The Key Thinkers for the Family Flashcards
G.P. Murdock
FUNCTIONALIST THINKER
- Observed over 250 families from different cultures.
- Argued that some form of the nuclear family existed in all 250.
- Family performs 4 basic functions:
- Sexual
- Reproductive
- Economic
- Educational
Talcott Parsons
FUNCTIONALIST THINKER
- Thinks family relationships have been shaped by the industrial revolution.
- 2 main functions of the family:
1 - Primary socialisation of children: Families can mould any child into a good citizen - believes any child can turn out well if socialised well. Personalities are ‘made, not born’.
2 - Stabilisation of Adult Personalities: ‘Warm bath’ theory - soothes and relaxes the mind + body after a stressful day (believed marriage was crucial to this). Husband = Economic welfare and protection vs
Wife = Emotional care and socialisation of children. - Nuclear family is more adaptable to the needs of modern society.
Friedrich Engels
MARXIST THINKER
- Monogamous nuclear family became popular after industrial revolution cos the Bourgeoisie wanted it to protect their property and wealth.
- Marriage was a useful tool for providing legitimate descendents of wealth (children).
- 1884: Said the family had an economic function of keeping wealth within the bourgeoisie by passing it on through inheritance.
Eli Zaretsky
MARXIST THINKER
- Believed that the nuclear family benefits capitalism and the ruling class.
1 - Children are taught capitalist values and are taught to accept the inequality in society - they learn obedience, conformity, and showing respect for those in authority.
2 - Believes that the family stops resentment for capitalism to grow in working men - their main loyalty would be to their wives and families.
3 - The family is a major unit of consumption or manufactured goods and services - consumerism blinds people to the issues with capitalism.
Criticisms of Engels + Zaretsky
- May neglect the positive emotional + social satisfaction people get from the family.
- Ignores the benefits to the individual + society - too focused on the economy.
- Zaretsky fails to consider that some parents may teach their children values + norms of working class culture.
- Some are aware of capitalist pitfalls but go along with them because it is better than communism.
Criticisms of Murdock
- His definition of the family is very ethnocentric and dated.
- Very dated… doesn’t take into account modern trends:
- Reproduction - family sizes declining/women roles have changed
- Sexual - decline of religious influence (sex outside of marriage, homosexuality etc)
- Socialisation - Mass media is now increasingly more influential.
- His views were conservative (two hetero parents) - believed there were ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to organise family life.
Criticisms of Parsons
- Too much focus on hetero marriages.
- Dated views on women’s roles - more sexually liberal.
- Too much emphasis on the socialisation process.
- Doesn’t acknowledge the darker side of the family.
Patricia Morgan
NEW RIGHT THINKER
- Very critical of New Labour’s family policy - believed it undermined both marriage and the traditional family.
- Believed it was biased towards single-parent, dual-career families, and gays at the expense of single-earner, two-parent nuclear families.
- Believed it increased state control in citizens’ private lives.
- Suggests that gay families are unnatural - a child needs a mother and a father.
- Believes that one-parent families are dependent on state benefits - breeds a culture she dislikes.
Margaret Benston
MARXIST FEMINIST THINKER
- The nuclear family, and especially women’s nurturing role within it, is important to capitalism because it produces and rears the future workforce at little cost to the capitalist state.
- Unpaid childcare would have cost the state £343 billion in 2010
Ansley
MARXIST FEMINIST THINKER
- Capitalism strips male workers of dignity, power and control at work. Many are bored, many are alienated, - they can’t identify with or bring themselves to care about the product they are producing.
- They feel powerless; feel that their masculinity is being challenged.
- Male frustration and alienation is often absorbed by the family and particularly by the female partner.
- Crisis of masculinity and powerlessness that men experience leads to problems such as domestic violence and child abuse as men attempt to assert power, control and authority in the home.
- Wives therefore act as safety valves for capitalism -these men are not directing their anger at the real cause of their problems - capitalism itself.
Wilmott and Young
FUNCTIONALIST THINKERS
- The March of Progress - how society develops and modernises over time.
- Four stages: Pre-industrial
Early industrial
Symmetrical family
Asymmetrical
- Four stages: Pre-industrial
- Stratified Diffusion - Cultural changes started with the higher classes and it filtered down the social strata, becoming the norm.
The March of Progress stages
Wilmott and Young Functionalist views
St One: Pre-industrial - Family works as a unit of economic production. Families live close together and work together - no separation between home and work.
St Two: Early Industrial - Families moved to towns where men would work and women performed domestic roles. Women stayed close to extended family whilst men were excluded so bonded at the pub.
St Three: Symmetrical - Less gender segregation. Family has ceased to be a unit of production and has become a unit of consumption.
St Four: Asymmetrical - Family would become asymmetrical (men spending more leisure time away from family). This fourth stage never really occurred.
March of Progress Evaluation
- Some dislike the idea that the family gets better as it develops. Some may still live in “stage 1” and prefer it.
- This is a different family type - not better or worse.
- Feminists claim the symmetrical family is a myth.
- Modern nuclear family presented in a very idealistic way - counter to many people’s experience.
Murdock’s 4 basic functions
Sexual: Regulates behaviour - encourages faithfulness, discourages promiscuity.
Reproductive: Having children stabilises marital relationships and family life.
Economic: Separation of gender roles - men at work, women at home.
Educational: Primary socialisation
