Term
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Definition
| The nuclear family functions for the greater good of society - it makes a massive contribution to the maintenance of social order and stability. Also plays major role in construction and maintenance of an effective economy. |
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Term
| KEY THEORIST: MURDOCK (1949) |
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Definition
FAMILY IS UNIVERSAL.
4 main functions:
• R: eproduction of the next generation
• E: conomy (parents work to support and provide for dependent children which benefits society)
• S: ocialisation of the young (primary socialisation - transfer culture to next gen)
• S: table satisfaction of the sex drive |
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Term
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Definition
• theory is outdated
• fails to take into account a number of distinct modern trends that have challenged the effectiveness of the family functions identified.
For example:
* Reproduction: the size of families has declined due to change in women's attitudes towards marriage/family/child-rearing. Women may view these things as optional now.
* Sex: the decline of religious belief and the relaxation of social attitudes towards sex = sex before and outside of marriage is now the norm. Also, families based on alternative sexualities have become more socially acceptable.
* Socialisation: concerns that the mass media and the peer group have become more influential than parents and families as agents of socialisation, and that these alternative sources might be fuelling crime, teenage pregnancy etc.
• Murdock's emphasis on two parents, and particularly heterosexual marriage, is politically conservative: he is clearly saying that there are 'right' and 'wrong' ways to organize family life |
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Term
| KEY THEORIST: PARSONS (1955) |
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Definition
FAMILY HAS 2 IRREDUCIBLE FUNCTIONS:
• Stabilisation of adults ('warm bath' theory)
• Socialisation of children (families are 'personality factories')
* women = expressive role and men = instrumental role
* functional fit between the needs of society and the family types
*sexual division of labour is natural because it's based on biological differences. |
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Term
| SOCIAL CHANGE ACCORDING TO PARSONS |
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Definition
PRE-INDUSTRIAL: Extended family = agricultural, self-sufficient (food/health/shelter/clothing), mining/fishing. Primary industries. IMR high. Low life expectancy.
⚡️ INDUSTRIALISATION & URBANISATION ⚡️
INDUSTRIAL: Nuclear family. Manufacturing industries (steel etc) - Secondary industries. Geographically mobile workforce. Social mobility. Relative isolation = more adventurous in social ambitions and choice of jobs. Structural differentiation. |
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Term
| CRITICISMS OF PARSONS' THEORY OF SOCIAL CHANGE |
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Definition
Young and Willmott (1973)
PRE-INDUSTRIAL: the family was nuclear and not extended.
INDUSTRIAL: INDUSTRIALISATION didn't bring nuclear but extended family - family networks = financial/practical/emotional support
MODERN: nuclear family is no longer dominant but may have existed to support geographical mobility. Extended family not disappeared - performs many functions such as financial/practical/emotional support.
BROADER VIEW CRITICS = MARXISTS/FEMINISTS |
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Term
| EVALUATION OF FUNCTIONALIST THEORY |
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Definition
Strengths:
- first theory to point out that in almost all societies throughout the world we can see the two-gen nuclear family with adults of both sexes and dependent children.
- despite the growing diversity in family types, many people still desire to live in nuclear family household
- many social policy initiatives aimed at regulating family life, esp. Conservatives, had their origin in functionalist theories of the family.
Weaknesses:
• Parsons failed to consider the impact of global migration on family life in the USA and other industrial nations which has resulted in a diversity of family types. Nuclear therefore no longer as dominant.
• interpretivists: Parsons' theory paints a picture of children as 'empty vessels' being pumped full of culture by their parents. Claim this is an over-socialised view of children because socialisation is a two-way interaction.
• Cheal (2002): ignores the dark side to family life (on average, nearly 4 children a week die at the hands of their parents).
• Young and Wilmott's 'Symmetrical Family'
• exploitation of women (feminist) |
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Term
KEY THEORISTS: YOUNG AND WILMOTT (1975)
'SYMMETRICAL FAMILY' |
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Definition
2,500 interviews across London, confirmed that the nuclear family, which they called the symmetrical family, had become the universal norm in Britain in the late 20th century.
Features:
• nuclear in structure
• it is 'privatised' - infrequent contact with extended kin and neighbours
• women often in part/full-time work
• often dual career
• egalitarian (joint conjugal roles)
• home-centred
• child-centred |
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