional pre - industrial society.
  The nuclear family fits the needs of industrial society and is the most dominant while the extended fits the needs of pre - industrial
• when Britain began to industrialise the extended family gave way to the nuclear. This was because the emerging industrial society had different needs and the family had to adapt to meet these needs.

Question 7

Functionalists Parsons: Industrial Society Functions

1. A Geographically Mobile Workforce

Answer 7

• in the traditional pre industrial society people spent their whole lives working and living in the same area
• By contrast modern industries constantly spring up and decline in different parts of the country which requires people to move where jobs are
• Parsons argues it is easier for compact nuclear family to move so it is better fitted to the need that modern industry has for a geographically mobile work force

Question 8

Functionalists Parsons: Industrial Society Functions

2. A Socially Mobile Workforce

Answer 8

• modern industrial society is based on evolving science and technology so it requires a skilled, competent workforce. So it is essential that talented people are able to win promotion and take on the most important jobs despite background
• in modern society an individual’s status is achieved by their own efforts and ability, not ascribed by their social and family background, and this makes social mobility possible.
• for this reason Parsons argues the nuclear family is better equipped to meet the needs of industrial society. - In the extended adult sons live in their fathers house - where the father has a higher ascribed status as the head
• however at work the son may have a higher achieved status than his father. This would inevitably give rise to tensions if they both live under the same roof
• the result is the mobile nuclear family that is ‘structurally isolated’ from it’s extended kin.
• it has no binding obligations towards them but still keep in touch

Question 9

Functionalist View - Loss of Functions

Answer 9

• the pre industrial family was a multi functional unit.
• Both a unit of production and unit of consumption
• It was a more self sufficient unit than the modern nuclear family, providing for it’s members health and welfare and meeting most individuals and social needs

Question 10

Parsons Loss of Functions - Structural Differentiation

Answer 10

• according to P when society industrialises the family not only changes its structure from extended to nuclear, it also loses many of it’s functions
• It has lost some of it’s functions and has become specialised in carrying out only two:
  1. Primary Socialisation of Children - passing on society’s norms and values
  2. The Stabilisation of Adult Personalities - the family is a warm and friendly place where adults can relax. This theory is known as the ‘Warm Bath Theory’ - having a family is like a having a warm bath where all the stresses of everyday life are soaked away