Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of the family.

The first 200 words of this essay...

Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of the family.

Initially we have to consider do functionalists really contribute to our understanding family, additionally if they do how valuable is their perspective and does it still reflect on contemporary society. Functionalists view the family as an institution, which improves society by obtaining equilibrium and social order and stability; they also feel the family should not be studied in isolation but in terms of its contribution to the wider society. Therefore they feel the family does not benefit the individual, but the family is beneficial to the whole of society, in other words they are not too concerned of the individual as they opt to look at the macro-perspective. For instance the family prepares children to become adult workers in various ways for example by passing down their norms and values. Conversely there is the interpretive and symbolic interactionists approach that oppose the views of functionalists and feel the family should be studied in isolation and you should look at the individual, as they tend to advocate the micro-perspective of society. Nevertheless a group who shares the same views, as functionalists, are the New Right. These views being that