2.1.1

Functionalist Views on Family

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Functionalist Views on Family

Functionalists believe social institutions are necessary for a society to function properly. A common analogy is that society is the body and the social institutions (e.g. family) function like organs.

What are Murdock's ideas?

What are Murdock's ideas?

  • According to the functionalist George Murdock, a family serves four functions:
    • Sexual: sexual relations between spouses allows for a closer bond, leading to family and social stability.
    • Economic: a family provides its members with all the necessities.
    • Educational: a family helps to transmit the norms and values of society to their children (primary socialisation).
    • Reproductive: a family ensures the reproduction of humans which allows for the continuation of society.
What are Parsons' ideas?

What are Parsons' ideas?

  • According to the functionalist Talcott Parsons, a family serves two functions:
    • Primary socialisation.
    • The stabilisation of adult personalities (S.O.A.P).
Primary socialisation

Primary socialisation

  • Parsons believed that the family is responsible for teaching the values and norms necessary for being part of society (primary socialisation).
  • According to Parsons, parents play different roles:
    • Mothers play the expressive role (being the caregivers).
    • Fathers play the instrumental role (being the breadwinners).
S.O.A.P.

S.O.A.P.

  • Stabilisation of adult personality (S.O.A.P.) means that a family is always there to protect family members from dangers and stressors.
  • The warm bath theory implies that a family is a safe haven where one can feel secure, which subsequently leads to a stable adult personality.

Criticism of Functionalist Family Views

There are several criticisms of the functionalist theory.

Ignoring inequalities

Ignoring inequalities

  • Functionalists ignore inequalities that take place in the family (e.g. domestic violence, child abuse).
  • Functionalists ignore inequalities that take place in society such as ethnic, gender, class, and age inequalities.
Outdated

Outdated

  • Murdock and Parsons’ research can be seen as outdated since people nowadays tend to have children outside of marriage.
  • Furthermore, gender roles have become obsolete as in many cases, families are dual-earners and partners tend to have joint conjugal roles.
Jump to other topics
1

The Sociological Approach

1.1

Introduction to Sociology

1.1.1What is Sociology?1.1.2Culture & Socialisation
1.2

Sociological Approaches

1.2.1Marxism1.2.2Marxism 21.2.3Functionalism1.2.4Feminism
1.3

The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate

1.3.1The Consensus vs. Conflict Debate1.3.2End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach
2

Families

2.1

Functions of Families

2.1.1Functionalist Views on Family2.1.2Marxist Views on Family2.1.3Feminist Views on Family
2.2

Family Forms

2.2.1What is a Family?2.2.2Nuclear Family2.2.3Families in a Global Context2.2.4The Rapoports & Family Diversity2.2.5Causes of Family Diversity2.2.6End of Topic Test - Family Forms
2.3

Conjugal Role Relationships

2.3.1Conjugal Roles
2.4

Changing Relationships Within Families

2.4.1Timeline2.4.2Domestic Abuse2.4.3Symmetrical Family
2.5

Criticisms of Families

2.5.1Functionalist Views of Families2.5.2Marxist Views of Families2.5.3Feminist Views of Families2.5.4Declining Marriage Rate2.5.5End of Topic Test - Criticisms of Families
2.6

Divorce

2.6.1Reasons For Rise in Divorce Rate2.6.2Consequences of Divorce2.6.3Functionalist Views2.6.4Marxist Views2.6.5Feminist Views2.6.6End of Topic Test - Divorce
3

Education

3.1

Roles & Functions of Education

3.1.1The Functionalist Approach3.1.2Evaluating Different Perspectives3.1.3Types of School3.1.4Alternative Education3.1.5State & Private Schools
3.2

Processes Within Schools

3.2.1Internal Processes3.2.2External Processes
3.3

Educational Achievement

3.3.1Measuring Educational Success3.3.2Social Class & Education3.3.3Social Class & External Factors3.3.4Gender & Education3.3.5Ethnicity & Education3.3.6Parental Choice3.3.7History of UK Education Policy3.3.8Recent UK Education Policy3.3.9End of Topic Test - Education
4

Crime & Deviance

4.1

The Social Construction of Crime

4.1.1Defining Crime & Deviance4.1.2Sociological Explanations of Crime4.1.3Interactionist Explanations of Crime4.1.4Alternative Explanations of Crime
4.2

Social Control

4.2.1Informal Social Control4.2.2Formal Social Control4.2.3End of Topic Test - Social Construction of Crime
4.3

Criminal & Deviant Behaviour

4.3.1Explanations of Crime4.3.2Social Class & Crime4.3.3Gender & Crime4.3.4Ethnicity & Crime4.3.5Age & Crime4.3.6Criminal Responsibility4.3.7The Prison System4.3.8Media Reporting of Crime4.3.9Functionalist Explanations of Crime
4.4

Data on Crime

4.4.1Measuring Crime4.4.2End of Topic Test - Criminal & Deviant Behaviour
5

Social Stratification

5.1

Social Stratification

5.1.1What is Social Stratification?5.1.2Functionalism5.1.3Socio-Economic Class5.1.4Socio-Economic Class 25.1.5Life Chances5.1.6The Affluent Worker5.1.7End of Topic Test - Social Stratifictaion
5.2

Poverty as a Social Issue

5.2.1Defining Poverty5.2.2Factors Affecting Poverty5.2.3Explanations of Poverty5.2.4Impact of Globalisation5.2.5End of Topic Test - Poverty as a Social Issue
5.3

Power & Authority

5.3.1Weber5.3.2Sociological Perspectives5.3.3Power Relationships5.3.4End of Topic Test - Power & Authority
6

Sociological Research Methods

6.1

Research Methods

6.1.1Research Design6.1.2The Scientific Method6.1.3Other Considerations6.1.4Primary Sources6.1.5Secondary Sources6.1.6Surveys6.1.7Sampling6.1.8Questionnaires6.1.9Interviews6.1.10Observation6.1.11Statistics6.1.12Case Studies6.1.13Longitudinal Studies6.1.14Ethnography6.1.15Experiments6.1.16Small Scale Research6.1.17End of Topic Test - Research Methods

Practice questions on Functionalist Views on Family

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  1. 1
    What does Parsons' warm bath theory describe?Multiple choice
  2. 2
    According to Murdock, what four functions does a family serve?Fill in the list
  3. 3
    What is one of the main criticisms of functionalist theory on family?Multiple choice
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End of Topic Test - The Sociological Approach

Marxist Views on Family