The contribution of functionalist views to our understanding of the family
How do functionalist views contribute to our understanding of the family? Tjhis essay discusses the functionalist viewpoint of many sociologist shuch as Murdock’s four main functions of the family and Parsons’ ideas about primary socialisation and development of personalities.
As Item B stated, the functionalist viewpoint of the family is that the family is a vital ‘organ’ in maintaining the ‘body of society. Functionalists suggest that the family has several responsibilities placed on it; these are the functions it performs in society. These functions are mainly based around the family’s role in preparing children for the adult world, and with satisfying the family’s basic needs which enable society to survive. Functionalists are also interested in how the family fits in with other social institutions like education or work so that society can function efficiently. Functionalist sociologists like Murdock suggest that the nuclear family is an important social institution performing vital functions in maintating society that is found in most societies. He studied over 250 different societies and compared the family setup. He concluded that the nuclear family was indeed a global institution. Murdock also suggested, from his global studies, that the nuclear family performed four vital functions, economic, sexual, reproduction, and socialisation. …show more content…
At its most basic, economic means providing food and shelter for the child. This shows commitment and the children depend on this for their health and wellbeing.By being workers, families help the economy. Reproduction referres to cildbearing occurring in a marital and family cotext in most cultures. Children hep to stabalise marital relationships and family life. Reproduction is a key function to help with the continuation of society. Sexual means that the family helps to regulate sexual behaviour within a socially approved, marital context. Socialisation is the transmission of culture to the next generation, It teaches children norms and values and acceptable behaviour. However, some sociologists have criticisms of his ideas. Feminists say that Murdock’s ideas actually opress women. This is because the needs of the men tend to be paid more attention to. Another criticism is that some societies and cultures dont have families, for example the Nayer communiyt where there is no such thing as marriage and the female’s uncle bring up the child. Murdock’s view is also outdated; it fails to take into account modern trends that have occured in the late 20th to the 21st century. For exapmle, reproductive techniques have advanced to aid procration and reproduction (like IVF). The sexual function is no longer needed as social attitudes have changed towards having sex outsid eof marriage and of other sexualities. Socialisation is usually not done as much by the family either, maass media like TV shows and external sources like school tend to play a large part in the socialisation of children. Parsons was an American functionalist writer who examined family life in the 1950s. He argued that there are two basic functions of the family that are found in every society. These are the primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of human personalities. Parsons saw primary socialisation as involving the learning and internalisation of society’s culture, such as the language, history, and values of a society. …show more content…
He argues that society would cease to exist if the new generation were not socialised into accepting society’s basic norms and values. In his view, this socialisation in the family is so powerful that society’s culture actually becomes part of the individual’s personality, people are moulded in terms of the central values of the culture and act in terms of the central values of the culture and act in certain ways without thinking about it. Parsons argued that therefore, families are essentially like factories producing human personalities and only the family can provide the emotional warmth and security to achieve this. In industrial societies, the need for money and work, the lack of power and independence combined with boredom at work, the pressure to achieve success and support the family all threaten to destabilise personalities. Parsons suggests that the family helps to stabilise personalities by the sexual divisions of labour in the family. In Parson’s view, the women have an expressive role, providing warmth, security and emotional support to
How do functionalist views contribute to our understanding of the family? Tjhis essay discusses the functionalist viewpoint of many sociologist shuch as Murdock’s four main functions of the family and Parsons’ ideas about primary socialisation and development of personalities.
As Item B stated, the functionalist viewpoint of the family is that the family is a vital ‘organ’ in maintaining the ‘body of society. Functionalists suggest that the family has several responsibilities placed on it; these are the functions it performs in society. These functions are mainly based around the family’s role in preparing children for the adult world, and with satisfying the family’s basic needs which enable society to survive. Functionalists are also interested in how the family fits in with other social institutions like education or work so that society can function efficiently. Functionalist sociologists like Murdock suggest that the nuclear family is an important social institution performing vital functions in maintating society that is found in most societies. He studied over 250 different societies and compared the family setup. He concluded that the nuclear family was indeed a global institution. Murdock also suggested, from his global studies, that the nuclear family performed four vital functions, economic, sexual, reproduction, and socialisation. …show more content…
At its most basic, economic means providing food and shelter for the child. This shows commitment and the children depend on this for their health and wellbeing.By being workers, families help the economy. Reproduction referres to cildbearing occurring in a marital and family cotext in most cultures. Children hep to stabalise marital relationships and family life. Reproduction is a key function to help with the continuation of society. Sexual means that the family helps to regulate sexual behaviour within a socially approved, marital context. Socialisation is the transmission of culture to the next generation, It teaches children norms and values and acceptable behaviour. However, some sociologists have criticisms of his ideas. Feminists say that Murdock’s ideas actually opress women. This is because the needs of the men tend to be paid more attention to. Another criticism is that some societies and cultures dont have families, for example the Nayer communiyt where there is no such thing as marriage and the female’s uncle bring up the child. Murdock’s view is also outdated; it fails to take into account modern trends that have occured in the late 20th to the 21st century. For exapmle, reproductive techniques have advanced to aid procration and reproduction (like IVF). The sexual function is no longer needed as social attitudes have changed towards having sex outsid eof marriage and of other sexualities. Socialisation is usually not done as much by the family either, maass media like TV shows and external sources like school tend to play a large part in the socialisation of children. Parsons was an American functionalist writer who examined family life in the 1950s. He argued that there are two basic functions of the family that are found in every society. These are the primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of human personalities. Parsons saw primary socialisation as involving the learning and internalisation of society’s culture, such as the language, history, and values of a society. …show more content…
He argues that society would cease to exist if the new generation were not socialised into accepting society’s basic norms and values. In his view, this socialisation in the family is so powerful that society’s culture actually becomes part of the individual’s personality, people are moulded in terms of the central values of the culture and act in terms of the central values of the culture and act in certain ways without thinking about it. Parsons argued that therefore, families are essentially like factories producing human personalities and only the family can provide the emotional warmth and security to achieve this. In industrial societies, the need for money and work, the lack of power and independence combined with boredom at work, the pressure to achieve success and support the family all threaten to destabilise personalities. Parsons suggests that the family helps to stabilise personalities by the sexual divisions of labour in the family. In Parson’s view, the women have an expressive role, providing warmth, security and emotional support to