AQA Sociology | Topic 3.2.2: Functionalist and Marxist Theories of the Family

Murdock's 4 Essential Functions

Sexual, Reproductive, Economic, and Educational (Socialisation).

Parsons' Functional Fit Theory

The idea that family structures shift over time (e.g., Extended to Nuclear) to fit the needs of the economy (e.g., geographic and social mobility required by industrialization).

Parsons' Warm Bath Theory

The idea that the supportive nuclear family environment releases stress for adult workers, stabilizing their personalities so they can continue functioning in society.

Engels' view on monogamous marriage

Developed alongside capitalism to guarantee paternity so wealthy men could pass private property and wealth down to their legitimate biological heirs.

Zaretsky's role of the family in capitalism

Acts as an ideological 'haven' that pacifies exploited workers and acts as a major unit of consumption to drive corporate profits.

Althusser's Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)

The family socialises children to accept authority, hierarchy, and obedience, preparing them to accept exploitation in the capitalist workforce.

Murdock's 4 Essential Functions

Sexual, Reproductive, Economic, and Educational (Socialisation).

Parsons' Functional Fit Theory

The idea that family structures shift over time (e.g., Extended to Nuclear) to fit the needs of the economy (e.g., geographic and social mobility required by industrialization).

Parsons' Warm Bath Theory

The idea that the supportive nuclear family environment releases stress for adult workers, stabilizing their personalities so they can continue functioning in society.

Engels' view on monogamous marriage

Developed alongside capitalism to guarantee paternity so wealthy men could pass private property and wealth down to their legitimate biological heirs.

Zaretsky's role of the family in capitalism

Acts as an ideological 'haven' that pacifies exploited workers and acts as a major unit of consumption to drive corporate profits.

Althusser's Ideological State Apparatus (ISA)

The family socialises children to accept authority, hierarchy, and obedience, preparing them to accept exploitation in the capitalist workforce.

Ansley's Marxist Feminist view on family

Women act as 'safety valves' who absorb the anger and frustration of male workers caused by capitalist exploitation.

Oakley's Liberal Feminist view on family

Gender inequality in the family is gradually improving through legal changes, changing social attitudes, and equal socialisation.

Radical Feminist view on the nuclear family

Sees the family as a patriarchal institution that oppresses women through male dominance, domestic labor exploitation, and gender roles.

New Right perspective on the family

Favours the traditional nuclear family with instrumental and expressive roles, arguing that non-traditional family structures lead to social breakdown.

Smart's Personal Life Perspective

Focuses on individual meanings, choices, and non-traditional bonds like pets, friends, and fictive kin, critiquing top-down structural theories.