1. TRADITIONAL PERSPECTIVES OF THE FAMILY

Question 1

Functionalist perspective

Answer 1

.Society is harmonious
.The different parts of society (institutions) work together to support the survival of society
.Each part has a specific purpose/ role/function to play in supporting society
.Meritocratic society
.Bound by some collective purposes

Question 2

Marxists and Feminists perspective

Answer 2

There is great inequality in society and certain groups benefits at the expense of others.
They see a minority holding power and using this to control others.
The institutions of society mainly serve this powerful minority.
The mass of people in society are ‘controlled’ because they are taught to except society as it is and to see inequality as normal.

Question 3

George Peter Murdock - Family Functions

Answer 3

4 functions of family:
SEXUAL: teach how to express sexuality in a socially approved context - heterosexual
REPRODUCTIVE: family reproduces and provides a stable environment to rear children.
EDUCATIONAL: ‘groomed’ into society’s value consensus & collective conscience
ECONOMIC: The family provides food, shelter and other material needs for the family
contributes to our social cohesion and social solidarity

Question 4

Parsons - ‘Functional Fit’ theory - types of society

Answer 4

1. Traditional pre-industrial society (BEFORE when the extended family was dominant)
2. Modern industrial society (NOW where the nuclear family is dominant)
   The industrialisation has caused the family to ADAPT and FIT the specific society that we are in

Question 5

Parsons - ‘Functional Fit’ theory - kinds of family structure

Answer 5

Nuclear Family – just parents and their dependent children
Extended Family – 3 generations living under one roof
Parsons argues that the particular structure and functions of the given type of family will ‘fit’ the needs of society in which it is found

Question 6

Parsons - Structural Differentiation

Answer 6

.during Industrialisation, the families began to lose some of their functions to other newly created institutions such as : Education, Healthcare, Law & Order, Media
.different structures (institutions) have taken over many of the functions the family used to have e.g. the NHS!
→This means that extended families were not necessary any longer

Question 7

Parson’s - functions of the family

Answer 7

1) Primary socialisation - specifically taught children the norms and values associated with their family and/or community (schools and other institutions taught universal norms)
2) Stabilisation of Adult Personalities - helped to prevent adults from behaving in disruptive or dysfunctional ways.
→instead encouraging them to conform to social norms, especially at times of stress

Question 8

Parsons- Warm Bath Theory

Answer 8

a man came home from a hard day at work, he could relax into his family like a warm bath and it would take away the stress and refresh him for the next day’s work.

Question 9

Functionalist Evaluation

Answer 9

,Marxists and feminists who argue that this paints too rosy and idealistic a picture of family life
.The Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley offers a different perspective on Parsons’ warm bath theory when she describes women in the family as takers of shit
.These theories are outdated and suggest families are all traditional nuclear families with men going to work and women in domestic roles

Question 10

Organic Analogy

Answer 10

Society was like a human bodySociety was made up of various institutions that acted like the organs of the body: they all needed to be functioning properly for the body to function

Question 11

Consensus theory

Answer 11

See people in society as having shared interests and society functioning on the basis of there being broad consensus on its norms and values

Question 12

Social Cohesion

Answer 12

The extent to which people in society are bound together and integrated and share common values.

Question 13

Social Order

Answer 13

The connection between people and institutions that maintains a stable society

Question 14

Capitalism

Answer 14

.Proletariat being employed by the Bourgeoise for a wage to make products
→which are sold to consumers for more than they cost to make
→which results in a SURPLUS of money or PROFIT for the business people

Question 15

Marxism - Society’s 2 main parts :Infrastructure

Answer 15

.The economy of society; it’s the basic physical and organizational structures needed for a society to function
. e.g. roads, factories, shops and hospitals

Question 16

Marxism - Society’s 2 main parts : Superstructure

Answer 16

.The culture, ideology, norms, and identities that people inhabit
.e.g. Education, Media, Family, Technology, Welfare

Question 17

Karl Marx: 2 classes

Answer 17

Bourgeoise & Proletariat

Question 18

Marxist function of family - Althusser : Ideological Functions

Answer 18

.Socialises children that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable
.Parental power over children – someone is always in charge – preparation for working life
.Family promotes a set of ideas/beliefs which justify inequality and maintain capitalism.

Question 19

Zaretsky - Marxist

Answer 19

.The ‘haven’ that functionalists say the family is, is just an illusion.
.Criticises warm bath theory – men can’t have power at work, so will be ‘king of the castle at home’. Keeps them happy so will just continue to be exploited at work

Question 20

Marxist function of family - Inheritance of Property

Answer 20

.‘Primitive communism’ = classless society, which was pre-private property. Here society owned the means of production communally. Because of this, there wasn’t really a nuclear family.
.Men could then pass down their wealth to their children
.Wealth remained in hands of the bourgeoisie.

Question 21

Marxist function of family - A Unit of Consumption

Answer 21

.Capitalism is exploitative because it makes profits at the expense of workers’ pay
The family plays a major role in generating these profits:
.Advertising – keep up to date with latest products. ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’
.Media target children – ‘pester power’

Question 22

Young and Willmott - ‘March of Progress’

Answer 22

Functionalist

Argue the family has adapted to changes in western industrial societies and that these changes represent progress

Question 23

Young and Willmott - 3 Main Stages of Family Life

Answer 23

Stage 1 = preindustrial family which was a unit of production
Stage 2 = extended family which survived in working-class areas such as Bethnal Green in the 1950s
Stage 3 = the nuclear, symmetrical family dominant in the 2nd half of the 20th century

Question 24

Young and Willmott Evaluation

Answer 24

.Exaggerate the fit between the family and a particular time period
.Question whether a single-family type is, or has ever been, dominant in western industrial societies
Feminists the ‘Symmetrical Family’ (Young and Wilmott) as a myth

Question 25

Feminist - Ann Oakley (1974)

Answer 25

. Family is essentially a conservative institution that preserves the social order
. The family as a place of work
.Domestic violence
.Dependency on men

Question 26

Ann Oakley’s Findings

Answer 26

.15% of husbands had a high level of participation in housework
.25% high level in childcare (but only in the more pleasurable aspects)
.Men take on the more pleasurable household tasks

Question 27

Ferri and Smith - Feminist

Answer 27

Dual burden -Women working still have to do housework AS WELL AS paid work

Question 28

Radical Feminist- Germaine Greer

Answer 28

.women as wives - subservient to their husbands
.women as mothers - ‘mothers bear children in pain’
.women as daughters - that daughters are quite likely to experience sexual abuse from their fathers, step-fathers and other male relatives

Question 29

Engles - Marxist

Answer 29

Nuclear family had a clear economic function for capitalism

→by ensuring that wealth remained in the hands of the bourgeoisie.

Question 30

Parsons’ roles

Answer 30

Intrumental - husband is the financial breadwinner

Expressive - wife provides primary socialisation and housewife