Functions of the Family Persepctives Flashcards
Introduction
The changing structure and nature of the family reflect the changes and developments of wider society.
This is because the family is very much connected with other institutions in society in a whole range of ways.
These changes have been explained by sociologists in a number of different ways, known as theoretical perspectives.
Functionalism
Consensus Theory
Functionalism sees family as being the key institution for the process of primary socialisation.
The site of Primary Socialisation and so vital norms and values are passed on through the family.
Organic Analogy
Functionalists regard society as a system made up of different parts which depend on each other. Different institutions each perform specific functions within a society to keep that society going, in the same way as different organs of the body perform different functions to maintain the whole.
Murdock (Functionalism)
Survey of 250 societies and concluded that some kind of family was found in every human society: based on two opposite-sex parents and their own or adopted children.
Murdock suggested the universal nature of the nuclear family is because they are best suited to carry out four essential functions.
Murdock’s Four Essential Functions
- ) Stable satisfaction of the sex drive within monogamous relationships (Man gets sexual gratification so he doesn’t stray away)
- ) Reproduction of next generation (To keep society going)
- )The socialisation of the young (teaching basic norms and values)
- )Meeting members economic needs (Food and Shelter)
Durkheim (Functionalism)
Family plays an important role in creating value consensus which refers to the shared ideas about what is considered important. Durkheim argues that the family is central to the process of integrating individuals into society so that society functions positively. Durkheim also argues that the family plays an important role in developing social solidarity (bound together as part of a group) and a collective conscience (strong sense of being part of society).
Parsons (Functionalism)
Argues in pre-industrial societies they carried out a whole range of functions. As societies industrialise they become more complex and there is a process of structural differentiation whereby specialised institutions develop to perform functions formerly carried out by families.
Families are now more structurally isolated and that in industrial societies the nuclear family has two essential functions.
Parsons Two Essential Functions
1.) Primary Socialisation (teaching children the norms and values of society)
An important part of socialisation is ‘gender role socialisation’. Boys learn to adopt the ‘instrumental role,’ they go on to go out to work and earns money. Girls learn to adopt the ‘expressive role,’ doing all the ‘caring work’ which is things like housework and bringing up the children.
2.)The Stabilisation of Adult Personalities (Includes indulging adult personalities and supporting each other)
Working life in Industrial society is stressful and the family is a place where the working man can return and be ‘de-stressed’ by his wife, which reduces conflict in society. The ‘warm bath theory’. It provides a safety valve.
Fletcher (Functionalism)
The family is a multi-functional unit
Other institutions compliment it rather than replace it
Supports families so the can fulfil their essential functions
Believes like Durkheim, that all the parts work together
Willmott and Young (Functionalism)
Roles have equalised.
Study of Bethnal Green in London
Suggested trend towards people living in smaller, privatised, nuclear family groups, moving away from the extended family
And therefore roles within the family become increasingly similar: Husbands take a larger share of the childcare and domestic duties = Symmetrical Families.
Criticisms of Functionalism: Downplaying Conflict
Functionalism presents a largely positive and optimistic view of the nuclear family. Critics argue that this ignores the dark side or negative aspects of families, such as child abuse, domestic violence and conflict between family members. Both Murdock and Parsons paint a very rosy picture of family life, presenting it as a harmonious and integrated institution.
Ignores the fact that families are dysfunctional. Psychologist Oliver James, in They F*** You Up: How to Survive Family Life, argues that many of the problems we face in adult life can be traced back to early childhood. For example, if we are over-competitive or constantly jealous of other people, these problems can be traced back to the way we were socialised by our parents.
Criticisms of Functionalism: Out of Date
Ignore the diversity of families in modern society. Even in the 1950s, lone-parent families and reconstituted families existed Growth in the number of other forms of family such as cohabiting families, same-sex families and families of choice means that functionalism is seen as very out-of-date by many sociologists today. Parsons seems to assume that only the nuclear family can carry out the essential functions effectively, while critics argue that individuals are inventing a whole variety of other relationships that can effectively socialise children and provide adults with emotional intimacy.
