Outline And Evaluate Functionalist View
Outline and evaluate functionalist views of the role of the family in society. (33 Marks)
Functionalists stress the positive aspect of family. In particular, they force on the positive role of one particular family type: the nuclear family.
Murdoch (1949) claimed the family was a universal institution. He studied 250 societies and found the family, in some form, was present in all of them. This suggests that families are necessary in some way, whether it be for societies to survive, for individual well-being or indeed both.
Functionalists draw an organic analogy. They view a society as a society as a set of inter-connected, inter-related institutions all working together and contributing to society in much the same way as one might consider the parts of a human body all functioning together to make the body work as a whole entity. So, for each institution, such as education or religion, or in the case of what concerns us here, the family, they ask what it does for society. They call this contribution to society as a whole its function.
However, in functioning for society functionalists maintain that the family is also functional for individuals. The two go hand in hand. Functionalists then, present a harmonious picture of the family, functioning along with other institutions, to serve the needs of society and its members.
Functionalists have however been criticised for ignoring the dark side of the family life. Many families are places of disruption, violence and harm for their members. Sociologists have produced work on what they call the 'dark side of family life' where family members are often abused and where individuals feel unable to live the life they desire because of the everyday stresses and strains of living in small family units. In this sense the functionalists can be accused of portraying an over-rosy picture of family life. Murdoch identifies four functions of the nuclear family which are economic, educational, sexual and reproductive. Parsons
Functionalists stress the positive aspect of family. In particular, they force on the positive role of one particular family type: the nuclear family.
Murdoch (1949) claimed the family was a universal institution. He studied 250 societies and found the family, in some form, was present in all of them. This suggests that families are necessary in some way, whether it be for societies to survive, for individual well-being or indeed both.
Functionalists draw an organic analogy. They view a society as a society as a set of inter-connected, inter-related institutions all working together and contributing to society in much the same way as one might consider the parts of a human body all functioning together to make the body work as a whole entity. So, for each institution, such as education or religion, or in the case of what concerns us here, the family, they ask what it does for society. They call this contribution to society as a whole its function.
However, in functioning for society functionalists maintain that the family is also functional for individuals. The two go hand in hand. Functionalists then, present a harmonious picture of the family, functioning along with other institutions, to serve the needs of society and its members.
Functionalists have however been criticised for ignoring the dark side of the family life. Many families are places of disruption, violence and harm for their members. Sociologists have produced work on what they call the 'dark side of family life' where family members are often abused and where individuals feel unable to live the life they desire because of the everyday stresses and strains of living in small family units. In this sense the functionalists can be accused of portraying an over-rosy picture of family life. Murdoch identifies four functions of the nuclear family which are economic, educational, sexual and reproductive. Parsons