New Right

• the new right agrees with functionalists that the traditional heterosexuals nuclear family is the best family type for society, however they do not believe everything is working as efficiently as it should. they have influenced policies to protect the nuclear family
• Murray has argued that the overgenerous welfare state has removed individual responsiblity for poorer people and allows them to have things they cannot usually afford such as children as they know they will get benefits. he sees this as causing wider social issues by contributing to a dependency culture and lazy underclass.
• evaluation of Murray (idea of individual responsiblity) - left wing thinkers argue there are structural factors that are beyond peoples control that can affect whether they have a job or not, and that some people need the support of benefits from the state
• Dennis and Erdos (fatherless families) - argue an increase of single parent families leads to a lack of socialisation, causes social problems such as alcohol anf drug abuse, educational failure and increased crime. the lack of a father figure means boys miss out on socialisation males bring and leads to the social problems
• evaluation of Dennis and Erdos - there are other people who can take on the 'father figure' role such as a grandad, uncle etc. Feminists argue Dennis and Erdos ignore the benefits single mums bring, such as the fact they are free from oppression from a husband and young girls have an independent woman to have as a role model