Criticisms of functionalism

• Out of date

  Functionalist views are NOT relevant to how families are organised in the Uk today as the work of Murdock + Parsons comes from the 1950s.

  Ignores the benefits of different family types - e.g. dual-earner families.
• Too positive

  • Ignores the “dark side” of family life.
  • E.g. domestic abuse within families - there are nearly 30,000 children in the child protection register.
• Feminist criticisms

  • Feminists criticise the idea it is “natural“ for men to work and women to be wives + mothers.
  • Men benefit from the nuclear family arrangement rather than women - women are oppressed.