Some of the functions that are performed by the family that help individuals are; the elders set an example/role model for the younger children and also it will give children a sense of belonging and support.
Setting an example for the younger children is good for the child as an individual as it shows them the norms and values of life, so that when they are older they know the rights and wrongs to fit into society. Also the family gives the children a stable environment that they can learn and grow in this helps with knowing what it acceptable in society and what is dysfunctional. As well as giving something to the children as individuals it gives the adults the support that they may need for other things, these two things both give a sense of belonging to the family and to society.
The family is good for society as it provides the next generation, as in the reproductive function, and it teaches the values and norms which is the educational function.
Providing the next generation for society is very important as this is what society needs to keep going and working the way it does. Teaching the values and norms in the family so they can bring it out to society means that people know how to act/behave which keeps society running smoothly.
Talcott Parsons is another main sociologist that looks at the family in a functionalist view. However unlike Murdock’s four stages Parsons believes that there are only two main and vital functions that the family carries out. These are primary socialisation which is the process of learning the values and norms of society. The second on being that it establishes adult personalities, as the closeness of the nuclear family is providing support for the children to learn and grow this is sometimes referred to as the ‘warm bath theory.’
The New Right’s view on the family is that the ideal family is that of the nuclear family. This is believed as they think that it is the right environment to raise children in, as from this children can see that divorce, teenage pregnancy and single parenthood is not helping society in any way. They think that this will therefore reduce the numbers of all those things.
