Family- Theory

Engels

Marxist- Family provides an economic function- Inheritance, primogeniture wealthy families as oldest son inherits all assets this maintains capitalism through owning all means of productions

Zaretsky`

A place for workers to releave stress/ frustrations ( not warm bath theory) capitalism makes workers feel alienated, isolated, lonely and angry, come home to take anger out on their family (Ev. Ansley. role of woman is ‘taker of shit’)

Unit of consumption

The family plays a major role in generating profits by buying objects

Evaluation of Marxists views of the family

People in family unit in different societies e.g communism

Negative ignores emotional benefits and positive functions

Migration

1900-1935- Irish and Jewish from central Eastern Europe

1950- Caribbean immigrants

1960s-South Asia

2004- eastern europen immigrants

Patterns- Most are young come to study or to work

Emmigrations- Older= retired

parson

Functionalism- Organic analogy

When there is a change the family supports it

Pre- industrial society Family moves from town to work - become nuclear family helped with social mobility fewer children = more education improve jobs and move up the hierarchy

specialist roles - traditional roles and childhood started to exist

Ev. Nuclear families existed before industrialisation

Wilmott and Young

There has been a march of progress

family changes as the economy changes pre-industrial a unit of economical production making their own food, products eg

Early industrial- work and family seperated

traditional role, symmetrical roles shared asymmetrical family spend more time apart

stratified diffusion

Families spend more time apart as both working

asymmetrical family 2 full time workers

labour government 1997 -2010

Focused on families as they existed rather than shaping them e.g working family child tax, influenced by sociologist Giddens

Acknowledged different family types civil partnership, adoption and children act , paid parental leave and equal age of consent

E.v Policies were expensive

Conservative Government- 1979 -1990s

Prefrence for nuclear families banned promotion of homosexuality in schools. Married man tax allowance, universal credit, individuality and parental opportuinity child support agency taking money from fathers to give to mothers to support the children