What do sociologists think about the family?

Question 1

Murdock (Functionalist)

Answer 1

• the family performs 4 essential functions to meet the needs of society and its members (sexual, reproduction, economic, socialisation)

Question 2

Durkheim (Functionalist)

Answer 2

• all parts of society are functionally interconnected

Question 3

Parsons (Functionalist - the first regarding the ‘Functionalist Fit’ theory and the next regarding functional changes)

Answer 3

• developed the ‘Functional Fit’ theory
• the particular structure and functions of a given type of family with ‘fit’ the needs of society in which it is found ie. when society industrialises the family changes in two ways, its structure changes from extended to nuclear and it loses many functions
• the evolution of society involves a process of specialisation and structural differentiation

Question 4

Engels (Marxist - relates to the origins of the family)

Answer 4

• presented what is regarded as the first Marxist account of the origins of the bourgeois nuclear family
• he linked economic changes to changes in the family and sexual relationships, saying that the monogamous nuclear family developed with the emergence of private property

Question 5

Zaretsky (Marxist - regarding the family as a safety valve)

Answer 5

• in capitalist societies, work is alienating and exploitative which leads to feelings of discontentment
• the less fulfilling the work is, the more people cling to the family as a source of being valued and satisfied

Question 6

Ansley (Marxist Feminist)

Answer 6

• wives are ‘takers of shit’ who soak up the frustration and anger that husbands feel because of exploitation at work

Question 7

Benston (Marxist Feminist)

Answer 7

• the nuclear family acts as a valuable stabilising force within capitalist society because the male is the wage earner and cannot remove his labour

Question 8

Mitchell (Marxist Feminist)

Answer 8

• full gender equality in the labour market can only be achieved if women are freed from their domestic responsibilities

Question 9

Dobash and Dobash (Radical Feminists)

Answer 9

• widespread domestic violence is an inevitable feature of patriarchal society, arguing that it serves to preserve the power that men have over women

Question 10

Pahl (Radical Feminist)

Answer 10

• the legitimisation of domestic violence by wider society is clear in the belief that its incidence is rare and confined to certain groups

Question 11

Nordqvist and Smart (Interactionists)

Answer 11

• conducted research on donor-conceived children to explore ‘what counts as family?’