Theories of the family

Functionalist - Murdock

Sexual - satisfies partners, ensuring adultury doesnt happen and peoples sex drives are satisfied. Reproductive - Produces next gen so society keeps going. Socialisation - Teaches value consensus and educates. Economic - Supports, and provides food/shelter. Criticism: Ignores conflict, and other family types can still perform better.

Parsons ‘functional fit’ theory

Certain family types ‘fit’ the needs of society. This society is nuclear, and it needs a geographically mobile workforce, as in pre industrial, extended families would all work together, but in modern, it’s easier for nuclear families to move around to work. Also needs a socially mobile workforce, nuclear is better as they leave homes, avoiding tension between families and their achieved status’ at work.

Functional fit continued

After society industrialised, it moved from extended to nuclear, and lost its function of unit of consumption, but now it performs SOAP, and primary socialisation.

Marxist view on family

Inheritance of property - Marx - In the earliest stage of society (‘primitive communism’) no one owned property. Engels - Now, people own private property, so monogamy became popular as men had to have paternity so their children could inherit. Ideological function - Socialises children into the idea that hiearchy and inequality are inevitable e.g with men being head of family. Zaretsky - offers a ‘haven’ from harsh world of capitalism. Unit of consumption - ‘keep up with the jonses’ and buy new products, media encourages children to use ‘pester power’ to get new items. Children must have latest stuff or risk being mocked.

Liberal feminist view on family

Women’s oppression is gradually being overcome, with laws such as sex discrimination act (1975), and we are moving to equality. Men now doing labour etc.

Marxist feminism

Capitalism oppresses women. Women reproduce labour force through unpaid domestic labour and socialising next generation of workers. Women absorb anger from it, Ansley - ‘takers of shit. Women are reserve army of cheap labour.

Radical feminist view

Men are the enemy, family is key patriarchal institution and men benefit from women’s unpaid labour and sexual services, and dominate through domestic violence and the threat of it . Political lesbianism - don’t sleep with men, Greer - Shouod make matrifocal households

Difference feminism

Can’t generalise about women’s experiences. All different ethnicities, sexualities, and classes.

PLP

Now beyond blood ties and marriage, e.g friends, pets, ‘chosen families’ and donor concieved children,