what is the function of the family by different sociologists? it is really good for axoevel sociology and helps to improve student ability to revise and learn.

1. The function of the family
Functionalist views
They see the family as a particuliuarly important sub-system - a basic building block
of society.
Murdock-(functionalist)
He argues that the family performs four essential functions to meet the needs of
society and its members by factors like….
• economic
• Sexual regulation
• primary socialisation
• Reproduction
Murdock accepts that other institutions (different types of families) could perform
these function, but argues that the nuclear family is the way of meeting these four
needs and explaining why its universal.
Criticism
Marxist and feminist reject his ‘rose-tined’ harmonious consensus view that the
family meets the needs of both wider society and all the different member of the
family.
They argue that functionalist neglects conflict and exploitation of..
• feminist= see the family as serving the needs of men and oppressing women
• Marxists= it meets the need of capitalism, not those of family members or society
as a whole.
Parson-(functionalist)
‘Parson’ argues that the function of the family will depend on the kind of society in
which it is found.
The function that the family has to perform will affect its ‘shape’ or structure.
Parson distinguishes between two kinds of family structure…
• the nuclear family
• The extended family
Parson argues that the particular structure and function of a given type of family will
‘fit’ the needs of the society in which it is found.
Parson mention there are two basic types of society modern industrial society and
traditional pre-industrial society.
He argues that the nuclear family fits the needs of industrial society and is the
dominant family type in that society, while the extended family fits the needs of pre-
industrial society.
Parson argues, the nuclear family is better equipped to meet the needs of industrial
society.

2. Functionalist mention that modern industrial society is based on constantly evolving
science and technology and so it requires a skilled, technically competent workforce.
It’s essential that talented people are able to win promotion and take on the most
important jobs, even if they come from very humble background.
Individual’s status is achieved by their own efforts and ability, not ascribed (fixed at
birth) by their social and family background.
(Example is a person of a labourer can become a doctor or lawyer through ability and
hard work)
Parson
Parson argues, the nuclear family is better equipped to meet needs of industrial
society.
Parson mention, when society industrialises, the family not only changes its structure
from extended to nuclear, it also loses many of its functions.
For example, family ceases to be a unit of production:
• work moves into the factories and the family becomes a unit of consumption only.
It also loses most of its other functions to other instritiuons like schools and health
services.
(Parson views, this results in loss of function)
the modern nuclear family comes to specialise in performing just two essential or
‘irreducible’ functions:
The primary socialisation of children
• to equip them with basic skills and society values
• Enable them to cooperate with other and begin to integrate them in society
The stabilisation of adult personalities
• the family is a place where adults can relax and realise tension
• This enables them to return to the workplace refresh and ready to meet its
demands.
• This is functional for the efficenitcy of the economy

3. Marxist views
They see the family as only benefiting the capitalist system.
This view contrasts sharply with the functionalist view that the family benefits both
society as a whole and all the individual members of the family.
Marx
He argues that the key factor determine the shape of all social institutions, including
the family is the mode of production- that is, who owns and control society’s
productive forces like (tools, machinery, raw materials, lands and labour). It’s the
capitalist class that own and control these means of production. This leads to the
control of family.
Marxists argue that only with the overthrow of capitalism and private ownership of the
means of production will women achieve liberation from patriarchal control.
But Marx mention ‘primitive communism’ being that there’s no private property, but all
members of sixty owned the means of production communally.
Engels
Engels view, monogamy became essential as it inheritance of private property. Men had
to be certain of the paternity of their children in order to ensure that their legitimate
heirs inherited for them.
Marxist-(beliefs)
Marxists means a set of idea that justify inequality and maintain the capitalist system
by persuading people to accept it as fair, natural or unchangeable.
One way in which the family does it is by socialising children into the idea that hierarchy
and inequality are inevitable. Parental power over children accustoms them to the idea
that there always has to be someone in charge (being the male) and this prepares them
for a working life in which they will accept orders from their capitalist employers.
Zaretsky
According to zaretsky, the family performs an ideological function by offering an
apparent from the harsh and exploitative world of capitalism outside, in which workers
can ‘be themselves’ and have a private life.
But zaretsky argues that this is largely an illusion - the family cannot meet its member
needs (like based on the domestic servitude of women).
Capitalism exploits the labour worker, making profit by selling product of their labour for
more than it pay them to produce these commodities. Overall these families therefore
play major role in generating profit for capitalist.
• Advertsier urge families to ‘keep up with the joneses’ by counting all tge latest
product’
• Media target children by the use of ‘pester power’ to persuade parents to send
more
• Children who lack the latest clothes or ‘must have’ technology are mocked and
stigmatised by their peers.

4. Marxists see the family reforming serve all functions that maintain capitalist society:
• inheritance of private property
• Socialisation into acceptance of inequity
• Source of profit
Criticism
• (Marxist) tend to assume the nuclear family is dominant in capitalist society, bit
ignore the wide variety of family structure found in society today.
• (Feminist) argue that the Marxist emphasis on class and capitalism underestimates
the importance of gender inequalities within the family.
• (Functionalists) argue that Marxist ignore the very real benefit that the family
provides for its members.

