Examine The View That The Family Is Losing Its Fun

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Family sociologically defined is: ‘a social unit consisting of people who support each other in several ways’ - those several ways being functions of the family. This essay will demonstrate a breadth of understanding in the functions of the family and will question whether the family is or is not losing its functions to other institutions in society such as the media and religion. Some sociologists such as functionalists would argue that the family is not losing its functions as it plays a part in ‘the organic analogy’ alongside the other institutions and plays a key part in society. Whereas other sociologists argue that the family is losing its functions to other institutions in society. Functionalists believe that the family teaches particularistic norms, which are specific household rules (e.g. praying at a certain time) and a part of primary socialisation. This is definitely a function preformed by the family but may not be a universal function as some families may not have household rules. Despite this, functionalists also believe that there are univolistic roles which apply to everyone and are not performed by the family but are performed by other institutions like politics and the media. This could be argued as a loss of a function of the family to other institutions of the family. Talcott Parsons (Functionalist) believes that every family in every society has two ‘basic and irreducible’ functions. The two functions being primary socialisation (The process by which young children learn the cultural norms of the society into which they are born.) and the stabilisation of the adult’s personality (‘warm bath theory’ – family can relax family members and helps them escape stresses and strains from the outside world). Parsons and functionalists would argue that these functions can only be performed by the family because the only experience of the outside world
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