Theories Of The Family Flashcards
Functionalists believe
Society is based on a value consensus (a set of shared norms and values) in which society socialises its members.
This enables them to cooperate harmoniously and achieve shared goals.
The family is the basic building block of society which helps maintain social order and social cohesion
Regard society to be made up of sub systems that depend on each other (like the human body and organs)
Functionalists theory
Each aspect of society depends on each other and each contributes to the overall stability and functioning of that society
George peter Murdock (1949)
The family performs 4 essential functions to meet the needs of society and its members:
- stable satisfaction of the sex drive
- reproduction of the next generation
- socialisation of the young
- meeting its memebers’ economic needs
Murdock (1949) 4 functions explained
STABLE SATISFACTION OF THE SEX DRIVE - preventing the social disruption caused by a sexual “free-for-all” E.G STDs, teenage pregnancy etc
REPRODUCTION OF THE NEXT GENERATION - to ensure society continues
SOCIALISATION OF THJE YOUNG - into society’s shared NORMS and VALUES
MEETING ITS MEMBERS’ ECONOMIC NEEDS - such as food and shelter. The state doesn’t have to pay
Critisisms of Murdock - now we can use other things to achieve the “4 functions of a family”
STABLE SATISFACTION OF THE SEX DRIVE - pornography, media
REPRODUCTION OF THE NEXT GENERAATION - surrogates, IVF
SOCIALISATION OF THE YOUNG - education, religion, media
MEETING ITS MEMBERS’ ECONOMIC NEEDS - independent living, cohabiting (living with friends)
George peter Murdock (1949) - his own criticism
Murdock recognises that other institutions could perform these functions but argues that the nuclear family is universal (in the 250 societies he studied) because of its ‘sheer practicality’ in performing the 4 essential functions
OTHER criticisms of Murdock
-Other institutions and family types carry out the functions
- Murdock has a ‘rose-tinted’ harmonious consensus view that the family meets everyone’s needs:
FEMINISTS: the family serves the need of men and oppresses women
MARXISTS: the family meets the needs of capitalism, not the needs to family members and society as a whole
TALCOTT PARSONS “Functional fit theory”
Parsons argues that the particular structure and functions of a given type of family will fit the particular needs of society
The nuclear family
Of just parents & dependant children
The extended family
Of three generations living under the same roof
As society changed, the ‘type’ of family that was required to help society function changed.
Industrial society has 2 essential needs which requires a nuclear family to work
- A geographically mobile workforce
- a socially mobile workforce
Geographically mobile
In pre-industrial societies people spend their time in the same village, working on the same farm.
In modern societies industries spring up and decline in different parts of the country/ world and people need to move to where the jobs are.
Socially mobile workforce
The modern industrial society is based on evolving science and technology which requires skilled workforce.
THEREFORE important that the most skilled workers (DESPITE THEIR BACKGROUND) take the most important jobs
MODERN SOCIETY individual status is achieved by their own effort and abilities not foxed by their social standing.
Parsons overall
We have shifted from extended families to nuclear families due to geographical and social mobility
PARSONS - Loss of FUNCTION
That the family in modern society has lost many of its functions as it has become a unit of consumption only (rather than also being a unit of production)
This means that is modern society, the nuclear family has just 2 essential “irreducible” functions:
- primary socialisation of children — to help the, integrate into society
- stabilisation do adult personalities — where adults can relax and release tensions allowing them to meet the demands of work (functional for the efficiency of the economy)
