Family and Households AQA

• Role of family in society according to functionalists?

  family is an important sub system and a basic building block for society
• Murdocks 4 functions of family

  1. Stable satisfaction of sex drive w same partner, preventing social disruption
  2. reproduction of next generation, w/out which society could not continue.
  3. socialisation of young into society's shared norms n values
  4. meeting member's economic needs such as food n shelter
• Criticisms of Murdock's view of family


  says nuclear family is universal in performing those 4 function and tts found in all human societies without exception.

  marxists n feminists criticise his rose tinted view, fem - see family as serving needs of men and oppressing women, marxists - meets the needs of capitalism not those of family members or society as a whole.
• Parsons functional fit theory

  apart from Murdock's functions, family meets other needs too such as religious functions. the functions that family performs depends on what kind of society it is found in. nuclear family fits needs of industrial society, extended family fits needs of pre industrial society. nuclear family easier to move in a workforce, better equipped to meet needs of industrial society.
• structural differentiation parsons


  some functions of family identified by murdock have been fulfilled by other institutions, eg economic function taken on by welfare state and NHS.
• stabilisation of adult personalities parsons

  family is a place where adults can relax and release tensions enabling them to return to workplace refreshed and ready to meet its demands, functional for efficiency of economy.
• criticisms of parsons


  Young willmott - pre industrial family was nuclear, not extended. laslett's 1972 study found that fams were almost always nuclear

  They also argue that industrialisation brought about mum-centred wc family instead of nuclear, mothers n married daughters relied on eachother for support.
• role of family in society according to marxists

  family helps to maintain class inequality and capitalism, functions of family benefits capitalist system.
• inheritance of property engels


  isolated nuclear family means that a man is able to confirm if a child is theirs, to ensure that their legitimate heirs inherited from them. helps to maintain capitalism by keeping wealth within the private family rather than distributing it amongst community.
• Function of family according to Althusser

  Marxists agree with Functionalists that the family is a key part of the socialisation process. However Marxists believe that the family socialises the next generation into the ruling class ideology and the unequal social hierarchy. This maintains capitalism by ensuring the next generation accepts the ruling ideology as normal
• Unit of consumption zaretsky


  Families play a vital role in the generation of profits for the bourgeoisie. Firstly the workers are paid less than the amount charged for the products they create. The family is then targeted by advertisers to buy the products they have created by urging families to ‘keep up with the Jones’ and targeting children to use “Pester Power” to ensure that they have latest things to prevent bullying.
• cushioning effect zaretsky


  The cushioning effect is similar to Parson’s Warm Bath theory in that the family acts as a comfort from the stresses and strains of society. However Zaretsky believes that the family allows a man to feel in control and powerful which they don’t feel in the workplace due to bourgeoisie oppression. This also maintains capitalism as it prevents the proletariat from recognising their oppression and starting a revolution.
• criticisms of marxist approach

  • assume that nuclear family is dominant in society
  • feminists - marxists place too much emphasis on class and capitalism and undermines gender inequality within family.
  • functionalists - marxists ignores the positive benefits that family provides for its members.
• role of families in society according to feminists.

  it oppressed women
• Liberal Feminists view of modern family


  concerned with campaigning against sex discrimination, equal rights etc. believe that there has been gradual progress in gender equality such as sex discrimination act 1975, take a similar approach to march of progress view.
• radical feminists view of family

  all societies are on basis of patriarchy. men are enemy and source of women's exploitation. men benefit from womens unpaid domestic labour and sexual services. argue for political lesbianism. Germaine Greer 2002 advocated for matrifocal families,
• Marxist Feminist view of families.

  main cause of women oppression in family is not men but capitalism.

  women reproduce labour force through unpaid domestic labour and socialising next generation of workers,

  women absorb anger from their husbands - Ansley 1972 'women are takers of shit,' explains DV AGAINST WOMEN.

