Functionalism

• Biological analogy: Compares different parts of society to the organs in a living person. They all work together to keep everything running smoothly.
• Murdock:

  • Family has four functions- stabilisation of sex drive, primary socialisation, reproduction and meeting the needs of its members.
• Parsons:

  • Family has two functions: Stabilisation of adult personalities and primary socialisation.
• Overall functionalist evaluation:

  • Ignores dark side of the family
  • Does identify key functions
  • Based on a nuclear family, ignores diversity
• Parsons evaluation:

  • Theory is outdated
  • Emotional security can be performed by friends
  • Abuse can take place
  • Too simplistic
• Murdock evaluation:

  • Outdated e.g. more married couples cheat.
  • Functions can be performed by other institutions.
  • Only looks at nuclear family
• Value consensus: Agreement among society members about which values are important, a shared culture.