...Assess the view that the nuclear family functions to benefit all its members and society as a whole. A nuclear family can be defined as a unit consisting of a father, mother and their dependant children. There are many views against and for the nuclear family from a consensus perspective, a class perspective and a gender conflict perspective. The consensus sociologists, new right and functionalists, believe that the best and only type of family is the traditional, nuclear family. In contrast, the class and gender conflict sociologists, Marxists and feminists, argue that it meets the need of capitalism, not those of family members or society as a whole and see the family as serving the needs of men and oppressing women (feminists view). To evaluate the functions of the family, I will look into the different perspectives before any conclusions are made. The views of the functionalists are positive and see the nuclear family as the dominant family in society that meet the needs of all members of the family. Furthermore, as functionalists see the family as a particularly important sub-system- a basic block of society, functionalist sociologist George peter Murdock (1949) put forward three points that was mentioned in item 1. Item 1 suggests the family providing three basic functions: “stable satisfaction of sexual needs”, “ production and rearing of children” and “provision of a home”. These three points were put forward by Murdock while he put forward the case that the nuclear...
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...The Family - Murdock Murdock Functionalist; family is universal institution that performs 4 major functions: * Stable Satisfaction of the Sex Drive - prevents social disruption caused by sexual 'free-for-all'. * Reproduction of Next Generation - means society able to continue. * Socialisation of the Young - spreading society's norms and values. * Meeting Member's Economic Needs - providing food, shelter, etc. Criticisms of Murdock * Marxists - reject consensus view; argue that Murdock neglects dark side of family. Claim meets needs of capitalists, not family. * Feminists - reject consensus, 'rose-tinted' view, argue that Murdock ignores women's oppression and inequality. See family as serving needs of men and exploiting women. The Family - Parsons Parsons Functionalist; family has 2 'basic and irreducible' functions: * Primary Socialisation of Children - happens in early stages of child's life; child learns norms, values, etc of culture they are born into. * Stabilisation of Adult Personalities - family provides place for adults to relax, escape stresses of working life and feel emotionally secure. Criticisms of Parsons * Too deterministic - children are moulded by all-powerful adults. Also ignores possibility of socialisation being 2-way process where by socialisation can be resisted by children. * Zaretsky - family only provides such emotional support so members can spend another day under harsh capitalist oppression. Family is...
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...Assess the contribution of feminist sociologists to an understanding of family roles and relationships. In this essay I will explore the different schools of feminism such as Marxist, liberal and radical feminism, who share the view that women are oppressed in a patriarchal society but differ in opinion on who benefits from the inequalities. Each school of feminism has their own understanding of family roles and relationships which I will assess through this essay. Firstly one must look at the division of domestic labour and conjugal roles. Conjugal roles refer to the roles performed by men and women in relation to housework, childcare and paid work. Traditionally men had the instrumental ‘bread-winning’ role which the women had the expressive role (childcare and primary socialisation). Feminists say that the traditional division of labour is neither natural nor beneficial to women as their expressive role is unpaid and taken for granted. However different feminist views disagree on who benefits from this unpaid labour. Marxist feminists would argue it is capitalism that benefits most as wives keep their husbands happy and therefore they are left with a content workforce. On the other hand, radical feminists would argue that men are the main people to gain from women’s oppression as we live in a patriarchal society. A functionalist view from Wilmott and Young says that there has been a ‘march of progress’ in which the family has become more symmetrical with more joint conjugal...
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...understanding of the family (24 marks) Functionalists employ the idea of the nuclear family being the main universal family in society and most benefitting. The nuclear family functions to meet the pro dominant means of society (sexual reproduction, educational and economic functions). The family allows each member of the family to shine individually and enjoy success. The functionalist sociologist Murdock believed that the nuclear family is found in every society because it performs four main functions that are essential to the existence of society and no other institution can perform. The four are reproductive, sexual, educational and economic. He said that the reproductive function was vital because it was vital for society to survive; he saw the family as the best place for reproduction to take place. Similarly, he believed that the sexual function should take place within the family, because if sex is controlled by keeping it in the family it helps maintain stability and it binds the couple together rather than having a free for all. Murdock saw education as an important function for the family. The family socialises children into society’s values and norms. The final function that Murdock identified was the economic one. The family provides for its members’ basic needs such as food and shelter. There are other sociologists who have criticised Murdock’s views of the family. He sees the family as only nuclear when there are many other types of family structures such as extended...
