Family - Topic 1 - Theories Of Family - Theorists

FUNCTIONALISM

Murdock (1949)

  • Argues that the family performs 4 essential functions to meet the needs of society and its members:

    • Stable satisfaction of the sex drive with the same partner - preventing the social disruption cause by a sexual ‘free-for-all’

    • Reproduction of the next generation - without which society could not continue

    • Socialisation of the young into society’s shared norms and values

    • Meeting its member’s economic needs, such as food and shelter

Criticisms of Murdock:

  • Feminists and Marxists argue that functionalism neglets conflict and exploitation

  • Feminists see the family as serving the needs of men and oppressing women.

  • Marxists argue that it meets the needs of capitalism, not those of family members or society as a whole

Parsons’ ‘functional fit’ theory (1955)

  • Says that the functions that the family performs will depend on the kind of society in which it is found.

  • He thinks that the functions a family has to perform will affect its shape or structure.

  • Parsons distinguishes between 2 kinds of family structure

    • The Nuclear Family of just parents and their dependent children.

    • The Extended Family of 3 generations living under one roof.

  • He argues that there are 2 basic types of society

    • Modern Industrial Society - Nuclear Family - has the function of social and geographical mobility

    • Pre-industrial Society - Extended Family - Had the function of production and consumption

  • He says that the Nuclear Family fits the needs of industrial society and the Extended Family fits the needs of pre-industrial society.

Criticisms of Parsons

  • Young & Willmott say that the pre-industrial society was nuclear, not extended as Parsons claims.

  • He does not consider any other family structures other than these two.

MARXISM

Eli Zaretsky (1976)

  • Sees the family as a prop to the capitalist system

  • Says that the family performs an ideological function by offering a ‘haven’ from the harsh capitalist world, in which workers can ‘be themselves’ and have a private life. However, Zaretsky argued that this is an illusion - the family cannot meet its member’s needs.

Criticisms of Zaretsky

  • He exaggerated the extent that the family can be escaped from alienating work. Since the family can also be cahracterised by cruelty, neglect and violence

Engles

  • Believed that the family exists so that men can pass their private property onto their biological offspring, notably their son

Poulantzas (1969)

  • Argued that the family had a heirachal structure - when children are socialised, they are taught to accept their position in the family and society

David Cooper (1972)

  • Argued that the family has a ‘head’ - children are taught that their is always someone in charge, usually a man.

  • This prepares them for taking orders at work from capitalist employers. ‘An ideological conditioning device’.

FEMINSM

Fran Ansley (1972) - Marxist Feminist

  • Describes women as ‘takers of shit’ who soak up the fustration their husbands feel because of the alienation and exploitation they suffer at work.

Germaine Greer (2000) - Radical Feminist

  • Argues for the creation of all ‘matrilocal’ households as an alternatived to the heterosexual family.

  • Argues that even in marriage, women are subservient to their husbands and that single women are much happier, proven by the fact that women are most likely to suffer domestic abuse.

Redfern & Aune (2013) - Radical Feminists

  • Concluded that male violence against women is the prodcut of patriarchal ideas that see women as a second-class citizen.

Firestone (1971) - Radical Feminst

  • Believes that the use of IVF will remove women’s dependence on men for their childbearing requirements.

Calhoune (1997) - Difference Feminst

  • Argued that women cannot be exploited by men in lesbian families.

PERSONAL LIFE PERSPECTIVE

Nordqvist & Smart (2014)

  • Did a study on Donor-conceived children and found that although they are not related by blood, parents emphasised the importance of social relationships over genetic ones in defining family.

Beck Gernstein (2002)

  • Argued that the growth of individualisation means that it is no longer clear who or what is part of the family