Theories Of The Family✍🏽 Flashcards
Functionalist, Marxists, Feminists, Personal life perspective
What was Murdock’s perspective on the family?
four essential functions
Satisfaction of the sex drive
Reproduction
Primary socialisation
Meeting financial needs
What theories would criticise this view? - Murdock
Feminists + Marxists
Parsons view on the family
The functions that the family performs will depend on the kind of society in which it is found
What societies do the two family structures fit into?
The nuclear family - industrial society and is the dominant family type
The extended family - pre industrial society
Parsons view on a ‘Geographically mobile workforce’
It is easier for the nuclear family to move than the extended family
Parsons view on a ‘Socially mobile workforce’
Conflict can occur if the sons status is higher than the fathers status because they are both under the same roof
Solution to status conflict between sons and fathers in extended families
Adult son to leave home and marry to form their own nuclear family which encourages social mobility/geographical mobility
Parsons view on industrialisation on the family
The family not only changes its structure from extended to nuclear, it also loses many of its functions
What functions does Parsons think the modern nuclear family perform
(two functions - child and adult)
Primary socialisation of children - equip them with basic skills and values to cooperate with others in society
Stabilisation of adult personalities - where adults can relax / release tensions returning to the workplace refreshed
Marxist opinion on the function of the family
Functions of the family are performed purely for the benefit of the capitalist system
- through ideology
What is the key factor determining the shape of the family?
Mode of production - it is the capitalist class that owns and controls the means of production
Engels’ view on the monogamous nuclear family
The rise of the monogamous nuclear family represented a “world historical defeat of the female sex”
