Theories Of The Family (functionalism)

The Functionalist perspective

Organic analogy

Functionalists see society as being like a biological organism, the body is a system made up of different parts that function together to meet its needs and maintain it. Society is a system made up of different but interdependent parts, institutions such as education, the state, the family etc. The function of any part is the contribution it makes to maintaining the social system.

For functionalists, the family plays a vital role in maintaining the social system, as well as meeting the needs of other sub-systems such as the economy. Functionalists take a positive view of the family, seeing it as preforming beneficial functions both for wider society and for its individual members. However, the disagree to some extent what these functions are

Murdock: four functions of the family

- Stable satisfaction of the sex drive: with the same marital partner. This prevents the social disruption what would be caused by a sexual free-for-all .

- Reproduction of the next generation: without which society would cease to exist.

- Socialisation of the young: into society s norms and values enables news members to integrate into society.

- Satisfaction of members economic needs: e.g. providing food and shelter. In pre-industrial societies, the family is a unit of production (working together), but in modern societies it has become a unit of consumption only.

By preforming these functions, the nuclear family helps to maintain social stability. For Murdock, the sheer practicality of the nuclear family as a way of meeting these needs explains why its universal.

Parsons Functional Fit Theory

Parsons argues that the kinds and ranges of functions that the family preforms depend on the type of society in which it is found. This also determines what kind of structure the family will have. Parsons identifies two types of Family structure

- The three-generational extended family, found in pre-industrial society. The extended family was multi-functional it was a unit of both production and of consumption, e.g. all members worked the land together, and it often performed welfare, military, religious or other functions.

- The two-generational nuclear family, found in modern societies. The Nuclear family fits the two key needs of modern industrial society Geographical mobility Industries constantly spring up and decline in different places. It is easier for the compact two-generational nuclear family to move wherever the jobs are. In addition, Social mobility Because status in industrial society is achieved not ascribed, adult sons can now achieve a higher status than their fathers, breaking away to set up their own nuclear family unit removes the status conflict that would result if they stayed. The nuclear family is now left with only two irreducible functions