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Famillies And Households > Theories Of The Family > Flashcards

Theories Of The Family Flashcards

1
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
The function of belief of society

A

Functionless believe that society is based on a set of shared norms and values where society socialises its members. This enables them to corporate harmoniously to meet societies needs and achieved shared goals.

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2
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
How society is made up

A

Functionalists regards society as a system made up of different parts that depend on each other, such as the family, the education, system and economy.

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3
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Society like a human body

A

Functionalist compare society to biological organisms like the body. just as organs perform functions, vital to the well-being of the body, families meet the societies essential needs such as need to socialise children.

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4
Q

The functionalist perspective on education
George, Peter Murdoch
essential functions needed for society

A

-Stable satisfaction of the sex drive with the same partner
- reproduction of the next generation
-Socialisation of the young
-Meeting members economic needs such as food.

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5
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Criticisms to Murdock

A

Some doubt that the four functions developed by Murdock are the most important, and some argue that they could be performed quickly by other institutions, or by non-nuclear families.

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6
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Criticism to Murdoch
Marxist

A

Marxist argue that families meet the needs of capitalism, not the needs of family members or society.

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7
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Criticism to Murdoch
Feminists

A

Feminist, see the family are serving the needs of men and oppressing women.

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8
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Criticism of Murdoch
Marxist and feminists

A

Marxist and feminist reject Murdochs rose tinted harmonious consensus view that the family meets the needs of society and the members of the family. They argue that functionalism neglects conflict and exploitation.

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9
Q

The functionalist perspective on the family
Parsons 1955
functional fit theory

A

In the view of Parsons, the functions that the family performs will depend on the kind of society in which it is found. The functions that the family has to perform or affect its shape or structure.

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10
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Parsons “functional fit” theory
The 2 kinds of family structure

A
  • The nuclear family of just parents and their dependent children
  • The extended family of three generations living under one roof
    The particular structure and functions of a given family type will fit the needs of the society in which it is found .
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11
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Parsons functional fit theory
2 types of society

A

The nuclear family fits the needs of industrial society while the extended family fits the needs of pre-industrial society. When Britain became industrialised, the extended family began to give away to the nuclear.

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12
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
A geographically, mobile workforce
Preindustrial society

A

In the traditional pre-industrial society, people often spent their whole lives living in the same village working on the same farm.

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13
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
A geographically, mobiles workforce
Modern industrial society

A

In modern society, industries spring up and decline in different parts of the country, and this requires people to move to where the jobs are. Parsons argues that it is easier for the nuclear family to move and better fitted to the needs of modern industrial workforce

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14
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Socially mobile workforce
Modern industrial society

A

based on constantly evolving science and technology, so requires a skilled competent workforce. An individual status is achieved by their own efforts and ability. The nuclear family is better equipped to meet the needs of industrial Society.

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15
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
A socially mobile workforce
Extended family and modern society

A

In the extended family, adult sons may live home with their fathers who have a higher status as the head of the house. However, the Son may have a highest achieved status in a job. this may inevitably give rise to tensions and conflict. The solution is for the son to move out and form his own nuclear family, which encourages social mobility.

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16
Q

Functionalist perspective on education
A socially mobile workforce
The result of mobile nuclear families

A

This is where nuclear families are structurally isolated from their relatives. They may keep in touch, but have no binding obligation towards them. And are unable to help one another as much as extended families

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17
Q

Functionalist perspective and family
Loss of functions
Pre-industrial family as multifunctional

A

The pre-industrial family was a multifunctional unit. It had a unit of production and a unit of consumption (feeding). It was more self-sufficient than the modern nuclear family and provided for its members, health and welfare.

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18
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Loss of functions
Extended families as society industrialises

A

When society industrialises the family loses its structure and function. The family to be a unit of production as work moves into factories. It also loses functions to other institutions such as schools and health service.

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19
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Loss of functions
The result of the loss of functions

A

As a result of the loss of functions the modern nuclear family comes to specialise in performing two essential functions the primary socialisation of the children and stabilisation of adult personalities

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20
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Loss of functions
The two essential functions of the modern nuclear family
Primary socialisation of children

A

Primary socialisation of the children to equip them with basic skills and societies values to enable them to cooperate with others

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21
Q

The functionalist perspective on family
Loss of functions
The two essential functions of the modern nuclear family
The stabilisation of adult personalities

A

The family is a place where adults can relax and release tensions, enabling them to return to the workplace, professed and ready to meet its demands.

