SOCIOLOGY UNIT 1 FAMILY AND HOUSEHOLDS

• Functionalist Murdock (1949):  ' A social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. it includes adults from both genders, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved intimate relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting couple.'  His study was based on 250 societies and discovered that all of these societies had one common family type which was the nuclear family, it was seen by him as the universal institution (found in all societies)
• Gough (1959): The Nayer (India) didn't have their fathers living with his children. In this case, in terms of Murdock's definition, this society didn't possess a family.
• Gonzalez (1970): found that matrifocal families (female-headed households in the USA, Caribbean) are a well-organised social group which is well adapted to living in poverty.
• Sheeran (1993): female carer-core, consisting of a mother and her children, is the basic unit of a family and so this is the Universal family. However, the problem wit this is that it doesn't include single fathers who raise their children alone.
• Callahan (1997): Gay households should also be considered as a family.
• Gittins (19930: No single family type is found in ALL societies. 
• New right thinkers support nuclear families and see it as being under threat.
• Rapoports (1982): family diversity is GOOD-  it gives people the freedom!

To functionalist, every institution in society forms positive and important functions.

• Murdock (1949): the family performs four functions:                                                          Sexual function, Reproductive function, Economic function and Educational function.
• Parsons: the family has two functions:                                                                                  Primary Socialisation and Stabilisation of adult personalities

Parsons - Changing family structures

• The structures of the family change to fit the needs of different types of societies; in pre-industrial societies, the extended family was the norm and in the industrial society the nuclear family become the norm.The reason for this change is because:

1. Geographically mobile workforce which could move to where new factories were built was needed so it was difficult to do that with larger extended families.

2. The socially mobile workforce was also necessary. In extended families, status was largely ascribed with the eldest male having the high status. This will cause conflict if younger males had a higher achieved status because of a better job. Nuclear families could avoid this conflict.

Parson - changing functions of the family

• As society changes, the family loses some of its functions; in pre-industrial times it carried out many functions but now specialist institutions have taken over some of these functions. This process is called structural differentiation. e.g. health care and support used to be the family's responsibility. Now the welfare state has taken over.

Criticism of the functionalism:

• family has a unique functional role - some societies don't have traditional families
  
• family is functional for all members - ignores the dark side of the family .g. domestic abuse
• families and society benefit from men being main breadwinners and women main carers
• - feminist view this as patriarchal
• dominent family type has shifted from extended to nuclear - ignores evidence of non-dominance of extended family in the pre-industrial era, and decline of nuclear family and increasing family diversity.
• nuclear family best adapted to modern society -  postmodernist argue there're other alternatives

According to Marx (1818) and Engels (1820) power in society largely stemmed from wealth. In particular, those who owned the means of production formed a powerful ruling calss. They were able to exploit the subject class.

• Engels (1884): The family developed so that men could be certain of the paternity of children and thus pass their property down to their biological offspring. 
• Zaretsky (1976): sees the family as supporting the capitalist society; the unpaid domestic labour of housewives supports future generations of workers at no cost to capitalist employers. The family consumes the commodities produced by capitalist companies, helping the bourgeoisie to make profit. It also provides comfort to alienated workers enabling tem to carry on working.
  
• Poulantzas (1969): family is part of the ideological state apparatus, which is controlled by the bourgeoisise to create values, attitudes and beliefs which support the capitalist system and the position of the ruling class.
• Cooper (1972) : supports Poulantzas. He sees the family as an 'ideological condition device' in whcih children learn to conform to authority so they will become cooperative and easily exploited workers. 
  

criticism of Marxism:

• some parents are anti-capitalist and socialise their children into beliefs which are critical of the ruling class.
• feminist criticise them for neglecting the exploitation of women
• postmodernists criticise them for ignoring the variety of family types present in society today
• functionalist believe Marxist ignore the beneficial functions of the family for society.
• Zaretsky have been criticised for exaggerating the extent to which the family can be an escape from alienating work since the family can also be characterised by cruelty, neglect and violence

The strength of marxism:

• marxism is useful for highlighting the importance of economic influences on family life and because it raises the possibility that the family as an institution benefits some social groups (higher classes) more than others.

Radical feminist:

• Society is controlled by men and is defined as Patriarchal (Male dominated); women are dominated by men due to biology (women give birth, men are stronger) and men use violence or ideology to control women.What should be done is to either create female- dominated society or separation of the genders. Radicals have been criticised; the idea of patriarchy is too broad and doesn't really explain why women are exploited. It exaggerates the extent of inequality and fails to take account of the development of greater equality. 
• Greer (2000) : Even in marriage women today remain subservient to their husbands. single women are generally happier than married women and this is reflected by the high rate of divorce instigated by women. Wives are more likely to suffer from sexual abuse.
  

Difference feminism and black feminism: 

• Emphasise that women have a variety of interest. e.g. Black feminist stresses the importance of racial/ ethnic difference between women while other difference feminists emphasise differences in class, age and nationality. Difference feminist point out that not all women are equally exploited.