Family Functions: Murdock and Parsons

Functions of Families and Households

• Sociological explanations explore the family's relationship to the social structure and social change, especially concerning the economy and state policies.
• The definition of "family" lacks a single clear definition and is used broadly for descendants of a common ancestor or narrowly for parents with children as a unit
• Households comprise a group of people living together, irrespective of kinship ties including families, flatmates, or individuals residing alone.

Functionalist Viewpoints

• Functionalists posit that family plays a pivotal role in the seamless operation of society for both the society and individuals.
• George Murdock (1949) identified four universal functions of the family after studying families across cultures.
• The socialization of children with societal norms and values is also called primary socialization.
• The Family acts as an economic unit, pooling resources to cater to the needs of its members.
• The family is responsible for producing the next generation.
• Control and stability of adults' sexual relationships is a function of the family.
• Talcott Parsons (1951) updated Murdock's theory, arguing that in modern Western societies, the family retains two key functions
• Primary socialization involves families teaching children the norms and values specific to their family and community
• Stabilizing adult personalities involves the provision of emotional support within the family.
• Parsons' warm bath theory sees family as a place where one can relax and relieve stress, refreshing them for the next day.

Evaluating Functionalist views

• Conflict theorists critique that these views paint an overly positive and unrealistic image of family life
• Conflict theorists challenge the notion that families benefit the entire society, suggesting they primarily serve the powerful.
• Fran Ansley, a Marxist-feminist, contrasts Parsons' theory by saying that women are takers of shit, absorbing men's stress from work.
• These theories are outdated, assuming families consist of traditional nuclear units with distinct gendered roles.

Marxist Perspectives

• Marxists view the family as benefiting capitalism and the ruling class, not society as a whole.
• Both believe families perform important functions for the society, but differ in their view of how society is constituted
• Engels (1884) proposed that family ensures wealth stays within the bourgeoisie through legal contracts that facilitate inheritance.
• Zaretsky (1976) sees the family as giving proletarian men a space to be the boss, helping them tolerate exploitation at work.

Evaluating Marxist Viewpoints

• Engels' theory may see family as more than just what happens to your money when you die.
• Functionalists note that family is the essential form and function of those families in the vast majority of societies.
• There are different perspectives on the nuclear family, as Parsons saw nuclear family as having an industrial economy.
• Zaretsky's theory is outdated as it assumes that the worker is male and that there is only one worker in the family.

Feminist Perspectives

• Feminists (like Ann Oakley) share views with Marxists and functionalists, suggesting families are a conservative institution that is only beneficial to a powerful group within society.
• In feminist argument this group is men
• Liberal feminists strive for legal equality between sexes as family has been a source of inequality
• Liberal feminists argue that most battles for legal equality have been won, there is clearly still inequality between the sexes, and there is need to change cultural values in society.
• Radical feminists believe legal changes are insufficient to end women's oppression
• Radical feminists propose women seek alternative living arrangements outside male dominance, favoring gender separatism.
• Feminist arguments are criticized for negatively portraying families, while families can be unequal and patriarchal.

New Right Perspectives

• New Right sociologists believe that the nuclear family (two heterosexual parents and a small number of children) is the bedrock of society.
• Government policies and social attitudes have undermined this institution
• Charles Murray (1998) argues welfare policies have undermined the nuclear family and given perverse incentives to start single-parent families or to end their marriages and form single-parent families.
• Welfare states have led to a dependency culture where a population lives off of benefits and has no aspiration to work.

Evaluating New Right Viewpoints

• Sociologists disagree with the New Right perspective as the theory is accused of blaming the poor for their own poverty
• The perspectives are said to be a political position that provides ideological justification for capitalist bourgeois politics.

Families and the Economy

• Talcott Parsons (1951) argued that industrialisation led to huge changes in both the structure and the role of the family and the roles of family members.
• He says that pre-industrial agrarian society was populated with extended families, which was functional as the more family to lend a hand the better.
• Work and home were now separate when people started moving from rural areas into towns and cities,
• geographic families mobility was needed/ could not take large numbers of dependents, with work for man in factories where after the women looked after the house.
• Nuclear families allow for geographical and social mobility for working class society.
• Critics argue that the changes in family did not really match what happened.
• Peter Laslett (1972) found in his work regarding pre-industrial families that that families were mostly parents and children.
• Michael Anderson (1971) looked at households in Preston and found a significant increase in number of extended families.

