Outline and Evaluate the view that nuclear families benefit individuals and society

Sociologists have been divided upon the issue regarding nuclear families; Functionalists stress the positive aspect of family. In particular, they focus 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 view a society as a set of inter-connected, interrelated institutions all working together and contributing to society. 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.

On the other hand, Marxist feminists suggest that the nuclear family meets the needs of capitalism for the reproduction and maintenance of class and patriarchal inequality .it benefits the powerful at the expense of the working class and women. They look at issues like inheritance, individualism, privacy, women work and petty power.

There are four functions which has been outlined by Murdoch (1949) these benefit individuals and society: Educational: the family is an agency of primary socialisation, passing on shared norms and values. Sexual: people are sexually fulfilled by their partners, and expectations of monogamous relationships keep society stable. Economic: in the past the family was a unit of production. Consider, for example; the family farms. Today it is a unit of consumption, buying goods and services for the family. Reproductive: people reproduce families; they have children, which of course are essential for the survival of mankind.

Functionalists have been criticised for ignoring the dark side of family life. Many families are places of disruption, violence and harm 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 am over-rosy picture of the family.