Sociology Paper 1: Family Flashcards
what do functionalists say about the functions of the family?
- cornerstone of society
- primary socialisation
- the nuclear family is beneficial for society
what did MURDOCK (functionalist) say about the functions of the family?
- nuclear family is universal
1) sexual function, stable relationships, stable society
2) reproductive
3) educational (primary socialisation)
4) economic
what did PARSONS say about the functions of the family?
1) primary socialisation, men and women have different roles (women play expressive role, men play instrumental)
2) stabilisation of adult personalities (warm bath theory), relieves stress from the rest of society
criticisms of the functionalist perspective
- rose-tinted lense of family life, ignore abuse
- ignore dysfunctional families
- based on white middle-class families
- murdock and parsons’ research may not be relevant in modern society
marxist theory on functions of family
- consumer units, benefit capitalist economy
- primary socialisation maintains class inequalities and values
- provide unpaid labour by caring for a child
criticisms of the marxist theory
- ignores functional, happy families
- people are more likely to start families out of love and affection and not to pass on ruling class ideologies
- ignores gender, religion, ethnicity etc
feminist theories on functions of families
- the nuclear family benefits the patriarchy as women were typically responsible for housework/raising children
- benefits capitalism/patriarchy due to women’s unpaid labour
- sexual division of labour`
criticism of feminist theories
- not all male/female relationships are based on the exploitation of women
- ignore functional relationships with a shared division of labour
family forms
- nuclear family
- extended family
- beanpole family
- reconstituted/blended family
- lone parent family
- same sex family
what do the RAPOPORTS (postmodernists) say about family diversity?
- organisational diversity (increase in lone parent, and reconstituted families. diversity in patterns of work within the family)
- cultural diversity (culture, ethnicity, monogamy, polygamy, religious beliefs)
- social class diversity (greater instability in lower class families but must avoid stereotypes)
RAPOPORTS continued
- life cycle diversity (people are in different families throughout their lives e.g from nuclear to empty nest)
- cohort diversity: how events impact family structure eg the first world war created more single women/lone parent families
- believe that family structure is changing
CHESTER’s criticism of the RAPOPORTS
- believed that family structure is not changing, roles are just no longer being tied to gender
is the nuclear family still important?
- ANN OAKLEY said that the nuclear family is outdated and is no longer necessary in society
- the media portrays a sterotypical image of families (cereal packet) even as other family types increase
- CHESTER says that most people will spend some part of their lives in a nuclear family
alternatives to living in the family
- single person household
- boarding school/university
- communes (shared ownership of property)
- kibbutz (Israel), children raised communally
- shared households (youth)
- residential homes (elderly)
conjugal roles
- roles divided between cohabiting or married partners
- two types: segregated and joint
- YOUNG AND WILLMOTT (march of progress) - ‘changing roles’ as women become breadwinners
- YOUNG AND WILLMOTT - symmetrical families
- OAKLEY says that women have a dual burden within the family
- triple shift (one step further)
