Marxism

• take a conflict approach meaning they see society based on disagreement and inequality.
• take a structural and macro approach and focus how social class has an impact on peoples lives. focus on what the family does to benefit capitalism
• Engels was a traditional marxist who argued the nuclear family emerged in response to capitalism emerging. the nuclear family and monogamous relationships were the best way to be certain who your biological children were so when capitalists became rich, they knew who their rightful heir was to pass property down too.
• engels - the nuclear family gave men control over women. engels states that women are essentially prostitutes as they trade sex and children for financial security
• evaluation of engels - outdated. women now work, own property, have incomes and are less likely to marry for finanical security. some women may not be in a nuclear family at all due to the increase in family diversity
• Zaretsky argues the family benefits capitalism via:

  • primary socialisation (teaches children the dominant ideology - capitalist way of thinking)
  • safe haven - the exploitation of women's unpaid domestic labour is a safe haven for working men
  • unit of consumption - products aimed at families so 'pester power' makes capitalism money.
• evaluation of Zarestsky - many young people dont learn obedience from their parents. UNICEF found UK children are most likely to have poor relationships with their parents and rebelled against authority figures through drug use, underage drinking and running away.
• the first two functions from Zarestsky (primary socialisation and safe haven) are similar to Parson's functions of the family, however Zarestsky sees this as a negative thing that only benefits capitalism compared to Parsons who things this positively benefits society
• Althusser argues there are two state apparatus which serves to keep the capitalists in power: repressive state apparatus and idealogical state apparatus.
• althusser's repressive state apparatus (RSA) is the physical control the government uses to control the working class such as police and prison
• althusser's idealogical state apparatus (ISA) is the government's mental control over the working class such as education and the family
• The family is a key idealogical state apparatus that controls the way people think. families socialise their children into the dominant ideology, and the ruling class can maintain false class consciousness by brainwashing the working class from a young age so they are less likely to challenge them as their exploitation is all they have ever known
• evaluation of althusser - Donzelot argues that the family is not an ISA used to control people, but the family isteslf id controlled by the state. the representatives of the state such as social workers and doctors control and change families by 'policing the family'