Functionalist views on family (includes types of families)

A family (ONS definition)

A married couple/cohabiting couple with or without children, or a lone parent with at least one child.

A household (ONS definition)

one person living alone, or a group of people (not necessarily related) living at the same address who share cooking facilities, a living room sitting room or dining room.

A family (GP Murdock definition)

a social group characterised by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. Includes adults of both sexes who have a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children.

The Nuclear Family

a family unit made up of two parents of the opposite sex and their children, who live together in the same household

The extended family

where relatives such as uncles/ aunts or grandparents reside permanently in the same household as those making up the nuclear family

The reconstituted family

two partners living in one household sharing parental duties for one or more children, but only one of them is the biological parent.

The lone parent family

one adult with one or more children living in one household

pivot generation

the generation sandwiched between the elderly and young, responsible for both

The same sex family

two adults of the same sex living together with children

The four functions of the nuclear family according to Murdock

Sexual

Reproductive

Economic

Educational

what is the sexual function according to Murdock

regulates sexual behaviour and encourages fidelity (faithfulness).

promotes marriage as a social goal

what is the reproductive function according to Murdock

the next generation. Children function to stabilise marriage.

what is the economic function according to Murdock

the family pools resources and provides for all members. Children are dependent on parents for a number of years so parents become productive workers while contributing to the economy and society.

what is the educational function according to Murdock

function of primary socialisation

What is the Functionalist belief about what the family does?

maintains social order and cohesion by fulfilling a number of key functions that help meet the basic needs of society.

What did Murdok argue about families

family is so useful to society that it is inevitable and universal. This means that it’s impossible not to have family units in society

what does Talcott Parsons argue

family structures and relationships have been shaped by the industrial revolution

Parsons - two irreducible functions

Primary socialisation of children - a child could only become a responsible and effective social adult if socialised into shared norms and values (value consensus). Families were ‘personality factories’

The stabilisation of adult personalities - relieves stresses of everyday living/working for adults of the family which was essential as extended family no longer close by.

Criticisms of Murdock

• Murdock’s definition of the family is very ethnocentric (prioritising the values and culture of a particular group). It is reflective of a particular time and place - 1940s America.

• Murdock’s emphasis on two parents, and particularly heterosexual marriage, is politically conservative: he believed there were ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ ways to organise family life.

Talcott Parsons - Pre-industrial societies

• small farming communities and extended families often lived on and worked on the same plot of land to provide for the whole family.

• family gave children the basic skills and education they needed to take on the role of an adult on the farm

• everyone was responsible for caring for the other members - grandparents looked after children when parents were working; the elderly were looked after

The effects of industrialisation on the family (4)

• during industrial rev, factories were built in urban areas, requiring families to be geographically mobile in order to get to work.

• the nuclear family moved away from their extended families for wage-labour opportunities.

• once adults were earning wages in factories, they no longer had the time to produce their own food, shelter etc, therefore dependent on - and help create demand for - businesses to provide resources like food.

• family no longer had time to educate its children or care for its elderly, so the state eventually took over these functions.

Warm bath theory

nuclear family could act as a ‘warm bath’ - Soothes and relaxes the mind and body after a day of being exposed to the stresses of the workplace and modern-day living. Parsons believed that marriage was crucial to this.

explain the stabilisation of adult personalities

Steel and Kidd (2001) note that the home is a place where you can ‘let yourself go’. This stabilises the adult personality and strengthens social stability in wider society because it gives men and women clear and distinct social roles.

• The husband - instrumental leader - responsible for economic welfare, living standards and protection. Wage earner. Head of household.

• The wife - expressive leader - socialisation of children and responsible for emotional care and support of family members