Task 1: ‘Functionalist accounts of the family underestimate the extent of conflict within families’. Discuss with reference to relevant sociological theories and examples.
The Functionalist sociologist, Murdock (1949) defined the ‘family as a social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction’ (Sociology In Focus p62). He claimed it must include adults of both sexes of whom maintain a socially accepted sexual relationship, and own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults. Murdock's definition is focuses on the Nuclear family stereotypically made up of a ‘two-generation family heterosexual couples with offspring’ (Moore, Chapman and Aiken p136). This definition of the family is popular among right wing sociologists who believe it is the ideal type of family unit that people should aspire to have. They argue this because they believe the nuclear family is the best type of family for the individual and for society. This is why they encourage it and regard it as the most beneficial family structure. They believe that it is the nuclear family unit by which the process of socialisation is transmitted at its strongest with the most benefit for society. However, functionalists tend to see the family as harmonious but this is simply not the case in society today. For example, a farming family produces food while here in the west, the family is a unit of consumption, families buy goods and services for the rest of their family members, therefore contribute to the economy and to the wider society. Murdock believes that, 'no society has succeeded in finding an adequate substitute for the nuclear family' (Sociology In Focus p62) however, the American Parsons argues that, the nuclear family ...
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...broadly favour an education system. However, unlike functionalists, New Right does not believe that the current education system is achieving these goals. According to New Right, the reason for their failure is that it’s run by state.
Overall, the families today has changed since the time of Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism, however, they are relevant issues to some part of family life for example; roles of men and women are different because of anatomy. Men cannot physically be pregnant so they can go to work without any ties on the other hand women are biologically designed to have children. Marxism and Functionalism would agree with this statement. However feminists say this should allow women's right to work, it could be agreed with what feminists say that women can have children and work but should balance looking after their children with employment.
The film, “The Sociology of Families and Households”, examines families from a sociological perspective, as it discusses the ways in which the meaning of family has changed throughout history. To better understand how families have changed throughout several decades, the film discusses how structural functionalism, Marxist theory and feminist theory have played a role in defining what a family is, or was at that time in history. The film also examines a few key challenges facing families, such as divorce, single parent households, finding a balance between work and the family and the formation of stepfamilies. Conclusively, the film discusses how the changes in society affect how families function
In chronicling how the family structure has changed in America, it is important to understanding how family was actually defined. When referencing Leave it to Beaver (further referred to as LITB) times, family took on a substantive definition, or the idea that family was equivalent to relative, or related by blood or law. While this definition of family served the time period, it failed to evolve with society. For that reason, sociologists set out to determine a “more inclusive functionalist definition,” that focuses on what families do. “A functionalist definition of families focuses on how families provide for the physical, social, and emotional needs of individuals and of society as a whole” (Witt). With that, the functionalist perspective identifies six primary functions, which include reproduction, socialization, protection, regulation of sexual behavior, affection and companionship, and...
In the course of this essay I shall be looking at the role of the
This paper explores the nuclear family within the context of the sociology of gender. Michael Kimmel and Jacqueline Holler (2011) indicatethat conservative social groups such as REAL Women of Canada define the nuclear family in terms of the 1950s gender norms reflected in popular television shows such as of Leave it to Beaver(Kimmel & Holler, p. 141).In this type of traditional family dad goes out to work to support the family and mom stays home to watch the children and take care of the home. Kimmel and Holler reference the view that the nuclear family involves “a legal lifelong sexually exclusive, heterosexual monogamous marriage, based on affection and companionship, in which there is a sharp division of labour with the female as full time housewife and the male as primary provider and ultimate authority” (Kimmel & Holler, p. 141). Atraditional or nuclearfamily such as that described by Kimmel and Holler is typically made up of the father,the mother and atleast one child. The relationship between the man and the woman is heterosexual, they are legally married and their children are ideally produced through sexual union rather than adoption (Class Notes, 01/28/14).
