Murdock argued on the basis of his studies that the nuclear family was a universal social institution and that it existed universally because it fulfilled four basic functions for society: the sexual, reproductive, economic and education functions.
The Functionalist perspective on the family has been further developed by Talcott Parsons whose theories focus heavily on nuclear, the extended family and heterosexual families to the exclusion of other family forms.
Parsons believed that industrialisation led to the gradual replacement of extended families by nuclear families because industrialisation demands greater geographical and social mobility. Geographical mobility is easier for nuclear families while if within extended families. Industrialisation leads also to processes of structural differentiation which implies that new more specialised social institutions such as factories, schools and hospitals develop to take over some of the functions previously performed by families. Therefore this means that the nuclear family loses some of its functions but it remains crucial in relation to the two functions which it does retain: the socialisation of the young and the stabilisation of adult personalities.
Within nuclear families, roles are allocated between husbands and wives in accordance with the assumed instrumental characteristics of males (which make them more suited to paid employment outside of the home) and the assumed expressive characteristics of females (which make them more suited to childcare and domestic work).
Feminist Criticisms of Functionalist Theories of the Family
There are divisions within feminism, mainly between liberal, radical and Marxist feminism but all feminists are critical in various respects of functionalist theories of the family. Feminist argue that:
- gender differences in socialisation within the family and elsewhere operate to the disadvantage of females;
- traditional roles allocated within the family show characteristics of males and females respectively but the existence of patriarchal power within the family;
- that there is nothing "expressive" about many household tasks;
- traditional allocation of gender roles restricts female employment opportunities and prospects;
- when women are employed outside the home this may mean that they are obliged to undertake the so-called "triple shift" of employment, housework/childcare and emotion work;
- patriarchal power ensures that major family decisions are taken by males rather than females;
- the existence of "empty shell marriages", high rates of divorce and considerable levels of domestic violence show that family relationships are often far less harmonious than is implied by functionalist theory
Marxist and Marxist Feminist Criticisms
In the Marxist view the family is a part of the superstructure of capitalist society which operates not in the interests of society and all of its members equally but in the interests of the capitalist system and of the capitalist class within that system. Marxists argue:
- that families produce the next generation of children to become the next generation of labour power for the capitalist system at relatively low cost;
- that family (in conjunction with other institutions of the superstructure) helps to socialise children to accept authority thereby preparing them to accept capitalist authority structures in the work place;
- that the existence of families as a unit of consumption helps to promote demand for the products of the capitalist system which helps to maintain and increase capitalist profit;
- families may provide emotional support and a focus for loyalty without which greater worker solidarity might eventually result in a challenge to the capitalist system as a whole.
Marxist Feminists have accepted general arguments and pointed to ways in which it is women specifically who are exploited in the capitalist family. They argue that the traditional housewife/mother role imposes unfair burdens on women but that their apparent readiness to accept this role provides services to their husbands at low cost which means that male workers can be employed at lower wages than would otherwise be possible so that women are , in effect, subsidising the capitalist system. And that it is women who are the main source within the family of emotional support and women who are the main victims of domestic abuse which may be caused ultimately by the frustrations generated by the capitalist system;
Conclusion
Functionalist sociologists have claimed optimistically that modern capitalist societies are essentially democratic, meritocratic and based upon consensus and that nuclear families contribute both to the happiness of their individual members and to the continued stability of societies as a whole. However they all assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant family type. They are all structural theories and all only focus on the positives and never the negatives in society. Also neglect the diversity of individuals within family arrangements.
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gabrielled4 (student)
