Families and Household - Functionalism

Functionalist - key points

• consensus theory + structural approach

• organic analogy

• family is an institution that meets the basic needs of society in maintaining social order

Organic analogy

• see society as a living organism e.g. the body

• they believe that the institution in society are like organs in the body

  • e.g. the family, religion and education

• each institution has a function to keep society running smoothly - just like organs keep the body alive

• all parts are interdependent - they rely on each other to work properly

  • if one part fails the whole system is affected

George Peter Murdock

• argues that the family performs 4 functions to meet the needs of society

  • stable satisfaction of the sex drive

  • reproduction of the next generation

  • socialisation of the young

  • meeting its members economic needs e.g. food, shelter

Talcott Parsons

• nuclear family performs 2 functions

  • primary socialisation of children

  • stabilisation of adults

Parsons’ Functional Fit Theory

• believed that the type of family changes to fit the needs of the society it is in

  • pre-industrial society — extended family

  • industrial society — nuclear family

Parsons’ in relation to the industrial revolution

when Britain began to industrialise their was a shift from extended families to nuclear families

• a geographically mobile workforce

  • in the industrial society, people had to move to different areas for jobs

  • it was easier for nuclear families to move compared to extended families

• a socially mobile workforce

  • in industrial society, people can move up or down the social ladder because the allocation of jobs is based on effort rather than family background

  • extended families — status is fixed

  • nuclear families — meritocracy

Criticism of the Functionalist view

• see society through “rose tinted” glasses

  • ignores the dark side of the family e.g. abuse of women, child abuse etc

  • Marxists and Feminists believe that there is inequality

• out dated

  • Parsons’ view of “instrumental” (male) and “expressive” (women) is old fashioned

  • women can now be the breadwinner in either a dual income family or even in being the main source of income in the family

• ignores the exploitation of women

  • functionalists ignore the way women suffer from sexual divisions of labour e.g. women doing the cooking and men mowing the lawn

  • women working in the home undermines their position in paid employment - e.g. working part time to look after the kids