fuctionalism as sociology

Functionalism is a structural macro and consensus theory. This means that functionalists think that the whole of society has come together because everybody has the same desires and that there is also a social system and lower classes are like puppets on the end of the string who have no control of their own destiny. They believe society is made up of different parts and use a biological analogy and compare the running of society to the human body and all of the parts must function must work together like a body needs the heart and brain etc to work together in perfect harmony.Functionalists view each system in terms of what it does for society as a whole i.e school prepares people for work by teaching them that there will always be someone to tell them what work they have to do and what rules to follow.
George Murdock argued that nuclear families were the best type and were an irreplaceable part of society.They perform 4 key functions of reproduction- reproducing children so that as the older generation dies a new one is created.Economic-family support like food shelter water.Educational-family teaches the norms and values to be a productive citizen.Sexual-provides sexual gratification within a relationship rules about sex protect young people. However Murdock’s views of the nuclear family are often disputed as in modern day society people have children and sex outside of marriage, welfare benefits support people who cant support themselves and schools are also agents of education and socialisation some people accuse Murdock of ignoring family diversity
Talcott parsons argues that the nuclear family has lost many of its functions as care homes look after elderly and schools educate children but the family still has two basic functions primary socialisation the first stage of socialisation where children are taught basic things like how to speak and the second function is the stabilisation of adult personalities because they can relax with their family to calm