They argue about the Dark Side of the Family, this includes domestic abuse, something functionalists tend to ignore. The idea that the family is a secretive place an not much information about your own family is shared to others so such things world not be found out by others. Marxists also have a view on the family. They believe the family is a
Murdock suggested that by living in a family which consisted of a mother, father and their biological child/ children, society would be enhanced ass teaching and learning the norms and morals of society would be best with a world which consisted of nuclear families. Since Murdock was a functionalist, he belied that the essential building block of society were the functionality of the economy, reproduction, sex and socialisation. George Murdock along with other functions had a consensus view that nuclear families accommodates the four key functions because it would stabilise satisfaction of the sex drive which would lower social disruption that could be caused by sexual tension. Another key factor was socialisation, specifically primary socialisation, which Murdock believed would be best in a nuclear family as primary socialisation is during the childhood of children, where they learn the norms and values of life, nuclear families were seen as the best setting for this. The functionalist view is extremely positive on its views for family’s and households due to their belief on the importance and influence nuclear families have on society.
Assess the usefulness of the functionalist perspective for an understanding of the family in contemporary society. (24 marks) To assess the usefulness of the functionalists perspectives for an understanding of the family in contemporary (everyday/today) society, I will need to compare functionalists views of the family covering topics such as sexual, economic, reproductive, educational and stabilisation of adult personalities with other theories. Functionalism is a positive theory and believe that the family is the most important institution in society. However, functionalism is a theory that neglect the negative side of the family such as conflict between husband and wife and child abuse and the effect it may have on society. The Functionalist view of sexual issues in society are that every society needs rules about sex.
He believes in reproduction, therefore having children at the right time, as without reproduction the society would cease to exist. He also has an economic point,where the family is seen as a unit,therefore they should all provide for each other. The final point is on education, he believes that the family is responsible for primary socialisation, as without socialisations there is no culture. Parsons on the other hand has two key points, the stabilisation of adult personalities- emotional support,fun element, distress etc, and the other key point is the same as Murdock’s, which is primary socialisation (education). The difference between primary socialisation and secondary socialisation is your surroundings.
They disregard the feminists demand for equality in conjugal roles as they believe that a division of labour where woman focus upon the home is instinctive, natural and functional. Marxists feminists, however, agree that the trad nuclear family should be dismantled as it is the corner stone of capitalism which they believe to be problematic. Firstly they see the family
Conservatives is political and social philosophy and support traditional social institution. For example, Republicans strongly trust the existing American court system and interpretation of laws from judges. Plus, they emphasize the importance of the primary and secondary educational system. In other words, the more education you have, then the more money you will be making. In National Defense, conservatives and Republicans hold the same view that the U.S. must maintain a strong military.
These include; stable satisfaction of the sex drive, reproduction of the next generation, socialisation of the young and meeting its members economic needs. Murdoch argues that the nuclear family because of its sheer practicality is a way of meeting the four needs of society and that this can be found universally. However, some sociologists would argue that these four needs can be met in other ways than the nuclear family, for example by other institutions or different family types. Marxists and Feminists have criticised Murcdoch’s view. Marxists and Feminists say that functionalism rejects conflict and exploitation.
Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of families and households Due to functionalism’s very positive outlook on family life; functionalism can be seen as only ever looking at the harmony of family life and therefore ignoring the possible conflicts and any negative sides of family life. Functionalists argue that families perform vital functions for society and without the stability they claim society would eventually fall apart; functionalists produce a list of the functions performed by family life such as socialisation, identity and reproduction, they claim that without the structure of family this all wouldn’t be able to occur. Functionalists also describe how the family is perpetually changing its structure and functions as society has changed in order to keep up with the new needs of society as they arise. Murdock argues that because families perform such functions as; socialisation, identity, reproduction, it then goes to makes the family a universal institution. As in performing these functions the family links up with other institutions, providing future pupils for education, workers for the economy, and so on.
Macionis and Plummer (1997) highlighted the ability of new fertility treatments to allow family structures that were previously available, such as IVF. New Right theorists believe that family diversity is the result of a decline in traditional values. They see it as a threat to the traditional nuclear family and blame it for antisocial behaviour and crime. Murray (1989) suggests that single mother families are a principle cause of crime and social decay, because of their lack of a male role model and authority figure in the home. The New Right believe that state benefits should be cut and social policy targeted to discourage family diversity and promote marriage and the nuclear family.
Assess the contribution of functionalist views to the understanding of the family Functionalism is a structural consensus theory. They believe society is held together by social consensus, or cohesion, in which members of society agree upon and work together to achieve what is best for society as a whole. Secondly, they view each aspect of society is independent and contributes to society’s functioning as a whole, similar to the functioning of a human body. Their view is primarily positive and believes that if everyone abides by their roles and expectations then society will continue effectively. Overall, I think the Functionalist view is too positive as it fails to explain the social conflicts that characterise the modern world.