Functionalist View Of The Family

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

These functionalist sociologist views are criticised by the Marxist perspective, they believe that the family benefits the ruling class in a

to of have ignored that in a number of families (this tends to be a

Talcott Parsons’ (1956, pg. 309) believed that “the nuclear family is a social system” which consists of a straight married couple and around two to five children, “can be distinguished, and does function as a significant group” (1956, pg.308). Parsons believed that the family benefitted society in ways such as the teachings of gender roles and the overall structure of society: the male going to work and being the breadwinner, while the wife stays at home and cooks and nurtures the children. After the Second World War, the nuclear family was the most common type of family making the structure easily “distinguishable”. However, when we look at the postmodern society, we can see that there are many different types of families nowadays such

This essay will compare and contrast and contrast two leading sociological theories: Marxism and Functionalism. Marxists predominantly believe that within society inequality and prejudice are rife, whereas Functionalists live under the impression that society operates in a state of social equilibrium wherein class and social status are necessities which we allow to transpire. This essay will explore the different viewpoints each theories take on subjects such as religion, community, family and education.

Functionalists view social policies as generally positive if they support the traditional nuclear family. They say that the Welfare State takes the pressure off the family in ways such as, education and healthcare, which allows them to focus on the key functions of the family such as, primary socialization and childcare. Feminists would disagree with Functionalists, as they argue that some social

Another concept views the Family as a Component of Society, this structural-functional theory addresses the family on a broader scale in terms of their contributions, needs and successes like other social systems (eg., educational and healthcare system (p.90, 2003).

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

Assess the view that the nuclear family functions to benefit all its members and society as a whole.

Your examples of how your family fits into the functionalist perspective are great examples of the four functions: sexual regulation, socialization, support, and social status. Based on your examples, our families and parents are very similar because they seem to share the same values. When it comes to the family model, I utterly agree with you about how parents can be sometimes strict when they expect too much from us. Sometimes I wish my parents were not as strict as they are but I have learned self control at an early age from it. That have helped me achieve more in school and become a better person for society.

As a functionalist view, they believed that the family had to teach the norms and values so they believed that the ‘Traditional Nuclear Family’ was the best type of family. Functionalists believed that the husband and wife have segregated

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.

Social Structure theory has three main perspectives for what shapes family relations. Friedrich Engels argued that the transformation from feudalism to capitalism altered family life by moving production outside households and into factories which societal view of personal worth became attached to earning capacity (Baker 2014). Political Economy theory shows that families change when the economy does. The change in economy had families changing from extended to nuclear and the importance of establishing lineage to pass wealth onto. Talcott Parsons theorized about family life through Structural

This role also provides parental figures an opportunity to express their childish whims through their children. The family is responsible for teaching the new generations about the life, norms and values. Without culture, the society could not survive, and too much deviation from the norm would disrupt the stability of the society. While one of the more favourable theories Functionalists have a problem explaining rapid social change e.g. Revolutions. This is because of the emphasis their perspective puts on consensus created through the socialisation process and functional dependence and necessity.

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