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...sexism is a very recent idea in our society. The idea that men were superior to and different from women was so deeply integrated into much thinking that most people never thought to question it. Throughout the history of ideas, female inferiority has been seen as the natural order of things. This is where feminism comes into place... feminism is the view which examines the world from the viewpoint of women, hence this 'traditional' view that men dominate women is challenged by feminists, as feminism believes that women are disadvantaged relative to men and that female interests are ignored or devalued by society. Feminism is therefore the movement which essentially campaigns for equality for women in society; examples of feminist groups which have campaigned for equal rights are the suffragettes and suffragists who protested for the right to vote for women in the 20th century. As Paula Trelchler herself put it... feminism is the radical notion that women are people. Liberal feminist Gavron suggested that women are trapped by the traditional roles within the family and that they should have more choice with regards to marriage and family life. Oakly further argued that the mother housewife role has been responsible for the subordination of women in the workforce. Female professional workers are three times less likely to be married than their fellow male workers. Oakly criticized Young and Wilmott, who in their 1972 study suggested that men were doing more in the home, however, in...
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...British family a patriarchal institution? A patriarchy family is a social system in which the male has the most authority in the family. There are many different arguments for and against the question, “is the British family a patriarchal institution?” The key topics for this discussion include: the division of domestic labour; the impact of paid work; the decision making and the control of the family finances; the “triple shift”; and domestic violence. All of these points have arguments supporting and opposing the question in hand and different sociological perspectives will have very different views on all of these matters. Feminists, for example, will most likely agree with the question and will try to prove that the British family is a patriarchal institute, whereas functionalists would argue that the members of the family all of separate roles and purposes in order to fulfil society’s needs, therefore being more likely to oppose the feminist view. Domestic labour is work performed in the home, e.g. cooking, cleaning, and childcare. Some functionalists, such as Parsons, view that traditional division of labour in a family reflects the biological differences men and women. He also believes that everybody benefits from this as society's needs are met due to the roles being complimentary of each other; the male’s traditional roles of being the “breadwinners” and the women's “expressive” role help everyone involved in the family and society. The “march of progress” view claims...
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...Rachel Deere Access the view that family relationships have become more equal. Different sociologists have had different views to whether family relationships have become equal. Researchers have measured different aspects of equality/inequality in family relationships. Some have concentrated on the division of labour in the home, examining the allocation of responsibility for domestic work between husband and wife and the amount of time spent by each sex on particular tasks. Willmott and Young are amongst those who have argued that family relationships and roles are equal. However, Ann Oakley has researched into the area of family relationships and has found little evidence that couples share equal division of domestic tasks. Rather than seeing a march of progress towards symmetry since the 19th century as Young and Willmott do, the feminist Ann Oakley (1974) shows how the housewife role has become a more dominant role for married women. The rise of industrialisation in the 19th century was said to have led to the separation of paid work from the home meaning women were gradually excluded from workplace and confined to the home with responsibility for housework and childcare while men became the breadwinners. Parsons claimed that this socially constructed the housewife role and that is wasn’t a ‘natural’ role brought upon by the economic dependence on men. Oakley views that although there was an increase in the number of married women working in the 20th...