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22
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Evidence against Parsons
Was the industrial family dominant in pre-industrial society?
Wilma and Young, 1973

A

According to young and Wilmot, the pre-industrial family was nuclear, not extended as Parsons claims with parents and children working together, for example, in cottage industries such as weaving.

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23
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Evidence against Parsons
Was the industrial family dominant in pre-industrial society?
Peter, Laslett, 1972

A

From his study of English household from 1564 to 1821, he found that they were almost always nuclear families. The short life expectancy meant that grandparents were unlikely to be alive for very long after the birth of their first grandchild.

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24
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Evidence against Parsons
Did the family become nuclear and early industrial society?
Wilmot and young

A

Wilmet and Young argue that the early industrial period, gave the rise to the “Mum centred” working class extended family based on ties between mothers and their married daughters, who relied on each other for financial and emotional support

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25
Q

Functionalist perspective on family
Evidence against Parsons
Is the extended family no longer important in the modern society
Wilmot and Young

A

Willmot and Young argue that from 1900 the nuclear family emerged as a result of social changes like higher standards of living that made the extended family less important.

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26
Q

The Marxist perspective on family

A

Marxist institutions such as education and family is helping to maintain class inequality and capitalism, the functions of the family are performed, purely for the benefit of the capitalist system.

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27
Q

The Marxist perspective on family
Inheritance of property
Mode of production

A

The key factor determining the shape of all social institutions is the mode of production, this is who owns and control societies productive forces. Modern society It is a capitalist class that owns and controls the means of production.

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28
Q

The Marxist perspective on the family
Inheritance of property
The classless society

A

Marxists called the earliest class society, “primitive communism”. There were no private property, and all members of society own the means of production communally.

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29
Q

The Marxist perspective on family
Inheritance of property
Classless Society and Frederick Engle

A

During classless society, there were no family as such. Instead, there existed, what Frederick calls the promiscuous horde or tribe in which there were no restrictions on sexual relationships.

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30
Q

The Marxist perspective on the family
Private property
The growth of society wealth

A

As the forces of production developed, societies wealth increased as well as the development of private property. a class of men emerged who were able to secure control of the means of production, brought the patriarchal monogamous nuclear family

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31
Q

The Marxist perspective on families
Private property
Frederick Engle, monogamy

A

Monogamy became essential because of the inheritance of private property. Men had to be certain of the paternity of their children in order to assume that their legitimate as inherited from them.

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32
Q

The Marxist perspective on family
What does monogamy mean?

A

Monogamy is a relationship with only one partner at a time rather than multiple partners. This relationship can be sexual or emotional, but usually both.

33
Q

Marxist perspective on the family
Private property
Frederick angle and the rise of monogamous nuclear families

A

The rise of monogamous families represented a “defeat of female sex because it brought the woman’s sexuality under male control and turned her into an “instrument for the production of children”

34
Q

Marxist perspective on family
Private property
Overthrowing, private ownership, and means of production

A

Marxist argue that only with the overthrow of capitalism and private ownership of the means of reproduction will women achieve liberation from patriarchal control.

35
Q

Marxist perspective on family
When will a classless society be established?

A

A class of society will be established when the means of production, our own collectively, and there will no longer be in need for the patriarchal family, As there were no longer need to have means of transmitting private property down the generations

36
Q

Marxist perspective on family
Ideological functions
Ideology/ justifying inequality

A

Ideology mean a set of ideas or beliefs that justify inequality and maintain the capitalist system by persuading people to accept it is fair, natural or unchangeable

37
Q

Mark is perspective on family
Ideological functions
Socialising children into inequality

A

Families justify inequality by socialising children into the idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable. Parental power over children, accustoms their idea that there is always someone in charge which prepares them for working life.

38
Q

Marxist perspective on family
Ideological functions
Eli Zaretsky 1976

A

The family performs an ideological function by offering an apparent “Haven” from the harsh and exploited work of capitalism, outside in which workers can be themselves and have a private life.

39
Q

Marxist perspective on family
A unit of consumption
Exploitation of workers

A

Capitalism exploits the labour of workers, making a profit by selling the products of the labour for more than it pays them to produce these commodities. The family therefore plays a major role in generating profits for capitalists.

40
Q

Marxist perspective on family
A unit of consumption
markets for the sale of consumer goods

A

The media target children ‘pester power’ to persuade their parents to spend more.
Children who lack the latest clothes, or must have gadgets and mocks and stigmatised by their peers.

