Sociological Perspectives

Select two sociological perspectives (e.g. Marxism, feminism, functionalism) and:

1) Give an overview of each perspective

2) Outline each perspective’s approach to understanding the family

3) Evaluate the perspective and its approach to the family

An overview of the functionalist perspective

The functionalist perspective, also referred to as functionalism, is one of the main theoretical perspectives in sociology. It is a structuralist theory which is concerned with the overall structure of society and the range of social institutions within it in order for society to work together and function in a fundamentally harmonious and stable way (Crossman, 2015). In order to achieve this, society is constructed of a range of social institutions such as the family, the education and government system as well as religious institutions.

In order for society to function in a co-operative way their needs to be a general agreement around the values and norms on which most people feel to be important and worthwhile. This is commonly known as value consensus. Emilie Durkheim (1858-1917) a founding figure in the field of functionalism stated that value consensus, order and integration are key beliefs of functionalism which help to create and maintain social order. (Browne, 2013). Thus resulting in minimal conflict between people and groups and creating a healthy working society.

Functionalists use an organic analogy to compare society to the human body and social institutions such as the education system to the organs within the body. According to Moore et al (2008), functionalists propose that in the same way an organ works together to keep the body alive, institutions work in a similar fashion in order to maintain a level of consensus e.g. if one organ stopped functioning correctly then the rest of the human body would be affected. Similarly when one part of society becomes dysfunctional then the whole system would cease to work as they are all co-dependent on each other. = 288

An outline of the functionalist perspective to understanding the family

For functionalists, the family plays a vital role in maintaining the social system and believe that it is a crucial, yet fundamental institution which contributes to maintaining social order (Painter, 2013).

Functionalists believe that a family is a beneficial institution, which provides various positive functions to society. Firstly the family socialises children into the shared norms and values of society which enables the enforcement of other institutions and provides a link in sending children of an admissible age to school. It is also within this unit that other basic needs are met, such as providing safety, food, health as well as other primitive requirements such as emotional support, a sense of belonging and personal attributable identity. (Browne, 2013)

Murdock (1949) provided a theory for the universal functions of the family and believed that the nuclear family performs four essential functions for society and its members. There are termed the sexual, reproductive, economic and educational. His research however is somewhat limited as it does not examine alternatives to the family nor does it consider whether its functions could be attributed to other social institutions. POTENTIALLY DELETE DUE TO WORD COUNT

The second theorist, Parsons (1959) who developed a more modern application of his theory within the family, provided two ‘basic and irreducible’ functions. These are primary socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult personalities (Haralambos and Holborn 2008). The primary socialisation of children occurs in the early years of child development which educates the next generation with basic skills and society’s values. Stabilisation of the adult personality enables adults to release tensions so that they can return to their place of work and perform their roles efficiently. Parson’s identifies segregated conjugal roles between a husband and wife whereby the husband has the instrumental role and is therefore expected to provide for his family whilst the wife has the expressive role and is expected to nurture her children. This is referred to as the warm bath theory whereby the wife provides warmth and emotional support alleviating stresses which threaten to destabilise the husband’s personality. = 329 (Moore, et al, 2008) or =300 with bit removed

Evaluation of the functionalist perspective and its approach to the family

Moore, et al, (2008) states that functionalists all agree that the nuclear family is the best to fit society’s needs and offers a positive consensus view on the beneficial aspects of institutions and