Social Institutions And Its Impact On Society

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 lifestyles of people in different societies are becoming more similar over time because of

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).

A norm is a behavior or unspoken rule that society has deemed as normal or acceptable. Those who do not follow the norms of a group may be shunned or looked at as different. The norm I will be violating for my project is asking people that I am unfamiliar with to do something simple for me. It is not common for a stranger to ask another stranger to do something that they are seemingly able to do. This norm acts as a mechanism of social control by keeping people from talking to those who are unfamiliar. It also puts forward the idea that we should be able to do all simple tasks ourselves. To break this norm, I am going to wear tennis shoes with one of the laces untied and ask strangers passing by to tie my shoe for me.

The political economy perspective also shares with functionalism the idea that culture functions to publicize “social integration”. But the two perspectives differ a great deal in their comprehension of how this integration works. Political economy sees cultural traditions as extending material conditions and how people group collectively to “distribute, produce, and consume the goods and services that sustain”. Functionalism and Marxism also have their differences. The political economy perspective urges research questions that would not come from the functionalist perspective. Another difference is that functionalism focuses on dynamic equilibrium, it identifies family as the primarily social institution, and “sees order as based on internationalization of shared cultural values and attitudes, supported by feelings of guilt and desire for approval”. The political economy perspective on the other hand, focuses on economic relations as the main organizing quality of the social system. Although quite different, both Functionalism and Marxism have their similarities. They also have their good and bad aspects and ways in which each theory

‘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.

Functionalists argue that societies consist of inter-related social institutions such as schools, mass media, political systems, the Church and the family each of which contribute positively to the maintenance of stability of society as a whole. Broadly speaking it is assumed by functionalists that societies operate in the interests of all of their members so that there is no reason for fundamental conflict in society. Instead there is a high degree of consensus that societies are organised efficiently and relatively fairly.

n the upcoming page’s I will answer the following questions. Why is family the most important agent of socialization? What caused the dramatic changes to the American family? What are the changes? I will discuss the differences in marriage and family, I will discuss how they are linked to class, race, gender, and personal choices. The purpose of this study is to explore the many different family functions and the paths that people are now choosing. I will give my opinion on whether these changes have had a positive or negative affect. I will finally discuss the trend of the modern family, back to pre-World War II family structure, how would that effect the strides that have been made in the progression of women rights.

My topic is gender roles in society the social institutions which influence to the stigmatization of gender are:

Murdock (1949) studied 250 different societies, he concluded that society could not survive without the family as it was so functional. He argued there were four essential functions, without these society would not survive: sexual, reproductive, economic and education. Without sex and reproduction there would be no new members, without economic and education, the family providing for its members, the young socialised to norms and values, cultures would not exist. In the absence of this human society would cease (Haralambos and Holborn, 2008). 83

"We are shaped by society 's structures," is the primary concept of the idea developed by C. Wright Mills (Henslin). In this paper, I will demonstrate how my social class affected my family life and education.

Thus a functional prerequisite of society involves at least a minimal degree of integration between the parts. Many functionalists argue that this integration is based largely on value consensus, that is on agreement about values by members of society. Thus if the major values of society are expressed in the various parts of the social structure, those parts will be integrated. Thus, the parts must work hand in hand with each other. Moreover, for the continuation of the society, there must be a general consensus or agreement over basic values. For example, it can be argued that the value of materialism integrates many parts of the social structure in Western industrial society. The economic system produces a large range of goods, and ever increasing productivity is regarded as an important goal. The educational system is partly concerned with producing the skills and expertise to expand production and increase its efficiency. The family is an important unit of consumption, with its steadily rising demand for consumer durables such as washing machines, videos and microwaves. The political system is partly concerned with improving material living standards and raising productivity. (Giddens, 2006), and (Haralambos and Holborn, 2008).

The family is the single most important agent of socialization because the family is the first and most continuous social world for infants and children. The family provides the child's initial social identity in terms of race, religion, social class, and gender. In time,

Parsons list of functions is much shorter than Murdock’s; he argues that the family has to provide for the primary socialization of children by teaching them the acceptable rules and patterns of behaviour to ensure the stabilisation of society. Parsons analysis suggests that as society progresses the family naturally adapts and therefore shows how the family’s functions adapt to a modern society with less emphasis on the need for the family to fulfil the economic maintenance with outside agencies taking on some of the roles of the family.

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