Families and households

Functionalist view of the family

Offers social solidarity, the nuclear family is the best family type

Durkheim

The role of the family as an institution, is to pass down traditional rules, norms and values

Murdock

The 4 functions of the family are reproduce, sexual, economic and socialisation

Marxist view of the family

Family is a tool of capitalism and it’s main function is to maintain capitalism and reinforce social inequalities

Althusser

The family acts as an ideological state apparatus, which means that the bourgeoisie control what we think

And, institutions like schools and familes teach people to accept their position in this capitalist society

Engles

The ‘Isolated’ nuclear family, which means that men are able to confirm when a child is theirs and the wealth of the family stays within the family

The family is ‘isolated’ because it’s reasonable for its own survival , organised around private household labor e.g. women’s unpaid labour

Zaretsky

The family us a unit of consumption as children ask for toys and products that the family feed into, feeding onto the capitalist society because they’re buying for upper class businesses

The family acts as a ‘cushion of stress” from the stresses of society e.g. with work or inequalities

Feminist view of the family

The nuclear family enforced patriarchal values, feminists focus on the strive for equality

Fran Ansley

Women are ‘Takers of shit’ of the household as they deal with all the men’s problems and stresses

Ann Oakley

‘Dual burden’- Women do unpaid labour (the household work) and paid labor (their actual job)

The ‘Triple shift’- the women do emotional work dealing with the stresses of their husband and children, unpaid domestic labour and paid labour

Germaine Greer

‘Political lesbianism’ theory that all women should date other women to smash the patriarchy and stop male domination in society

Post-Modernist view of the family

The nuclear family is outdated, family types are now diverse and continuously changing

Giddens

‘Confluent love’ is the idea of equal love between the couple instead of the women doing everything

Beck

The traditional nuclear family structure has declined and lost its influence now e.g. there are families that adopt, homosexual families and cohabiting families

Stacey

‘Divorce extended family’ type is one of the newer family types since the divorce reform act

The nuclear family has declined as it’s not the reality of life, it’s a stereotype

There are more diverse family types now such as the divorce extended

Personal life view of the family

There is no true definition of what a ‘Family’ is

You have your own choice as to who you consider your ‘Family’

May

The traditional family structures aren’t focused on anymore e.g. the nuclear family

Chosen families- who you consider to be family like friends that feel like family

Dead relatives are still family members

Non-biological people can feel more like family than your biological family members

Smart

It’s more important to have social bonds and connections that feel like family than considering family members family that don’t feel like them compared to friends etc

‘Fictive kin’ are family members that feel like family but aren’t blood related, but they feel more like family than you’re actual biologically related ones