functionalist view on family essay

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The Functionalist Perspective on the Family

Functionalists focus on the positive functions of the nuclear family, such as secondary socialisation and the stabilisation of adult personalities.

Table of Contents

Last Updated on October 4, 2023 by Karl Thompson

Functionalists see the family as one of the essential building blocks for stable societies. They tend to to see the nuclear family as the ideal family for industrial societies and argue that it performs positive functions such as as socialising children and providing emotional security for parents.

There are two main Functionalist theorists of the family: George Peter Murdock and Talcott Parsons.

Murdock argued that the nuclear family was universal and that it performed four essential functions: stabilising the sex drive, reproduction, socialisation of the young and economic production. (Obviously this has been widely criticised!)

Parsons developed the Functional Fit Theory: In pre-industrial society families used to be extended, but with industrialisation families became nuclear because they fitted industrial society better.

The Functionalist Perspective on the Family: Overview

This post covers:

The Functionalist view of society
George Peter Murdock’s theory of the universal nuclear family
Talcott Parsons’ Functional Fit Theory
The possible positive functions of the family today
Evaluations and criticisms of the Functionalist view of the family from other perspectives.

A mind map summarising the functionalist perspective on the family.

The Functionalist View of Society

Functionalists regard society as a system made up of different parts which depend on each other. Different institutions perform specific functions within a society to keep society going, in the same way as the different organs of a human body perform different functions in order to maintain the whole.

Functionalists see the family as a particularly important institution because it as the ‘basic building block’ of society which performs the crucial functions of socialising the young and meeting the emotional needs of its members. Stable families underpin social order and economic stability.

Before you go any further you might like to read this more in depth post ‘ Introduction to Functionalism ‘ post which covers the key ideas of Functionalism.

George Peter Murdock – Four essential functions of the nuclear family

George Murdock was an American Anthropologist who looked at 200 different societies and argued that the nuclear family was a universal feature of all human societies. In other words, the nuclear family is in all societies!

Murdock suggested there were ‘four essential functions’ of the nuclear family:

1. Stable satisfaction of the sex drive – within monogamous relationships, which prevents sexual jealousy. 2. The biological reproduction of the next generation – without which society cannot continue. 3. Socialisation of the young – teaching basic norms and values 4. Meeting its members economic needs – producing food and shelter for example.

Criticisms of Murdock

Feminist Sociologists argue that arguing that the family is essential is ideological because traditional family structures typically disadvantage women.
It is feasible that other institutions could perform the functions above.
Anthropological research has shown that there are some cultures which don’t appear to have ‘families’ – the Nayar for example.

Talcott Parsons – Functional Fit Theory

Parsons has a historical perspective on the evolution of the nuclear family. His functional fit theory is that as society changes, the type of family that ‘fits’ that society, and the functions it performs change. Over the last 200 years, society has moved from pre-industrial to industrial – and the main family type has changed from the extended family to the nuclear family. The nuclear family fits the more complex industrial society better, but it performs a reduced number of functions.

The extended family consisted of parents, children, grandparents and aunts and uncles living under one roof, or in a collection of houses very close to eachother. Such a large family unit ‘fitted’ pre-industrial society as the family was entirely responsible for the education of children, producing food and caring for the sick – basically it did everything for all its members.

In contrast to pre-industrial society, in industrial society (from the 1800s in the UK) the isolated “nuclear family” consisting of only parents and children becomees the norm. This type of family ‘fits’ industrial societies because it required a mobile workforce. The extended family was too difficult to move when families needed to move to find work to meet the requirements of a rapidly changing and growing economy. Furthermore, there was also less need for the extended family as more and more functions, such as health and education, gradually came to be carried out by the state.

I really like this brief explanation of Parson’s Functional Fit Theory:

Two irreducible functions of the family

According to Parsons, although the nuclear family performs reduced functions, it is still the only institution that can perform two core functions in society – Primary Socialisation and the Stabilisation of Adult Personalities.

Primary Socialisation

The nuclear family is still responsible for teaching children the norms and values of society known as Primary Socialisation.

An important part of socialisation according to Functionalists is ‘gender role socialisation. If primary socialisation is done correctly then boys learn to adopt the ‘instrumental role’ (also known as the ‘breadwinner role) – they go on to go out to work and earns money. Girls learn to adopt the ‘expressive role’ – doing all the ‘caring work’, housework and bringing up the children.

