Theories of Families

• What do functionalist believe the functions of a family are?

  Functionalists, see the family as extremely functional. Its existence is both beneficial and necessary for the running of society and personal development of individuals.
• What does Murdock say about the family performing for essential functions to meet the needs of society and its members?

  • reproduction: the family is the main unit for the reproduction of children,or society wouldn’t exist
  • Sexual: In most societies they’ve forbidden sexual relationships outside of marriage. helps to stabilise social system + without these rules conflicts might arise
  • Education: family - responsible for primary socialisation, the first + most important part of a socialisation process.
  • Economic:, the families of production, for eg, farming, families, producing food.
• (Functionalist) What do feminists argue about Murdocks view?

  The nuclear family serves the needs of men and contribute to the exploitation of women. This is because the nuclear family is patriarchal, which means that it serves the needs of men at the expense of women.
• (Functionalist) What would Marxists argue about Murdocks view?

  The nuclear family meets the needs of capitalism, not individual family members also society as a whole. This is because the women provide her labour for free.
• (Functionalist) What is Parsons view of the family?

  Suggest that the functions that family performs depend on the kind of society in which it is found. He distinguishes between two kinds of family structure, one found in modern industrial society and the other found in pre-industrial society
• (Functionalist) What did Parsons argue that an industrial society has two essential needs:

  • geographically, mobile workforce: where people moved to where jobs are. Parsons argue it is easier for a nuclear family with just children to move.
  • A socially mobile workforce: modern, industrial society is constantly evolving, so they need more skilled people to work. Therefore, it is essential that talented people are able to win promotion and take on the most important jobs. So status is achieved. This makes social mobility possible
• (Functionalist) What is a pre-industrial family?

  A unit of production (family members work together at a farm) and unit of consumption (feeding and clothing its members) . It meant that roles in families were ascribed (given to them on the basis of fixed characteristics eg; family)
• (Functionalist) What is an industrial society family?

  A nuclear family, where men (instrumental leader) were the breadwinners and women (expressive leader) were the housewives. Parsons argue that when society industrialised the structure of the family changed, but it also lost many of its functions. An industrial society family lost its unit of production, and the family only became a unit of consumption.
• (Functionalist) Parsons argues that the modern nuclear family specialises in two essential functions: explain what he means by the *primary socialisation in children*

  This is the first, and most important part of socialisation. He argues that every individual must learn the shared norms and values of society. Without this, there would be no shared consensus and social life would not be possible. For socialisation to be effective shared norms and values must be an internalised part of personality becomes a part of children
• (Functionalist) Parsons argues that the modern nuclear family specialises in two essential functions: explain what he means by the *stabilisation of adult personality*

  Unstable personalities can threaten the stability and smooth running of society.

  • marital partners provide each other with emotional support.
  • As parents, they are able to indulge their childish side of their personalities, for example, playing with their children
  • Family life provides adults with release from strains and stresses of every day life, providing them with emotional security and support
• (Functionalist) Nuclear family was often referred to as being like a ‘warm bath’ by Parsons . explain what this means

  The family relieves stress from the pressures of work, and why does society providing a safe comforting environment where individuals can relax. This is where the mother can play a key role in caring for the husband and stabilising his personality, ensuring he is refreshed for work. It reinforces traditional agenda, while women are the caregivers.
• Rejecting evaluation of the functionalist view: Doesn’t reflect realities of family life

  Functionless, assume that these nuclear families are useful and harmonious. However, the reality may be the conflict between his husband and wife., male dominance, child, abuse, and the harmful effects that this can have on wider society
• Rejecting evaluation of the functionalist view: Ignores diversity of family life in industrial society

  For example, there was little reference to lone parent families, cohabiting families, and reconstituted families. They pay little attention about variations in life, for example, class, ethnicity, religion, and locality. For example, the classic extended family is far from a thing of the past in the UK. It is found in Asian and traditional working class communities.
• Rejecting evaluation of the functionalist view: Parsons view, criticised as sexist

  He only sees the wife as having the main responsibility, providing warmth and emotional support, and for distressing, her hard-working husband
• What is the new right view of the family?

