Functionalist - Parsons

Parsons (1942):

• Argues the functions that the family has to perform will affect its shape or structure.
• Distinguished between two kinds of family structure:
  • The Nuclear Family (Parents and Dependant Children)
  • The Extended Family (Three Generations Living Under One Roof)
• Argues that the particular structure and functions of a given type of family will 'fit' the needs of the society.
• There are two types of society - modern industrial and traditional pre-industrial.
• Argues that the nuclear family fits the needs of industrial society and the extended family fits the needs of pre-industrial society.
• Modern industrial societies need a geographically and socially mobile workforce.

Geographically mobile workforce:

• There is a need for the family to be geographically mobile according to Parsons.
• People spent their whole life working in the same village or on the same farm in the past.
• Job opportunities spring up and decline in modern industrial societies.
• People are required to move to where…