The stabilisation of adult personalities

The stabilisation of adult personalities refers to the emotional security which is achieved within a marital relationship between two adults. According to Parsons working life in Industrial society is stressful and the family is a place where the working man can return and be ‘de-stressed’ by his wife, which reduces conflict in society. This is also known as the ‘warm bath theory’.

Criticisms of Functional Fit Theory

It’s too ‘neat’ – social change doesn’t happen in such an orderly manner:
Laslett found that church records show only 10% of households contained extended kin before the industrial revolution. This suggests the family was already nuclear before industrialisation.
Young and Wilmott found that Extended Kin networks were still strong in East London as late as the 1970s.

The Positive Functions of the Family: A summary

Functionalists identify a number of positive functions of the nuclear family, below is a summary of some of these and a few more.

A mind map summarising six positive functions of the family

The reproduction of the next generation – Functionalists see the nuclear family as the ‘fundamental unit of society’ responsible for carrying that society on by biological reproduction
Related to the above point one of the main functions is primary socialisation – teaching children the basic norms and values of society.
This kind of overlaps with the above, but even during secondary socialisation, the family is expected to help educated children alongside the school.
The family provides psychological security and security, especially for men one might say (as with the ‘warm bath theory’.)
A further positive function is elderly care, with many families still taking on this responsibility.
Murdock argued that monogamous relationships provide for a stable satisfaction of the sex drive – most people today still see committed sexual relationships as best.

Criticisms of the Functionalist perspective on the family

It is really important to be able to criticise the perspectives. Evaluation is worth around half of the marks in the exam!

Downplaying Conflict

Both Murdock and Parsons paint a very rosy picture of family life, presenting it as a harmonious and integrated institution. However, they downplay conflict in the family, particularly the ‘darker side’ of family life, such as violence against women and child abuse.

Being out of Date

Parson’s view of the instrumental and expressive roles of men and women is very old-fashioned. It may have held some truth in the 1950s but today, with the majority of women in paid work, and the blurring of gender roles, it seems that both partners are more likely to take on both expressive and instrumental roles

Ignoring the exploitation of women

Functionalists tend to ignore the way women suffer from the sexual division of labour in the family. Even today, women still end up being the primary child carers in 90% of families, and suffer the burden of extra work that this responsibility carries compared to their male partners. Gender roles are socially constructed and usually involve the oppression of women. There are no biological reasons for the functionalist’s view of separation of roles into male breadwinner & female homemaker. These roles lead to the disadvantages being experienced by women.

Functionalism is too deterministic

This means it ignores the fact that children actively create their own personalities. An individual’s personality isn’t pre-determined at birth or something they have no control in. Functionalism incorrectly assumes an almost robotic adoption of society’s values via our parents; clearly there are many examples where this isn’t the case.

A Level Sociology Families and Households Revision Bundle

If you like this sort of thing, then you might like my A-Level Sociology Families and Households Revision Bundle :

The bundle contains the following:

50 pages of revision notes covering all of the sub-topics within families and households
mind maps in pdf and png format – 9 in total, covering perspectives on the family
short answer exam practice questions and exemplar answers – 3 examples of the 10 mark, ‘outline and explain’ question.
9 essays/ essay plans spanning all the topics within the families and households topic.

Signposting and Related Posts

The Functionalist perspective on the family is usually the very first topic taught within the the families and households module.

It is usually followed and critiqued by the Marxist perspective on the family and Feminist Perspectives on the family.

References and Sources for Further Reading

Haralambos and Holborn (2013) – Sociology Themes and Perspectives, Eighth Edition, Collins. ISBN-10: 0007597479

Chapman et al (2015) A Level Sociology Student Book One, Including AS Level [Fourth Edition], Collins. ISBN-10: 0007597479

Robb Webb et al (2015) AQA A Level Sociology Book 1, Napier Press. ISBN-10: 0954007913

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The Functionalist View of Family in Sociology

In the field of sociology, the functionalist perspective provides a unique lens through which to understand the role and significance of the family in society. Functionalism is a theoretical framework that emphasizes the importance of social institutions, such as the family, in maintaining social order and stability. This perspective views the family as a vital component of society, serving various functions that contribute to the overall well-being and functioning of individuals and the larger community.

Overview of Functionalism

Functionalism , also known as structural functionalism, is a sociological theory developed by scholars such as Emile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons. It posits that society is a complex system made up of interrelated parts that work together to maintain social equilibrium. According to functionalists, social institutions, including the family , have specific functions that contribute to the smooth functioning and stability of society.