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...Assess the usefulness of the functionalist view for an understanding of the family today? Functionalism is a structural theory. In functionalism, social institutes like families are the key parts of the structure/system. These institutions are seen as working in an integrated way that keeps society in a state of consensus. Functionalists stress the positive role of a family for society and its members. They argue that the families’ role is universal and functional. A famous functionalist, called Murdock believed that the family is a social group characterised by common residence, economic co-operation and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship. Murdock believes that the family has 4 important functions, sex, reproduction, economic and socialisation. The family however does not always execute all of these functions, but it makes an important contribution to all of them and no other institution has yet been devised to match its efficiency in this respect. Another key functionalist is Parsons, who accepted that modern families do have functions that they need to fulfil, however he believed that outside agencies had taken over some of the main functions of the family but that two irreducible functions remained. These functions are stabilisation of adult personality and primary socialisation of the young. He added that he believed children needed two clear, stereotypical role models. The man was the...
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...Feminists’ argued that gender roles were created by men for their benefit, and they described this type of society as “patriarchal”.They argued the nuclear family performed two key functions which oppressed women a) the family socialised girls to accept subservient roles within the family, whilst socialising boys to believe they were superior – this happens through children witnessing then recreating the parental relationship; and b) it socialised women into accepting the “housewife” role as the only acceptable role for a women. Essentially, feminists viewed the function of the family as a breeding ground where patriarchal values were learned by an individual, which in turn created a patriarchal society. I will use different types of Feminism to explain their understanding of the family . The first type is Liberal Feminists. They believe in a “March of Progress” view of the family. This means that they believe that the family is gradually changing for the better over time by becoming more democratic and more equal. They also argue that men and females share democratic labour ( i.e childcare, cleaning the house). Liberal Feminist believe this happened thanks to new law reforms such as the Divorce Act 1969 and Equal Pay Act 1972. Jennifer Somerville believes that women are still disadvantaged in families . She criticises radical and marxist feminists for failing to accept that progress has been made in some ways. However Marxist Feminist criticise against this by saying...
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...Outline and assess feminist explanations of social inequality Feminists stress the importance of woman being treated as equal to men in society and work to ensure that males and females are entitled to the same rights. Most believe that women are disadvantaged in society due to their gender and that this disadvantage is socially constructed; there are numerous types of feminists which take different approaches in explaining key concepts such as status, power the labour market and other disadvantages some individuals face within society. Most feminist explanations of inequality focus on discrimination surrounding gender, however Oakley provides an explanation for age inequality; she argues that inequalities experiences by children are inextricably linked to those of women and the patriarchal nature of society. Children are controlled by adults in relation to the age they can start work, their education, where they play and use of their time. Gannon (1999) goes on to argue that some are controlled by abuse and neglect and that older women are materially deprived compared to men as a result of time out of employment and the gender pay gap. However Wyness (2006) opposes this view and argues that children are controlled by both women and men in society. Liberal feminists desire equal opportunities for men and women which they argue can be achieved through legislation and changing attitudes. They argue that gender roles are socially constructed through the family, education and...
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...item A and else where, assess the view that ‘the nuclear family functions to benefit all its members and society as a whole.’ (24 marks) According to Item A the nuclear family is the “ideal family type.” According to Murdock the nuclear family consists of a heterosexual couple that have at least one child. Murdock is a functionalist. Functionalists argue society is based on consensus (agreed norms and values). Consensus is achieved in society through the process of socialisation, which involves individuals learning norms and values. Norms and values are transmitted to children through social institutions such as the nuclear family. This benefits all members of society as it prevents anomie (chaos) and because it encourages social integration and social solidarity. Murdock argues that the family benefits all members of society as it performs four essential functions (sexual, economic, reproduction and socialization). Similarly Parsons argues that the family has two irreducible functions (primary socialization and stabalising adult personalities). Another functionalist, Fletcher, argues that the family performs three essential functions (regulation of sexual behavior; reproduction and child-rearing and home provisions). However, Marxists (such as Marx and Engels) argue that individuals don’t benefit from society, only the bourgeoisie benefits. Feminists (such as Liberal and radical feminists) criticize the functionalist view of the nuclear family and argue that women are ignored...
