Asses The Views Of The Nuclear Family

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Access the views that the nuclear family functions to benefit all the members and society as a whole There are a great variety of views on the nuclear family to how and if it benefits all the members as well as how it helps society. Functionalist have a really positive view of the family as they believe we live in a utopian society where everything is perfect with in, whereas groups such as Marxists and feminists see the nuclear family as a negative structure which is uneven in how it benefits people with in it and society. Functionalists believe that the nuclear family is a positive institution that is beneficial to society - they look at the functions that the nuclear family performs for the good of society as a whole. These functions include:Reproduction - the family has children which means the human race keeps going; Primary socialisation - the family teaches children norms (acceptable behaviour) and values (right and wrong) ;Economic support – The family gives financial support, it feeds and provides shelter for it’s membersStabilisation of adult personalities- parsons argued that the second role of the family is to relieve the stresses of modern day life it is referred to as the “warm bath” theory Social status- is taught to a child as to where in society they stand it is affected by gender, age , ethnicity, social class, birth order and religion Functionalists believe that the nuclear family benefits all of its members from these functions but it is criticised as being ignorant of the fact that society is not perfect as they would believe for there is crime and not everything is perfect in family’s. Feminists believe the family is bad for women. Girls and boys learn their different gender roles within the family through socialisation. Girls copy their mothers, doing housework, whilst boys copy their fathers, doing DIY. They then learn that this is how
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