Functionalism and Family Roles

• Functionalism is a dominant theory viewing family as important for primary socialization to teach children basic societal norms.
• "Functional" families are stable and seen as essential for smooth societal operation and individual advancement.
• A 1949 study by Murdock on 250 societies determined the nuclear family structure is most common.
• Murdock believed the family has 4 vital roles
• Parsons believed the family has 2 vital roles

Sexual

• Sex within marriage builds a strong marital bond, promoting faithfulness, relationships, and stable societies.

Education

• Parents teach children basic rules for societal success through primary socialization.
• Children aquire communication skills, manners, and the ability to follow rules.

Reproductive

• Nuclear families ensure continuation of species by having babies and creating a labor workforce.

Economic

• Families provide basic needs like shelter, food, and money, while also contributing to economic support through purchases.

Parson's functions of family

• Industrial Revolution altered family roles due to shifting societal needs.
• Extended families were more common pre-industrialization .
• Post-industrial societies favor nuclear families due to evolving needs.

Functional fit family

• Pre-industrial societies: extended families are a unit of production where roles were shared between men and women on family farms.
• Post-industrial societies: nuclear families provide consumption with separate roles for men (factory work) and women (homemaking).
• The nuclear family became progressively reliant on support from NHS, law and education as it became disjointed

Structural differentiation

• The process by which institutions became increasingly specialized is known as structural differentiation

Parson's key functions

• Parsons suggests there are now 2 key family functions; primary socialization and stabilization of adult personalities, since the family has lost previous functions

Stabilization of adult personality

• Families provide emotional support and encourage conformity to social norms, especially during stressful times acting as an emotional support system.
• Parsons' "warm bath theory" suggests family helps workers relax and refresh after a hard day.

Parsons division of labor

• Traditional families have distinct roles between men and women in the sexual division of labor.

• Men take on the instrumental role as breadwinners.

• Women take on the expressive role, providing care and emotional support

• Functionalists theories often overlook negative aspects of family life.

• Functionalist views often assume families are traditional nuclear structures with defined roles, which is outdated.

• Murdock and Parsons views are not entirely accurate and women may be the financial providers

• Families who deviate from traditional models can still function effectively.

• The 1969 Divorce Reform Act made divorce easier, but the New Right disagrees with this, suggesting families should be self-reliant, not government-dependent.

• The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Act 2013 legalized same-sex marriage, opposed by the New Right as it deviates from traditional family norms.

Parenting Orders

• Parenting Orders provide support, guidance, and training for parents/guardians.

• The New Right's view disagrees that the family requires additional support and should be self-sufficient

• Anti-discrimination laws allow women to work, contrasting the New Right's idealized homemaker view.

• The Child Support Agency in 2000 was established for governments to arrange guardianships and was against the New Right, promoting biological families.

The New Right views

• The New Right opposes families dependent on welfare, illegitimate births, women prioritizing work, single-parent families, and teenage pregnancy.
• They propose cutting welfare benefits, making divorce harder, increasing the gender pay gap, hostile work environments, no guaranteed maternity leave, raising the consent age, increased education, and social stigma to address these issues.
• The nuclear family is the best family form
• Traditional family life is under threat from increased family diversity, anti-social behaviour, educational underachievement, and alcohol and drug abuse.

Charles Murray

• A generous welfare state undermines personal responsibility, creating a perverse incentive for dependency and a work-shy underclass.
• Dependency culture stems from values centered on reliance on others. The underclass is socially detached.

