Theories of the Family Flashcards
Functionalist beliefs
• Sees society based in a value consensus which enables cooperation and survival • Society is a system of sub-systems work together to contribute to the running of the whole system (family is one of these sub-systems) • The family is seen as essential in providing functions for the maintenance of society
Murdoch - 4 functions
- stable satisfaction of the sex drive 2. Reproduction of the next generation 3. Primary socialisation of the young 4. Economic stability for its members
Parsons - 2 functions
- Primary socialisation of children- internalising culture in individuals and structuring personality 2. Stabilisation of adult personalities- adults gain the stability of emotional security, responsibility for children and a haven from the stresses of modern society
Social change -
• Over time, the functions of the family have been passed over to some specialist sectors such as health care and education.
Functional fit
- ‘Functional fit’, the isolated nuclear family is the most typical and suitable for modern society because;
- It offers geographical and social mobility (more suited to industrial society)
- status is mainly achieved not ascribed so isolation from kin allows different generations to have different social status, relationships between immediate family is warm and close.
Division of labour
• Male role seen as ‘Instrumental’ (working and competing in the world as a breadwinner) • Female role is ‘expressive’, (caring, loving, and providing emotional support to family)
Functionalist - evaluation
• Nuclear family was common in pre-industrial society, because of short life expectancy and cottage industry • Early industrial society introduced the extended family as means of mutual support in times of hardship (Anderson) • Feminists say that the functionalist view of women is oppressive • Oakley (feminist) in other societies, the roles are changeable, the nuclear family produces problems and misery alongside the harmony • The extended family still exists in late modern society, but in different forms
Marxism - beliefs
• The nature of the family depends on the economic circumstance- in modern society it serves the interest of capitalism
Engels
- The family was not needed until accumulation of wealth and the need to defend it emerged
- The rise of private property, an organised system of inheritance was necessary, as fathers needed to be sure that their property was going to their offspring not another man’s
- Monogamy arose to serve the interests of inheritance, this bought women further into the privacy of the home and family under the domination of men.
Role of family
• The family provides new workers into the economy • The family serves to socialise workers into discipline with the ‘correct’ attitudes of obedience and acceptance of hierarchy (making them assets to the workforce)
Zaretsky
• The family acts as a haven from alienation and oppression at work, making it more bearable
Marxism - evaluation
• Marxist perspective assumes that the nuclear family is universal with woman staying home whilst husband works, disregarding variety in family and household composition • Assumes the dominance of the economy over all else • Does not consider variations worldwide • Feminists would say that the family serves the interests of men and patriarchy as well as capitalism • Some may see the Marxist perspective as too critical, as the family may not be an agency of capitalist values.
Feminist - beliefs
• Critical perspective of the family • Believes that the family serves the interests of men and the patriarchal society • The family is a prime avenue for the oppression of women
Liberal feminists
• Advocate increasing gender equality through the law and changing values • Power relations and division of labour in the family are becoming more equal, and gender socialisation is less pronounced, as a result of legislation • Though legislation does not necessarily change patriarchal attitudes, so fundamental change still has a way to go
Marxist feminists
• Female subordination is a product of capitalism • Women provide and socialise new workers (children), and act as a ‘reserve army of labour’ who provide cheap, temporary labour when it is needed, to be hired and fired as and when • Women are described as being ‘takers of ****’ as they absorb the pressures created by capitalist (male worker alienation and oppression by capitalism) that may manifest themselves as domestic violence • Radical feminists may say that class is less important than gender
Radical feminists
• Society is fundamentally patriarchal, men are the cause of female exploitation, controlling them through threats and acts of domestic violence • Marriage and family are the main avenue of females oppression, as men receive sexual services and domestic labour for free • From an early age, oppression manifests as socialisation into a mother/housewife role • Men and industrialisation put women in the home (Engels) • The only way to abolish patriarchy is ‘all female households’ as whilst women live with men they are seen as ‘sleeping with the enemy’ • Radical feminists may not value the improvements already made in employment and education etc.
Difference feminists
• Not all women have the same experiences • Class, sexuality, ethnicity all create differences in family experience
Personal life perspective - beliefs
• Considers that the meanings family members place on their relationships is important • Family relationships do not mean the same to everyone, whilst relationships outside of the family may be as if not more important to some as family relationships are • This approach neglects the impacts of social forces determining who we are
Interactionism
• Interactionists ideas that we are not just puppets of society and are capable of deciding our own destiny without it all being pre decided for us
Postmodernism
• Postmodernism stresses that pluralism, diversity and fragmentation of modern life rejects the idea that there is one overarching ‘truth’ that applies to everyone
