family - theories; role and purpose of family

reconstituted family, symmetrical family, lone parent family, beanpole family, same sex parents family, extended family

Sometimes referred to as cereal, packed family. People who are tied by partnership and parenthood.

is when two families join together after one or both parents have divorced their previous partners

Is when a family divides responsibility equally between partners

families containing only one parent with their children/child

a multigenerational family that gets smaller overtime so less children are being born

A homosexual couple living together with children

A family that extends beyond the nuclear family of parents and children, so have other relatives that live in the same household as them

In 2009, 13% off both men and women, aged 16 to 59 where cohabitating, 1.9 million families consisting of a single parent and dependent children., 70% of people still live in the nuclear family

The nuclear family is universal, not just cultural

Murdock

reproduction, sexual stabilization, socialisation, economic support

important unit of primary socialisation where children learn socially acceptable forms of behaviour and the culture of their society. This helps to build a stable values)

sexual desires are being met in a society, approved context

stability for producing and rearing children

someone providing food and shelter for the family

has a rose tinted view on the nuclear family. Also it ignores domestic violence and neglect the dark side of the family. Also, that the family meets the needs of men and oppresses women.

the nuclear family serves needs of a capitalist society

it ignores other benefits of different family types. results of culture not biology so variations in society will exist. accused of being political - tells use right and wrong ways to life

is it only parents/siblings that can teach children, norms and values of society? Communities of institutions can provide economic security Women can you sperm donors for reproduction Prostitution can be use for sex

Parsons

primary socialisation, stabilising adult personality

Parsons argued that men were the instrumental leader while women were the expressive leader and that both were necessary. men and women have their biological rows that they carry out within the family. So men carried out discipline and earned money, while women cared and nurtured and raised (teaching norms and values) children. Boys saw the example from their fathers, and girls saw the example from their mothers.

families performed an important role for individuals and society in keeping people stable. Life is difficult and challenging and frustrating as in things like jobs competition promotion of talented skills become stressful: the family can help to deal with this. as they provide a place of comfort, and can we charge in that place also gives emotional support. Family members give each other care and support and help each other through difficult times. Parsons particularly described this in terms of a man coming home from a difficult day at work and relaxing into his family, like a warm bath.

Different families fit different times

pre-industrial (1600’s)

post-industrial (1870)

Means of production as they made everything on their own, Means of consumption - as they made their own things, they would also consume them and sell them, Ascribed status from birth- like if they would take on families farm, they would have multiple children and also live with their grandparents

Made a workplace - so Dad works. That means of production is in the factories and family is means of consumption., so families needed to be geographically, mobile workforce and socially Moble workforce (therefor better to move a nuclear family than a extended family), Two Alpha males clash as that is not just one alpha male., this has made society meritocracies

Marxists and feminists who argue that this paints too rosy and idealistic a picture of family life. Families are certainly not like that for everyone. Many people have negative experiences of family life, and indeed they can cause stress as well as relieve it., theorists also question whether the roles families perform really benefit the whole of society or really just benefit powerful groups within it. In particular, feminists argue that families exist largely for the benefit of men., Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley offers a different perspective on Parsons’ warm bath theory when she describes women in the family as takers of shit. By this she means that men coming home from work may have their stress relieved by the family, but only by dumping it on their wives.

They say that the nuclear family is the bedrock of society. The New Right argue that this family form is essential for the functioning of a good society, but that various government policies and social attitudes have combined to undermine the family.

Murray

Increased deviancy, Welfare dependency, Moral decline

welfare policies have undermined the nuclear family and given perverse incentives for people to start single-parent families or to end their marriages and form single-parent families. He argues that the welfare state has led to a dependency culture where an underclass of people live off benefits and have no aspiration to work for a living. He argues that teenage girls see pregnancy and single parenthood as a route to financial support and housing. also men feel they can leave their families as they know the government will support the mother financially.

Feminists argue policies are an attempt to justify the return of the traditional nuclear family, and it works to sub dominate women, Marxist say that if there is cuts in benefits, it may simply drive meany into poverty, leading to furthersocial problems

according to him Monogamy became essential because of the inheritance of private property. This however, led to a ‘world of historical defects of the female sex’ where woman have been turned into a male instrument for the production of children. Women’s position in the family is not much different from a prostitute as she exchanged sex, and as in return for economic security.