The March of Progress of Families

• Wilmott and Young (1973) state of how society develops and modernizes over time
• The first stage is pre-industrial where families work as a unit of economic protection where families live close or with other family members and work together.
• Stage two is early industrial where families work is separate and the men go out to work while the women stay home-Kinship networks remained important.
• Stage three is symmetrical where nuclear family has less gender segregation.
• Stage four is called asymmetrical and stated that men spent leisure time outside the home and without their partners- did not occur.
• The sort of family happened from higher social status at first is called stratified diffusion.
• Sociologists dislike judgements on families and state that the best familial setup depends on social status.

Modern Economic Family changes

• Since the 1950s, social change has been considerable and it is important recognize some of these changes
• Nickie Charles (2012) identified several social changes since the 1960s, including use of technology, greater equality of opportunity, entering the workplace
• Despite some of these significant social changes, changes to families had been minor over time. She states men are more geographically mobile/ women tend to remain near their family..
• Minority ethnics have increased bonds with families
• Evans and Chandler (2006) comment significant social change around now has been greater disposable income with much wider product
• Globalisation in the 20th century is the increasing interconnection with traditional male jobs being exported out and immigration.

Social Policy and the Family

• Policies have a large impact on family such as in countries like China, family sizes are limited.
• The Conservatives in their government from 1979-1997 were influenced by New Right, thinking in terms of family being that: Nuclear Families are preferable, individuals should be responsible, mothers should stay at home, and that welfare may not be responsible.
• Margaret Thatcher described the family as "a nursery, school, a hospital, a leisure place, a place of refuge and a place of rest."
• The children act of 1989 are rights of children, the support agency ensures absent fathers pay maintenance and tax allowance.
• Labour governments 1997-2020 are a contrast ti right the labour did change and acknowledge family diversity.
• New labour governments however did legislate to work more and want professional child care
• Policies such as tax credits for working family credits and the adaption and children's act helped improve equality.
• The coalition government with the conservatives maintaining new right approach with attitudes to family
• The removal of the so-called couples penalty of benefits and that they facilitated the life.
• Marriage brought new marriages and equal marriage
• The current policy is mainly the issue of UK leaving the EU and relating to family allowance
• Tax free allowance for worker, it does not matter gender and their partner can also take the same allowance.

Changing Marriage Patterns

• Marriage is becoming less and less popular and has generally been declining since the 1970's despite population increase.
• Fluctuation due to war or time period, lowest no. of heterosexual marriage to occur.
• Secularization (less religion), divorce rates, expense have a large impact on popularity
• Pure relationships are becoming sought-after rather than financial need.
• Age to get married is also becoming continually increased.
• Again, more people try out after cohabitation and marry after a successful period.
• Women careers while less men.
• People are living longer.
• Though there can be secularization with wedding being religion
• Giddens argument explain couples maybe less focused on divorce with remarriage.
• The number is undoubtably linked to increase while the 80% have previously cohabit
• Divorce are becoming increasingly easier due to acts and easier for women.
• Fear of financial is lower, child support helped. People don't care for as long.

ChildBearing

• Many children today are borne out of marriage with couple choosing to live in marriage
• Life course has changed (individuals able to make choices about career and family)
• Tradition is not able to provide a basis for family and people spend outside traditional family time

Family Diversity

• Sociology's argue of no normal/increasing in various different family types like secularization or legal changes
• People now have categorised by freedom which people have better relationship
• Some are traditional families
• Symmetry is more joint with help with work and chores
• Some have one parent
• Some have vertical family tree with multiple generation/ horizontal trees, with aunts/uncles and cousins
• The multi generational families a beanpole tree from branches and family norm
• There are matirfocal families, commonly with mother, some blame due to lack children with less to make with an underclass
• Single fathers are less common
• Mix with reconstituted and blended families when the families are more difficult to manage
• There is co- or separate sex couples
• Grandpartnering exists when children are brought up grand partner more

Factors for rappoport on families

• Organization depends on roles
• Cultural due to diversity, and social due to classes
• Life stage diversity
• Reconstituted or single families- Generational which differ from early generation
• New right think mass riot is from due children who lack value and help
• Sociologist debate that its true

Social Class Diversity

• The experience of childhood differs significantly depending on social class, children who live in poverty have poor diet and health.
• Children from rich also might not be happy due to no family. This is often by McRobbie and Garber explain bedrooms a lot of time
• There are less expectations to see people with this.

Explore the core functions of the family as defined by sociologists Murdock and Parsons. Questions cover economic roles, socialization processes, personality stabilization and modern family dynamics. Understand the functionalist perspective on contemporary family structures.