Marxist theories of the nuclear family
- Created by: jesskeayy
- Created on: 23-04-17 18:04
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- Marxist theories of the nuclear family
- Nuclear family functions
- Helps to maintain class inequality
- Allows men to relieve their frustrations from the workplace
- Inheritance
- Socialisation of the children to accept inequality
- Providing the next labour force
- A source of capitalist profit
- NUCLEAR FAMILY IS NOT UNDER THREAT
- Capitalism has not decreased, therefore the nuclear family is the most common family form
- There has been a decline in divorce rates, suggesting the nuclear family is still commonly found
- There has also been an increase in remarriage rates and the introduction of the same-sex marriage legislation
- Women are still controlled and exploited in society, the nuclear family being the main source of oppression
- ENGELS
- Monogamy became essential for males to be certain of the paternity of their children, to ensure that they can leave inheritance behind.
- Women are treated as 'a mere instrument for the production of children'
- ALTHUSSER
- Children are socialised to accept the idea that hierarchy and inequality are inevitable
- Families teach children capitalist norms and values, through the acceptance that their father is dominant in the household
- They learn that people have power and they have none
- ZARETSKY
- The family is an illusion of safety
- The family is the place working class males feel they can relieve the frustrations they face from humiliation in the workplace
- The working class are less likely to go on strike, because they need their job to keep the power within their household
- 'Illusion of safety' is the idea that whilst the family soothe away stresses from the workplace, they must return to work to provide for them
- The family is the place working class males feel they can relieve the frustrations they face from humiliation in the workplace
- The family is an illusion of safety
- WILKINSON
- Working class men take out their stresses on the family through domestic violence
- The family is a unit of consumption, it buys the products that capitalism produces to support its economic system
- Supported by the media e.g. pester power of adveritsing
- Family prepares children for a life in employment e.g. LONG SHADOW OF WORK
- Criticisms of Marxist theories of the family
- Ignores the variety and diversity of family life
- Only looks at the negatives of the family life
- FUNCTIONALIST
- Assumes capitalism is bad for us and ignores the biological explanations as to why family units form
- FUNCTIONALIST
- Ignores the real benefits and positive role models the family unit provides
- Nuclear family functions
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