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The functions of family.

The functionalist view of the family highlights several key functions that it fulfills within society:

1. Reproduction and Socialization

One of the primary functions of the family is to reproduce and socialize new members of society. Through the institution of marriage, families provide a socially accepted framework for procreation. Additionally, parents play a crucial role in socializing children, teaching them the norms , values, and behaviors necessary for their integration into society.

2. Economic Support

The family serves as an economic unit, providing financial support and resources to its members. Within the family, individuals contribute to the overall economic well-being through their work and income. This economic support ensures the fulfillment of basic needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing, and contributes to the overall stability of society.

3. Emotional Support

The family is a primary source of emotional support and nurturance for its members. This support system helps individuals cope with challenges, provides a sense of belonging and identity, and fosters emotional well-being. The emotional support within families contributes to the overall mental health and stability of individuals and society as a whole.

4. Social Control

The family plays a crucial role in maintaining social control and regulating behavior. Through socialization and the internalization of norms and values , families instill a sense of discipline and moral guidance in their members. This social control helps individuals conform to societal expectations, contributing to the overall order and stability of society.

5. Status Placement

The family also plays a role in determining an individual’s social status and position within society. Inheritance of social and economic resources, as well as social connections and networks, are often influenced by family ties. The family’s role in status placement contributes to the social stratification and hierarchy within society.

Critiques of the Functionalist View

While the functionalist view of the family provides valuable insights into its functions within society, it has also faced criticism. Critics argue that functionalism tends to idealize the family as a harmonious and stable institution, overlooking issues such as domestic violence, inequality, and the changing dynamics of modern families. Moreover, functionalism may neglect the agency and diversity of individuals and families, assuming a one-size-fits-all approach.

In conclusion, the functionalist view of the family provides a comprehensive understanding of its functions within society . From reproduction and socialization to economic and emotional support, the family plays a vital role in maintaining social order and stability. However, it is essential to recognize the limitations of this perspective and acknowledge the complexities and diversity of family structures and dynamics in contemporary society.

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15.2 Sociological Perspectives on the Family

Learning objective.

Summarize understandings of the family as presented by functional, conflict, and social interactionist theories.

Sociological views on today’s families generally fall into the functional, conflict, and social interactionist approaches introduced earlier in this book. Let’s review these views, which are summarized in Table 15.1 “Theory Snapshot” .

Table 15.1 Theory Snapshot

Social Functions of the Family

Recall that the functional perspective emphasizes that social institutions perform several important functions to help preserve social stability and otherwise keep a society working. A functional understanding of the family thus stresses the ways in which the family as a social institution helps make society possible. As such, the family performs several important functions.

First, the family is the primary unit for socializing children . As previous chapters indicated, no society is possible without adequate socialization of its young. In most societies, the family is the major unit in which socialization happens. Parents, siblings, and, if the family is extended rather than nuclear, other relatives all help socialize children from the time they are born.

One of the most important functions of the family is the socialization of children. In most societies the family is the major unit through which socialization occurs.

Colleen Kelly – Kids Playing Monopoly Chicago – CC BY 2.0.

Second, the family is ideally a major source of practical and emotional support for its members. It provides them food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials, and it also provides them love, comfort, help in times of emotional distress, and other types of intangible support that we all need.

Third, the family helps regulate sexual activity and sexual reproduction . All societies have norms governing with whom and how often a person should have sex. The family is the major unit for teaching these norms and the major unit through which sexual reproduction occurs. One reason for this is to ensure that infants have adequate emotional and practical care when they are born. The incest taboo that most societies have, which prohibits sex between certain relatives, helps minimize conflict within the family if sex occurred among its members and to establish social ties among different families and thus among society as a whole.

Fourth, the family provides its members with a social identity . Children are born into their parents’ social class, race and ethnicity, religion, and so forth. As we have seen in earlier chapters, social identity is important for our life chances. Some children have advantages throughout life because of the social identity they acquire from their parents, while others face many obstacles because the social class or race/ethnicity into which they are born is at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Beyond discussing the family’s functions, the functional perspective on the family maintains that sudden or far-reaching changes in conventional family structure and processes threaten the family’s stability and thus that of society. For example, most sociology and marriage-and-family textbooks during the 1950s maintained that the male breadwinner–female homemaker nuclear family was the best arrangement for children, as it provided for a family’s economic and child-rearing needs. Any shift in this arrangement, they warned, would harm children and by extension the family as a social institution and even society itself. Textbooks no longer contain this warning, but many conservative observers continue to worry about the impact on children of working mothers and one-parent families. We return to their concerns shortly.

