STRUCTURAL THEORIES OF THE FAMILY

• see society based on value consensus, a shared set of norms and values 
• shared culture enables membrs of society to co-operate to meet societies needs/ achieve goals

FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY 

• Family plays a vita role in maintaining the social system and meeting the needs of sub systems such as the economy 
• functionalists take a postive, consensus view of the family 
• see the family as performing benficial functions for wider society and all indiviudal members

EVALUATIONS 

• assume the nuclear family is the universal norm/ harmonious
• ignore conflict such as child abuse and womens oppression
• ignores exploitation 

• Murdock argues ther are 4 essential functions for society/ members that the family performs 

1. maintains stable satisfaction of the sex drive 

• with the same martial partner, prevents social disruption

2. reproduction of the next generation 

• without which society would cease to exist 

3. socialisation of the young 

• socialisation of the young to societies values and norms
• enables members to intergrate into society 

4.satisfction of members economic needs 

• providing food and shelter
• pre-industrial societies - family a unit of production, working together 
• modern society has become a unit of consumption 

PRACTICALITY AND UNIVERSALITY

• by performing these function the nuclear family helps to maintain social stability 
• Murdock 'sheer practicality' of nuclear family is a way of meeting these needs and explains why it is universal, found within all human societies 

CRITIQUES 

• Feminists see the family as serving the nees of men and opressing women 
• Marxists argue that it meets the need of capitalism, ot those of family members/ society 

• the functions the family perfom will depend on the kind of society in which its found 
• this determines what structure the family will have, there are two main types of family 

1. the extended family

• 3 generational, seen in pre-industrial society
• multi functional, a unit of production/consumption
• all members worked on land, welfare and performed religious functions

2.the nuclear family

• 2 generational, see in modern society 
• geographical mobility- industries constantly spring up and decline in different places, easier to move to places where the jobs are 
• social mobility - status in modern society is acheived not ascribed so sons can have higher status than their fathers, breaks away to set up their own nuclear families 

• PRIMARY SOCIALISATION - Of the young equipping the next generation with basic skills and societies values 

• STABILISATION OF ADULT PERSONALITIES - enables adults to relax and release tensions in the family so they can return to the workplace and perform their roles efficiently 

HOWEVER - if the breadwinner comes home to release the tensions it could be argued it only benefits the man 

PARSONS: SEGREGATED CONJUGAL ROLES 

• distinguishes between male instrumental breadwinner role/ female expessive nuturing role
• sees the gender division of labour within the family as biologically based 
• eg women give birthy and this is why they are suited to the expressive role 

• conflict view of society, capitalist society has two classes
• 1. capitalist class bourgeoisie - own the means of production
• 2. working class proletariat - own their labour which are forced to sell in return for ages, enables capitalists to exploit the working class in order to produce profit 

FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY 

• Marxists see all instituitions in capitalist society as contributing to the maintainenece of exploitation 
• family is seen as an oppressive instituion that performs three important functions 
• 1. inheritance of property 
• 2. ideological functions
• 3. unit of consumption 

INHERITENCE OF PROPERTY  - engel - passing on wealth 

• argues private property became more important, men who controlled it needed to ensure they could pass it to their own sons this led to monogamous marriages 
• also meant that women becoming the private property of her husband who controlled her sexuality to ensure he was the father 

IDEOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS - ZARESKY 

• socialising children into the idea that hierachy and inequality are inevitable will accept orders
• argues there is a 'cult of private life' the belief  can only gain fulfilment from family life 
• this distracts the attention from exploitation and can be seen as an illusion, the family cannot meet the needs of its members

UNIT OF CONSUMPTION

• capitalism needs consumers to buy products, the family is an important market consumer which enables capitialists to produce profts
• children who lack the latest items are bullied/ stigmatised from their peers, while benefitting members of society it does not benefit members of the family 

• assumes the nuclear family is the dominant family type
• ignores wide and increasing variety of family structures 
• functionalists argue that Marxists ignore the real benefits that the family provides
• feminists argue that marxists emphasise the capitalist society when it should be that society serves interests of men 