Family also provides a haven from the harsh world of capitalism although it is an illusion and is based upon the domestic servitude of women. (parsons and Zaretsky saying the same things about the family, but Zaretsky has a negative view instead of positive like Parsons)

The family plays a major role in generating profits since it is an important market for the sale of consumer goods. sales in target children to pressure parents to spend money. Also, if children do not have branded clothing can be criticised for this.

from a Marxist point of view, it is a set of ideas or beliefs that justify inequality and maintain the capitalist society by pressuring people to accept it as a natural and unchanged. also, the family socialises children into the idea of hierarchy and inequality as inevitable.

Old-fashioned few people marry for different reasons, rather than to pass on inheritance. People now marry for love not the social status, Many women have financial independence, and I’ll less likely to marry for financial support, they assume that the nuclear family is dominated and ignores the wider and increasingly variety of family structures today

The nuclear family benefits society by providing free domestic labour. This is a way that capitalism exploit women.

The nuclear family was important to capitalism because it rears the future workforce with little to no cost to capitalism. (mothers, teaching their children, the norms and values of society.)

The main oppression of women is not because of man it is because of capitalism, Women reproduce the labour force - they are in paid for this work, Women are reserved army of cheap labour - when in need of extra work, but then leave them when they are not needed

Women are shit takers - as they absorb their frustration

That the family must be abolished and have more of a social unit

Marxist feminist tend to ignore the diversity of modern family life, assuming that everyone lives in a heterosexual nuclear family, Marxist feminist paint a very negative picture of family life

They argue that all societies have been founded by patriarchy. For these type of feminist, the key division in society is between men and women, so men are the enemy, Family and marriage are key institutions in patriarchal society, They say that the nuclear family helps to keep the patriarchy in place as women take on unpaid labour and oppression from the family

There should be a creation of matrilocal households (husband goes to live with wife’s community)

The only way for the oppression of women to be overturned is by abolishing the family as it is the root of patriarchal system. This can be done through separatism. like what Germaine Greer suggested.

Somerville - radical feminist fail to recognise that women’s position has improved greatly. They have better access to divorce have job opportunities, can control that activity and they have the choice to marry or cohabitate. The idea of separatism is only likely to work.

They say that women’s oppressions is being gradually overcome but has not yet fully been achieved, We are moving toward greater equality put that full equality depends on father reforms (policies)

fail to challenge the underlying causes of women’s oppression, and believe that changes in laws or attitudes will be enough to bring social change, but it is deep, rooted into societies structure, so more changes are needed than just policies

Women have been able to take Ray to control of their lives, and begin to create families that are tailored to their own needs. E.g. in California there has been a rise of the divorce extended family. Divorce has brought women together to form fictive extended families which offer support and evolve to suit the needs of the individual.

Have the bottom up approach of interationism. They emphasis the meaning that individuals family members hold and how they shape their actions and relationships.

Individuals are free to construct their own individual network of family

they looked at homosexual families that are children through IVF. they found that the issue of blood and genes raised a range of feelings. Some parents emphasised that the importance of social relationship over genetic ones in forming family bonds

It helps to give us an understanding of how is this construct their families and others opinions on family

by personal life perspective, it can take too much of a broad view. So by including a range of different kinds of families of personal relationships, we ignore the special relationship between marriages and blood. From a functionalist perspective, blood ties and marriage are the best at providing these functions.

assumes that traditional structures have broken down, and that society is much more fluid and is characterised by a variety and diversity. in the times of household and families post-modernists suggest that we can no longer just talk about one family type.

The faster now choices and variety in today’s society means that people are more likely to weigh up costs and rewards. In traditional society, there was not much choice and therefore decisions such as starting a family where easier often expected as well. This focuses on rewards and costs has led to more negotiated families , as it is based on individualism and equality

Post-modernists explain, divorce and less marriage is because of choice they have. He also says the family is like a zombie because it looks alive but could be dead. Family is a safe haven of security in unstable world.