  women reserve army of cheap labour that can be taken on when extra workers are needed.
• difference feminists view on modern family

  argue that we cannot generalise on women's experiences, lesbian heterosexual white blk women mc wc all have diff experiences of family from one another. EG- white feminists neglect blk women's experiences of racial oppression. blk fems see blk fam positively as a source of support against racism.
• criticisms of liberal feminism

  marxists n radical feminists - lib fems fail to challenge underlying causes of women's oppression and for believing that only changes in law will cause gender equality. far reaching changes to deep rooted social structures are needed instad.
• eval of marxist feminist views on family

  women no longer reserve labour force as they have equal rights at work and are as likely as men to be main breadwinner of family.
• eval of radical feminist view on family

  lib fems such as Sommerville 2000 say that rad fems fail to recognise that women's position has improved incredibly, better access to divorce, job opportunites, control over fertility etc. also heterosexual attraction makes separatism impossible.
• eval of difference feminists

  other feminists argue that difference feminism neglects the fact that all women share many of the same experiences, eg they all face a risk of domestic violence and sexual assault.
• PLP definition of family Smart and Nordqvist 


  focusing on the meanings behind relationships PLP suggests that we choose families that we want and need, based on past experiences rather than open choice. defines family beyond the ties of blood and marriage. eg mothers noting that their definition of being a mother is how they raise their child.
• what does PLP mean by other significant relationships that can hold meaning of family?

  friendships - feelings of closelessness like a sibling

  fictive kin- close friends who are treated as relatives,

  gay n lesbian chosen families - made up supportive network who r not related by blood or marriage

  relations w/dead relatives - live on peoples memories and shape their identities

  relations w pets - Tipper 2011 found that childrens view pets as part of their family.
• findings of study completed by smart and nordqvist looking at donor concieved children

  Erin - mum of egg donor conceived defined being a mum in terms of the effort of raising her child 'thats what makes a mother and not the cell that starts off'

  problems for lesbian couples - concerns about genetic equality between genetic and non genetic mothers. donor might be treated as 2nd parent.
• criticisms of PLP persepective

  takes of a broad view, ignore what is special about relations based on blood or marriage
• Giddens needs based family, confluent love, pure relationships


  bc of choice and equality, couples free to define their relations themselves eg nowadays couples dont marry to have children, and divorce is readily accesible, so they dont need to do till death do us apart.

  confluent love - individuals want to create relations based on love and respect

  pure relationships - relations not bound by societal norms couples choose to stay based on attraction etc.
• beck negotiated family


  dont conform to traditional family norms, but decide what is best for themselves through negotiation. enter relationship on equal basis. eg in past people use to enter relationships to provide a function eg men breadwinner women take care of people
• Stacey's view of family

  greater freedom and choice has benefitted women enabling themselves to be free from patriarchal oppression and shape family arrangements of what works for them. history interviews in silicon valley and found that women have led the change in family structures rather than men. divorce extended family - ex in law, ex partner and partner who all help eachother.
• EVAL OF POST MODERN CRITCISMS OF FAMILY

  PLP– EXAG how much choice people have about family. argue that the although traditional social structures have weakened they do still exists and will influence peoples choices. ppl not completely disembedded, media n personal exp

  Vanessa May: “Beck Giddens view of the individual is simply an idealised version of white middle class man.”

  Carol Smart: Connectedness Thesis – People are social beings who live in a web of connectedness, networks of relationships and personal histories which strongly influence and shape our range of options and choices.
• cultural diversity in family - rapoport and rapoport

  different cultural religious n ethnic grps hav diff family structures eg higher proportion of female headed lone parent families among african carribean households, asian families - extended families.
• Life course analysis hareven

  Hareven 1978 – Family structures and organisation change as we go through our lives matching the time of life we are at and our needs at that time.
• rapoport and rapoport organisational diversity


  this refers to how the family is structured in terms of its members and power structures. For example who has the most power. For example lone parent, empty-nest or nuclear.
• generational diversity


  older n younger gens have diff attitudes and experiences that reflect historical periods in which they've lived eg diff views on morality of divorce and cohabitation.
• social class diversity


  differences in family structure are partly result of income differences between households or diff social classes. likewise there are class differences in child rearing practices.
• How have changes in the law led to more family diversity?

  Laws such as the Divorce Reform Act, legalisation of contraception and civil partnership act have increased family diversity.
• What changes have there been in social attitudes that have led to greater family diversity?

  Society has moved forward and family structures such as lone parent, same sex and say at home fathers are much more acceptable now.
• Changing Role of Women affecting family diversity

  The rise in feminism and growing equality has given women more freedom and independence from men which has changed the structure and roles within the family- leading to more symmetrical families.
• secularisation impact on family types

  The decline in the power of the church has lessened it influence on the family. Changes in church teachings have also had an impact, e.g. use f contraception and same sex relationships.
• globalisation and immigration impact on family types

  As technology has advanced we have seen the rise of the dispersed extended family – a family which is close emotionally but not geographically. Immigration has also seen new types of family arise in the UK