New Right solution

• Enforcing traditional family values
• Restricting divorce
• Curtailing out-of-marriage divorces
• Reducing welfare for non-traditional families is the goal

Evaluation/criticism

• Making divorce difficult can prolong abusive relationships.
• Single-parent families can be healthier than nuclear families.
• Sexism emerges from the assumption that women are ineffective parents.
• Underclass views unfairly labels those genuinely unable to work (e.g. disabled people) with unrealistic views and would stop people from developing good relationships.
• A dark side is ignored of Ignoring traditional families
• Feminists note the exploitation of women and single-mother abilities.
• The New Right's views are often intolerant and exclusionary of gay relationships, reconstituted families, and unmarried parents, victim-blaming the underclass.
• New right view over estimates that everyone would become motivated to get a job if there was no welfare

Arguments FOR this view

• Nuclear families benefit greatly by setting an example to the children, but single mothers do not have the time to do this
• Children may become antisocial

Statement

• Nuclear families are best.

AGAINST this view

• Splits are safer for families, in particular if there is domestic abuse
• Women should not be forced to stay at home

Marxist Views on the Family

• Marxists view capitalism negatively because it relies on exploiting profit.
• Religion is a tool used by capitalists to control the masses.
• The family fulfills 3 functions for capitalism: inheritance of property, ideological functions, and unit of consumption

Inheritance of property

• Inheritance of property helps the reach further benefit from their riches
• Classes are polarising and the gap is increasing between the rich and poor
• Private property development and male class ownership led to the patriarchal monogamous nuclear family.
• Monogamy became essential to inherit private property
• Marxists believe that early communities had no concepts of social class and primitive communism

Ideological functions

• Ideological functions see families socialize children into hierarchy and it keeps parental power over children accustomed to someone always being in charge and prepares them for work.
• Family offers safe haven from capitalism, allowing workers to return to work refreshed preventing them from revolting

Unit of consumption

• The family is a key market for selling consumer goods
• Media exposure and parents can be forced to succumb to "pester power" due to latest clothing or gadgets being necessary to appease children

Evaluation

• Marxism ignores emotion and cultural pressure, people have babies with no relation to the ruling class and benefits benefitted their agenda.

• Marxist views have criticism for only focusing on conflict between rich and poor with racial and gender inequalities not included.

• Birth rates are declining globally

• Not every family is considered a unit of consumption

• Modern families do not follow a nuclear structure and this theory is outdated

• Recent actions showcase Marxism as not accurate and families will indeed rebel for the lower class.

How does the family help capitalism?

• Well maintained families create and feed fit workers who are mentally and physically healthy.
• By families reproducing and having children who work a constant supply of workers are created.
• They create emotional safe spaces and provide women space to create dinners so workers stay fulfilled.

Feminist Views on Family

• Feminism advocates for women's equality.
• Patriarchy is "a system of male power over women"
• Gendered socialization refers to the process of internalizing norms that make male and female a social construct, with a curriculum being based around sports and toys (specific to their respective genders)

Feminist Views

• Social norms dictate men should be wild, aggressive and women should be kind, emotional and sensible
• Each feminist agrees that societies are patriarchal with each advocating for different means

Liberal feminism

• Traditional attitudes hinder women's equality, limiting involvement in roles, career choices and domestic labor, with women being socialized to become housewives
• To stop:
  • National Organization of Women (NOW) and Betty Friedan campaigned for parental leave and careers for both, still stimulating women's careers.

Marxisit feminism

• No notes found

Radical feminism

• Men are the enemy and they benefit from all parts of the patriacrchy, oppressing women in private and public
• The solution could be political lesbianism or matrillocal households

Difference feminism

• Women are fighting for women in cultural minorities such as disabilities
• Feminism is recognising these feminist are fighting for different things

Feminists on women

• Radical feminists fought for women's liberation
• All women are oppressed everywhere
• Marxist feminists see women as "shit takers" in male violence
• 3rd wave/ difference feminism is for disabling lesbians and other communities
• "Honour killing" should not be seen as the face of all fights, it's localised to specific communities

Modernist views

• Focus on a fixed, predictable structure, believing in a core family unit.

Neo-Conventional Family

• Believe in the classic to neo-conventional nuclear family and couples will commit to bringing them up

Postmodernity

• Postmodernity argues it changed dramatically and provides great flexibility.

Modernism

• See structure and function in fair ways and believe societies determine the structure.

