Theories of the family

• Functionalism


  A consensus perspective
• Marxism


  A class conflict perspective
• Feminism


  A gender conflict perspective
• Functionalists


  • Believe society is based on a value consensus - a set of shared norms and values
  • Society is a system made up of different parts or sub-systems that depend on each other
• Murdock's four essential functions of the family


  • Stable satisfaction of the sex drive
  • Reproduction of the next generation
  • Socialisation of the young
  • Meeting its members' economic needs
• Murdock accepts that other institutions could perform these functions but argues the nuclear family is the most practical way to meet these needs
• Criticisms of Murdock's approach


  • Marxists and feminists reject the 'rose-tinted' harmonious consensus view
  • Feminists see the family as serving the needs of men and oppressing women
  • Marxists argue it meets the needs of capitalism, not those of family members or society as a whole
• Parsons' 'functional fit' theory


  • The functions the family performs will depend on the kind of society it is found in
  • The nuclear family fits the needs of industrial society, the extended family fits the needs of pre-industrial society
• Evidence against Parsons' claims of a 'functional fit'
• The pre-industrial family was nuclear, not extended as Parsons claims
• The hardship of early industrial period gave rise to the 'mum-centred' working-class extended family
• The extended family continues to exist and perform important functions in modern society
• Marxist perspective on the family

  • Sees capitalist society as based on an unequal conflict between two social classes
  • All society's institutions, including the family, help maintain class inequality and capitalism
• Functions of the family that Marxists identify as benefiting capitalism

  • Inheritance of private property
  • Ideological functions - socialising children into accepting hierarchy and inequality
  • A unit of consumption
• Marxists tend to assume the nuclear family is dominant in capitalist society, ignoring the wide variety of family structures
• Feminists argue the Marxist emphasis on class and capitalism underestimates the importance of gender inequality
• Families


  Play a major role in generating profits for capitalists, as an important market for the sale of consumer goods
• Advertisers urge families to 'keep up with the Joneses' by consuming all the latest products
• The media target children, who use 'pester power' to persuade parents to spend more
• Children who lack the latest clothes or 'must have' gadgets are mocked and stigmatised by their peers
• Marxist view of the family

  • Performs several functions that maintain capitalist society: inheritance of private property, socialisation into acceptance of inequality, and a source of profits
• In the Marxist view, while these functions may benefit capitalism, they do not benefit the members of the family
• Liberal feminism


  Concerned with campaigning against discrimination and for equal rights and opportunities for women (e.g. equal pay and an end to discrimination in employment)
• Liberal feminists' view of the family

  They hold a view similar to that of 'march of progress' theorists, believing that there has been gradual progress towards greater gender equality in the family
• Marxist feminism


  Argues that the main cause of women's oppression in the family is not men, but capitalism
• Marxist feminist view of women's role in the family


  • Women reproduce the labour force through their unpaid domestic labour, absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism, and are a reserve army of cheap labour
• Radical feminism


  Argues that all societies have been founded on patriarchy - rule by men
• Radical feminist view of the family


  • The family and marriage are the key institutions in patriarchal society, where men benefit from women's unpaid domestic labour and sexual services, and dominate women through violence or the threat of it
• Difference feminism


  Argues that we cannot generalise about women's experiences, as lesbian and heterosexual women, white and black women, middle-class and working-class women have very different experiences of the family
• Personal life perspective on families

  Argues that we must focus on the meanings people give to their relationships and situations, rather than on the family's supposed 'functions'
• Personal life perspective


  • Takes a wider view of relationships than just traditional 'family' relationships based on blood or marriage ties, including relationships with friends, 'fictive kin', gay and lesbian 'chosen families', and relationships with pets
• Economic Base


  The base comprises the forces and relations of production into which people enter to produce the necessities and amenities of life
• Superstructure


  Its culture, institutions, political power structures, roles, rituals, and state
• Cushioning effect


  The family provides a haven from the harsh oppression and exploitation of the capitalist world
• Ideological state apparatus


  The social institutions such as education, the churches, family, media, trade unions, and law, which were formally outside state control but which served to transmit the values of the state
• Socialisation


  The process of inheriting the norms, customs, and ideologies of a society
• Inheritance


  The passing on of property, titles, debts, and obligations upon the death of an individual
• Cushioning Effect


  The family acts as a comfort from the stresses and strains of society
• Marxist view of the family

  • The family is a tool of capitalism and its main function is to maintain capitalism and reinforce social inequalities
• Isolated nuclear family


  Men are able to confirm when a child is theirs and can ensure that wealth stays within the family through private inheritance, helping to maintain capitalism