The Family and Conflict

Conflict theorists agree that the family serves the important functions just listed, but they also point to problems within the family that the functional perspective minimizes or overlooks altogether.

First, the family as a social institution contributes to social inequality in several ways. The social identity it gives to its children does affect their life chances, but it also reinforces a society’s system of stratification. Because families pass along their wealth to their children, and because families differ greatly in the amount of wealth they have, the family helps reinforce existing inequality. As it developed through the centuries, and especially during industrialization, the family also became more and more of a patriarchal unit (see earlier discussion), helping to ensure men’s status at the top of the social hierarchy.

Second, the family can also be a source of conflict for its own members. Although the functional perspective assumes the family provides its members emotional comfort and support, many families do just the opposite and are far from the harmonious, happy groups depicted in the 1950s television shows. Instead, and as the news story that began this chapter tragically illustrated, they argue, shout, and use emotional cruelty and physical violence. We return to family violence later in this chapter.

Families and Social Interaction

Social interactionist perspectives on the family examine how family members and intimate couples interact on a daily basis and arrive at shared understandings of their situations. Studies grounded in social interactionism give us a keen understanding of how and why families operate the way they do.

Some studies, for example, focus on how husbands and wives communicate and the degree to which they communicate successfully (Tannen, 2001). A classic study by Mirra Komarovsky (1964) found that wives in blue-collar marriages liked to talk with their husbands about problems they were having, while husbands tended to be quiet when problems occurred. Such gender differences seem less common in middle-class families, where men are better educated and more emotionally expressive than their working-class counterparts. Another classic study by Lillian Rubin (1976) found that wives in middle-class families say that ideal husbands are ones who communicate well and share their feelings, while wives in working-class families are more apt to say that ideal husbands are ones who do not drink too much and who go to work every day.

Other studies explore the role played by romantic love in courtship and marriage. Romantic love , the feeling of deep emotional and sexual passion for someone, is the basis for many American marriages and dating relationships, but it is actually uncommon in many parts of the contemporary world today and in many of the societies anthropologists and historians have studied. In these societies, marriages are arranged by parents and other kin for economic reasons or to build alliances, and young people are simply expected to marry whoever is chosen for them. This is the situation today in parts of India, Pakistan, and other developing nations and was the norm for much of the Western world until the late 18th and early 19th centuries (Lystra, 1989).

Key Takeaways

The family ideally serves several functions for society. It socializes children, provides practical and emotional support for its members, regulates sexual reproduction, and provides its members with a social identity.
Reflecting conflict theory’s emphases, the family may also produce several problems. In particular, it may contribute for several reasons to social inequality, and it may subject its members to violence, arguments, and other forms of conflict.
Social interactionist understandings of the family emphasize how family members interact on a daily basis. In this regard, several studies find that husbands and wives communicate differently in certain ways that sometimes impede effective communication.

For Your Review

As you think how best to understand the family, do you favor the views and assumptions of functional theory, conflict theory, or social interactionist theory? Explain your answer.
Do you think the family continues to serve the function of regulating sexual behavior and sexual reproduction? Why or why not?

Komarovsky, M. (1964). Blue-collar marriage . New York, NY: Random House.

Lystra, K. (1989). Searching the heart: Women, men, and romantic love in nineteenth-century America . New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Rubin, L. B. (1976). Worlds of pain: Life in the working-class family . New York, NY: Basic Books.

Tannen, D. (2001). You just don’t understand: Women and men in conversation . New York, NY: Quill.

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11.3: Sociological Perspectives on the Family

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Learning Objectives

Summarize understandings of the family as presented by functional, conflict, and social interactionist theories.

Table 11.1 Theory Snapshot

Social Functions of the Family

Figure 11.3

One of the most important functions of the family is the socialization of children. In most societies the family is the major unit through which socialization occurs.

Third, the family helps regulate sexual activity and sexual reproduction . All societies have norms governing with whom and how often a person should have sex. The family is the major unit for teaching these norms and the major unit through which sexual reproduction occurs. One reason for this is to ensure that infants have adequate emotional and practical care when they are born. The incest taboo that most societies have, which prohibits sex between certain relatives, helps to minimize conflict within the family if sex occurred among its members and to establish social ties among different families and thus among society as a whole.

