Theories

• Families functions for Marxists

  Zaretsky (Marxist)

  • Family is a 'haven' from the harsh and exploitive world of capitalism.
  • Yet the haven is an illusion as the family can't meet needs as its based on the domestic servitude of women.

  Althusser (Marxist)

  • Family is an ideological state apparatus, passing on the acceptance of the ruling class ideology and damping down social conflict.

  Counter - Functionalism

  • Marxists ignore all benefits of a family.
• Functional fit theory - Parsons

  • Geographically mobile workforce - the nuclear family is better fitted to the need that modern industry as its easer to move than an extended family, for example.
  • Socially mobile workforce - encourages sons to seek status in work as they don't want to contest with their father's status under the same roof.
• New Right views on the family

  • Progressive policies throughout the 1960s-70s have led to the decline of traditional family values.
  • Increases in divorce, lone-parents families and permissive policies relating to reproductive rights and sexuality had seen the influence of family decline.
  • Looked back on 'golden age' of family life, stable family structures that could provide for their own needs through employment.
• New right views - Murray

  • The state spending on benefits had created a form of welfare dependency.
  • Created a generation of 'idle young men' who lacked father figures and were the formation of an underclass.
  • The underclass developed their own norms and values that differed from the rest of society, demonstrating criminal and antisocial behaviours.