Functionalism views of family and households

• Nuclear families are a married couple with two or more children where the husband works and the wife is responsible for domestic duties.
• Husband/male does the Instrumental roles. Female/wife does the Expressive roles.
• symmetrical families

  • men take on more domestic duties.
  • Women go to work and earn a wage.
• Nuclear families with the 'house husband'

  • The gender roles are reversed and the wife is the breadwinner and the husband is responsible for the domestic duties.
• Extended families are members outside the 'nucleus'.
• Vertical extended families- multiple generations living together i.e. grandparents, parents and children.
• Horizontal extended families- the same generation living together i.e. aunts, uncles and cousins.
• Beanpole families- A multi-generation family which is long and thin; few uncles, aunts and cousins etc.
• Lone-parent families ; Where only one parent is present in the household and takes care of their children without a partner.

  1. Matrifocal
  2. Patrifocal
• Reconstituted families- Where a nuclear family breaks up and merges with another to form a new family.

  • step siblings, step parents etc.
• Same-sex families; Where two parents are of the same sex. They can be childless or have children.
• Polygamy: A marriage between one person of one sex and two or more people of the opposite sex, at the same time.

  • Polygyny; one man, several women.
  • Polyandry; one woman, several men.
• Functionalists see the family as the 'essential building block' which performs critical functions.
• Families benefit the individual members of the family and they also benefit society as a whole.
• The family performs positive functions.
• Murdock examined and compared 250 societies worldwide and concluded:

  • The nuclear family is universal.
  • If it universal, it must serve positive functions.
• MURDOCK

  The nuclear family serves four key functions:

  1. sexual
  2. Reproductive
  3. Educational
  4. Economic
• criticisms of Murdock

  • Focussed on heterosexual relationships
  • The decline of religious beliefs and relaxing of social attitudes towards sex now means people are having sex outside of marriage.
• Criticisms of Murdock

  • women's attitudes towards childbearing has changed and people have fewer children than previous generations.
• criticisms of Murdock

  • Some societies and cultures do not follow the traditional family structure as identified by Murdock.
  • FOR EXAMPLE,
  • The kibbutz- Israeli commune
  • they are raised in a communal home by 'Metapelets' who take on the role of parent, educator, nurse, and homemaker.
• GENERAL CRITICISMS

  • Dated and ethnocentric
  • This image of the family is politically conservative
  • Feminists argue this image of the family serves only to reinforce stereotypical gender roles and oppress women.
• Parsons argued as societies changed over time, the nature of 'family' has also changed.
• Industrialisation and the economy have changed the nature of families and the roles they play in society.(PARSONS)
• Parsons argued that the nuclear family 'fits' the industrial society better, and the extended family 'fits' the pre-industrial society better.
• pre-industrial society

  • Agriculture based; Farming in the countryside
  • Family as a unit of production; clothes, food, shelter.
  • Family as a source of education; skills to work.
  • Family provided welfare to each other.
  • Family provided justice for each other.
  • Family provided healthcare to each other.
• The industrial society has allowed:

  • Geographical mobility
  • Social mobility
  • The emergence of specialised agencies
• Geographical mobility

  • Urbanisation; people moved from rural to urban areas where industrial jobs existed.
  • This suits smaller families better than larger families.
• Social mobility

  • people could now improve their lives materially.
  • This improves their overall quality of life, and makes them more independent from the extended family.
  • A shift from ascribed to achieved status.
• The emergence of specialised agencies

  • Roles which were previously filled by the family are now filled by the social institutions.
  • 'structural differentiation'
  • This has also led to the nuclear family experiencing a separation of home and workplace.
  • The family has shifted from a unit of production to a unit of consumption.
• Parsons argued the nuclear family in industrial societies still serves two irreducible functions:

  1. Primary Socialisation of Children
  2. Stabilisation of the Adult Personality
• Primary Socialisation of Children

  • To pass on the norms, values and culture of the society.
• Stabilisation of the adult personality

  • 'Warm Bath' Theory.
  • Immersion in family life soothes the pressures of living in contemporary society and working life.
• The 'warm bath' theory is achieved a division of labour in the family. Men and Women have conjugal roles.
• Expressive role:

  • Performed by women; they are fulfilled by providing emotional support, warmth and security to their husband and children.
• Instrumental role:

  • performed by men; they are fulfilled by acting as the breadwinner, earning money to financially support the family.
• Stabilisation of the Adult Personality

  • The woman's expressive role serves to relieve the tension and anxiety of the man's instrumental role.
  • This leads to the stabilisation of adult personalities, and a more harmonious society.
  • Parsons argues this division of labour is natural based on biological differences between men and women.
• General criticisms of the Functionalist view

  • Idealistic view of the family and society
  • Gender roles are socially constructed and not 'natural'.
• Criticisms of Parsons

  • Young and Wilmott; Disagree with Parsons that industrialisation led to the demise of the extended family.
  • Conducted research with 2,500 individuals across London and found;
  • The Symmetrical family had become the norm in Britain by the end of the 20th century- no sexual division of labour.
• criticisms of Parsons

  • Fletcher argues parsons is wrong to suggest the family has lost its functions and suggests it still serves three which no other institutions can provide.

  1. sexual and emotional needs of parents.
  2. Socialisation of children in a stable environment.
  3. A stable home where all members return to.