Sociology
- Sociology
- Families and householdsEducationCulture and SocialisationSociological research methods
- AS
- AQA
- Created by: Cat
- Created on: 07-05-17 19:52
FUNCTIONALIST KEY IDEAS
- Society is based on a set ofshared norms and values
- Society allows individuals to cooperate harmoniously
- Society is made up of parts that depend on each other
- Every society has functional pre-requisites (economic needs & based on a value consensus)
- The family is seen as an important part of society
MURDOCK
Family performs 4 functions to meet the needs of society:
1) stable satisfaction of the sex drive
2) reproduction of the next generation
3) socialisation of the young
4) meeting it's members' economic needs
- nuclear family meet these needs
Criticisms:
- Marxists and feminists argue functionalisms neglects conflict and exploitation and reject the rose-tinted view
- Some argue functions could be performed equally through other institutions and non-nuclear family structures
Feminists = see the family as serving the needs of men
Marxists = argue the family meets the needs of capitalism
PARSONS
Functional fit theory:
- The family alters to fit the kind of society it exists in
- Functions it performs will depend on type of society in which it's found
- Functions the family performs with affect it's shape/structure
Two types of family structure:
1) Nuclear family
2) Extended family
Criticisms:
- Idealistic view of the family
- Ignores family diversity
- Forgets children create their own personalities (social action approach)
- Parsons' view assumes the family works in isolation ignoring the role of other institutions in allowing primary socialisation to occur in the first place
THE NEW RIGHT
- One correct family type = traditional/conventional nuclear family
- Family is cornerstone of society (place of refuge, contentment & harmony)
- Wife should stay at home and look after children, caring for family should be first priority
- Introduction of the welfare state led to a culture where people depend on hand outs from the state
- New right thinking encouraged conservative government to launch back to basics campaign 1993 to encourage a return to traditional family values
- Clear cut division of labour between homemaker and breadwinner
- Decline of nuclear family and growth of family diversity are the cause of many social problems
- Opposed to high levels of taxation and government spending. Favour cutting welfare benefits or abolishing completely to reduce dependency culture and encourage conventional family.
NEW RIGHT VIEWS ON LONE PARENTS AND MARRIAGE
Lone parent families:
- Unnatural & harmful to children
- Single mothers cant discipline children
- Burden on welfare state
- Leave boys without an adult male role model
Marriage:
- Essential basis for creating a stable environment to bring up children
- Cohabitation and divorce create instability as it's easier to avoid commitment and responsibility
- Family breakdown increases risks to children
- Return to traditional values is necessary to prevent social disintegration and damage to children
NEW RIGHT CRITICISMS
Criticisms:
- Exaggerate decline of the nuclear family
- Feminists argue gender roles are socially determined
- Feminists argue divorce being easier is good
- Most single parents aren't welfare scroungers
- Chester argues they exaggerate the extent of cohabiting and lone parent families
- Commitment protects against family breakdown not marriage
- Feminist Anne Oakley argues they wrongly assume roles are determined by biology
- Femenists argue traditional nuclear family is based on patriarchal opression of women and causes inequality
- Little/no evidence that lone parent families are part of dependency culture
POSTMODERNISM
Two key characteristics:
1) Diversity and fragmentation
Society has a broad diversity of subcultures rather than one shared culture. People create their identity from a wide range of choices
2) Rapid social change
New technology has transformed our lives by dissolving barriers of time and space.
MARXISM
Society is based on an unequal conflict between two social classes:
1) Capitalist class
2) Working class
- All societys institutions help maintain class inequality and capitalism
- Functions of family are performed for benefit of of the capitalist system
- As mode of production evolves so does the family
- Marx called earliest, classless society 'primitive communism'
- Society is based on ruling class ideology
MARXIST CRITICISMS
Criticisms:
- Outdated, died 1883, nature of family may have changed
- Too simplistic as he ignores middle class
- Ignore gender and female opression
- Most people see family life life as positive not as opressive
- Functionalists see harmony in society and marxists see conflict/exploitation so it's evident that their interpretations and the relationship between the family and social structure should be critically considered in the light of this idea
- Ignore other family types
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