The father would go out to be the “breadwinner” whilst the mother would stay at home to support the family emotionally and domestically such as cooking food and the safeguarding of children. This is explained by the warm bath theory with the mother being the “bath” or “backbone” of the family whilst she provides the father and children with the support. Famous sociologist George Peter Murdock has his own view of the family within functionalism. His definition of the family was a group of people characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship and one or more children, own or adopted, of the socially cohabiting adults.
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.
One view of the family could be taken from Functionalism. Functionalists believe that the Nuclear family is the perfect family structure. They believe the family is similar to the human body - The Organic Analogy. This means the family works in harmony with all the other agents of socialisation just as the organs work together harmoniously within the human body body. If on organ ceases to function correctly the body would shut down, similarly if one agent of socialisation was to stop functioning society would break down in terms of socialisation.
Today marriage is thought to be of necessity for the individuals composing the marriage. It Takes A Family: Conservatism and The Common Good, by Rick Santorum is a very informative article, touching on the essential points of maintaining a healthy familial relationship throughout all components of the family. These points include his perspective on, the effect a divorce or marriage separation can have on the rest of the family, specifically the children; and the meaning of family concerning marriage commitments and what marriage entails. Santorum provides
You need to know that children are a 24/7 job. Not a whenever you feel like it I’ll do it thing. They need to know the comfort and safety that someone is always going to be there for them no matter what. 3. I want to be like my parents in how they raised me in having a nice clean home, being consistent with our routines, and always having food in my belly.
Murdock suggested that the family must create a stable satisfaction of the sex drive, Reproduction of the next generation, socialisation of the young and meeting the families’ economic needs. Talcott and Parsons later suggested that Murdock’s suggested roles of society had changed with industrialisation as the workforce had to be socially and geographically mobile for the industries and this is easier with nuclear families rather than extended families. He also argued that the family had lost two of its roles as industrialisation brought along specialised social institutions such as education and hospitals leaving the need for only the socialisation of young and the satisfaction of the sex drive. Within the nuclear families the mother and farther were appointed roles as males have instrumental characteristics making them more fit for work and females have expressive characteristics making them more fit for child care. This may be criticised as the functions may vary
“Marriage is the fundamental, cross-cultural institution for bridging the male-female divide so that children have loving, committed mothers and fathers.” She explains that this is absolutely necessary for a child to be happy, and grow up in a normal environment. It is the union of man and woman that creates social harmony and economic stability in a rocky society. “Marriage is our attempt to reconcile and harmonize the erotic, social, sexual, and financial needs of men and women with the needs of their partner and their children.” It is extremely important to keep the tradition of our idea of marriage for the children, because a household with one parent, two dads or two moms, is not what children deserve. It is the responsibility
Literature Review Many juvenile delinquents are products of the single- parent families. “The family may be seen as the cornerstone of society” (as cited by Ronald Regan), and the way the family functions will be reflected in society. Functionalist, George peter Murdock defined the family as “a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom have a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more own or adopted children” (Mustapha, 2009). Murdock and Parsons believed that the nuclear family was the most appropriate family structure as it provided the four basic functions which were ‘companionship and sexual gratification,’ in which the family develop intimate relationships and control sex drives, ‘reproductive functions,’ to ensure the continuation of life and ‘socialization,’ which is where the child learns the norms and values of society at an early age.
Functionalist contribution to our understanding of the family Within sociology there are many different views on family whether it is a positive or negative part of society which includes functionalism, New Right, Critical views, Feminism and Marxism. They have a different functionalist contribution to our understanding of the family. Functionalist view the family as an institution which improves society by obtaining equilibrium, social order and stability while at the same time meeting the needs of all the member in society. They see the nuclear as positive fort society. For example, Murdock saw the family as reproducing the next generation and socializing them into the shared culture.
Functionalism vs. Marxism The Functionalist theory believes in a family that is perfect for the industrial society in which we live. The family type more often described by modern functionalists is that of a nuclear variety, idealised as white, middle class, male & female, having children and holding typical western values. Functionalists believe that the family has vital functions to carry out; one of the main functions is passing on of traditional values, another main function would be the socialisation of children and, carrying on, the stabilisation of the adult personality. The Functionalist theory relies heavily on the nuclear family, It is of common belief amongst functionalists that the nuclear family with two parents and dependent children living together in a home is a necessity for the industrial society to thrive. Murdock, a functionalist, states that the family has four functions: sexual, economic, reproductive and educational, He argued that the family needs these four factors and he argues that they are the family's purposes.