One definition is “a significant social group in society typically consisting of one or two parents and their children.” While such definition is a good starting point, some modern family structures are excluded by such definition. In her essay, “Family: Idea, Institution, and Controversy,” Betty Farrell apparently assumes that the traditional family has dramatically changed, and the dynamics of change—altered the definition of a “family.” A family is no longer a picture of a particular image of the mythic past, referring to the golden days of the “1950s.” It is no longer a father, mother and their biological children living together under one roof (and certainly not with the a breadwinner father and a stay-at-home mother). In today 's modern society, it is now common to see women raising their children by themselves without their husbands’ help; unmarried couples living together; and gay and lesbian couples—while far from being universally accepted—adopting and raising children to complete their families. Therefore, despite the children living in one-parent households, or they do not live with their “married-heterosexual-biological-parents” under the same roof—does not necessarily mean they are not families. Farrell states that “a family is defined not so much by a particular set of people as by the quality of relationships that bind them together.” In other words, Farrell believes that a “family” is more than just a collection
The phrase “Nuclear Family” is a concept whose true complexity seems to have escaped our intellectual grasps until recent decades. Before, this model of familial relations was regarded as the standard or the cultural norm that no one seemed to question because this was the way it had been done, in most societies, since people could remember. Today though, with our ever-evolving cultures and belief systems, the ideology of and behind a nuclear family has come into question. What is or should be the true definition of a nuclear family? Is a nuclear family really the best way to raise children and sustain society? Are there any negative aspects of the nuclear family model that we may have not considered, and if so, what are they? These questions and others have become the center of a worldwide debate regarding family systems and diversity; the interesting part is the subjectivity of this topic and the amount of factors that affect the arguments from both sides, making it difficult to reach any sort of viable conclusion. Our modern world rapidly evolves in both subjects of technology and sociopolitical ideology, causing questions such as these to be subject to many different perspectives and thus causing many different reactions.
Today, in a world of the “postmodern family” the traditional lines of family structure are blurred. Children may come from diverse types of homes, or a couple, married or not may choose to have no children and consider themselves a family. The roots of these modern families may stem from ethnic origins, sexual orientations, or even seen as a rebellion of sorts from traditional ways. Children may live in homes of single parents, which is an exceedingly more common phenomenon as the divorce rate well publicized at around fifty percent. They may also live with homosexual parents either as a biological child of one partner or adopted by both. Also, the traditional married couple may choose to adopt locally or internationally, potentially blending ethnic backgrounds into one household. Whatever the background of the new nuclear family the challenges and experiences follow similar patterns.
Our society is constantly moving. Everyday men and women from around the globe wake up and commence with their daily routines. In the traditional iconic American household of the 1950s, the husband might start his day by preparing for work while his wife starts hers by preparing breakfast for the family and then taking the kids to school. Sociologist have long thought about the causes behind the actions of the male and their female counterpart in society. Two very different popular theories have emerged to explain this phenomenon. The first theory, functionalism, views society as complex system with different part working together to ensure societies survival (Page 13). The second theory, Conflict Theory. This theory argues that the actions
Society seems to have many different opinions when it comes to relationships and families and what is ideal. The ideal family may not exist anymore. We now have in our society families that are complete that do not necessarily contain the traditional material. The traditional family, as society would see it; usually consist of a married, mother and father and usually children. Moms are supposed to stay at home while dads work the forty-hour a week job. However, in our 2003 world, families exist in a lot of non-traditional ways. A lot of families now consist of single parent families, or same sex parents and their children, or even couples that are unmarried but live together. And even now, if a family contains what society sees as traditional as far as having a mom, dad, and kids, other aspects are not traditional anymore. Women now have more opportunity in the workplace than they have ever had, therefore, many moms are career moms and dads are sometimes staying at home. Years ago, these types of families were given labels for being dysfunctional or abnormal, however, this label is not holding up as well as it did years ago. There are many non-traditional families that are raising children in a loving, nurturing home with a substantial amount of quality love. Quality is the key in any relationship between anyone. Society is finding out that it is not the traditional image that makes a loving family, but the quality of a relationship that people give to each other is what really makes a family. In the essay "The Myth of the "Normal" Family", written by Lousie B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach, they make references to the cultural idea of what a "normal" family should be and what i...
