The Effects of Industrialisation on the Nuclear Family

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The effects of industrialisation Talcott Parsons argued that the economic systems of pre-industrial societies were largely based on extended kinship networks. It was not uncommon to live with and work alongside cousins. Extended family was responsible for the production of food, shelter and clothing, and would trade with other family groups for those things they couldn’t produce themselves. Roles within the family were ascribed rather than achievement. Few family members would reject the roles, because duty and obligation to the family and community were key values of pre-industrial society. Parsons argued that the industrial revolution brought about four fundamental changes to the family: * Industrialisation meant that the economy demanded a more geographically mobile workforce. Parsons argued that nuclear families were formed as people moved away from their extended kin in order to take advantage of the job opportunities brought by industrialization in the towns. * Geographically mobility led to people becoming ‘isolated’ from their relatives and less reliant on kin for economic and social supports. Parsons claimed that nuclear family members became more dependent and focused on each other. * Specialised agencies developed which gradually took over many functions of the family. Parsons referred to this economic process as ‘structural differentiation’. After the industrial revolution, mass production of clothing and food meant that the home and workplace become separated as people become wage earners in the factory system. Parsons claimed that structural difference resulted in the family becoming more stream-lined and effective in contributing to the economy. * Parsons claimed that the nuclear unit provided clear social roles for the male and female. The male as the ‘instrumental leader’, responsible for the economic welfare of the family and the
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