Family Paper 2

• Functionalist theorists?


  - Murdock

  - Parsons

  - Fletcher
• What does Murdock say?

  - 4 essential functions:

  > Reproduction

  > Economic

  > Sexual regulation

  > Socialisation

  - Nuclear family is universal, thus vital
• Evaluation of Murdock:

  - The Nayar = pre-19th century there was no nuclear family, and. woman could have up to 12 sexual partners, so the mother's brother was responsible for a child's upbringing

  - Largely ignores conflict and exploitation

  - Feminists = family meets the needs of men

  - Marxists = functions meet needs of capitalists
• What does Parsons say about the type of family found?

  - Depends on the society it is found within

  - Nuclear family emerged in industrial society

  - Allows for geographical and social mobility
• Functions of family according to Parsons?

  1. Primary socialisation of children

  2. Stabilisation of adult personalities - women have expressive role, and must relax the father, who has an instrumental role, to enable him to continue working and destress
• Evaluation of Parsons:

  - Ansley sees the warm bath theory as benefiting men, as she argues women are "takers of shit"

  - Outdated theory, as women now work and there is family diversity
• What does Fletcher say?

  - Family is gaining functions

  - Old functions include health (parents first point of diagnosis) and education (parents involved)

  - New function includes maintaining satisfying relationships (responsibility for emotional needs and release stress from relationships)
• New Right key thinkers?

  - Dennis and Erdos

  - Murray and Marsland
• What do Dennis and Erdos say?

  - An increase in single parent families based on led to a decline in the role of fathers

  - Children from SPFs have poorer life chances, and boys become irresponsible, undisciplined and lost
• What do Murray and Marsland say?

  - The growth of SPFs is dysfunctional

  - SPFs are a result of an over-generous welfare state, that has created a dependency culture and an underclass

  - Benefits rewards irresponsible behaviours, like having children when one cannot provide
• Evaluation of the New Right

  - 'Fatherless families' does not mean the child is without a male role model

  - Fathers may not always be beneficial
• What do Dobash and Dobash say about the family?

  - Marriage legitimates violence against women
• Marxist theorists?


  - Engels

  - Zaretsky

  - Althusser
• What does Engels say?

  - The monogamous nuclear family developed to pass on private property

  - Nuclear family provides proof of paternity

  - Women's position is not too dissimilar from the position of a prostitute
• Evaluation of Engels:

  - Monogamous family also benefits women

  - Only 25% of families today are nuclear

  - Ignores other reasons for marriage
• What does Zaretsky say?

  - The family prepares children for a working life

  - The family offers the illusion of a 'safe haven' from the alienation and exploitation of work; however, this is an ideological illusion that is dependent on the domestic exploitation of women and the unpaid domestic labour of housewives

  - The family is a unit of consumption: 'pester power', 'keep up with the Jones
• Evaluation of Zaretsky

  - Children resist parental authority and not all families are materialistic

  - Theory depends on the existence of the nuclear family
• What does Althusser say?

  - The family is an ideological state apparatus which is concerned with social control and transmitting the dominant ideology

  - For capitalism to survive, the working class must submit to the ruling class

  - Through socialisation, the ruling class tries to maintain false class consciousness by brainwashing them into accepting capitalism as fair
• Evaluation of Althusser

  - Althusser fails to consider the positive aspects of primary socialisation

  - Donzelot argues that the family is a repressive state apparatus
• Feminists?

  - Oakley

  - Ansley

  - Greer
• What do liberal feminists/ Oakley say?

  - Gender inequalities are caused by differences in gender socialisation, as what is meant by a 'woman' and 'man' is instilled at a young age, which is oppressive

  - The solution is legal reform, e.g. sex discrimination act, equal pay act
• - What do marxist feminists/Ansley say?

  - Gender inequalities are caused by capitalism

  - Women maintain current workers, and are "takers of shit"

  - Women reproduce the next generation of workers

  - Women are a reserve labour force
• What do radical feminists/Greer say?

  - Gender inequalities are caused by a patriarchal society

  - Marriage benefits men and oppresses women, making them unhappier

  - The solution is separation and matrifocal families
• Postmodernists?


  - Stacey

  - Weeks

  - Chester

  - The Rapopoports
• What does Stacey say?

  - Increasing diversity and choice leads to family diversity, as there is no need to follow traditions and you can Pic 'n' Mix your family

  - Links to Lyotard; there is no objective truth due to so many options, 'subjective' truth to what the best family type is, so allows one the choice to choose what is best for them

  - Found evidence of a new Pic 'n' Mixed family type - divorce extended family
• Evaluation of Stacey

  - The argue this is the reason for increased crime

  - Chester argues that individuals are likely to end up in traditional nuclear families
• What does Weeks say?

  - With more choice and diversity comes chaos and uncertainty

  - Found under 35s had a larger acceptance of people choosing what family type they want, but most people would follow the traditional route, as it provided certainty

  - Even though attitudes have changed, there is little diversity
• Evaluation of Weeks

  - The Rapoports argue that the difference in attitudes between generations leads to generational diversity

  - Marxists argue that individuals are simply providing the next generation of workers
• Late Modernists?


  - Giddens

  - Beck
• What does Giddens say?

  - The structure of society has weakened, giving rise to individualism

  - People may leave partners if they are unhappy, as people are more focused on confluent love, rather than romantic love

  - People are searching for a pure relationship, which is whether a partner meets all of your needs

  - Not completely free to leave a relationship, as you engage in an endless cycle of trying to find the one
• Evaluation of Giddens

  - From an interactionalist perspective, women do not have as much choice as there is made out to be
• What does Beck say?

  - Beck beloved that we have entered a risk society as we must be aware of our choices and the potential risks, so we are risk conscious

  - This means we have a negotiated family where we can choose to cut off certain people, which increases family diversity
• Evaluation of Beck

  - Chester argues that inevitably, tradition prevails
• Interactionalists?

  - Smart
• What does Smart say?

  - She criticized structural theories for assuming individuals have no choice over what counts as family

  - There are many important relationships beyond blood and marriage, like friends, fictive kin, dead relatives and pets

  - While we may be free to choose, our choices are influenced by our past relationships
• Evaluation of Smart

  - Tipper found that in younger couples, they replace the need for a child with a pet

  - Giddens agrees that although there is choice, we are not completely free to leave a relationship behind
• Domestic Division of Labour theorists?


  - Wilmott and Young

  - Oakley

  - Duncombe and Marsden

  - Pahl and Vogler

  - Edgell
• What do Wilmott and Young say?

  - They argue that the family has become symmetrical

  - Women are now involved in the instrumental role and men are involved in the expressive role

  - They carried out interviews with about 1000 families

  - They found that far more couples

  had joint conjugal roles. For example, 72% of men helped around the house.

  - Willmott and Young argue that there has been an emergence of

  a new man
• Evaluation of Wilmott and Young

  Oakley - study is invalid as what they claimed as help could be as little as ironing one shirt a week.
• What does Oakley say?

  - She argues there is little

  evidence of symmetry in the family today, and women suffer a dual

  burden, of going out to do paid work and doing the housework too.

  - Oakley interviewed 40 women, and wanted to find out how many husbands helped out to a 'high

  level'.

  - 15% of husbands had a high level of

  participation in housework, 25% of

  husbands had a high level of participation in

  childcare.