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Sociology
Today’s Lesson: To investigate the
view functionalist sociologists take
of the family and to evaluate this
viewpoint.
Starter…
Mind map the functions you
can identify which the family
provides both to the
individual and society.
Some functions of the family…
Emotional Support
Educational
Economic
Nurture
Functions
of
the
Family
Guidance
Security
Lesson Objectives
• To gain an understanding of the
functionalist viewpoint of the family.
• To be able to use examples of
functionalists to back up the views they
hold of the family.
• To be able to critically assess the
functionalist viewpoint and its views of
the family.
A Household or A Family?
What is a household?
A household is a group of people who live
together, they may or may not be
related through blood or marriage.
What is a family?
A family is a form of household where all
the people who live together are related
through either kinship ties or marriage.
Functionalism
Functionalism is a theory
which views society as
being a system of
interconnected parts and
they compare society to
the human body.
The Body – Society
Body Parts – Institutions
within society, the family
being one of these!
Functionalism
Functionalists see both humans and
societies to have certain basic needs
which must be met in order for society
and humans to survive.
Social institutions meet these basic needs
and therefore for a social institution to
be functional it needs to contribute to
the survival of the whole society.
Think…
What needs do individuals and societies
have which the family as an institution
could contribute to in order to help
meet these needs?
Functionalism
Family – Institution in Society
For Functionalists the institutions in
society are important as they help
maintain social order and social
cohesion.
Functionalism
Murdock (1949)
- Studied 250 societies of different cultures. (Good
breadth of study!)
- Murdock saw that in each of these societies the
nuclear family existed.
- Below are the four functions Murdock saw the
family to provide.
Sexual
Stable sexual relationship for adults
Reproductive
Continuing to create society members
In conclusions Murdock claimed the family is universal and
Economic
to provide
for
each
inevitable andPools
that resources
families exist
in every
society.
other
Educational
Teaches norms and values of society
Functionalism
Parsons (1950’s)
Parsons saw the family as being a
- Compared to Murdock,
Parsons
onlythe next
factory
that produces
batch of
of citizens.
provides two vital functions
the family.
Primary
Teaches children the norms and
Socialisation values of society.
Stabilises personalities and
Stabilisation emotional relationships. Parents
also provide security to help
individuals cope in wider society.
Think…
Is the family all hunky dory as the
functionalists seem to assume it is?
Evaluation
Write down one strength and one weakness of
the functionalist viewpoint of the family. You
may wish to use other sociological
perspectives to critique functionalism.
Ensure you put at the top strength or weakness!
Strength
Weakness
Criticisms
• Functionalists are criticised for ignoring
the negative aspects the family can
bring such as child abuse, neglect and
violence.
Criticisms
• Marxist Feminists would argue that
women end up staying at home being a
housewife and not getting paid for this.
Criticisms
• Some parents fail to bring up their
children to make them socially
acceptable and they may be bad role
models for the young.