Families

• Functionalist perspective


  Society is based on a value consensus - a set of shared norms and values into which society socialises its members, enabling them to cooperate harmoniously to meet society's needs and achieve shared goals
• Functionalist view of society


  • Society is a system made up of different parts that depend on each other, similar to organs performing functions vital to the well-being of the body as a whole
• Murdock's view


  The family performs four essential functions to meet the needs of society and its members: stable satisfaction of the sex drive, reproduction, socialisation, and economic (e.g. food, shelter)
• Parsons' 'functional fit'


  The functions that the family performs will depend on the kind of society in which it is found, and the family's structure will 'fit' the needs of that society
• Two kinds of family structure

  • Nuclear family
  • Extended family
• Two basic types of society

  • Modern industrial society
  • Traditional pre-industrial society
• When Britain began to industrialise

  The extended family began to give way to the nuclear family
• Two essential needs of industrial society

  • A geographically mobile workforce
  • A socially mobile workforce
• Parsons' current functions of the family

  • Primary socialisation (equipping children with basic skills and society's values)
  • Stabilisation of adult personalities (the family as a 'warm bath' where adults can relax and release tensions)
• Marxist perspective


  The family is a tool of capitalism and its main functions are to reproduce the next generation of workers, maintain the reserve labour force, enable the inheritance of wealth, provide a 'cushioning effect' from the stresses of society, and act as a unit of consumption
• Liberal feminist perspective


  Families are slowly becoming more equal through changes in law and social attitudes, though full equality has not yet been achieved
• Radical feminist perspective


  Marriage and the family are key institutions which allow patriarchy to exist, so the family needs to be abolished and a system of separatism instituted
• Marxist feminist perspective


  The family is a tool of capitalism, not of men, that oppresses women by reproducing the workforce and socialising them into the social hierarchy
• Sociology of Personal Life perspective

  Considers all types of relationships beyond just blood and marriage ties, including friendships, fictive kin, chosen families, and relationships with pets
• Postmodernist view of the family


  Traditional social structures have lost influence, allowing people greater freedom to choose the family that meets their needs and wants at a given point in their lives
• Causes of family diversity

  Changes in law, changes in social attitudes, changing role of women, secularisation, globalisation/immigration
• Rappaport's 5 types of family diversity

  Cultural diversity, life course analysis, organisational diversity, generational diversity, social class diversity
• Functionalist view of family diversity

  Parsons' functional fit theory - the family is constantly changing and adapting to meet the needs of society at the present time
• New Right view of family diversity

  Diversity is the cause of societal breakdown, the only correct family type is the patriarchal, nuclear family
• Postmodernist view of family diversity

  Diversity is increasing as a result of globalisation and individualisation, relationships are now based on confluent love
• Feminist view of family diversity

  Growing diversity is a positive move for women, allowing them to break away from traditional roles
• Chester's view of family diversity

  The neo-conventional family, with more equality and symmetry in the division of labour, is becoming more common
• Anderson's view of family diversity

  Family diversity has always been present, not just in structure but also in terms of power, roles and relationships