Perspectives- Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism Flashcards
Learn the perspectives of each group of sociologists. What are there key points and what approach do they follow.
What do Functionalists believe about the family ?
Functionalists follow the consensus approach, they believe that the family provides positive functions for society as the family is ‘’ The Corner Stone ‘’ of society. Functionalists are said to wear rose tinted glasses as they only see the positives of society. They believe that the traditional nuclear family is the best type of family as everyone has a set role in the family e.g. man plays the instrumental role and women play the expressive role.
Who is Parsons and what did he say about the family ?
He is a functionalist who said that the family provides two basic functions; the primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities.
What is meant by stabilisation of adult personalities ?
The family provides a safety valve where he or she can relax and escape the stresses and strains of the world so they can feel emotionally secure.
Who is Murdock and what did he say about the family ?
He is a functionalist who said that the family provides 4 basic functions; stabilisation of the sex drive (sexual), reproduction of the next generation (reproductive), socialisation of young people into societies norms and values(educational) and meeting its members economic needs (economic).
How can Parsons be criticised ?
He ignores the fact that socialisation might be a two way process in which roles are negotiated or that attempts at socialisation can be resisted by children.
How can Murdock be criticised ?
Marxists and Feminists reject the rose tinted view. They argue that functionalism neglects conflict and exploitation e.g. feminists see women being exploited by patriarchy and that the needs of men oppress women.
What do Marxists believe about the family ?
They believe that the nature of the family is determined by the economic system because we live in a capitalist society. They believe that the family just provides the new work force for society and the families job is to socialise them into the correct attitude e.g. obedient and conformist.
What did Engels say about the family ?
Engels said that the need for family arose when people started to value their property. At this point this is when monogamy arose because it meant that fathers knew who their legitimate heirs where. This therefore means the family is serving the needs of economy by creation of ownership of property while subjecting women to unequal power in the home.
What did Althusser say about the family ?
It can be seen to be serving the functions of the ‘Ideological state apparatus’ by socialising both pre-capitalist ideology and it’s own ideology in order to maintain family patterns e.g. socialising children into gender roles.
What is ideological state apparatus and ideology ?
Ideological state apparatus is parts of society which encourage people to accept the values of the ruling class to help maintain capitalism. Ideology is a set of beliefs which favour the interest of a particular social group.
How can Engels be criticised ?
His theory is historically inaccurate. The idea of the nuclear family arose from hunter-gather groups where monogamous relationships where most likely found. So the idea that nuclear families emerged as a response to the ownership of private property is absurd.
How can Althusser be criticised ?
Feminists would argue that Althusser ignores that a family ideology supports patriarchy since it suggests that men and women should have different and separate roles within the family and in society.
Functionalists would argue that the family socialises children into capitalist ideology, instead it enables them to internalise the n+v’s of society and become a effective functioning adult.
What do Feminists believe about the family ?
Women in the family are being oppressed because we live in a patriarchal society. Marxist feminists would also argue that women are being exploited by capitalism and that they only provide a reserve army of labour. Liberal feminists see that the division of labour is becoming more equal but women still do the majority. Radical feminists would argue men are oppressing women by their physical strength and that the nuclear family is based on this.
How could you criticise Marxist Feminists ?
Other feminists would argue that all women are exploited by capitalism equally e.g. black and white women, heterosexual and homosexual women, middle class and working class women are all exploited by capitalism.
How would you criticise Radical Feminists ?
They fail to recognise recent trends such as feminisation of the workforce and women’s use of divorce laws.
Liberal feminists also argue that separatism wouldn’t work because the heterosexual attraction make s it unlikely the nuclear family will disappear.
