Family : Functionalist

• The classic extended family of pre-industrial Britain could not move about to follow the work in the cities; also, the members of the family tended to remain within their class (e.g. farmer's children became farmers) and there was very little or no class mobility. Therefore, the family changed and became isolated - Parsons called this the ‘privatised nuclear family'.
• The decline in the extended family and the rise of the nuclear family are as follows

  • need for small family unit for geographical mobility
  • strengthened bonds between partners to protect families stability
  • Need to avoid economic and status conflict between extended kin
  • more meritocratic society - what you know not whom you know so kin support is less useful or necessary
  • higher rates of social mobility, weakened kin links
  • greater affluence and reduced family functions, less need for kin.
• The extended family was best suited to meet these needs in pre-industrial Britain but following changes from rural life to urban life, other structures needed to take on the role of meeting these needs. Before industrialisation, the family was a unit of production. This meant that the family was also the workplace and the family produced most of the goods necessary for its survival. Children would learn the skills from parents and other family members and follow in their footsteps.
• Since industrialisation, work has moved outside of the home to factories and offices. Families no longer produce the goods they need - they go out to work for the wages to buy them. The skills required for adult work are no longer learned in the family but are gained through education and employment. The modern family is less dependent on relatives for care; the state has taken over this role with schools, NHS, social workers and welfare benefits. The state takes the role of educating children, making it compulsory for all children until they are 18.
• Children are encouraged to stay in education through to adulthood and it is rare to find children who cannot read or write. The family has now become a unit of consumption. The provision of these basic needs by the state is called structural differentiation as the family no longer meets all of the needs of its members and other structures in society do.
• Traditional:

  Reproduction of the population - having children was often seen as the main reason for marriage, as a means of passing on family property and wealth.

  Changed:

  Since the 1970s there has been a steady increase in the reproduction of children outside of marriage
• Before industrialisation, the family was a unit of production. This means that the family was also the workplace and the family produced most of the goods necessary for its survival. Children would learn the skills from parents and other family members and follow in their footsteps.

  Since industrialisation, work has moved outside of the home to factories and offices. Families no longer produce the goods they need - they go out to work for the wages to buy them. The skills required for adult work are no longer learned in the family but are gained through education and employment,
• Traditional:

  The family cared for dependent children and elderly relatives, as well as looking after members of the family when they were ill or unable to work.

  Changed:

  The modern family is less dependant on relatives for care; the state has taken over this role with schools, the NHS, social workers and welfare benefits.
• Traditional:

  The family was responsible for the primary socialisation of children - teaching them the norms and values of their culture.

  Changed:

  The family still maintains this role, but other agents of socialisation are more influential as the child grows - the media, education, peers etc.
• Traditional:

  The family would educate the children and children from poor families prior to 1880 were very poorly educated with many not being able to read or write.

  Changed:

  The state takes the role of educating children, making it compulsory for all children until they are 18. Children are encouraged to stay in education through to adulthood and it is rare to find children who cannot read or write.
• The Homemaker / Expressive Role

  -works at home

  -doesn’t earn money

  -is responsible for the house and everything in it

  -responsible for emotional care and childcare
• The Breadwinner / Instrumental Role

  -earns money

  -does no housework or childcare

  -pays all the things that need to be payed
• Nuclear family provides 2 economic functions for society (carrot approach)

  -the nuclear family is geographically mobile; since only one member has a paid job, its easy to move where the work was

  -the nuclear family is socially mobile; individual’s futures were no longer determined by their parents. Hard-working individuals reached the top, making society more productive.
• Urbanisation

  People moved for work from the countryside to city.
• The extended family was the best fit for pre industrial Britain.
• The nuclear family is the best fit for post industrial Britain.