Critically Evaluate the Marxist Perspsctive of the Family

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

Due to primary socialisation, the children in the family would then be socialised into their gender roles so then when their time comes to marry and have children, this family structure will continue: the male has the instrumental role and the woman has the expressive role. To contradict with this view from Parsons’, the feminist theory would challenge this view when considering the inequality which comes of this. One argument made by feminists is to do with the oppression which women have dealt with for many years due to their somewhat, ascribed role of being inferior to men, up until around the 1960’s.

‘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.

For example Feminists believe that the family is patriarchal and it oppresses women. Women are oppressed because they are socialised to depend on men and remain second best. They reject the new rights view of the separate roles and the march of progress view that society had not changed and is very much unequal. Feminists believe that marriage remains patriarchal and that men benefit from wives. Feminists reject the idea of ‘one best’ family type, they welcome freedom and diversity. Ann Oakley says ‘Women’s domesticity is a circle of learnt deprivation and induced subjugation: a circle decisively centered on family

George Murdock has carried out a study involving 250 families. From his analysis, he has argued that the family performs four basic functions for its individual members and society at large. He has referred to these as

Changes in American society in recent decades have had a major impact on the social structure of the country. A hundred years ago it was only now forty-seven years is seventy-eight. The meaning of family also change, a hundred years ago only four percent of the women had children out of wedlock, for children was normal losing his parents at the age of fifteen, the marriage rate was high and education it was low. The ideal family was that the man was working and who was the head of the family, and the woman was the figure responsible for the home and parenting, based on the rules of marriage model. Today we see a completely different picture, although the family remains an essential part of our society, has been affected by structural changes,

Each group in society has a different idea on what the main role of the family is. As Item 2B says, “Marxists see all social institutions as serving the interests of capitalism.” This includes the family, and they say that it serves the interests of capitalism by maintaining and justifying class inequality and exploitation by the rich. Other groups, however, have different opinions, such as Functionalists who think that the family performs essential needs of society. Marxists and Functionalists opinions are completely contrasted, as Marxists think that we live in a Capitalist society based on unequal conflict between the classes, whilst Functionalists see society as based on “value consensus”, where everyone agrees.

This essay is on how much the family has changed since the 1960s. This essay will contain the definitions and variations of the family and how they have changed. There will also be details of the differences of theoretical perspectives.

In this essay I will be talking about how feminist have contributed to our understanding of family roles and relationships. There are several different types of feminist theory, but all of them share certain characteristics in common; there is a fundamental division in society between men and women, that women are to some extent exploited by men and that society is male dominant or patriarchal this means “rule by the father” but is used by feminist to indicate that men have more power than women and the interest of men largely shapes how society is run. They believe that these theories are also critical of existing sociology arguing that it has a pro male bias. They call male-dominated sociology malestream sociology calming that most

Family is a religious, moral and legal institution with various degrees of kinship even covering generation of ancestors in certain cases. It is no doubt that family is seen as an important institution for individuals to provide emotional needs and to make a better society. Three major theories had contributed a better and more deeper understanding on family. Moreover, this essay will discuss the functionalist, Marxist and feminist views to the family.

Week one was the discussion in the values changing from the traditional marriage male to female with many children. The course lesson describes the differences in the family now recognizing the development of different family morals within the stages of the traditions. Sociologist George Murdock covers the stages of family, which is introduced in the article “Defining Family” exposed in lesson 1. In the article, “Family Facing Untenable Choices” there is a discovery of the growth of single-parent household, the rise of the divorce rates, the Black mother rearing her children alone, and inter-racial and same-sex household rearing. The lesson articles were concurrent with each other on describing many different traditional values throughout the

Functionalism revolves around the concept that society must fulfill essential functions, such as producing and distributing goods and different services to survive. The institution of family and marriage can be explored from a functionalist perspective, in how particular marriages and families contribute to the overall well-being of modern American society. Families can ensure the survival of the contemporary American society through maintaining a sense of order and stability. Ultimately, the family, as an institution is correlated to modern American society "through the husband-fathers occupational role" and the impact on the overall family (Pleck, 1977). This concept is functional in the sense that through the socialization of children within a nuclear family,

Marxists view the family in a very disparaging light and regard the family as a tool of capitalism and the bourgeoisie. Marxists believe that the family has many roles which are beneficial to the capitalist society. Zaretsky conducted his study in 1976 and concluded that the family was the key ingredient for capitalism as the family consumes the products of capitalism which enables the bourgeoisie to keep profits up and allows the capitalist system to continue. He argues that the family served interest of capitalism in various ways, namely,

Functionalist believe that families perform certain functions that are a necessity when it comes to society. It focuses on children, regulation of sexual activity, as well as giving its affiliations a sense of identity. Functionalist “emphasize the importance of the family in maintaining the stability of society and the well-being of individuals.” They see the family as the key part of society, and how it evolves. Most of these ideas were brought up by Emile Durkheim that believed “division of labor contributes to greater efficiency in all areas of life.” Sociology of family is defined as “the sub-discipline of sociology that attempts to describe and explain patterns of family life and variations in family structure.” and from the functionalist perspective there are four, key functions of a family.

An early functionalist George Murdock argued that the family plays the main role in the society by performing three main functions-