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 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 The functionalists view of the family has been heavily criticised for being outdated and for presenting an overly optimistic view of the family.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.
The nuclear family is ideal for both individual’s and society, discuss: (24 marks) The nuclear family is one in which the family consists of two generations; a married or cohabiting couple with immature offspring, living under the same roof. There are many different views and opinions as to whether the nuclear family is ideal for both individuals and society and there are three main perspectives, these are Marxism, functionalism and feminism. There are both arguments supporting and arguments against this statement: The nuclear family is ideal for both individuals and society. The nuclear family is ideal for an individual for many reasons. The nuclear family tends to provide a more stable household for an individual than a lone parent family would.
What is meant by the "breakdown of the family" is, then, change, which sometimes may be for the better. The family will continue to evolve under the influence of economic pressure, cultural differences, and an increasingly tolerant society. What is considered to be the nuclear family of today, by tomorrow's standards may not be considered a family at all; however, as long as it fulfills the function of bringing up children in a safe, structured, and loving environment and providing emotional support to the adult individuals that make up our society, it will be alive and
The nuclear family is also seen as the ‘ideal’. Children living with both of their parents provides them with emotional and possible economic support, and does not cause upset (such as if the parents want to get a divorce). However, despite the support for Murdock’s view, there are limitations. There is cross-cultural and contemporary evidence that disproves his view. In 1959,
Many people see the family as the normal way of life and watch television programs which revolve around family life. For many the nuclear family has always been viewed as the proper way to bring up children and to live life. However, the subject of families is much deeper than many think. But is the family beneficial to society? Different groups have different views on how beneficial the family is to society.
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.
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
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.
Within social work, working with families is central to practice and having an understanding of the nature of family is beneficial to practice. The family is regarded as the cornerstone of society, Haralambos and Holborn (2008) describes the family as the most basic unit of social organisation and one which carries out vital tasks, such as socialising children. Lone parent(s) are an ‘invented’ concept, and traditionally the ‘nuclear family’ which consists of two married heterosexual parents with two children. However anthropologist Edmund Leach (1967) describes this as the ‘cereal packet’ family consisting of a breadwinner husband