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DEFINING THE FAMILY - Coggle Diagram
DEFINING THE FAMILY
evolution of the family
functionalism - parsons
- researcher the nature of family through historical records to try to explain why the nuclear family has been so dominant
- influence of industrialization and economy of family structures and relationships
pre industrial societies
- based largely on extended kinship networks
- land was shared/rented between the family
- very few people left home to go to work
- trade with other family members for resources
extended families
- role in families were based on ascription (born into a trade eg farming)
- these roles would be passed down from generation to generation, thus the extended families stayed closely knit
- family members would not reject these roles - sense of duty and obligation to the family
- roles not rejected because of the duty and obligation to the family being the key values of pre industrial society
role of extended family
- skills and education - rarely included literacy or numeracy
- health care - high infant mortality rates and low life expectancy indicate this was a struggle
- welfare - grandparents who become too old to work would look after young
- justice - deal with wrongdoing in the family
industrialisation - parsons argues it brought about 4 fundamental changes to the family:
- mobility
- achievement
- changes to care for the family
- family role
and that only the nuclear family could effectively provide the workforce that was needed by the modern industrial society. because of these changes, the biggest change was the family structure, extended families was less common and nuclear families were more necessary for industrialization to be successful
geographical mobility - ability to move around quickly for available jobs. thus nuclear families increased as families moved away from the extended relatives for jobs
-
structural differentiation
- specialised agencies took over family roles, therefore structural differentiation increased where the family had fewer roles due to the state and industrial companies taking over
- the nuclear family was left with two main functions - primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities
- hospitals, schools, law and order introduced so families don't have to take on all those roles
clear family roles
- the nuclear unit leads to clear roles between husband and wife
male = instrumental leader (protection of the family, finacinal repsonsibility)
- female = expressive leader (socialisation of children, emotional care, support of family)
- parsons - 'natural'
criticisms of parsons view
laslett
- english parish records from pre industrial society
- only 10% of households had kin beyond the nuclear family - this could be explained by late marriage/ high infant mortality rate and also sending children away to work as servants
- is this date reliable? - quantitative not qualitative so might not give a real insight into the quality of family life
anderson
- preston census records from 1851
- post industrial families were still shared by extended kin - explained by mutual economic support
willmott and young
- noted the move to nuclear family was not as quick as parsons suggested
- extended family units went into decline in the 1960s due to working class communities being rehoused
- welfare state took over roles of family further during the 1960s meant that families had to rely on each other even less
-
functionalist definition
murdock
- focus on nuclear family
- many right wing sociologists believe this is the ideal type of family that people should aspire to and would have the following characteristics:
- kingship - related by blood/marriage
- living together
- heterosexual
- marriage
- shared responsibility but 'natural' differences occur - sexual divisions of labour
criticisms of Murdock
- needs a common residence
- sexually apporaved adult relationship
- needs adults of both sexes
- needs one or more children