Topic 3- Theories of the Family

Question 1

who argued that the family performed 4 essential functions for society?

Answer 1

• murdock

Question 2

what are the 4 essential functions murdock says that family performs for society?

Answer 2

• satisfaction of the sex drive with the SAME partner
• reproduction of the next nation
• socialisation of the young into shared norms and values
• meeting its members’ societal needs like food and shelter

Question 3

what type of family does murdock believe it has to be in order to perform the 4 essential functions for society?

Answer 3

nuclear family

Question 4

give 3 criticisms of murdock’s explanation for the need for a nuclear family in order to perform the 4 essential functions of society

Answer 4

• other family structures can perform the functions
• marxists and faminists view his explanation as a rose tinted harmonious consensus view that family meets wider societal needs
• functionalism neglects conflict and exploitation

Question 5

what do feminists view family as

Answer 5

serving the needs of men and oppressing women

Question 6

what do marxists argue about the family?

Answer 6

• it meet the needs of capitalism not of singular members or society as a whole

Question 7

explain parsons’ functional fit theory

Answer 7

• family structures change along with society and that each type of family is created to ‘fit’ society at the time.

Question 8

what 2 types of family structure did parsons identify?

explain what they are

Answer 8

• nuclear family- parents and dependent children
• extended family- 3 generations under one roof

Question 9

what type of society does the extended family fit?

Answer 9

• pre industrial family

Question 10

what type of society does nuclear family fit?

Answer 10

• modern industrial society

Question 11

what are the 2 essential needs of an industrial society?

Answer 11

• a geographical mobile workforce
• a socially mobile workforce

Question 12

why is the nuclear family better suited for a mobile geographical workforce?

and why

Answer 12

• easier for the nuclear family to relocate to new jobs
• cheaper
• less confusing (old parents)
• less to move

Question 13

why is the nucler family better to have a socially mobile workforce?

Answer 13

• in an extended family in pre-industrial times, adult sons lived in their father’s house-their father
  had a higher status as this was ascribed.
• Modern industrial society relies on a skilled workforce to cope with changes in technology.
  The best people need to fill the most important jobs-status is achieved.
• EG.the son of a labourer may become a doctor through their efforts and ability.
• the best solution is the nuclear family- sons leave home once married.This encourages social
  mobility.
• There are no binding obligations to them in a nuclear family as there would have been in pre-Industrial society.
• The nuclear family is better equipped to meet the needs of modern Industrial society.

Question 14

give 3 pieces of evidence against parsons’ functional fit theory and family structures

Answer 14

• young and wilmott found that the pre industrial family was nuclear with parents and children working together in cottage industry
• young and wilmott use exchange theory to explain that the industrial period had a rise of mum centred families where mothers and married daughters relied on eachother and individuals break off or maintain ties between them
• extended family has not diappeared and continues to exist providing financial support, childcare and emotional support

Question 15

explain the loss of functions as family structures move

Answer 15

• the pre industrial family was a unit of production and cosumption and more self sufficient
• industrialisation caused the families to lose functions
• the modern industrial famiy was a unit of consumption only as work moved to factories
• as a result the nuclear family specialised in performing 2 functions

Question 16

what are the 2 functions the modern nuclear family performs?

Answer 16

• primary socialisation of children to integrate them into wider society
• the stabilisation of adult personalities where tensions are relaxed to return to the workplace refreshed which is functional for the efficiency of the economy

Question 17

what are the 3 functions that marxists see the family as fulfilling for capitalism

Answer 17

• inheritance of property
• ideological functions
• unit of consumption

Question 18

how does the inheritance of private property help serve the needs of capitalism?

name one sociologist

Answer 18

engels
* family had a clear economic function for capitalism, by ensuring that wealth remained in the hands of the bourgeoisie.
* Family relations, based on clear legal contracts, facilitate inheritance and therefore when rich people die it is their children who keep hold of their wealth.
* made sure social mobility couldn’t occur as the wealth was passed to their own generation

Question 19

how does ideological functions in family help to serve the needs of capitalism?

Answer 19

• The family does this by socialising children into the idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable.
• Parental power over children presents the idea that there will always be someone in charge-usually a man.
• This prepares them for working life- to accept orders from their capitalist employers.

Question 20

how does the idea that family is a unit of consumption help to serve the needs of capitalism?

3 ways

Answer 20

• the family plays a role in generating profits as it is the market for the sale of consumer goods
• capitalist advertising urges families to buy the latest products
• the media target children who put pressure on parents to spend more
• children who are mocked by peers for not having the latest items ‘must have’ them

Question 21

what are 3 criticisms about marxist’s approach to family serving the needs of capitalism?

Answer 21

• assumes the nuclear family is dominant and ignores wider society
• feminists say marxists emphasise class and underestimates gender inequalities. they say they are more fundamental than class inequalities as family serves the needs of men not capitalism
• functionalists argue that marxists ignore the benefits that family provides for its members

Question 22

what are the 4 main types of feminists who have perspectives of the family

Answer 22

• liberal
• marxist
• radical
• difference

Question 23

what do liberal feminists say about the family

Answer 23

• Liberal feminists argue that most of those battles for legal equality have been won, however there is clearly still inequality between the sexes
• while families currently play a part in the oppression of women, they do not have to: it is possible to have family life and gender equality.

Question 24

what do radical feminists say about the family?

Answer 24

• all societies have been founded by men and are ruled by them
• men are the enemy
• family and marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal society
• the only way to abolish women’s oppression is through separatism
• they have to live without men in political lesbianism and not ‘sleep with the enemy’

Question 25

what do marxist feminists say about the family?

Answer 25

* the main source of women's oppression is capitalism * capitalist system gets the benefit of unpaid female work as their workforce are fed, looked after and kept happy to ensure they keep working hard and making profits for the bosses.

Question 26

what do difference feminists say about the family?

Answer 26

* we can't generalise about women's experiences * e.g. different races view the family differently, white women negatively view the family and black women see it positively

Question 27

what are 3 criticisms of feminist views on family?

Answer 27

* a negative gloomy picture of the family is created and most families are equal now * it is outdated as now many women have paid work * it presents women as passive but they do have the capacity to make choices and live their lives freely

Question 28

what 2 weaknesses does the personal life perspective have on functionalist, marxist and feminist views on family?

Answer 28

* they assume the nuclear family is the dominant family type * they are all structural theories- assuming families are manipulated by the structure of society to perform functions

Question 29

what approach does personal live perspective have towards family

Answer 29

bottom up

Question 30

name 4 relationships people have that they see as significant but not blood relatives

Answer 30

* friends * fictive kin * gay and lesbian chosen families * relationships with pets

Question 31

what are 3 criticisms of personal life perspective?

Answer 31

* can have a broad view and they ignore what is special about relationships * rejects the top down view taken by functionalists