  They believe that there was only one correct type of family, the traditional or patriarchal nuclear family. This consists of a marriage and their dependent children with a clear division of labour between breadwinner husband and homemaker wife. They see that the nuclear family is the cornerstone of society and a place of refuge, contentment and harmony.
• What are the three main assumptions of the new right view of the family?

  • Men and women have natural roles – They believe that men and women are naturally suited to different roles.
  • Families should be independent – They think that families should take care of themselves and not rely on government benefits.responsible.
  • Welfare creates problems – They argue that giving people too many benefits encourages single-parent families and weakens traditional family values. They believe this leads to family breakdown, where children grow up without proper discipline and struggle in life.
• What perspective does the new right have?

  A conservative anti-feminist perspective, they believe that the decline of the nuclear family and growth of family diversity of the cause of many social problems, such as higher crime rates and educational failure
• Why is the New Right critical of single parent families?

  • Believe that children need a male and female role model for adequate socialisation.
  • Argue that single parent families cost too much in welfare benefits, an order to blame for the rising cost of taxes
  • Argue that men should be breadwinner, a woman, the homemakers
  • Sees marriage as an essential basis for creating a stable environment to bring up children
• Why does the new right believe that the nuclear family are under attack because of state policy?

  • It has encouraged women to abandon their family responsibilities by promoting equal opportunity and pay in the workforce
  • It has weakened family life by failing to counter what the new right perceive as deviant family forms such as cohabiting and one parent families
  • Has undermined marriage by making divorce easier
  • Result Families becoming dependent on benefits
  • undermined morality by promoting sex Ed in schools
• (new right view) What did Charles Murray say about the emergence of the underclass in America?

  He identified 2 groups

  • The New Rabble: long-term unemployed, welfare, dependent and single mothers, relying on benefits - this group is dangerous for society because children aren’t socialised properly
  • The New Victorians: respectable, middle-class, who marry, socialise their children properly, work and pay taxes
• (new right view) What do Murray and Marsland argue about the welfare state?

  That it has undermined personal responsibility and self-help, and the importance of getting support from families. It encourages single women to have children because they know that they can afford it by getting help from state benefits. They argue that single parent families have contributed to the emergence of dependency culture and a workshy underclass, which wants to avoid work by living off benefits.
• (new right view) A research study that supports the new right

  Amato (2000) said that children and families that have broken down will have, greed, poverty, educational failure, crime and health problems, as well as increased chance of future family breakdowns when they become adults themselves
• Rejecting evaluation of the new right views of the family

  • Ignores that many nuclear families failed to socialise their children properly.
  • little or no evidence that lone parents are the cause of dependency culture
  • Feminists argue that they hold sexist views on women - that they assume that womens jobs (housewife) are fixed biologically, and that the new right view is a negative reaction to women’s equality battle
  • If benefits were cut for single parents, it would be the children who would suffer unfairly
  • Marriage isn’t the problem - commitment issues is
• (Marxist) What did Engels say about the Origin of the Family?

  He argues that, during the early stages of human evolution, the means of production did not exist. He called this Primitive communism. There were no rules, limiting sexual relationships, and most families were polygamous.

  He then suggests from this it evolved to its present stage of monogamous nuclear families. This developed around the same time that a government developed so people began to have private ownership over production.
• (Marxist) How did what Engel said, continue to form a modern society ?

  The government made laws to enforce the rules of monogamous marriage, such as making adultry illegal. With these laws, the family developed to solve the problem of the inheritance of private property. Property was owned by males and passed onto the male heir. The monogamous nuclear family provide the essential device for the purpose of passing on wealth and power.
• (Marxist) What did Zaretsky say about Personal Life and Capitalism?

  Claims that the capitalist society create an illusion of the modern family being separate from the economy. He argued that work was alienating for the subject class, because they didn’t gain anything from what they made. So, the family life was put on a pedestal, because it gave those w/c, workers, salvation and satisfaction that they could not gain from working.
• (Marxist) What did Zaretsky argue about family being there for the w/c workers?