5. Feminist views
They argue that it oppresses women, but also focus on issues like unequal division of
domestic labour and domestic violence against women. They see gender inequality
as natural, created by society.
Liberal feminism
Liberal feminist are concerned with comparing against sex discrimination and for
equal right and opportunities for women (like equal pay).
• they argue women oppression is being gradually overcome through changing
people’s attuned and through changes in the law such as the (sex discrimination
act)
• They believe we are moving towards greater equality, but that full equality will
depend on further reforms and changes in the attitudes and socialisation patterns
of both sexes.
They also hold similar views of families to that of ‘the march of progess’ like (young
and Willmott). Although liberal gem isn’t don’t believe full gender equality has yet
been achieved in the family.
Criticism
Feminist criticise liberal feminists for failing to challenge the underlying causes of
women’s oppression and for believing that changes in the law or in people’s attitudes
will be enough to bring equality.
• Marxist and radical feminist believe instead that far-reaching changes to deep-
rooted social structures are needed.
Marxist feminism
Marxist feminism argue that the main cause of women oppression in the family is not
men, but capitalism.
Women often perform function for capitalism like…
• women replace the labour force: through their unpaid domestic labour
• Women absorb anger: that would otherwise be directed at capitalism
Ansley
They describe women absorb anger as (takers of shit) who soak up the frustation
from there husbands because of the exploitation they suffer at work. This explain
domestic violence of women.
• women are a reaver army of cheap labour: that can taken on when extra workers
are needed. If not needed than they are ‘let go’ to return to the primary roles.
Marxist feminists isn’t see the oppression of women in the family as linked to the
exploitation of the working class.
They argue that the family must be abolished at the same time as a socialist
revolution replaces capitalism with classless society.

6. Radical feminism
Radical feminist argue that all societies have been founded on patriarchy (ruled by
men).
The key decision in society is between men and women….
• men are the enemy; they are the source of women’s oppression and exploitation.
• the family and marriage are the key institution in a Patrica society.
They see men benefit from women;s unpaid domestic labour and from their sexual
services, and they dominate women through domestic and sexual violence or the
threat of it.
Radical feminist want to overturn the patriarchal system by separatism, this means
for women to organise themselves to live independlty of men.
Radical feminist argue for ‘political lesbianism’ that the idea that heterosexual
relationships are inevitably oppressive because they involve ‘sleeping with the
enemy’.
Criticism
• Somerville-(liberal feminist) argue radical feminists fail to recognise that women
position has improved considerably with better access to divorce, jobs, control
over their fertility.
• Somerville argues that heterosexual attraction makes it unlikely that separatism
would work
• Overall Somerville does recognise that women have not achieve full equality as
there is need for ‘family friendly’ policies like more flexible working that helps with
greater equality between patterers.
Difference feminism
Difference feminism argue that we can’t generalise about women experiences. They
argue that lesbian, heterosexual women, white, black women, middle class, working
class women have very different experiences of the family form one another.
Feminist view/critics
Feminist sociologist reject the ‘march of progress’ view as little has changed. But
they see this inequality as streaming from the fact that the family and society are
male-dominated or patriarchal. Women occupy a subordinate and dependent role
within the family and in wider society.
Oakley
She critics young and Willmott views that the family is now symmetrical as their
claims are exaggerated, but young and Willmott proven that most husband helped
their wives at least once a week. But Oakley hardly believe this as evidence of
symmetry.

7. The personal life perspective on families
The personal life perspective argues that they all suffer from two weaknesses:
The tend to assume the traditional nuclear familt is dominant family type
• this ignores the increased diversity of families today
• Compared to 50 years ago, many people now live in other families like long-
parent families and stepfamilies
They are all structural theories
• they assume families and their members are simply passive puppets manipulated
by the structure of society to perform certain functions
(Example is provide economy with mobile labour force, or serve need of capitalism)
Criticism of structural views
• interactionist and postmodernist reject structural view
• They argue structural Theron it’s ignore fact that we have some choice in creating
our family relationship
The personal life perspective is a new perspective that strongly influenced by
interactionist ideas.
• the personal life perspective shares the ‘bottom up’ approach of interactionism.
• It emphasises the meaning that individual family members hold and how these
shape their actions and relationships as well as taking bottom up approach to
relationship
The personal life perspective takes wider view of relationship than just traditional
‘family; relationship based on blood or marriage ties.
They draws there attention to range of other personal or intimate relationships that
are important defined as ‘family’.
This includes all kings of relationships that individuals see as significant and give
them a sense of identity, belonging or relatedness.
Nordqvist and Smart
They did a research on donor-conceived children explores (what counts as family
when your children shares a genetic link with ‘relative strangers’)
They found that the issue of blood and genes raised range of feelings:
• emphasised the importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming
family bonds.
Difficulty feeling could flare up for non-genetic arenas if somebody remarked that the
child looked like them.
Differences in app search led parents to wonder about the donor’s identity, about
possible ‘donor sibling’ and whether these counted as family for the child.
• do the donor’s parents count as grandparents of a donor-conceived child?
• Is the donor-conceived child a (half) sibling to the donor’s other children?

8. Nordqvist and Smart study help to understand how people them selves construct
and define their relationships as ‘family’ from the outside.
Criticism
• critics argue that, including wide range of different kinds of personal relationships,
we ignore what is special about relationships that are based on blood or marriage
• They reject the top down view taken by other perspectives like functionalist
(it does see intimate relationships as performing the important function of providing
us with sense of belonging and relatedness)
Overall (unlike functionalist) they recognise that relatedness is not alway positive.