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Summary AQA A-Level Sociology - Theories of the Family
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Summarised theories of the family for paper 2. (Can be used against the AQA textbook) - Functionalism, Marxism, PLP, Feminism
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THEORIES OF THE FAMILY(Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism, and the Personal Life Perspective.)
Functionalism and the Family:
- Family as a ‘building block’ of society.
- Murdock’s 4 essential functions:
1) Stable satisfaction of sex drive
2) Reproduction of the next generation
3) Socialisation of the young
4) Meeting economic needs.
How would Marxists and Feminists criticise this?
- Parson’s FUNCTIONAL FIT THEORY – the type of family form will adapt to
fit society’s needs.
- What kind of family did Industrialisation need? Geographically and socially
mobile workforce.
- Parsons and loss of family functions (post-industrialisation) – families only
need to fulfil the specialised functions of primary socialisation and the
stabilisation of adult personalities.
Marxism and the Family:
- Marxists see all society’s institutions as serving the needs of Capitalism and
the Bourgeoisie – the family is no different.
- Marxists see the family functions as follows:
- 1) Inheritance of property and maintaining private wealth.
- 2) Ideological functions – Transmitting the ideas and beliefs of the
Bourgeoisie to ensure false class consciousness remains, socialising children
into accepting the norms and values of the ruling class and providing the
illusion of a ‘safe haven’ (Zaretsky).
- 3) A unit of consumption – The alienated Proletariat produce goods for the
Bourgeoisie, and then buy them back to make their oppressors a profit.
Feminism and the Family:
- The family is a tool of male oppression and patriarchy – evidenced by
conjugal roles (dual burden, triple shift), domestic violence etc.
- Different types of feminists see the family in different ways:
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