Discuss the view that the nuclear family replaced the extended family after industrialisation.

☺ Rose Lewis 12JDN ☺

SOCIOLOGY HOMEWORK,

Talcott Parsons believed that the nuclear family developed mainly as a result of industrialisation. He thought that before the industry took over the functions of the family, the families were extended units of production. This means that the work and home lives were combined and so each family member taught another one skill for life such as education. Parsons says that the extended family stayed together so they could provide health care for one another and look after the old people whilst the old people looked after the young children whilst the parents were out working. They also pursued justice on behalf of one another; if one family member were hard done by, all the other family members would help sort it out.

Parsons believed that the industrial revolution brought about three fundamental changes. The first of these was the new social roles where the men went out to work and the women stayed at home to do housework and look after the children. The second was the extended family became geographically mobile. He believed that by becoming geographically mobile, the extended family was forced to split up into smaller groups to move around to find work and this is why we have nuclear families today. The third was that specialised agencies such as the welfare state took over the work done by families and so separated homes and work. However the nuclear family is also a specialised agency in child socialisation. Willmott and Young are two functionalists who agree with Parsons view that the nuclear family came about after industrialisation and that before hand we were mostly extended family. However, they believed that the extended family evolved into the nuclear family in three key stages. In the first stage, the Pre-Industrial family was extended and they all lived and worked together. In the second stage, the Early Industrial family were extended families beginning to become geographically mobile, dying out and becoming less common. In the third stage, the Symmetrical family was the beginning of the nuclear family, where they had split up from extended family into father, mother, and two children.

However, there are criticisms to the functionalist view that the industrial revolution brought about the nuclear family. Peter Laslett was a social historian who believed that pre and post industrial families were mostly nuclear. He studied Northern Europe and found that families were not likely to consist of a nuclear family structure, but he also found that the average size of families in Western Europe stayed constant at 4.75 persons, which gives us reason to believe that nuclear families were around before the industrial revolution. Laslett therefore does not agree with Parsons or Willmott and Young, as he believes families ...

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However, there are criticisms to the functionalist view that the industrial revolution brought about the nuclear family. Peter Laslett was a social historian who believed that pre and post industrial families were mostly nuclear. He studied Northern Europe and found that families were not likely to consist of a nuclear family structure, but he also found that the average size of families in Western Europe stayed constant at 4.75 persons, which gives us reason to believe that nuclear families were around before the industrial revolution. Laslett therefore does not agree with Parsons or Willmott and Young, as he believes families were already nuclear pre-industry and still are today.

Michael Anderson was also a social historian who agreed with Parsons because he believed that the pre industrial families were mainly extended. He argued that the extended family was a system of reciprocal support, and it offered financial help in times of hardship and this is why the extended family existed. He studied the 1851 census records for Preston, and found evidence that nearly ¼ of all households were extended families. Anderson however, does not agree with functionalists that the extended family ever died out. He believes that many extended families are still around and the nuclear family is not a more common way to live than the extended family.

Elizabeth Roberts agreed with Michael Anderson and Parsons that the extended family was around before industry. However, she also disagrees that the industrial revolution bought about the nuclear family. Along with Anderson, Roberts thinks that the extended family are still around today and more popular than the nuclear family. She conducted a study of working class women in three different Lancashire towns. She found that kinship links between the women in the family were extremely strong and they often gave each other practical, emotional and sometimes even financial support, as well as giving the same types of support to the rest of the family. She believes this is the main reason why extended families were not wiped out at the beginning of the industrial revolution. She believes the extended families are still around today, so that they have more people to socialise with instead of just being stuck with their partner and/or children. I believe that the nuclear family is more common than the extended families today. However there are other types of family structure around to be considered and so I do not believe that it is just the industrial revolution that has changed mostly extended families into other family structures but it also has to do with other factors that have occurred.

Discuss the view that the nuclear family replaced the extended family after industrialisation.

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