Families and Household Revision Notes
Topic 1: Theories on the Family;
The Functionalist view on the Family;
Functionalists regard society as a system made up of different parts which depend
on each other. Different institutions perform different specific functions to keep society
operating, in the same way different organs of a human body perform different functions in
order to maintain the whole. In Functionalist thought, the family is a particularly
fundamental institution which performs the crucial functions of socialisation and meeting
the needs of its members. stable families underpin social order and economic stability.
Murdock: the four essential functions of the nuclear family
Studying over 200 different societies and argued that the family was universal in
them all. He concluded that there were four essential functions of the family.
1. Stable satisfaction of the sex drive within monogamous relationships.
2. The biological reproduction of the next generation without which society cannot
continue.
3. Socialisation of the young to teach basic norms and values.
4. Meeting its members economic needs, e.g. producing food and shelter.
A03: Criticisms of Murdock
- Feminist sociologists argue that arguing that the family is essential is ideological
because traditional family structures are patriarchal and disadvantage women.
- It is feasible that other institutions could perform the above functions.
- Anthropological research has shown that there are some cultures which do not
appear to have families, e.g. Nayar.
Parson’s Functional Fit Theory:
Parson’s takes a historical perspective on the evolution of the nuclear family. His
functional fit theory is that as society changes, the type of family that fits that society, and
the functions it performs change. Over the last 200 years, society has shifted from pre-
industrial to industrial, and the main family has changed from the extended family to the
nuclear family. The nuclear family fits our more complex industrial society, but it performs a
reduced set of functions.
Extended family: parents, children, grandparents, aunts and uncles living under one
roof, or in a collection of houses next to each other. Such a large family ‘fitted’ pre-industrial
society as the family was entirely responsible for the education of children, production of
food and caring for this sick.
In contrast, in industrial society the isolated nuclear family consists of only parents
and children becomes the norm. This family fits the society because it requires a mobile
workforce. The extended family was too difficult to move when families needed to move for
work. There was also no need for the extended family as more and more functions, such as
health and education, gradually came to be carried out by the state.
A03: Criticisms of Parson’s Functional Fit Theory
- It’s too ‘neat’, social change doesn’t happen in such an orderly manner.
, - Laslett found that church records show only 10% of households contained the
extended kin before the revolution. This suggests the family was already nuclear
before industrialisation.
- Young and Willmott found that extended kin were still strong in East London in as
late as the 1970s.
Parsons: ‘irreducible functions of the family
According to Parsons, although the nuclear family performs reduced functions, it is
the only institution that can perform two core functions in society; primary socialisation and
the stabilisation of adult personalities.
1. Primary socialisation: The nuclear family is still responsible for teaching children the
norms and values of society. An important part of socialisation, according to
functionalists, is gender role socialisation. If primary socialisation is done correctly,
then boys will adopt the instrumental role (breadwinner role)| and girls will learn to
adopt the expressive role where they do all the caring work, housework and raising
the children.
2. Stabilisation of adult personalities refers to the emotional security which is achieved
within a marital relationship between two adults. According to Parsons, working life
in industrial society is stressful and the family is a place where the working man is
de-stressed, which reduces conflict in society. This is known as the ‘warm bath
theory’.
Overall criticisms of Functionalism:
- Downplaying conflict: Both Murdock and Parsons paint a very rosy picture of family
life, presenting it as a harmonious and integrated institution. However, they
downplay conflict in the family, especially the ‘darker side’ of family life, such as
domestic violence and child abuse.
- Outdated: Parson’s view of instrumental and expressive roles of men and women are
very old fashioned. It may have held some truth in the 1950s, but today the majority
of women are in paid work and with the blurring of traditional gender roles, both
partners are more likely to take on the expressive and instrumental roles.
- Ignoring the exploitation of women: Functionalists tend to ignore the way women
suffer from the sexual division of labour in the family. Even today, women still end
up being the primary carers of children in 90% of families, and suffer the extra
burden of work. Gender roles are socially constructed in a way that involve the
oppression of women. There are no biological reasons for the functionalist’s view of
the separation of roles into the male breadwinner and the female home carer. These
roles lead to the disadvantages experienced by women.
- Functionalism is too deterministic: Meaning it ignores the fact that children actively
create their own personalities. An individual’s personality isn’t pre-determined at
birth or something they have no control in. Functionalism incorrectly assumes there
is a robotic adoption of society’s values via our parents, there are many examples
when this isn’t the case.
Marxist perspective on the family;
Marxism is a structural conflict theory. They see society as structured along class
lines with institutions generally working in the interests of the bourgeoisie, who hold the
, economic power, through the exploitation of the proletariat. There is thus a conflict of
interests between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat.
However, this conflict rarely becomes into a revolution because institutions, such as
the family, perform the function of ideological control by convincing the masses that the
present unequal system is inevitable, natural and good.
Something else Marxists suggest about the family, like Parson’s functional fit theory,
is that the family generally changes with society. Specifically, the nuclear family emerges not
because of the needs of industrialisation, but because of the needs of capitalism.
Engels: explaining the emergence of the nuclear family
According to Engels, the monogamous nuclear family only emerged with capitalism.
Before capitalism, tribal societies were classless, and they practiced a form of primitive
communism where there was no private property. In such societies, property was
collectively owned, and the family structure reflected this – there were no families as such,
but tribal groups existed in a ‘promiscuous herd’ with no restrictions on sexual relationships.
However, with the emergence of capitalism, society and family changed. Capitalism
is based on a system of private ownership. Eventually they sought to pass on their wealth to
the next generation, rather than having it shared with the masses, and this where the
monogamous nuclear family emerges from. It is the best way to guarantee that their
property is being passed on to their son, because in a monogamous relationship one is
aware who their children are.
Ultimately this arrangement reproduces inequality where the children of the rich
grow up in wealth, the children of the poor remain poor. Thus, the nuclear family benefits
the bourgeois more than the proletariat.
A03: Criticisms of Engels
- Gender inequality clearly preceded capitalism. The vast majority of tribes in Africa
and Asia are patriarchal, with women being banned from owning property, having
no political power and having to do most childcare and physical labour.
- Wealthy capitalist economic in the West have seen the fastest improvements in
gender equality over the last 100 years. Capitalism, increasing wealth and gender
equality within a nation seem to be correlated
Zaretsky: family as an ideological apparatus
The modern nuclear family function is to promote values that ensure the
reproduction and maintenance of capitalism. The family is described as an ideological
apparatus as it socialises people to think in a way that justifies inequality and encourages
people to accept the capitalist system as fair, natural and unchangeable.
One way in which this occurs is there is hierarchy in most families which teachers
children there will always be someone in authority who they must obey, which mirrors the
employer-employee hierarchy in the workplace.
The family as a unit of consumption:
Capitalists want to keep workers’ wages down so they can make a profit, but to do
so they must also be able to sell the workers goods, i.e. they must create a demand for their
products. The family builds demand for goods in a number of ways.