Criticisms of Functionalism: Feminist Argument
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. Feminists argue that in reality, traditional nuclear families are based on male power and dominance, expressive role. In the 1950s, most women were only in part-time jobs or housewives, whereas today, women make up 47 per cent of the UK workforce and make a significant economic contribution.
Ignore the way women suffer from the sexual division of labour in the family. Even today, women are the primary child carers in 90% of families and suffer the burden of extra work that this responsibility carries. Gender roles are socially constructed and usually involve the oppression of women. There are no biological reasons for the functionalist’s view of separation of roles.
Criticisms of Functionalism: Interactionist Argument
Parsons’ view of socialisation can be seen as a top-down process whereby parents instil the norms and values of society into children who are waiting to be ‘filled’ with culture. In reality, socialisation can be seen as a two- way process where children socialise their parents as much as they are socialised by them.
Parsons seems to see the nuclear family as an ideal institution. Late modernity and postmodernity, this ignores the degree of choice available in contemporary societies about family structures and relationships. Rather than one dominant family form we are seeing increasingly diverse and fluid families and households which provide for the diverse needs of different individuals.
Criticisms of Functionalism: Deterministic
Ignores the fact that children actively create their own personalities. An individual’s personality isn’t pre-determined at birth or something they have no control in. Incorrectly assumes an almost robotic adoption of society’s values via our parents.
The New Right
Functionalism is outdated.
Support for the functionalist argument that the nuclear family is essential to society comes from a group of writers.
Politicians, journalists, and political scientists rather than sociologists.
They argue that the decline of the traditional family and the growth of family diversity are the cause of many social problems. The New Right believe that it is important for children to have a stable home, with married mother and father, and that ideally, the wife should be able to stay at home to look after the children.
The welfare state led to a culture where people depend on the state and that these encourage single parenting, which leads to deviancy and a decline in morality.
The New Right: Evidence for ‘non-nuclear families’ being a problem
The rate of family breakdown is much lower amongst married couples (6% compared to 20%)
Children from broken homes are almost five times more likely to develop emotional problems
Young people whose mother and father split up are also three times as likely to become aggressive or badly behaved
Lone-parent families are more than twice as likely to live in poverty as two-parent families.
Children from broken homes are nine times more likely to become young offenders.
Murray (The New Right)
An underclass has emerged made up of the poorest people at the bottom of society who are dependent on welfare benefits. Lone-parent families, mostly headed by women, form a significant part of this underclass and that children, especially boys, growing up without a father figure are likely to fare worse at school and turn to crime. Successive governments have rewarded irresponsible behaviour in the form of having children outside marriage by giving over-generous welfare benefits to lone mothers, creating 'welfare dependency' Argues politicians in society have not done enough to support marriage, and as a result, cohabitation, and divorce have all become far too socially acceptable. Suggest that children born outside marriage would be better off being adopted than being brought up by lone mothers Published a book called "The underclass”. Poor are responsible for there own poverty. The generosity of the welfare state creates and encourages the underclass. Cutting benefits to encourage self-reliance.
Dennis and Erdos (The New Right)
Conducted a study which consequently argued that children who grow up without a father figure in their lives are more likely to make poorer life choice, have poorer health and have lower educational attainment than children who grow up in two parent families.
This means that lone parent families are not an alternative to the nuclear family as there is a lack of adequate primary socialisation.
They argued that boys are more likely to be affected by this due to the lack of male role model in their lives. Leads to a generation of men who lack responsibility and leads to antisocial behaviour both in and out of the family. Own children growing up without a father.
Families without fathers cost the state more in the way of benefits, health care and education costs.
New Right Criticism: Acceptability
Accused of looking back to a ‘golden age’ of family life from the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, where marriage was respected and where the nuclear family was overwhelmingly the norm. In reality, alternative families have always existed but were often concealed in the past. People who did not fit into conventional families often received harsh treatment which most people would find unacceptable today.
