To what extent do Contemporary Sociologists see the Modern Family as a Haven from the Outside World?

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To what extent do Contemporary Sociologists see the Modern Family as a Haven from the Outside World?

Until recently, sociological studies of the family have concentrated upon the role of the family within society. Contemporary sociologists however have shown an increasing interest in the emotional relationships within the family unit. This is an important issue in sociology when looking at the role of the family, as the family is the only institution in society providing affection and emotional support. There is no other specialised unit that does this. Most sociological perspectives view the family as a haven, compensating individuals for the harsh, cruel and potentially psychologically damaging reality of the outside world. The view that the family is a haven is mainly from a functionalist perspective. Marxists agree to a lesser extent whilst feminists certainly oppose such views. There are traditional views on the family like that of Talcott Parsons', and critics of this view who view the family as a prison, such as Morgan, and feminist Anne Oakley.

Perhaps the most famous theory of the family is the view held by functionalist sociologist Talcott Parsons. He argues that the family performs two roles, the primary socialisation of children, and the stabilisation of adult personalities therefore agreeing with the idea that the family is a haven from the outside world. He states that people have an inborn need to be loved and cared for and now traditional communities and kinship networks of the early 20th Century have given way to isolated nuclear families, people are more dependent on the emotional support within that family unit. Other functionalists support this view. Goode, for example, saw the family as being a place where a person could be treated as an individual compensating for the stresses of a non-personal modern society. Fletcher argued that a conjugal family was important as it depended upon emotional factors such as intimacy, closeness and intensity. Although the marriage rate is descending, the number of people choosing instead to cohabitate has increased.
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Few Marxists view the family as being a haven. Those that do, make a similar argument to functionalists. Hunt and Hunt, in their study "panacea for Capitalism" constructed the argument that love, and family, provides a panacea, a cure-all, for the harsh realities of a capitalist society. The family, being an institution that changes in response to other sections of society, would change with the development of capitalism, thus the family becomes more important to its members as capitalism develops. Dorothy Smith, also a Marxist views the family as a haven in which to be free from surveillance, ...

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