41
Q

Marxist perspective on the family
A unit of consumption
Functions that maintain capitalist society

A

-Inheritance of private property
-Socialisation into acceptance of inequality
-A source of profits
These functions benefit capitalism, but do not benefit the members of the family.

42
Q

Marxist perspective on the family
Criticism of Marxist perspective
Family structures

A

Marxists assume that the nuclear family is dominant in capitalist society. However, this ignores the wide variety of family structures found in society today like extended families.

43
Q

The Marxist perspective on the family
Criticism of Marxist perspective
Feminists

A

Feminist argued that the Marxist emphasis on class and capitalism underestimates the importance of gender inequalities within the family. feminist argue that the family primarily serves the interest of men not capitalism.

44
Q

Feminists perspectives on the family

A

They argue that it oppresses women and they have focused on issues such as unequal division of domestic labour and domestic violence against women. They do not regard gender inequality as natural or inevitable, but something created by society

45
Q

Feminist perspectives on the family
Liberal feminism perspective

A

Liberal feminists can see greater equality in private domestic environments like family and suggest that feminist should focus on campaigning for gender equality and social policies which will improve equality in the workplace.

46
Q

Feminist perspectives on the family
Liberal feminism
Overcoming Women’s oppression

A

They argue that women’s oppression is being gradually overcome through changing peoples attitudes and through changes in law, such as the sex discrimination act in 1975, which outlaw discrimination in employment.

47
Q

Feminist perspective on the family
Liberal feminism
Moving towards greater equality

A

They believe we are moving towards greater equality, but that full equality would depend on further reforms and changes and attitudes and socialisation patterns of both sexes

48
Q

Feminist perspective on the family
Liberal feminism
March of progress

A

They hold a view that there is a March of progress. But they don’t believe full gender equality has yet been achieved in the family. studies suggest that men are doing more domestic labour and the way parent socialise boys and girls are more equal.

49
Q

Feminist perspective on the family
Criticism to liberal feminism

A

Other feminist criticise liberal feminists for failing to challenge the underlying causes of women’s oppression, and for believing that changes in the law and peoples attitudes will be enough to bring equality.

50
Q

Feminist perspectives on the family
Marxist feminism perspective

A

Mark is feminist argue that the main cause of women’s oppression in the family is not men but capitalism, women’s oppressions performs several functions for capitalism.

51
Q

Feminist perspectives on the family
Marxist feminism
Functions women perform for capitalism

A
  1. The reproduce the labour force through the unpaid domestic labour
  2. Absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism e.g Fran Ansley
  3. Women are a reserve army of cheap labour that can be taken on when extra work is needed.
52
Q

Feminist perspective on family
Marxist feminism
Oppression of women link to exportation of working class and the abolition of family

A

Marxist feminists see the oppression of women in the family as linked to the exploitation of the working class. They argue that family must be abolished at the same time as a socialist revolution comes to replace capitalism with a class less society.

53
Q

Feminist perspective on family
Radical feminism perspective

A

Radical feminist argue that all societies have been founded on patriarchy, and the key division in society is between men and women.

54
Q

Feminist perspective on families
Radical feminism
Patriarchy within family

A

Men are the enemy, and they are the source of women’s oppression and exploitation. The family marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal society and men benefit from women’s unpaid domestic work.

55
Q

Feminist perspective on family
Radical feminism
Overturning the patriarchal system

A

For radical feminist, the patriarchal system needs to be overturned. They see the family as the root of women’s oppression which must be abolished. They argue that the only way of achieving this is through separatism.

56
Q

Feminist perspective on families
What is separatism?

A

Where women organise themselves to live independently from men.

57
Q

Feminist perspective on families
Radical feminism
Political lesbianism

A

Many radical feminist argue for political lesbianism. The idea that heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive because they involve sleeping with the enemy.

58
Q

Feminist perspective on families
Radical feminists
Germaine, Greer (2000) and the creation of female household

A

Germaine argues for the creation of all female households as an alternative to the heterosexual family.

59
Q

Feminist perspective on family
Criticism to radical feminism
Jenny Somerville (2000) liberal feminist

A

Radical feminist failed to recognise that women’s position has improved considerably with better access to divorce and job opportunities. Somerville argues that heterosexual attraction makes it unlikely that separatism would work.

