Functionalist perspective on the family

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  • Created by: E456
  • Created on: 06-12-17 18:24
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  • Functionalist perspective on the family
    • outlook
      • family is functional
        • body analogy
      • positive view of the family (nuclear especially)
      • family is necessary for the working of society - is universal
    • Murdock
      • 4 main functions
        • (1) sexual
        • (2) economic
        • (3) socialisation of young
        • (4) reproduction of the next generation
        • empirical evidence from 250 societies
      • Criticisms
        • view the family as overly positive
        • nuclear family isn't universal
      • Strengths
        • gives a positive outlook on the family
        • his research used empirical evidence from a wide farage of societies
    • Parsons
      • 2 main functions
        • (2) primary socialisation
        • (1) stabilisation on adult personality
          • 'water bath' theory
      • Strengths
        • family does surely provide some support sometimes
        • primary socialisation seems to make sense as a role of the family
      • Criticisms
        • others (especially Marxists and feminists) criticised Parsons for suggesting family destresses and is positive
        • nuclear family declining
        • family may affect its members differently

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