2. • Understand the functionalist, Marxist and
different types of feminist perspectives of the
family
• Be able to analyse the similarities and
differences between these perspectives
• Be able to evaluate the usefulness of these
perspectives on the family
Learning Objectives
3.
4. How does the family fit into wider society?
We will now look at the role or purpose of the family
and what it does for its members and society
‘what are the functions of the family?’
Functionalism
◦ A consensus perspective
Marxism
◦ Class conflict
Feminism
◦ Gender conflict
Introduction
6. • Argue that society is based on a value
consensus:
– Set of shared norms and values
– Allows individuals to cooperate harmoniously to
meet societies needs and achieve shared goals
• Society is made up of parts that depend on
each other e.g. the family, education system
and the economy
• Often compared to a biological organism
Functionalist
7. What similarities can you
see between society and an
organism such as the
human body?
What differences are there
between the two?
8. • Look out of the window
• Describe the view from an ENVIRONMENTAL
point of view
• Describe it from an ARCHITECTURAL point of
view
• Describe it from a FUNCTIONAL point of view
9. • The family is seen, by Functionalists, as a
particularly important subsystem
• Murdock (1949) argues the family performs
four essential 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 its members’ economic needs
10. • Some argue they could be performed equally
well through other institutions or non-nuclear
family structures
• Marxists and feminists reject this ‘rose-tinted’
view
Criticisms of Murdock
11. • Marxists and feminists argue that
functionalism neglects conflict and
exploitation
– Feminists
• See the family as serving the needs of men
– Marxists
• Argue it meets the needs of capitalism, not those family
members or society as a whole
Criticisms of Murdock
12. The family may meet other needs:
◦ Welfare, military, political, religious functions
The functions it performs will depend on the
social construction
Parsons (1955) argues there are two types of
family structure:
◦ Nuclear family
◦ Extended family (three generations living under
one roof)
Talcott Parsons’ Functional Fit Theory
13. • Two basic types of society
– Modern industrial society
– Traditional pre-industrial society
• The nuclear family fits the needs of industrial
society and is the dominant family type in that
society; the extended family fits the needs of
the pre-industrial society
• Post industrial revolution (late 18th C onwards)
- extended nuclear
Parsons’ Functional Fit Theory
14. 1. A geographically mobile workforce
◦ People need to move to where the jobs are
◦ Parsons argues it is easier for the compact two-
generation nuclear family, with just dependent
children, to move
Industrial society has two different
essential needs:
15. Industrial society has two different
essential needs:
2. A socially mobile workforce
◦ Modern industrial society is based on constantly
evolving science and technology so requires
skilled technically competent workforce
◦ Essential that talented people are able to win
promotion and take on the most important jobs
◦ Status is achieved makes social mobility
possible
16.
17. • Parsons argues that the nuclear family is
better equipped than the extended family to
meet the needs of industrial society
• The result of this is the mobile nuclear family
which is structurally isolated from its extended
kin without binding obligations towards them
(unlike the pre-industrial extended family)
18. The pre-industrial family was a multi-functional
unit
◦ A unit of production
◦ A unit of consumption
Therefore more self-sufficient
Parsons argues that when society industrialises
the family not only changes its structure but also
loses some of its functions
◦ Family ceases to be a unit of production
◦ Family becomes a unit of consumption only
◦ Loses most of its other functions to other institutions
such as schools and the health service
Loss of Functions
19. • The modern nuclear family comes to
specialise in performing just two essential or
‘irreducible’ functions:
– Primary socialisation
– Stabilisation of adult personalities
As a result:
20. Criticisms!
1. Functionalists have been accused of idealising
the family.
2. Ignoring conflict and abuse within families
3. Ignoring gender inequality within families
4. Ignoring the rising divorce rates
5. Ignoring growing family diversity
