Functionalist perspective - family Flashcards
Main types of households
Nuclear households, extended family, reconstituted family, same-sex households, single parent households, care/children’s homes
Functionalist perspective
See nuclear family as functioning for the greater good of society
Helps maintain social order, and stabilise economy
Believes it benefits individuals
Sees family as important and necessary
Functionalist perspective: George P. Murdock
Four functions of the family
1. Reproductive
- Societies need new members for survival,
- Children stabilise a family’s commitment
- Sexual
- Nuclear family regulates sexual behaviour
- Encourages fidelity and commitment, promoting stability
- Social order as marriage is a social goal. marriage should be respected within society
- Nuclear family regulates sexual behaviour
- Educational
- Primary socialisation, culture maintained, important to social order
- Children can be taught norms and values
- Child can grow up to be a civilised and functioning member of society , can contribute to society and economy
- Economic
- Children dependent on family
- Argued that parents show commitment through hard work and wages
- Benefits society –> parents can contribute to economy through work and employment
Parsons (1950s)
Two irreducible functions of the family:
- Primary socialisation of children - prepares the for society, teaches norms and values. Believed personalities are ‘made not born’, believed mothers play an important role
- Stabilising adult personalities - Relieve stress of modern day relationships, and prevents it from overwhelming family members, which strengthens overall stability
Criticism of functionalist view
- Ignore dysfunctional aspects of the family, the idea of the family as harmful is not considered by Parsons
-They view the child as blank and ‘empty vessel’, and do not consider that secondary socialisation is a two way process
-Does not include impact of global migration of families. Does not consider impact of different cultures
Family functions
Gender-role socialisation
Social control - help to maintain census
(Primary socialisation)
Social status
Economic consumption
Recreation and leisure
Protective and welfare function
New Right ideas of family
-Traditional Nuclear family is the most important and beneficial type of family
-Believe social and welfare policies have undermined family
-Belief family is in decline:
- Size of family has declined, reduces stability for family and throughout society
-Women now pursuing careers, reduce attention to family and destabilise family
-Believe high levels of divorce will destabilise society as marriage stabilises society as it creates morals
-Divorce also leads to high single-parent households, which are a financial burden on the economy
-Can lead to higher rates of crime
Critical aspects of the family (dysfunctional)
Neglect, spousal or child abuse, sexual infidelity, sibling rivalry, addiction, unfit parents
R.D Laing -dysfunctional families
-Phenomenological psychiatrist - studied families and how they interact with each other
-Studied families where one member was a diagnosed schizophrenic
What family did Laing study?
-Used the study of Jane, a diagnosed schizophrenic
-Middle of a family conflict, her mother and mother’s father and her father and her father’s mother
-Being in the middle of their conflict, she retreated and created a world for herself. A tennis match where she is the ball
-Laing argues this is evidence that her family was harmful to her
Why did Laing think obedience was dangerous?
-Teaches children to follow other people’s orders and decisions without questioning them
-Obedience to parents is the first link of a ‘dangerous chain’ that allows obedience later in life
Does Laing think all families are exploitive?
No - argued the family is the best place to raise children
But could still be dangerous for children, especially with incapable adults
Edmund Leach - dysfunctional family
Edmund Leach - A runaway world?
1967 lecture - pessimistic view of family in industrial society
-Believes that modern industrial family is an ‘isolated nuclear family’, lacks support of wider kin
-Causes increased emotional burden
-Becomes an ‘overloaded electrical circuit’, resulting in conflict
-Believes this can spread into society as barriers are created between the family and society
-Individuals need to break out of prison of isolated nuclear family
-Direct opposition to functionalists
Criticisms of Laing
Research can not be applied to wider society (looked at families with children with schizophrenia). Not representative
-Not made links between families with a child with schizophrenia. No links between gender, social class or economic background
However, Laing and Leach both gave important opposition to functionalist perspectives
