theories of the family Flashcards
What are the functionalists theories of the family?
The organic analogy, Murdock, Parsons
What is the organic analogy?
Func- The human body is made up of different parts that function together to meet its needs and maintain it. Functionalists believe society does the same, in which it is made up of interdependent parts (eg. the education system, the government, religion etc) that work together to maintain the social system as a whole.
What does Murdock say about the family?
Func- The nuclear family performs four essential functions:
Socialisation of the young
Satisfaction of the member’s economic needs
Reproduction of the next generation
Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
What does Parsons say about the family?
func- The functions that the family perform depend on the type of society in which they are found:
Pre-industrial society - extended family - had the function of production and consumption
Modern society - nuclear family - have the function of social and geographical mobility
The nuclear family has two irreducible functions:
Primary socialisation of the young - equipping the next generation with basic skills and society’s values.
Stabilisation of adult personalities - enabling adults to relax so they can return to the workplace and perform their roles effectively.
Which Marxists speak about the family?
Engels, Zaretsky, Poulantzas.
What does Engels say about the family?
Marx- The family exists so that property can be passed down through generations. e.g a man to his son
What does Zaretsky say about the family?
Marx- There is an ideological function of the family called the ‘cult of private life’ - this is the belief that we can only gain fulfilment from family life, which distracts attention from exploitation.
What does Poulantzas say about the family?
Marx- Nuclear families are brainwashed into thinking capitalism is fair, which teaches lower generations how to conform and co-operate with the capitalist system.
Name the four types of feminists
Radical, liberal, difference, Marxist
What do Liberal feminists say about the family?
march of progress view- gender inequality is gradually being overcome through reform and policy change, which changes people’s attitudes towards socialisation and challenges stereotypes.
What do marxist feminists say about the family?
Capitalism is the main form of women’s oppression in the family and this performs several functions for capitalism:
Reproducing the labour force - women socialise the next generation of workers.
Absorbing men’s anger - wives soak up their husband’s frustration from being exploited at work.
A reserve army of cheap labour - when not needed, women workers can return to their domestic role.
What do radical feminists say about the family?
The family and marriage are the key institutions in a patriarchal society, meaning that men benefit from the women’s unpaid domestic labour and sexual services, as well as dominate them through violence or the threat of it.
Radical feminists also believe the patriarchal system needs to be overturned, and the only way to achieve this is through separatism, meaning women need to organise themselves to live independently to men.
What do difference feminists say about the family?
Not all women share the same experience of oppression; women of different ethnicities, class, age, may have different experiences of the family
What do new right say about the family?
A biologically-based division of labour - the division of labour between a male breadwinner and a female homemaker is natural and biologically determined.
Families should be self-reliant - reliance on state welfare leads to a dependency culture and undermines traditional gender roles. It produces a family breakdown and an increase of lone-parent families, which results in social problems due to poor socialisation.
Who is the personal life theorist for family?
Smart
What does Smart (personal life) say about the family?
Looks at relationships that individuals see as significant and gives a sense of identity, belonging and relatedness (pets, friends etc.). Interactionists believe that structural approaches assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant type of family. This ignores the increased diversity of families today.
