Assess the view that the family performs vital, positive functions for society and individual members.

Outline and evaluate Functionalist views of the role of the family in society. [33 marks]

Functionalist’s sees that society is made up of a range of different sub-systems which depend on each other, and that society needs these functions or order for survival and is vital towards society. Functionalists see the family as a very important sub-system, as it raises and teaches children norms and values. According to Peter Murdock, he argues that the family performs four main functions to meet the needs of society and the members of society. One of the

‘The family performs important tasks that contribute to society’s basic needs and helps perpetuate social order.’ (Anthony Giddens 2006 - Page 238) Functionalists believe a family’s paramount purpose is to raise and support their children within society.

A traditional view of the family is held by Functionalists. Functionalists favour the nuclear family which Murdock identifies as ‘a social group characterised by common residents, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least

The vast majority of individuals have acquired their own unique and ornate proposals surrounding what the social structure of a family is. Yet, whilst each individual in a given society has experienced family life in a multitude of ways, we as people cannot fathom how our experiences have come to be, without obtaining a broad understanding of how our personal relationships built within social structures integrate into a more prodigious social context. Present day Americans endure a society that is a composite of a multitude of family types (e.g. nuclear two-parent, extended, stepfamilies, multigenerational, family of orientation and procreation, the economic unit, cohabitors, single-parent, childless, same-sex, and so forth). Aside from singular

Functionalists believe that the family have specific or traditional functions within the family. One function of the family would be reproduction or having children as this is imperative for the world as they will be the future workforce. For example family businesses will need to pass down the factories/shops to the next generation in the family for the continuing of the ancestors business. Other functions include economic maintenance this is where the family provides necessities for all the family members for example shelter, food and clothing. Another is that the family helps teach children how to socialise with others and also educate them with the correct norms. An

The Usefulness of Functionalism for an Understanding of the Family The Functionalists see the family as an important and vital institution in society. They take a MACRO view and look at interdependence between the family and other organisations. Functionalists look at the positive parts to society but overlook the negatives. They emphasise on the value consensus and see the family as being universal.

A nuclear family is universal and is defined as a two generational grouping; consisting of a father, mother and their children, all living in the same household. The idea of the nuclear family was first noticed in Western Europe in 17th century. The concept that narrowly defines a nuclear family is essential to the stability in modern society and has been promoted by modern social conservatives in the United States and has been challenged inadequate to describe the complexity of actual family relations. In this essay, I shall be assessing the views that the nuclear family functions to benefit all its members and society as a whole, from a

The functional perspective of the family by Murdock and parsons, the functionalist perspective has focused on the functions of the family in society, it looks at how the family, as a whole, help in maintaining order and stability in society, and the significance of the family for its individual members. Two well-known functionalists who have written about the family are George. P. Murdock and Talcott Parsons.

Family needs have changed since the 1950s and women's work in the ideal nuclear family has been historically constructed and reproduced by culture and patriarchal heteronormative society. An ideal nuclear family is a group consisting of two parents and their children. This family includes both sexes, who maintain a sexual relationship and one or more children. Within this family, everyone had roles; the father worked whereas the mother maintained the household and cared for the offspring. The children were to model and study their parents to become them, so they could later take their place in society when the parents are too old to perform their duties. The nuclear family is no longer the American dream and soon society began to notice that many Americans were not living the ideal nuclear lifestyle. With the world adjusting and adapting there are new definitions for what consists of a family. We are shifting from a heteronormative society to an inclusive society.

There are many forms of families around the world. The structure of these families are influenced by the culture around them. Family is defined as "two or more people related by blood, marriage or adoption. The family may take many forms, ranging from a single parent with one or more children, to a married couple or polygamist spouses with or without offspring, to several generations of parents and their children” (226). There are many functions of the family unit around the world.

The ideological construction of a nuclear family is a homogenized ideology of what human kind and society should be. The development of the nuclear family ideal was a cultural and political response to World War II. It was a concept which perpetuated and expressed that any other form of family was unacceptable, such as, families which were composed of a single parent, or families with parents of the same sex. This ideal, therefore, created a false understanding of normality. Due to political power, the nuclear family was an ideal pushed to control what was occurring in the homes of individuals and a method of displaying the “American Dream” because people were unaware of how such an ideal family could be created and maintained.

In a sociological perspective, family is interpreted as a social group whose members are bound by legal, biological, or emotional ties or a combination of all three. The sociological theories the connect to this concept are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionalism. First, functionalism states that the family socializes children, it provides emotional and practical support for its members, and it provides its members with a social identity. Secondly, conflict theory states that members create disagreements, and create emotional support and comfort. Finally, symbolic interactionism claims family members and intimate couples interact on a daily basis. "Families are defined as a relationship by blood, marriage, or affection" (Seccombe 5).

Ronald Fletcher also analyses the family from a Functionalist perspective but he denies that the modern nuclear family has lost functions to the extent suggested By Talcott Parsons. Thus Fletcher argues that even if the family is no longer a unit of production, it is a unit of consumption which can be appealed to by advertisers keen to sell a wide range of household appliances so as to maintain profits for the bourgeoisie.

For most of us, the family is considered as a well-known and comfortable institution. The perfect model of the ‘ideal’ family is still mostly considered to be consisted from two different sexes’ parents, and one or more children. Until quite recently, the sociology of the family was mostly functionalist and just in the last few decades has been challenged from various directions.