Within society, the role of family and its importance in shaping our behavior cannot be overstated. Whether examining the construct of family through functionalism, conflict theory, or symbolic interactionism; the role of the family in society’s structure is apparent via examination of the social aspects of family from these three perspectives.
The role of family according to the functionalist perspective is to help create the six basic needs necessary for the survival of society. Before going further into the details, the functionalist perspective must first be explained. The Functionalist perspective of sociology teaches that if a society wishes to survive it must fulfill basic requirements. Functionalism views society as a whole unit composed
…show more content…
Power is the source of conflict in this struggle as well (Henslin, 2014). The power struggle between husband and wife has always been due to the fact that the husband has historically always had it, which the wife resents according to conflict theory. As time goes on, the wife has slowly begun to gain more power in the United States. This is due to the rise of feminism as well as an increase of women within the workforce. The increase of women within the workforce has allowed women to increase their capacity to earn on their own. This has left them more independent of the husband who was once considered the only wage earner in the family. Now that women can make money on their own, they are no longer reliant on the man for the role of bringing home the bread and can bring income in for the family. They are as a result more independent wives. The rise of feminism also gave the wife more a yearning for equality. Feminism teaches equality for both male and female sexes. Since this requires that men be equal to women, this creates further conflict between the husband who wants to be dominant and the wife who yearns for her rights. Hence both of these factors have furthered the conflict between the husband and wife and restructured the head of household within the family, thus affecting different norms of
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...
There are three types of theoretical perspective. 1. Functionalism, 2. Conflict, 3. Symbolic Interactionism. All of the theses functions help preserve social stability and keep a society working. These perspectives are very important to analysis the important factors about family values and family structure. According to the book first, primary rules for social function of the family is socializing children. Second is to have an emotional and practical support which related to Functionalist perspective. Meaning provides shelter, food, clothes, love, comfort and etc. The functionalist perspective emphasizes the interconnectedness of our society by mostly focusing on how everyone is included with the others in society. The other sociological aspects from the family perspective are the Conflict Perspective. In contrast, the conflict perspective views society as composed of different groups and interest competing for power and resources. This theory explains the various aspect of our social world. For an example: feminist argue that we live in the society where only men have the power or control in the relationship. The last but not least is the symbolic interactionist perspective, which explains how the social problems are affected at the
“In sociology, a theory is the framework for analysis that outlines what to focus on and provides predictions about logical outcomes within the framework.” (Durkin & Carrothers, 2015, Ch. 1.3, para 1) Sociologists have been trying to create a single theory to give explanations and understandings towards social and human behavior. However, this has only caused more theoretical perspectives to sprout and has led to the creation of three main theoretical perspectives within sociology. These perspectives are used to explain the social behavior and phenomena that are experienced and shown by humans. The perspectives are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interaction. This paper will focus on conflict theory and the influence that Karl
"A family is a small social group of people related by ancestry or affection, who share common values and goals, who may live together in the same dwelling, and who may participate in the bearing and raising of children. They have a physical or emotional connection with each other that is ongoing" (Vissing, 2011) and is the foundation of all societies. They can be formed by a grouping of father-mother-children or even more complicated combination of relatives. In the primary stage of family life in the United States, everyone from every generation lived together in one house. Subsequently, the idea of traditional family evolved and a married couple with children is at present, often called the traditional family. There are many types of families; however, this paper will focus on the traditional family. It will describe how the functionalist perspective, conflict perspective, and the interactionism theory apply to the sociological institution known as a family. It will explain some of the similarities and differences between the sociological theories in regards to families and how they affect the family members.
In sociology we have learned about the three major sociological perspectives which are; symbolic interactionism, functionalism, or conflict theory. Conflict theory is my favorite topic that I learned about this year. Conflict theory was founded by Karl Marx that claims society is in a state of perpetual conflict due to competition for limited resources. Conflict theory holds that social order is maintained by domination and power, rather than consensus and conformity. The main elements in social conflict are that society is created in ways to benefit the higher class, and factors such as race, sex, class, and age are likely to experience social inequality. To a social conflict theorist, it is all about dominant group vs. minority group relations. Karl Marx is considered the 'father ' of social conflict theory. The movie “The Hunger Games” shows many examples of social conflict throughout the whole movie.
