Fucntionalist view of the family

• Parson's Functional fit theory: Post-industrial

  · Nuclear family

  · Geographical mobility - easier to travel where jobs are with smaller families

  · Social mobility - Sons/Children can gain higher social standing to parents and then create their own nuclear family instead of staying in the same social staus as parents


  · Extended family still strong in East London in 1970s - Young and Wilmmot
• Parson's Functional Fit Theory: Pre-Industrial

  · The extended family worked together and helped socialise young

  · Three generational family

  · Only 10% house holds contained extened kin before indusrtrailsation - family was already nuclear (Laslett)
• Parson's Functional Fit Theory

  · Theory is that as society changes the type of family that 'fits' that society and functions it perfoms also change


  · Femnist would argue there is more choise to roles and there aren't specfic roles based on biological charateristics

  · Social order doesnt happpen in an ordaly manner
• Role of the family in the orgnic analogy

  • Family plays vital role in maintaing the system
  • Postive view on the family
  • It suppouts the need if inviduals, each member has a specific role - mother socialise children
  • Supports other institutions - family are consumers so suppourts economy


  Femnist argue that the theory is patriarchal and opressive as it restricts women to one job that makes them independant on men

  Not all nuclear families can socialise the children have to get help from extended family bc the nuclear family can't
• Murdocks four functions of the family

  • Socialisation of the young - passes on norms and values and allows new members to intergate into society
  • Reproduction of next generation - without society would cease to excit
  • Stable satisfaction of the sex drive - prevents the social disruption that would be caused by a 'free-for-all'
  • Meeting members economic need - providing food and shelter


  Other institutions can perform theses functions

  Murdock assumes all families functions well, such an approach ignores less 'happy' families
• Neo functionalist ideas - Horwitz

  • The family is a superior site for learning these rules
  • Family is an institution that the micro world of an indvidual with the macro world of wider society
  • Family represents the micro-macro bridge