Chester

• In neo-conventional families , believes those born out of wedlock will be married eventually.

Rapoport's Diverse Types of Family

• Society experiences organisational, cultural, social class, lifestage and diversity

Stacey's View on the Postmodern Family

• silicon valley case studies show women benefiting
• many women rejected traditional roles and improve jobs
• These families are connected by divorce or marriage

Giddens & Beck on family

• Individualism thesis says they are defined by social classes, gender and families with influence over them

Modernity

• Intimate relationships and family has a very pure relationship based off trust

Negotiated Family by Beck

• Individuals define themselves
• Traditions are lost
• Negotiated families are unstable and may be interpreted as a "Zombie Category"

Domestic Divisions of Labour

• Refers to sharing tasks, housework, and childcare
• Functionalists believe it stems from men and women biological attributes and New right are in agreement
• Feminists believe there are still issues in these divisions
• Women are a safety valve for families

Elizabeth Bott's Segregation

• Suggest couples have separate roles for bread winner and home maker

Genders

• There is a gender pay gap , but women may earn more by doing greater domestic labour

Perspectives on Divorce Rate

• the New Right see it has a serious problem and undermines the family , creating male failures
• Feminists believe it liberates women
• Postmodernism believes individuals freedom is liberated
• Functionalists believe the high rate indicates that marriage is still important

Partnerships

• Types of families are blended , extended lone families and households

Cohabitation

• Unmarried couples engage in what is known as cohabitation and is increasing
• Decreasing over time that sex occurs outside of said marriage
• Modern and postmodernism had different views
• The nuclear family is no more

Modern

• Modern says it is stable whereas post modern believes its not

Theories

• Traditional societies have social stigmatization for individuals not engaging in the social norms

Modern

• Minimal culture is diverse and gender roles are fixed

What is the individualization thesis

• Stated their influence has eroded over time and people are to engage with these roles

Smart's thesis

• Choices need reflection and its important not everyone has these same choices

Relationships

• There has never been more choice than now

Bech

• Postmodern is not family.
• Families allow calculations for reward
• Zombie state: people may not get security from family

Childhood

• Innocence is one main associated view
• Child hood is a time more separated than before than it was historically
• Childhood varies and it is a social construct

Childhood vs Community

• In Bolivia and other cultures children are expected to work
• Globalization: it dictates that childhood should be happy and protected and not involve labour

History

• Children were dressed like parents with no distinction

Ages

• 2000's put greater emphasis on safety than earlier 19th century.
• children rights in general are very important

Aires

• Age of child is important
• Higher standards, and welfare have all had impact
• childhood is improving
• There is pressure via social media
• Neglect and toxicity are some issues to take heed to.

Postman

• Disappearance at dazzling speed

Jenks

• Doesn't believe it is disappearing because there exists restrictions for children

9pm watershed

• Swearing and violence is for adults

Grossberg (1994)

• Adults acting more childlike, refusing to grow up

What now

• Academic pressure
• dark media.
• Post child life
• Families become more centered

Critique

• March of progress view is not appropriate
• Paranoid parent , with children becoming worried as there is the sensation there is not independence

Demography

• Study of population
• Birth rate changes due to fertility
• Decreases due to society changing its view on raising offspring

China child policy

• Specific resources dictate cognitive development.

Decline Rate

• Vaccination ,NHS has improved
• Improved nutrition , improved health

Public health

• Reduce the level of overpopulation
• Decline dangerous labour.
• More health and less crime.

Is this effect positive or negative?

• What are the pros and cons of having less of a child birth
• Ageism ; there can be discriminations such as the elderly being seen as not useful. There may be positive ways at looking such as empowerment

Modernism

• Life is more structured
• The young get more work

What is dependability ratio?

• Dependency of workers on non working people

Marxist beliefs

• Have been less in use to society

Consume ?

Stereotype break when you have more choice for gender

social policies and what affects them

• family and state are important here

policies in practice

• families become the subject
• there are views associated with this ideology