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