Fourth, the family provides its members with a social identity . Children are born into their parents’ social class, race and ethnicity, religion, and so forth. As we have seen in earlier chapters, social identity is important for our life chances. Some children have advantages throughout life because of the social identity they acquire from their parents, while others face many obstacles because the social class or race and ethnicity into which they are born is at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

The Family and Conflict

Families and Social Interaction

Some studies, for example, focus on how husbands and wives communicate and the degree to which they communicate successfully (Tannen, 2001).Tannen, D. (2001). You just don’t understand: Women and men in conversation . New York, NY: Quill. A classic study by Mirra Komarovsky (1964)Komarovsky, M. (1964). Blue-collar marriage . New York, NY: Random House. found that wives in blue-collar marriages liked to talk with their husbands about problems they were having, while husbands tended to be quiet when problems occurred. Such gender differences seem less common in middle-class families, where men are better educated and more emotionally expressive than their working-class counterparts. Another classic study by Lillian Rubin (1976)Rubin, L. B. (1976). Worlds of pain: Life in the working-class family . New York, NY: Basic Books. found that wives in middle-class families say that ideal husbands are ones who communicate well and share their feelings, while wives in working-class families are more apt to say that ideal husbands are ones who do not drink too much and who go to work every day.

The family ideally serves several functions for society. It socializes children, provides practical and emotional support for its members, regulates sexual reproduction, and provides its members with a social identity.
Reflecting conflict theory’s emphases, the family may also produce several problems. In particular, it may contribute for several reasons to social inequality, and it may subject its members to violence, arguments, and other forms of conflict.
Social interactionist understandings of the family emphasize how family members interact on a daily basis. In this regard, several studies find that husbands and wives communicate differently in certain ways that sometimes impede effective communication.

For Your Review

As you think how best to understand the family, do you favor the views and assumptions of functional theory, conflict theory, or social interactionist theory? Explain your answer.
Do you think the family continues to serve the function of regulating sexual behavior and sexual reproduction? Why or why not?

Final dates! Join the tutor2u subject teams in London for a day of exam technique and revision at the cinema. Learn more →

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Families: Functionalism

Last updated 15 Sept 2022

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Functionalists argue that all institutions in society have important roles to play in the smooth and functional running of society, and the family is no different. They argue that the family has important functions both for society and for individuals.

George Murdock on Families

The classic functionalist statement on the roles of the family comes from George Murdock (1949) who looked at families across the world and found four functions that were common to all of them:

Educational : children are taught the norms and values of society (also known as primary socialisation)
Economic : the family provides an economic function to all its members by pooling resources and ensuring all have what they need.
Reproductive: produces the next generation of the society.
Sexual : ensures that adults’ sexual relationships are controlled and stable.

Talcott Parsons on Families

Talcott Parsons (1951) updated Murdock’s theory. He argued that in modern, Western societies, the state provided education and could perform an economic function (through welfare provisions) but that the family still had two irreducible functions:

Primary socialisation

Similar to Murdock’s educational role, Parsons agreed that families taught children social norms and values. However, he argued that it specifically taught children the norms and values associated with their family and/or community, while other institutions, such as schools, the media, religion, etc. taught children the universal norms and values of wider society. Parsons called this first process primary socialisation and the latter secondary socialisation .

Stabilisation of adult personalities

Parsons also argued that families helped to prevent adults from behaving in disruptive or dysfunctional ways, instead encouraging them to conform to social norms, especially at times of stress. The family provides emotional support to its members.

Parsons famously described this in his warm bath theory . This was the idea that when a man came home from a hard day at work, he could relax into is family like a warm bath and it would take away the stress and refresh him for the next day’s work.

Evaluating functionalist views of the functions of families and households

A standard criticism of functionalist views of the role of the family comes from conflict theorists like Marxists and feminists who argue that this paints too rosy and idealistic a picture of family life. Families are certainly not like that for everyone. Many people have negative experiences of family life, and indeed they can cause stress as well as relieve it.

Conflict theorists also question whether the roles families perform really benefit the whole of society or really just benefit powerful groups within it. In particular, feminists argue that families exist largely for the benefit of men.

The Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley offers a different perspective on Parsons’ warm bath theory when she describes women in the family as takers of shit. By this she means that men coming home from work may have their stress relieved by the family, but only by dumping it on their wives.

Furthermore, these theories are outdated and suggest families are all traditional nuclear families with men going to work and women in domestic roles. We will revisit this part of the discussion in a later section.

