Functionalists see the family as an important sub-system. George Peter Murdock (1949) says that the family is universal, always has been and always will be. Murdock argues that the family has four functions that are needed in order to meet the needs of society and its members. Firstly, he believes that there is a function within the family that is called, Stable satisfaction of the sex drive – this is with the same partner and is the prevention of social disruption which is ultimately caused by a sexual ‘free-for-all’. Secondly, Reproduction of the next generation – without this essential function, society would seize to exist.
Different groups have different views on how beneficial the family is to society. Functionalists, who traditionally dominated the sociology of the family, feel that the family is necessary for the running and continuation of an integrated society. It is assumed by functionalists that if there is the existence of a social institution, then it must have a purpose or a function. Functionalists therefore see the family as beneficial for society. To functionalists, society is an 'organism' that contains different segments which come together to keep society running smoothly.
Role of education Darcy Fletcher Functionalists believe education performs two contradictory functions , on one hand they believe that educations prepares children for their specialised role acquired to their skills and potential. So they can perform at the best they can at their role after education. On the contrary they believe society needs to share the same goals and outlook in order to co-operate. Functionalism is based on the view that society is a system of interdependant parts which is held together by value consensus. Durkheim argued that society has to feel a sense of social solidarity , he believes that without this form of social cohesion , society would be impossible because each person would pursue their own ‘ selfish’ desires.
Murdock believed that the nuclear family was a universal institution that was vital to the well being of all societies and stated that the family's primary purpose is for sexual, reproductive, economic, and educational. Many people say murdocks analyse suffers from a failure to consider how other instructions can or could take over the functions of the family for example welfare state providing shelter. Parsons said even though the family had lost some functions it retained two basic and irreducible functions, they were primary socialization and stabilisation of adult personalities, parsons argues that society cannot exist without shared values norms and roles which are passed on from generation to generation and claims family's are needed for this purpose. The functionalists view of the family has been heavily criticised for being outdated and for presenting an overly optimistic view of the family. Many people criticise functionalists because they ignore the fact that not all families are perfect, another weakness of functionalists is that not all families can carry out all four of the functions for example gay families can't carry out the reproductive function.
Extended families would naturally fit into his definition of the nuclear family as it is an extension, and in no way does it change the overall concept. The idea that the nuclear family is universal is said to be because the family serves four essential functions. These include sexual, reproductive, economic and education. Therefore, he believes the family includes a sexual relationship, provides the next generation of society, acts as an economic unit and socialises children into the culture of their society. To sum up, Murdock feels strongly that the family is certainly universal as neither the individual or the society could survive without it.
Murdock saw the family, the nuclear family in particular, an absolute need for society and he considered the four basic functions of the family to be the sexual, the reproductive, the socialisation and the economic. He carried out a study all over the world and said that the family is a universal thing and these are universal functions that everyone else follows too. Without the family, we wouldn't have food and shelter otherwise life itself would cease. Parsons believes that without the family we would have primary socialisation and stabilisation of the adult personality, furthermore, without culture and the shared values passed on from generations to generations- society wouldn’t exist
Functionalists believe society is based on a set of shared norms and values. Norms and values are formed, using the nuclear family, to socialise future members of society, in order to meet the needs and shared goals of society. This essay will be exploring functionalist theories of the nuclear family and focusing on sociological explanations formed by Talcott Parsons and George Peter Murdock as well as looking at criticisms and other, alternative, theories from Marxists and Feminists. One functionalist theory, argued by Murdock (1949), of the nuclear family is that the family performs four essential functions to meet the needs of society and its members. Firstly, a stable satisfaction of the sex drive with the same partner (husband/wife).
Durkheim formed the ‘Structural Theory’, which is the idea that society is comprised of interrelated parts, or social institutions, each contributing to the smooth running of society. A consensus theory is defined as one that believes all parts of society perform a positive role and each part benefits the other, for example, a happy family is more likely to produce children who do well in education and therefore go onto become good workers. The main Functionalist view on familial ideology is by George Murdock (1949), who identifies the nuclear family as a ‘universal social grouping’ which consists of characteristics such as a sexual relationship between a married couple and the reproduction of children. He believed patriarchy, also known as male domination, was necessary as he believed the father should control his family by providing the income and making most of the household decisions. Parsons (1950s) added that the two main functions of the family were (i) teach their children how to socialize
Functionalists say that the family is an important institution in society that provides functions to meet some of society’s needs. Section 2b highlights the socialisation function of family. Functionalists say that the family is an important institution in society that provides functions to meet some of society’s needs. The family has the greatest impact on socialization. Infants, especially are totally dependent on others, and the responsibility to look after the young ones typically falls on parents.
Functionalists claim that society is a system with each part making-up the whole through a system of interdependence. The harmony and cooperation that is paramount to this view is maintained through value consensus. That is, for society to be successful, ordered and integrated, everyone must agree on what is important and good, achieved by teaching and promoting shared values which create a common identity (ibid). Murdock (1949) states that families perform four essential functions; regulating and stabilising sexual relationships; reproduction through procreation; economic provision and primary socialisation (ibid). Parsons (1955) argues that nuclear families in post-industrialised societies, are more ‘specialised’ and isolated, particularly as independent units of consumption, due to factors such as increased geographical mobility and the breakdown of the extended family.