The sociological definition of the family is “a set of people related by blood, marriage or some other agreed-upon relationship, or adoption, who share the primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for members of society” (Schaeffer, 2009, p. 288). While the nuclear family (a man, a woman, and their children) was once the primary definition of family, now it refers to many familial configurations. Single-parent families, blended families, same-sex couples, traditional nuclear families and single-parents who have adopted are just a few of the configurations that society in general now views as a family. A healthy family will provide a place of unconditional love, acceptance and support.
A functionalist perspective suggests that our society is made up of interdependent parts and that gender roles support its social stability, balance and equilibrium. According to “The Sociology of Gender: Theoretical Perspectives and Feminist Frameworks” by Linda L Lindsey, “In preindustrial societies social equilibrium was maintained by assigning different tasks to men and women. Given the hunting and gathering and subsistence farming activities of most preindustrial societies, role specialization according to gender was considered a functional necessity.” During this time survival was a more difficult task and so men and women had to rely on each other to live. In today’s society, these roles have begun to shift and it is more common to find females providing while males stay at home, but for the majority, our original gender roles are still intact. The functionalist theory even in a contemporary society finds that the survival of the family unit relies on conservative gender roles. This theory is not realistic in today’s society because women are more motivated to be educated and career based, instead of devoting their life to motherhood. Lindsey claims, “ Such a divide is artificial and dysfunctional when families need to cope with the growing
The nuclear family is a married man and women who are raising their biological children. It is better known as the common view of a household. In the 1960’s this family, and religious, view was followed by the majority of the people in the United States that if one had to guess they type of family one live with there would be an eighty percent chance that they live in a nuclear family (Luscombe). This image of a family has been engraved into our brains that anything else is unacceptable. However, over the years that view has been altered by single divorce, single parenting, cohabitation, children born out of wedlock, and gay parenting. In fact, the U.S. has seen drastic rise different types of families over the last fifty years (Castelloe).
Functionalists emphasise the harmonious nature of the nuclear family, believing it provides a more stable environment for the family and its individual members but also for society as a whole. It draws attention to the positive aspects of family life, fitting in with many people’s experience and expectation of the family as somewhere they are safe and cared for. Functionalists see the father taking an instrumental role, supporting the family by earning a wage with the mother taking the expressive role, caring, nurturing and taking main responsibility for the home and childcare. New Right agrees segregated conjugal roles are human nature and are reinforced by society’s norms and values.
“A family can be defined as a set of people related by blood, marriage or in some other agreed upon relationship, or adoption, who share primary responsibility for reproduction and caring for member of society". (Schaefer, 2009, p. 288) This leads to a wide open range of interpretation on the exact definition of how a family is truly made up. Depending on your culture, religion, or geographical location a family may represent and be comprised of many different ideals and social norms. There are many theoretical perspectives that have their own interpretations on the subject of what a family is and how it is perceived. I will attempt to expound on three of these perspectives; Functionalism, Conflict, and Interactionalism.
Sociologists look at society from either a macro or micro view and the theories that define their work are based on those perspectives. There are several family theories that we learned about this semester. Briefly, Structural-Functionalism and Conflict Theory are “macro” theories in sociology. Structural-Functionalism sees society as a living machine made up of different parts which work together for the good of society. Individuals, as well as Institutions work together, and the family is the key to the well-functioning machine. Emile Durkheim, considered the Father of Sociology argues social solidarity, where people do the right thing, create harmony and have shared values. According to Durkheim the nuclear family is the only type of institution that can achieve that. Conflict Theory sees society as a pyramid with those at the top having more power and influence than those at the bottom. Males in society have more power than females. There is a power imbalance, which could lead to oppression o...