60
Q

Feminist perspective on family
Different feminism perspective

A

Difference feminists argue that we cannot generalise about women’s experiences as they argue that lesbian and heterosexual woman, black and white women, middle-class and working class, women have very different experiences of the family.

61
Q

Feminist perspective on families
Different feminism
A difference of white and black women’s experiences

A

Regarding the family negatively, white feminists neglect black women’s experiences of racial oppression. black feminists view the black family positively as a source of support and resistance against racism.

62
Q

Feminist perspective on family
Criticism to different feminism

A

Other feminists argue that different feminism neglect the fact that all women share many of the same experiences. Eg. Risk of domestic violence and sexual assault.

63
Q

The personal life perspective
The weaknesses of other theories like Marxist and feminists

A
  • They tend to assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant family.
  • They are all structural theories and assume that families are never members are simply passive puppet
64
Q

The personal life perspective on families

A

They argue that to understand the family we need to focus on the meanings as members give to their relationships and situations rather than the families supposed functions.

65
Q

The personal life perspective on families
The sociology of personal life

A

The personal life perspective is new and is strongly influenced by interaction ideas, the perspective shares are “bottom up” approach, which emphasises the meanings that individual family members hold, and how they shape their actions.

66
Q

The personal life perspective on families
Beyond ties of blood and marriage
The wider view of relationships

A

The personal life perspective takes a wider view of relationships, then just traditional family relationships based on blood on marriage.

67
Q

The personal life perspective on families
Beyond ties of blood and marriage
The meaning of non blood relationships example

A

A woman who may not feel close to her own sister, may be unwilling to help her in a crisis, however, at the same time, she may be willing to care for someone who she is not related to. Without knowing what each of these relationships has for her, we would not be able to understand how she may act.

68
Q

A personal life perspective on families
Beyond ties of blood and marriage
The range of personal relationships

A

By focusing on peoples meanings, attention is drawn to a range of other personal or intimate relationships that are important important to people, even though they may not be conventionally defined as family

69
Q

A personal life perspective on family
Beyond ties of blood and marriage
The kinds of relationships

A

Relationships with friends, relationships with friends who are treated as relatives, gay and lesbian chosen families, relationships with dead relatives and relationships with pets

70
Q

The personal life perspective on family
Beyond ties of blood and marriage
Becky Tipper and pet relationships

A

Found in her study of children’s Visa family relationships that children frequently saw their pets as part of the family.

71
Q

The personal life perspective of family
Beyond ties of blood and marriage
Nordqvist and smart and how family is decided

A

These relationships raise questions about what counts as family. Petra and Carols research on conceived children explore what counts as family when your child shares a genetic link with a relative stranger.

72
Q

The personal life perspective on family
Donor conceived children
Smart and Nordqvist

A

They found the issue of blood and genes, raising a range of feelings. Some parents emphasise the importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming family bonds.

73
Q

The personal life perspective on family
Donor conceived children
Definition of being a Mum

A

Erin, the mother of an egg donor conceived child defined being a Mum in terms of time and effort she put into raising a child.

74
Q

Personal life perspective on families
Donor conceived children
Problems with non-genetic parents

A

Difficult feel good flower for a non-genetic partner. If somebody remarks that child looked like them. Differences in appearance. Also led to parents to wonder about the donors identity and whether they counted as family.

75
Q

Personal life perspective on family
Donor conceived children
Where couples knew their donor

A

Where couples knew their donor, they had to resolve other questions about who counted his family, do the donors parents count as grandparents of a donor conceived child.

76
Q

Personal life perspective on family
Donor conceived children
Lesbian couples

A

Lesbian couples face additional problems which includes concerns about a quality between the genetic and non-genetic mothers and that the donor might be treated as the real second parent.

77
Q

The personal life perspective on family
Evaluation
Smart and Nordqvist

A

The study illustrates the value of the personal life perspective, as compared with the top down structural approaches and helps us to understand how people constructing to find their relationships as family.

78
Q

Personal life perspective on families
Criticism

A

critics argue that by including a wide range of different kinds of personal relationships, we ignore what is special about relationships are based on blood or marriage. And their view is too broad.

79
Q

Personal life perspective on families
Personal life, perspective and functionalism

A

The perspective sees intimate relationships as performing the important function of providing us with a sense of belonging like functionalism. However, perspective recognises that relatedness is not always positive.

Famillies And Households (6 decks)

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