AQA AS Sociology Families and Households full revision notes

Families and Households

Theories of the Family

Functionalism

Sees society based in a value consensus which enables cooperation and survival
Society is a system of sub-systems work together to contribute to the running of the whole system (family is one of these sub-systems)
The family is seen as essential in providing functions for the maintenance of society
Murdoch (1949) argued that the family is universal; the family performs 4 basic roles

Primary socialisation of children- internalising culture in individuals and structuring personality
Stabilisation of adult personalities- adults gain the stability of emotional security, responsibility for children and a haven from the stresses of modern society

Over time, the functions of the family have been passed over to some specialist sectors such as health care and education.
‘Functional fit’, the isolated nuclear family is the most typical and suitable for modern society because;

It offers geographical and social mobility (more suited to industrial society)
status is mainly achieved not ascribed so isolation from kin allows different generations to have different social status, relationships between immediate family is warm and close.

Male role seen as ‘Instrumental’ (working and competing in the world as a breadwinner)
Female role is ‘expressive’, (caring, loving, and providing emotional support to family)

Nuclear family was common in pre-industrial society, because of short life expectancy and cottage industry
Early industrial society introduced the extended family as means of mutual support in times of hardship (Anderson)
Feminists say that the functionalist view of women is oppressive
Oakley (feminist) in other societies, the roles are changeable, the nuclear family produces problems and misery alongside the harmony
The extended family still exists in late modern society, but in different forms

Marxist Perspectives

The nature of the family depends on the economic circumstance- in modern society it serves the interest of capitalism
The family was not needed until accumulation of wealth and the need to defend it emerged (Engels)
The family provides new workers into the economy
The family serves to socialise workers into discipline with the ‘correct’ attitudes of obedience and acceptance of hierarchy (making them assets to the workforce)
The family acts as a haven from alienation and oppression at work, making it more bearable (Zaretsky)
Family responsibilities makes working necessary and reduces their bargaining power as people need jobs to support their family
Family acts as a unit of consumption
Engels: evolutionary theory of human development

The rise of private property, an organised system of inheritance was necessary, as fathers needed to be sure that their property was going to their offspring not another man’s
Monogamy arose to serve the interests of inheritance, this bought women further into the privacy of the home and family under…