Functionalist views on the Nuclear family in contemporary society

Question 1

what is he functionalist theory about the nuclear family?

Answer 1

• functionalist theories analyse the family in two ways
• firstly, they are interested i family structures, which means he way individuals are linked to one another in particular roles and relationships
• for many functionalists, the nuclear family is the basic building block of society, based on the key relationships between husband and wife, and parents and children
• nuclear families may of course be part of larger structures in many societies, such as different types of extended families
• functionalists also examine families in terms of their functions, by which they mean the ways in that families provide hings that are needed by their members as well as serving the needs of society as a whole

Question 2

what did Murdock (1949) say about the universal functions of the family?

Answer 2

• Murdock carried out a survey of 250 societies from which he concluded that some kind of family was found in every human society
• Murdock argued that his was based on two opposite sex parents and their biological or adopted children
• however he did acknowledge that in many societies vertically extended families and horizontally families form households that included grandparents of brothers
• he also suggested the universal nature of the nuclear family was for good reasons
• he argued that the family performs four essential functions in all societies and he nuclear family is best equipped to carry these out

Question 3

what are the 4 functions of families?

Answer 3

• Sexual function
• economic function
• education
• reproduction

Question 4

what is a sexual function?

Answer 4

• most societies encourage people to channel heir sex drives into socially acceptable relationships such as marriage
• this helps society by minimizing conflict but provides individuals with opportunities for satisfying long term relationships

Question 5

what is economic function?

Answer 5

• in many societies, the family acts as a unit of production; the whole family may work together to provide themselves with food and other requirements
• in western societies such as Britain, most families act as units of consumption, buying goods and services for their members
• individuals benefit by having their needs looked after and society benefits from he economic contribution made by families.

Question 6

what is reproduction?

Answer 6

-the family is the main unit within which children are reproduced; without this, society would cease to exist

Question 7

what is eductaion?

Answer 7

• Murdock sees the educational function of the family as primary socialization
• individuals benefit by growing up to be well balanced individuals who can it into society, which helps to ensure a society where there is consensus about social norms

Question 8

what did the neo-functionalist popenoe (1996) say about the family?

Answer 8

• Popenoe argues that there are biological imperatives that underlie the way families are organised
• for example, he suggests that men and women are biologically different so that women are better suited to nurturing children, especially in their early years
• he also argues that we need a new cultural set of guideines for what a family should be like based on what he calls biosocial reality
• like other functionalists, he therefore implies that some types of family are less functional than others, as they are not based on the biological abilities and needs of hu,an beings
• thus children brought up in some kinds of alternative families are more likely to be damaged by their early childhood experiences

Question 9

what are the evaluation points of functionalism?

Answer 9

• ignores diversity in modern families
• feminist view
• ignores that many families are dysfunctional
• makes broad generalisations
• interactionist view
• post modernist view

Question 10

how is the fact that functionalism ignores diversity in modern families a weakness?

Answer 10

• even in the 1950s lone parent families and reconstituted families existed and families of choice means that functionalism is seen as very out dated by many sociologists today
• parsons seems to assume that only the nuclear family can carry out the essential functions of the family effectively, while critics argue that individuals are increasingly inventing a whole variety of other relationships and living arrangements that can effectively socialise children and provide adults with emotional intimacy

Question 11

how is the feminist view a weakness of functionalism?

Answer 11

• parsons view of the family is sexist
• he assumes that men and women will naturally perform separate roles and that these roles have equal status roles have equal status
• feminists argue that i reality, traditional nuclear families are based on male power and dominance; for example, the responsibilities for emotional support entailed in the stabilization of adult personalities largely fall on women but receive little recognition or social status while women themselves receive little emotional support from their male partners.
• in the 1950s most women were full time housewives or had part time jobs however today women make up 47% of the UK workforce

Question 12

how is the fact that functionalism ignores that many families are dysfunctional a weakness?

Answer 12

• functionalism provides a largely positive view of the nuclear family and ignores the dark and negative aspects of families such as child abuse, domestic violence and conflict between family members
• James (2003) argues that many of the problems we face in adulthood stems from early childhood
• for example lacking confidence can come from the way we are socialised

Question 13

how is the fact that functionalism makes broad generalisations a weakness?

Answer 13

• functionalism is what sociologists call a grand theory as it makes broad generalisations about family in all societies
• as such it has helped to identify broad trends in how families and kinship systems develop as societies industrialise
• functionalists try to answer important questions about why most human beings tend to live in families and how families help to ensure the smooth running of society

Question 14

how is the interactionalist view of families a weakness of functionalism?

Answer 14

• Parsons view of socialization can be seen as a top down process whereby parents instill the norms and values of society into children who re waiting to be filled with culture
• in reality socialization can be seen as a two way process where children socialise their parents

Question 15

how is the postmodernist view of families a weakness of functionalism?

Answer 15

• Parsons seems to see the nuclear family as an ideal institution that modern industrial societies require]-fir theorists of late modernity and post modernity, this ignores the degree of choice available in contemporary societies about family structures and relationships
• rather than one dominant family form - the nuclear family - we are seeing increasingly diverse and fluid families and households which provide for the diverse needs of different individuals