The family for example contributes a lot toward society as it is the main route of reproducing the population and teaching them the important lesson of socialization as they grow. Functionalists believe that the family introduces traditional culture to the new members of society and creates well joined members of society. The family is seen to provide important statuses that will be well known in society and recognised statuses such as lower class and higher class along with defined background history to new members. The family is seen to be responsible for replacing and reproducing new family members when the older generation pass away. Furthermore functionalists believe that families offer material and emotional security and provide care and support.
Firstly, a stable satisfaction of the sex drive with the same partner (husband/wife). This prevents social disruption caused by a sexual ‘free for all’ and over-sexualisation of society. Secondly, reproduction of the next generation. This ensures society can continue. Thirdly, socialisation of the young into society’s norms and values.
It is also seen as a tool for socialisation, and a key social institution in sustaining the value consensus for the society to run smoothly (Webb et al, 2008). According to Murdock (1949), the four main functions of the family are identified as: education, which is the socialisation of the young into society shared norms and values of learning right from wrong. Parsons (1955), agreed with Murdock, but stated that the functions of the family in the society are of two folds: the primary socialisation which is the socialisation of the children to equip them with the norms and values they need to succeed in society. He goes on to argue that if children are not successfully socialised, they will not fit the value consensus and will not be able to function in the society (Harris, 2008). Murdock (1949) added that the family exists to provide economic function and that parents have the responsibility to take care of their family financially, usually through harmonious division of labour where the man takes on the instrumental role, and provide for the family, and the woman adopts the
Murdock suggested that the family must create a stable satisfaction of the sex drive, with the same partner to prevent a sexual free-for-all. This would benefit the individual as life could be easier for them. For example it would help the mother or father to raise one or two children instead of four or five. This would benefit society as less resources would be used. For example as the population increases the amount of resources used decreases, so less children would mean the less use of electricity or heating, helping society by using little resources.
Reproduction is an organized which means for producing new members of the family and society needs it to survive. This play a major role in life with out it we will just have the four elements of life which is: water, air, earth, and fire. Reproduction is for society to be full with life. Its also is for getting a family together and adding more to the populations of life. There are similarities of reproduction in human as well as with animal species.
This essay is going to discuss what is meant by the term social context and how society today and its services benefit families in this term. It will identify relevant skills, principles approaches to the assessment process, explore the stages of this process and how these key services and findings from the article will help benefit the family in a social context. It will explore the findings of Morawska et al 2011 on his research on parenting programmes and culturally diverse families and if the findings from his research were valid. The term social context refers to the social and physical setting in which people live in or where something develops. This can include the culture in which an individual lived or was educated in as well as people or organisations they interact with.
George Peter Murdock found that nuclear families are universal. He also believed in 4 function of the family. These included of the nuclear family supplying a sexual function, as being a couple stabilises satisfaction of the sex drive with a constant partner and prevents social disruption, too supplies a reproductive function as being a family ensures new members of society to keep society going and an educational function as parents socialise their young into the norms and values of society. Also, he believes that the family have an economic function as they meet the economic needs of food and shelter. However, Murdock’s view of the nuclear family eliminate any other family structures, which too are able to supply these functions, and also neglects the conflict and exploitation of family.
To achieve this, this paper will focus on four factors, which are, (1) parenting style/child rearing pattern (2) parents’ career, work values and work related attitudes and behaviour (3) parent’s education and socio-economic status and (4) gender stereotyping and the gender of parent and child. The following definitions will be used throughout the literature review and as a result, they have been singled out and defined for greater clarity. Definition of Terms 1. Impact strong effect or impression (Collins’ dictionary) 2. Familial of a family or its members; something that has a tendency to occur in a
Different groups of sociologists have devoted time in studying and analysing the family, however different types of sociologists share different views over the functions performed for individuals and society. Functionalist see society as an interrelated whole. To functionalists every institution in society performs one or more important functions or jobs and the sociologist has to determine what these functions are. Many functionalists look at the good things in family life, the two functionalists I am focusing on are Murdock and parsons, both of these share similar views on the family. 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.
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