Murdock and Parsons- functionalist theories of the family

Value consensus- need for societies to share beliefs and religions to function and achieve a common goal

Murdock:

Functions of the family:

  • P: rimary socialisation of the children to build value consensus

  • R: eprodction- stability for rearing of children

  • E: conomic- food and shelter

  • S: atisfaction of the

  • S: ex drive (for the man)- socially acceptable/approved

Nuclear family is a universal institution found in some form in every society.

CRITICISMS:

Marxist:

  • Nuclear family feature of capitalist society that oppresses the proletariat

  • Serves needs of capitalism not the members of the family

  • Outsourced socialisation to misery workers

Feminist

  • Family not all positive (DV, child abuse)

  • Experience of family not same for everyone (men and women)

  • Nuclear family feature of patriarchy designed to oppress women and children

Ethnocentric

  • Nuclear family superior

  • Women have less of a role in socialisation

Gittins 1993

  • Only relationships are universal

Barrett and McIntish 1991

  • Idea of nuclear family being universal significant

Chester

  • Snapshots of household types is misleading as most live in families

ONS

  • 66% families in UK nuclear

Parsons:

Functional fit theory- there are two basic types of society

Modern industrial society (MIS)- nuclear family fits the needs of this type of society

  • Geographically mobile workforce

    • Industries spring up and decline across the UK, and the world

      • People need to be able to travel to get jobs

    • It’s easier for the nuclear family to travel as they don’t have deep ties to local communities, so they fit the needs of a MIS better

  • Socially mobile workforce- meritocratic society

    • MIS based on constantly evolving science and technology, which requires a skilled and technically competent workforce

    • Talented people can win promotions and good jobs despite their backgrounds

      • Status defined by effort and ability, not ascribed by background or class

    • Social mobility means that, through hard work, a labourer could become a lawyer

    • Nuclear family best fit for MIS as extended families have greater hierarchy which cannot be transferred to the workforce as to not cause tensions e.g. father is the head of the household as he as the best job, but social mobility means the son could get a better job and earn more, which would threaten the father's authority and disrupt the traditional family dynamics.

    • Mobile nuclear family is structurally isolated from extended kin and has no obligations to maintain relationships that could complicate the family hierarchy, allowing for greater flexibility in job opportunities and reducing potential conflicts over status.

Pre-industrial society (PIS)- extended family fits needs

  • The pre-industrial family was a multi-functional unit.

    For example, it was both a unit of production in which

    family members worked together, for example on the

    family farm, and a unit of consumption, feeding and

    clothing its members. It was a more self-sufficient

    unit than the modern nuclear family, providing for

    its members’ health and welfare and meeting most

    individual and social needs.

  • However, according to Parsons, when society

    industrialises, the family not only changes its structure from

    extended to nuclear, it also loses many of its functions.

    For example, the family ceases to be a unit of production:

    work moves into the factories and the family becomes a

    unit of consumption only. It also loses most of its other

    functions to other institutions, such as schools and the

    health service.

CRITICISMS:

Young and Wilmott 1973

  • It’s the other way round

    • Cottage industries had parents and children working together

  • Hardship of early industrial period caused a mum-centred w/c extended family

    • Mums and married daughters gave each other financial, practical and emotional support

  • Exchange theory

    • Individuals break off/maintain family ties due to cost and benefits involved

  • From 1900 the nuclear family emerged due to social changes (better living standards, married women working, welfare state, housing) that decreased the importance of extended family as support

    • Extended family didn’t disappear, was still used for financial help, childcare, and emotional support

Laslett 1972

  • Study of English households 1564-1821 found they were nuclear due to late childbearing and short life expectancies

Anderson 1980

  • Study of mid-19th century Preston showed the popularity of the w/c extended family

    • Harsh conditions mean that the benefits (older kin childcare, orphaned relatives taken in to increase income and help with rent) outweighed the costs