  However, he felt that the family is unable to provide all the psychological needs of the individual. Although it cushions the effect of capitalism, it doesn’t fully compensate for the alienating feeling by producing goods that have no meaning or or benefit to him
• (Marxist) (Zaretsky identified, three functions that benefit capitalism) Socialisation of Children

  Argues that children are socialised into class ideology, for example, blind obedience, respectful authority, and acceptance of hierarchy. The nuclear family trains, those children into seeing inequality as normal so that no one challenges the rule in class. Therefore children go up to become uncritical and conformist citizens. The family therefore transmit ruling class values, rather than common values. Keeps the working class people in a state of false consciousness.
• (Marxist) (Zaretsky identified, three functions that benefit capitalism) Stabilisation of adult personality

  Argues that, rather than stable adults, the family produce docile workers. The family encourages them to focus on their families home life and consumerism, rather than think about how their job is exploiting them. Marxist argue that the focus of the family as a nurturing nest is in illusion because women’s labour are exploited because they are expected to keep up the responsibility of the home
• (Marxist) (Zaretsky identified, three functions that benefit capitalism) Nuclear family as a unit of consumption

  He believed that the family played a major role as a consumer in generating profit for the capitalist system. He points out that most marketing and advertising of consumer goods and services is aimed at families. For example, families are strongly encouraged to keep up with their neighbours in terms of their consumption of product for the home and garden.
• (Marxist) What did Marcus’s say about False needs and the family?

  He claimed that working class, families encouraged to pursue false needs in the form of latest consumer goods, and to judge themselves and others on the basis of what they own. For example, they just want people to buy the latest trending things that other people will judge them as to who has the most trended items. He claimed that this is what serves interest of capitalism rather than the consumers, because it stimulates the economy and distract the workers from the need to seek equality and justice.
• Evaluation for Marxist view of Families: Class and Exploitation

  MMarxists argue that the family plays a key role in maintaining class inequalities by socializing children into accepting capitalist values, thus reproducing inequality across generations. While this perspective highlights how families serve capitalism, critics argue that it overemphasizes the role of the family and neglects other factors like education and media.
• Evaluation for Marxist view of Families: Patriarchy and Gender

  MMarxist feminists, like Engels, argue that the family supports patriarchy by promoting women’s unpaid labor within the household, which benefits the capitalist system. Critics, however, claim that this view overlooks the diversity of family structures today and the fact that some families challenge traditional gender roles.
• Evaluation for Marxist view of Families: Economic Determinism

  MMarxists focus on economic factors in explaining the family, suggesting that the family structure is shaped primarily by the economic system. This is critiqued by other sociological approaches like the functionalist view, which emphasizes the family’s role in social stability, and by postmodernists who argue that the family is more complex and influenced by cultural factors.
• What are Marxist Feminists?

  Feminists who analyze the ways in which capitalism and patriarchy intersect to oppress women.
• Margaret Benston, Marxist Feminist key views: Women’s unpaid labour

  Benston claimed that the work women do in the household—such as cooking, cleaning, and childcare—is essential to the functioning of capitalism but remains unpaid. This unpaid labor supports the workforce by maintaining and reproducing labor power for capitalists.
• Margaret Benston, Marxist Feminist key views: Reproduction of Labour

  She emphasized that the family plays a crucial role in the reproduction of the labor force, particularly by raising and socializing children. This work is seen as necessary for capitalism to thrive but is undervalued because it’s carried out by women in the home.
• Margaret Benston, Marxist Feminist key views: Capitalism’s Dependence on Gendered Division of Labor

  Benston argued that capitalism relies on the gendered division of labor within the family, with men being the primary wage earners and women taking on domestic and care responsibilities. This division reinforces women’s economic dependence on men and maintains capitalist structures.
• Ansley (Marxist feminist) carried our research into domestic violence and found a link between capitalism and the frustration of male workers. Can you elaborate?

  DV is linked to the frustration and alienation that men experience in capitalist society. Men, exploited and powerless in the workplace, often redirect their frustration towards their wives, whom they see as easier targets of control and domination. Ansley described women as “takers of shit,” so they bear the emotional and physical consequences of men’s stress and anger.
• Evaluation of Marxist Feminists: overemphasis on economic factors

  primarily focus on economic exploitation, arguing that women’s unpaid labor supports capitalism. Critics argue that this perspective neglects other factors like culture, individual choice, and psychological aspects that also shape family life and gender roles.