Theoretical Approaches to Family Policy

Functionalist view on Family Policy

Society is harmonious and based on consensus

• believe policies help families function more effectively

Functionalist Family Policy - Fletcher

Since the industrial revolution policies have gradually led to the development of a welfare state that supports the family in performing its functions more effectively

Marxist Family Policy - Donzelot: policing the family

Sees policies as power and control mechanisms spread throughout society and embedded in all relationships

• professionals exercise this power over families, particularly targeting poor families

Rejects the functionalist notion

• highlights the role of the “caring professions” in social control through family surveillance

New Right view on Family Policy

• Support low taxes and argue for a limited role for the welfare state; privatisation

• Believe individuals and families should be self-reliant

• Should only get help from state when there is no other option

New Right Family Policy - Murray: ‘underclass’

Society is created by the disintegration of the traditional nuclear family structure

• cycle perpetuated by the underclass creates a culture of dependency on the state and its benefits

Underclass is defined not by poverty itself, but by the deplorable behaviour of individuals in response to their condition

• poor people personalises the causes of their poverty, attributing it to moral failings rather than structural factors

Feminist view on Family Policy

Society is patriarchal, benefiting men at the expense of women

• argue that social institutions, including the state, maintain women’s subordinate position, and enforce unequal gender division of labour in families

Feminist Family Policy - Land

Self-fulfilling prophecy, where policies like tax incentives for married couples encourage marriage and discourage cohabitation

• these policies perpetuate the assumed “normal” family model