The Functionalist perspective on the family

Question 1

What are Murdocks’ (1949) 4 essential functions of the family in regards to helping the needs of society and its members?

Answer 1

1. Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
   - Prevents the social disruption caused by a sexual ‘free-for-all’
2. Reproduction of the next generation
3. Socialisation of the young into society’s shared norms and values
4. Meeting its members’ economic needs
   - Food and shelter

Question 2

What are the criticisms of Murdock?

Answer 2

• Some sociologists argue that these functions could be performed equally well by other institutions, or by non-nuclear family structures
• Feminists: see the family as serving the needs of men and oppressing women
• Marxists: it meets the needs of capitalism, not those of family members or society as a whole

Question 3

What is Parsons’ ‘functional fit theory’?

Answer 3

• The family can perform other needs as well, such as welfare, military, political or religious functions
• The functions that the family performs will depend on the kind of society in which it is found
• For Parsons, there are 2 kinds of family structure:
  1. Nuclear family
• Parents and their dependent children
  2. Extended family
• 3 generations living under one roof
• For Parsons, there are 2 basic types of society:
• Modern industrial and traditional pre-industrial

Question 4

What 2 needs does Parsons believe industrial society must have?

Answer 4

1. A geographically mobile workforce
   - In traditional pre-industrial society, people often spent their whole lives in the same place, doing the same job…
   - In modern society, industries constantly spring up and decline in different parts of the country so one must be able to travel and it is easier to travel in a compact two-generation nuclear family
2. A socially mobile workforce
   - Modern industrial society requres a skilled, technically competent workforce
   - Therefore it is essential that talented people are able to win promotion and take on the most important job, regardless of social background
   - In modern society, individuals aren’t ascribed status, they achieve it, means they can become socially mobile
   - Nuclear family is better as in the extended family this may lead to tensions

Question 5

What does Parsons argue about when society industrialises?

Answer 5

• In the past, the pre-industrial family was a unit of production but also a unit of consumption, it provided for its members’ health and welfare and meeting most individual and social needs
• When society industrialises, it changes the structure and the functions of the family

Question 6

What are the 2 functions, according to Parsons, that the modern nuclear family performs?

Answer 6

1. The primary socialisation of children
   - Equipping them with basic skills and society’s values
   - Enabling them to cooperate with others and integrate into society
2. The stabilisation of adult personalities
   - Family helps to relax and release tensions
   - Helps them to return to the workplace ready to meet its demands which is functional for the efficiency of the economy