Every culture has its own rules about roles and own way of socializing children. The goal is that the adults will teach the next generation the rules and roles that are expected in their culture. The family stabilizes the adult personality by supporting them emotionally. Every culture has their own view of what that might look like. Pre-slavery Billingsley (1968) specify,
The Functionalist View of the Family It is undoubted that functionalism has contributed to the general understanding of the family, even if you don’t believe the functionalist view-point to be correct, it still plays an essential part in the topic of sociology by simply being there to conflict the Marxist view of the family. The functionalist view of society makes the assumption that every society has a range of basic needs. Functionalists would say that if these needs are being met then the society is functioning and it is more likely to survive over a longer period of time. Functionalist view is considered to be a consensus theory because it tends to accentuate the “need” for shared norms and values. Several functionalist sociologists have tried to explain the relevance of families in society, and the reasons (other then the obvious biological reason) as to why they exist.
This paper will examine sociological theories and how they relate to the social institution of the family. We typically view society as a group of people, but in sociology, society is not a group of people but a social organization. People are molded by society to fit within the accepted societal bounds. Society must be understood using “the meanings that people put on their values and beliefs” (Bartle, 2010). Within sociology there are three major perspectives. These are the Functionalist, Conflict and Interactionist Perspectives. Each perspective views society in different manners, with each being correct and relevant since social institutions are too complex to be defined by any one theory. Each perspective will be used to explain the perspectives’ relevance to the family.
or more who live with each other or near by. This type is typical of
Firstly, conflict theory or perspective focuses on the negative, controversy, and the ever-changing nature of society, and it is considered to be macro. Conflict theorists are pro-change, they encourage change even in the means of social revolution. The wealthy and the powerful people impose social order on the lower class level people. A sociological hierachy is put into place, where it clearly illustrates that, and also it expeandes Marx’s idea that the main conflict in society was economical. This theory forms a type of competition because in todays world not only does the conflict theory targets economics, but it also targets many important issues such as race, gender, religion, and politics. The conflict theory deals with the incompatible aspect in human society. Conflict theory has many different modes. Warfare and revolution is one of the conflict theory modes. An example of warfare is that going on currently in Burma, where there is military versus population fighting for control over the country’s government. Another mode of conflict is strikes. Now days this is a typical response back to unfair acts.
The study of the social interactions of society led to some very prominent theories on the social structure of a given society. Karl Marx, who was considered to be the father of conflict theory, claimed that in any society there is a division of social classes, where one group gets and maintains control of the other groups, oftentimes exploiting those of lesser social standing. This consequently leads to a conflict of the social classes in a struggle to gain or maintain power. The names of these distinct social classes have changed over time but their defining characte...
Family by its nature is a social unit wherein children grow up and it acts like the socialization agent. Children receive their earliest and most consistent socialization here in the family. In a family it is very important as to how parents cater the needs of their children and how children take care of them in return. Parents as well as the child are very important part of the developmental process, as it is the parents who will shape the children as what they will become. The parent child relationship influences each other and together they shape the relationship they engage in it. Family is a social unit where in all the members living together is related to one another. Family is regarded
The family is a societal institution which initiates the positive and negative process of social interactions between people. Over the last few decades what constitutes the family has changed all over the world. Family in today’s environment is diverse in nature and may go beyond the scope of parents and children. Families can consist of variations in relationships such as close relatives, stepparents, half siblings and extended non-biological family members. Normally, immediate family members live in the same house, nearby, until the child reaches a specified age and maturity to go into the world and start their own family. Most often members of the families have intimate and personal relationships with each other. Within the family there is a continuation of social interactions between members that can influence and shape peoples responses and reactions to their larger societies.
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...
Family is a fundamental social institution in society, the family, is considered the primary and most important agent of socialization. Family typically consists of a man and woman and their children or two or more people who usually reside in the same home and share same goals and values. Traditionally, in all societies, the family has always been seen as a social institution; that has the biggest impact on society.