Theories of the Family

Question 1

Functionalist beliefs

Answer 1

• 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

Question 2

Murdoch - 4 functions

Answer 2

1. stable satisfaction of the sex drive 2. Reproduction of the next generation 3. Primary socialisation of the young 4. Economic stability for its members

Question 3

Parsons - 2 functions

Answer 3

1. 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

Question 4

Social change -

Answer 4

• Over time, the functions of the family have been passed over to some specialist sectors such as health care and education.

Question 5

Functional fit

Answer 5

• ‘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.

Question 6

Division of labour

Answer 6

• 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)

Question 7

Functionalist - evaluation

Answer 7

• 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

Question 8

Marxism - beliefs

Answer 8

• The nature of the family depends on the economic circumstance- in modern society it serves the interest of capitalism

Question 9

Engels

Answer 9

• 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.

Question 10

Role of family

Answer 10

• 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)

Question 11

Zaretsky

Answer 11

• The family acts as a haven from alienation and oppression at work, making it more bearable

Question 12

Marxism - evaluation

Answer 12

• 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.

Question 13

Feminist - beliefs

Answer 13

• 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

Question 14

Liberal feminists

Answer 14

• 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

Question 15

Marxist feminists

Answer 15

• 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

Question 16

Radical feminists

Answer 16

• 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.

Question 17

Difference feminists

Answer 17

• Not all women have the same experiences • Class, sexuality, ethnicity all create differences in family experience

Question 18

Personal life perspective - beliefs

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

Interactionism

Answer 19

• 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

Question 20

Postmodernism

Answer 20

• Postmodernism stresses that pluralism, diversity and fragmentation of modern life rejects the idea that there is one overarching ‘truth’ that applies to everyone