With reference to the family, consider how functionalist perspective enhances understanding of the diversity of family in today's society

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SW1057 Sociology, Social Problems and Social Work

With reference to the family, consider how

the Functionalist perspective enhances understanding of

the diversity of the family in today’s society.

“The family is a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually co-habiting adult” (Murdock 1949).

In this piece of work I am going to discuss the family from the Functionalist perspective. In order to obtain a more detailed analysis of the Functionalist theory I am going to compare and contrast alongside the Marxism as well as other perspectives, in order to examine the role of the family in society. Murdock’s description of the family is just one of many and I am going to discuss whether his idea of the family is representative of the family in today’s society.

Cree (2000) tells us that the family is a very specific and carries ‘many assumptions about men and women, about children, about work, about sexual behaviour and about caring’ (p27). Murdock’s view of the nuclear family is very traditional, and ‘he based his definition of the family on a sample of 250 societies ranging from hunting and gathering ands, to small-scale farming societies to large-scale industrial societies’ (p81) in order to get a true representation of the family from many cultures and societies (Pilkington, 2004). When he wrote his definition in 1949, he claimed that the nuclear family was universal, but now families are much more diverse. The diversity of families today includes extended families, lone parent families, reconstituted families, same sex families (which have been endorsed with the introduction of the civil partnership law), cohabiting families as well as childless couples. Murdock’s view is becoming outdated and is becoming increasingly hard to achieve, although this is what most people are striving for. Abbott and Wallace (as cited in Cree, 2000) inform us that in Britain approximately only 5% of families conform to the stereotypical nuclear family.

Functionalism is a macro theory, as is Marxism, which means that it looks at society as a whole, rather than individual sectors of society (Cree, 2000). Functionalism is also a consensus theory, which means that Functionalists see society as being in harmony, and that everybody has an equal place in society (Kidd et al, 2003). Cree (2000) tells us that ‘consensus approaches start with the assumption that there is one preferred, ideal family: the nuclear family’ (p32). Marxism, in contrast, is a conflict theory, and realise the services that the ‘family provide for the state’ (p33), and in particular, the capitalist society (Cree, 2000).

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Throughout the years our norms and values of everyday life have significantly changed; women are becoming more educated, which has resulted in them achieving higher status in their chosen careers, which means that they are no longer content to stay at home and do the household chores (Haralambos, 1990). This also means that more of the primary socialization of children is being left to outside organisations, such as nurseries. Murdock sees primary socialization of children as one of the basic functions of the family, which, throughout history has been the ‘essential responsibility’ (p53) of the family, and the family unit ...

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