Functionalist Views on Family

• Functionalists view society as a system made up of different parts that depend on each other, with the family seen as a crucial institution for socializing the young and meeting the emotional needs of its members
• George Peter Murdock's theory of the universal nuclear family states that it performs four essential functions: stable satisfaction of the sex drive, biological reproduction of the next generation, socialization of the young, and meeting its members' economic needs
• Critics argue that the traditional family structure disadvantages women and that other institutions could perform the family's functions; some cultures, like the Nayar, don't have traditional families
• Talcott Parsons' Functional Fit Theory suggests that as society changes, the type of family that 'fits' that society and the functions it performs change; the nuclear family is seen as fitting industrial societies better
• Parsons highlights two core functions of the family: Primary Socialization, teaching children norms and values, and the Stabilization of Adult Personalities, providing emotional security within a marital relationship
• Critics argue that the Functional Fit Theory oversimplifies social change and that extended kin networks persisted even after industrialization; they also challenge the idea of gender roles in the family
• Functionalists identify positive functions of the nuclear family, including the reproduction of the next generation, primary socialization, psychological security, elderly care, and stable satisfaction of the sex drive
• Critics of the Functionalist perspective on the family point out that it downplays conflict, is outdated in its views on gender roles, and ignores the exploitation of women in the family
• Gender roles are socially constructed and usually involve the oppression of women
• There are no biological reasons for the functionalist’s view of separation of roles into male breadwinner & female homemaker
• Functionalism is criticized for being too deterministic, ignoring the fact that children actively create their own personalities
• Functionalism incorrectly assumes an almost robotic adoption of society’s values via our parents; however, there are many examples where this isn’t the case