functionalist views of the nuclear family

functionalist theories

* **family structures →** nuclear family is the basic building block of society, based on the relationships between husband and wife, and parents and children
* **functions →** the ways that families provide things that are needed for the members and serve societies’ needs

goode

as societies went through the process of industrialisation, they tended to adopt the nuclear family

murdock (1949)

carried out a survey of 250 societies, concluding that some kind of family was found in every human society. this is based on a nuclear family, however some family unites included other kin

he argued the family carries out four functions in all societies, and the nuclear family is the best equipped to carry these out:

* **sexual function →** people are encouraged to channel their sex drives into socially acceptable relationships
* **economic function →** in many societies, the family is a unit of production, working together to provide themselves with food etc. in western societies, families are units of consumption, buying goods and services for members. society benefits from the economic contribution made by families
* **reproduction →** without children, society would cease to exist
* **education →** family is main agent of primary socialisation. individuals grow up to be well-balanced individuals and ensures there is consensus about social norms in society

parsons (1951)

as societies industrialise, specialised institutions develop to perform functions previously carried out by families. this means families have fewer functions to carry out, so it no longer needs a large extended structure. parsons argues that in industrial societies the nuclear family has two essential functions to perform:


1. **socialisation of children →** family is the main agent of primary socialisation, but has less of a role in secondary socialisation. children are moulded by their parents to learn the norms and values of their society
2. stabilisation of adult personalities → married couples rely on each other for emotional support. parents benefit from being able to act out childish aspects of their personalities when playing with children

parsons also argues that the nuclear family is an ideal fit with the needs of industrial societies :

* husband and wife can carry out separate and complementary roles: father has the instrumental role; mother has the expressive role
* workers need to be geographically mobile in industrial society. nuclear families can move easily as are not tied to dependency from other family members
* in industrial societies, individuals earn their positions though proving their abilities, so extended families are no longer important in providing individuals with status

popenoe (neo-functionalist)

* there are biological necessities that underlie how families are organised, e.g. men and women are biologically different so suited for different roles
* ‘biosocial reality’ is needed, e.g. a set of guidelines for what families should be line
* other types of families not based on biological abilities are less functional than other, so children brought up in these families are more likely to be damaged by their early childhood experiences

evaluation of functionalism

functionalism is a grand theory; it makes broad generalisation about the families in all societies. it helps identify broad trends in how families develop

criticisms of functionalism

• functionalism presents a positive view of the nuclear family, ignoring its dark side, e.g. child abuse, domestic violence and conflict

• oliver james argues that many of the problems we experience in adult life can be traced back to early childhood

• functionalists ignore the diversity of families in modern society, lone-parent families and reconstituted families have existed since the 1950s. parsons assumes that only the nuclear family can carry out the essential functions of the family

• feminists would argue that parsons’ view of the family is sexist, as he assumes that men and women will naturally perform separate roles of equal status. in reality, traditional nuclear families are based on male power and dominance; the responsibilities of stabilisation of adult personalities fall on women but receive little recognition or support

• interactionist sociologists argued that parsons’ view of socialisation can be seen as a top-down process, whereby parents teach the norms and values of society into children who are waiting to be ‘filled’ with culture. socialisation can be seen as a two-way process in which children socialise their parents too

• postmodernists argue that parsons ignores the degree of choice available in contemporary societies. there are increasingly diverse and fluid families and households