Talcott Parsons
Functional 'Fit Thesis'
Pre-industrial society
Argument against the theory
Extended Family
Industrial society
Economically productive
Kinship based
Multi-functional
Nuclear Family
Loss of function
Specialised roles
Anderson's (1995)
Peter Laslett (1972)
Parsons believes that as the social changes, the type of family that 'fits' that society, and the functions of it performs change.
Industrialisation and Urbanisation impact on the families
Labour flexibility
Geographical mobility
They could shift where the economy based on agricultural to being based on industry or manufacturing and could move from rural communities into cities or town and taking the job in the urban areas.
Kinship ties persisted and adapted to coexist with the changes brought about by industrialization.
Geographical mobility
The family role is multifucntional
The family role is already specialised
The relationship among people who are considered to be “kin” or family, which may be emerged through biology, marriage, and other relationship
the most common family form in the pre-industrial communities was not the extended family but the nuclear family