They see the family as positive for society. Functionalists believe that the nuclear family is a positive group that is beneficial to society - they look at the functions that the nuclear family performs for the good of society as a whole. These functions include:
- Reproduction - the family has a child/ren which means the human race continues.
- Primary socialisation - the family, the mother, teaches children norms (acceptable behaviour) and values (right and wrong) so that the future generations will fit into society.
- Economic support – The family gives financial support, it feeds and provides shelter for its members.
By performing these key functions, the family is able to link up with other groups in society, such as schools, workplaces, hospitals etc, therefore providing future pupils for education, future workers for the economy, future wives and mothers for the nuclear family, and so on. They argue that this wouldn’t happen if the nuclear family didn’t work the way it worked, with the mother providing primary socialisation, so future generations understood norms and values of the culture they are born into.
The main aspects of Parsons' theory as developed in the USA in the 1950s were:
- 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 young adults achieve higher social status through social mobility than their parents this, according to Parsons would make for social tensions within the extended family which would be avoided if young married adults lived separately in their own nuclear family;
- 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;
- This means therefore 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 relationships;
- Within nuclear families, roles are allocated between husbands and wives in accordance with the instrumental characteristics of males [which make them more suited to paid employment outside of the home] and the expressive characteristics of females [which make them more suited to childcare and domestic work.
Talcott Parsons, a key Functionalist, argues that the nuclear family setup provides a safe haven from the outside world, therefore allowing for better socialisation of children, he is criticised however, by other sociological views, such as Marxists or feminists, that not all family groups are a safe haven, and that his view of the family being positive and based on a consensus, is not always true. Marxists and Feminists both have the view that society is conflicted and this penetrates into the home, and family structure.
Another criticism that Marxists provide is that, by focusing on the harmony and the importance of primary socialisation and the passing on of cultural values, it allows room to ignore the many problems and conflicts that are often produced and caused by families.
Feminists criticise this view of the functionalist family because the household setup is patriarchal, thus meaning that the male is dominant. This also adds to the inequality that women see in the family because it allows women to be exploited in the family setup,
Marxists and Feminists argue that the family can also cause misery and unhappiness for some members of the family, Feminists believe that it is especially women who are often exploited, sometimes in the in the form of physical, sexual or emotional abuse. The reason for Feminists saying women are exploited is because of the inequality they experience through not being expected to work, but being expected to stay at home.
Another criticism that Feminists have on the Functionalist perspective of the family, is that gender roles are stated, and this is oppression for women because they are ‘chained to the kitchen sink’. Feminists argue that these roles don’t provide equal opportunities and chances for women as they have their role and have to stick to it. They are not given freedom in the way which men are.
Feminists argue that the Functionalist view of the expressive and instrumental roles as natural, are in fact socially constructed. They believe that men and women gain these roles because society has made these roles for them to fit in with.
Feminists also disagree with the idea that the nuclear family is natural, believing that there is no preferable family structure and encourage family diversity. Feminists would argue that the Functionalist view of the family encourages oppression of women because they are not equal to men, and they are not given the same opportunities.
Marxists argue that the Functionalist view of the family sees the family structure, the nuclear family, as a way of benefiting and supporting capitalism because it provides future generations with a certain perspective on society due to their particular upbringing; therefore it provides strict, compliant workers for the economy.
To conclude, there are so many criticisms of the functionalist view because it was the first theory to analyse and recognise the wider social roles of the family. This has meant that other sociological views, such as Marxists and Feminists have had room to find fault.
Functionalism has received criticism for neglecting the negative functions of an event in the family, such as divorce. Critics also claim that the perspective justifies the status-quo and continuity on the part of society's members. Functionalism does not encourage people to take an active role in changing their social environment, even when such change may benefit them. Instead, functionalism sees active social change as undesirable because the various parts of society will compensate naturally for any problems that may arise.
by
amiewright (student)