• conflict view that sees the family as oppressing women, there are several types of feminism 

LIBERAL FEMINISTS

• argue that gender inequality is gradually being overcome through legal reforms and policy changes such as equal pay 
• challenging stereotypes and people's attitudes and socialisation 
• leads to the 'march of progress view' for example the 'new man' is becoming more widespread

MARXIST FEMINISTS 

• argue that capitalism is the main cause of womens oppression in the family and this performs several functions for capitalists 
• it reproduces the labour force: women socialise the next generation of workers and service the ones for free
• absorbing mens anger: that would be otherwise be directed at capitalism, wives soak up their husbands frustrations that comes from being exploited at work 
• a reserve army of cheap labour when not needed, women workers return to their domestic role 

RADICAL FEMINISTS 

• argue that patriarchy -male dominiation - is the main cause of womens oppression 
• the family and marriage are key patriarchal institutions 
• men benefit from womens unpaid domestic labour and sexual services 
• men dominate women through violence and the threat of it 
• believe the patriarchal system must be overturned and the family should be abolished 
• some belive in 'political lesbianism' - the complete separation from men 

DIFFERENCE FEMINISTS 

• argue that not all women share the same experiences of oppression 
• women of different ethnicities, backgrounds, class have difference experiences of the family
• regarding the family as a source of oppression white feminists neglect black womens experience of racism
• many black feminists view the black family positively as a source of support in a racist society

• womens oppression did not start with capitalism, so there is no reason to believe it would end with it 
• radical feminists argue that women are not only oppressed by capitalism but by patriarchy too
• radical feminists ignore the importance of class, ethnic inequality eg white middle class women may have more power than working class black men 

• argue from late 20th century society began to move into a postmodern phrase - fundamentally new type of society
• post modern society has two key features - fragmentation of cultures / lifestyles
• individuals now have more choice and are free to construct their identities and lifestyles
• as a result society is now more a collection of different subcultures, ethnic groups rather than the single shared culture described by functionalists 

RAPID CHANGE 

• made life predictable and orderly
• new technology and media breakdown existing barriers of time and space which transform work and leisure patterns
• results in the family becoming less stable and there is more choice about intimate relationships and domestic argument. For example we can choose to cohabitate, get divorced, have children outside of marriage 
• this results in a greater choice which leads to greater family diversity 
• no longer possible to generalise about the family life in a way that modern sociologists have done  

• greater freedom has benefitted women - free from patriarchal oppression and free to shape their family arrangements to meet their needs
• case study of families in sillicon valey - many women rejected the traditional roles and returned to education, improved their jobs and they created families to better suit their needs
• divorce - extended families - these families are connected by diorce rather than marriage, these families are an active choice 

INDIVIDUALISATION THESIS - GIDDENS AND BECK 

• increasing individual choice about family relationships
• traditional structures such as class, gender and family has lost much influence over us 
• in the past people were defined by fixed roles that largely prevented them from selecting their own life course
• we have become 'disembedded' from traditional roles
• we have a 'do it yourself' biography 

• there are two reasons for the transformations of families 
• 1. pure relationships - law, religion and social norms no longer hold people together. Intimate relationships are based on trust, choice and equality. Pure relationships are common in late modernity, relationships only exist to satisfy each persons needs and people no longer stay together because of a sense of duty or for the children. 
• 2. same sex couples as pioneers - creating more demoncratic and equal relationships. They are more able to develop relationships based on choice rather than traditional roles - no pre existing norms 

• now live in a risk society where tradition is less important and people have more choice, we are more aware of risks because when we make a choice we calculate the risk
• the patriarchal family has been undermined by two trends
• 1. greater gender equality - which has challenged male domination of all spheres of life 
• 2. greater individualisation - peoples actions are influenced by self interest rather than obligation 

• negotiated families do not conform to the traditional family norms, but vary according to the wishes and expectations of their members, who decide what is best for themselves by negotiation 
• people turn to the family as a point of security in the risk society. 
• people are living in 'zombie families' it appears to be alived but its actually dead - people want to have security in an insecure world however the family today cannot provide security because of its own instability