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...the ways in which feminist sociologists have contributed to our understanding of family roles and relationships Feminists as a whole take a critical view of the family and they argue that family life oppresses women. They mainly focus on issues such as the unequal division of labour and domestic violence against women. Feminists believe that gender inequality is neither natural nor inevitable but something that society created. Feminists belief in the symmetrical family, which promotes the roles of husbands and wives being, not identical, but similar. Feminism does not cover all the beliefs of the different types of feminists and each approaches family life in a different way and provides varied solutions for each problem or issue. There are many feminists who argue that, despite women having jobs and working, there is little or insufficient evidence of a “new man” who helps out and does an equal share of domestic labour. Women seem to have simply acquired the burden of both paid work and unpaid housework, which is known as the dual burden. So the family still remains to be patriarchal; men are benefiting from their wives or partners unpaid housework. Further support comes from Elsa Ferri and Kate Smith (1996) who provide evidence of the dual burden. They found that the employment increase of women outside of home has had little impact on the domestic division of labour between the sexes. Liberal feminism is an individualistic form of the feminist theory, which primarily...
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...functions of the family Assess the contribution of functionalism to our understanding of families and households. (24) Functionalists take a consensus view of the role of family. They see it as a universal institution that performs essential functions for society as a whole and all members of the family. According to Murdock, it provides important sub-system that provides stable satisfaction for the sex drive and therefore avoids social disruption. As well as this, Murdock says the family reproduces the next generation and thus ensuring current society to continue. Parsons sees a functional fit with the nuclear family fitting modern society’s needs for a geographically and socially mobile labour force. However critics argue that he is wrong about the relationship between industrialisation and family structure. Moreover Marxists, Liberal, radical and Marxist feminist all view the functions of the family in different ways, this essay will assess the different perspectives in which all these groups view the functions of the family. Functionalists believe that society is based on a value consensus- as set of shared norms and values; into which society socialises its members. This enables them to cooperate harmoniously to meet society’s needs and achieve shared goals. They regard society as system made up of different parts or sub-systems that depend on each other, such as the family, the education system and the economy. Factionalists also see the family as a particularly...
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...economic and cultural movements that have happened for many years in the view to changing the lives of women. When people in society think of a ‘feminist’ they think of angry, men hating women that think that any inequality towards women is disgraceful. Some movements have been very public and a lot of action taken, and others are more discreet but just as powerful. The most remember able feminist movement is the suffragettes, that took up arms just after the second world war. This movement is stuck in history due to the amount of women that gave their lives for the cause. They were called the suffragettes. Although this movement wasn’t the first feminism movement, the ‘first wave’ of feminism started around the nineteenth too twenty centuries and it has carried on in different movements until today. One of the feminist movements is the radical way of thinking, this is the view that men just see women in a sex related way and that a woman’s body is controlled and enjoyed by the man. This movement tries to show the side where men objective a woman and Dworkin said that this way of thinking is visible in many day to day things. Such as marriage, health care, economy and also prostitution, pornography and law. Radical feminists are also extremely against prostitution, as they see it as a way for men to treat women as commodities that are able to be used and sold, for the pleasure of men. Radical feminist also wants to empower women to look past the beauty industry, that causes...
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...According to Worsley, a sociological problem is “any pattern of relationships that calls for explanation.” In other words, it is any piece of behaviour that we wish to make sense of. However even when sociologists conduct research into social problems, there’s no guarantee that policy makers will study their findings, or that any solutions they propose will find their way into social policies. Many factors may affect whether or not sociological research succeeds in influencing policy. Some of these include electoral popularity, interest groups, globalisation and cost. Different sociological perspectives hold different views of the nature of the state and their social policy it produces. As a result, each perspective tends to take a different view of the role of sociology in relation to social policy. Early positivists such as Comte and Durkheim took the view that sociology was a science and would discover both the cause of social problems and scientifically based solutions to them. As such, their approach was part of the Enlightenment project to use science ad reason to improve society. Functionalists see society as based on value consensus and free from fundamental conflicts. Like positivists, they see the state as serving the interests of society as a whole producing and implementing rational social policies for the good of all. These policies help society run more smoothly. For both functionalists and positivists, the sociologists role to provide the state with...
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