Functionalism

Families: family and household defined, families: marxism, families: feminism, the march of progress view: the family and gender equality (part 1).

14th February 2017

The March of Progress View: The Family and the Role of Children (Part 2)

16th February 2017

Meet the Perspectives: Functionalism (Part 1)

14th November 2016

Meet the Perspectives: Functionalism (Part 2)

15th November 2016

Meet the Perspectives: Functionalism (Part 3)

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Functionalist Perspective & Theory in Sociology

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On This Page:

Functional theories in sociology see society as a system of interconnected parts that work together to maintain stability and order. Each part (like family, education, or religion) serves a function to benefit society as a whole.

Key Takeaways

The functionalism perspective is a paradigm influenced by American sociology from roughly the 1930s to the 1960s, although its origins lay in the work of the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, writing at the end of the 19th century.
Functionalism is a structural theory and posits that the social institutions and organization of society influence the running of society and individuals’ behaviors.
Talcott Parsons expanded upon Durkheim”s idea of the society as a moral regulator to create a “grand” theory of sociology intended to explain all of human behavior in relation to institutions.
According to both Parsons and Durkheim, societies undergo an evolution, and large, formalized structures (such as the family or education) evolve to serve the purpose that small communities once had. People become more interdependent.
Functionalism has been heavily criticized by a number of schools of thought, but has been revised beginning in the 1970s by American Sociologists. Functionalist theories largely argue that social problems and phenomena are, rather than a symptom of a societal flaw, in some way beneficial to society.

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What is a Functionalist Theory in Sociology?

Functionalism examines how the social institutions that make up society, such as the economy, education, family, religion, and media, all perform a useful purpose, and also influence members of society.

Functionalism is a theory that views society as a complex but orderly and stable system with interconnected structures and social patterns that operate to meet the needs of individuals’ needs.

The main ideas of the Functionalist perspective are that:

There is a social structure that exists independently of individuals. This social structure consists of norms and values passed on through institutions that shape the individual.
Sociologists should study society scientifically in a way that looks for the general laws explaining human action on a macro level.
Socialization is important because individuals need to be regulated for everyone’s benefit. Thus, the integration and regulation of individuals are good.
Sociologists should analyze society as a system by looking at each social phenomenon and the contribution it makes to the whole of society. Talcott Parsons believed that society acts in a similar way to the human body, as social institutions interact in the same way as human organs. Both are interconnected and interdependent parts that function for the good of the whole.
Social institutions usually perform positive functions — such as creating value consensus, social integration, social regulation, preventing anomie, etc. Functionalism is a consensus theory that assumes that the institutions of society are working together to maintain social cohesion and stability.

Functionalism originated in British anthropology. In particular, the Polish-British anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski (1943) proposed functional analysis as a solution for sociologists to interpret social situations through intuition rather than observation.

According to Malinowski, this functional analysis brings scientific attention to the study of cultures different from those of the ones observing it. Thus, before analyzing a social phenomenon typical of a given culture — say, an institution, material object, or idea — people first must think about what function that social phenomenon has within this culture.

The essential assumption of Malinowski”s functionalism is that in every single civilization, every custom, material object, idea, and opinion fulfills some vital function, helping to both express and maintain it.

This expression and maintenance of culture through phenomena that take place within it is called integration.

Examples of Functionalism

An example of functionalism would be the family . According to functionalism, the family is a societal structure that provides for the reproduction and protection of children.

Families serve as a primary agent of socialization, fostering an understanding of expected behaviors, norms, and values.

By meeting the emotional needs of its members, stable families underpin social order and economic stability. Social Problems Mid-twentieth-century sociologists were often concerned with policy and, correspondingly, social problems (Tumin, 1965).

Crime and Deviance

Crime serves a function in society to reinforce what is acceptable behavior, as the public nature of the punishments shows people what will happen for breaking the rules. Very serious crimes can also lead to society coming together to condemn the perpetrators.

Deviance refers to actions that go against the norms and values of a society. These may not be against the law but are frowned upon by most in society.

The Education System

An example of functionalism would be the education system. Durkheim and Parsons argued that schools are a ‘society in miniature’ that teach universalistic values.

For functionalists, education is central in passing on the mainstream norms and values that keep society together, through the process of secondary socialization. This is achieved hidden curriculum and PSHE lessons

The education system also allows young people to specialize and train for specific jobs based on their abilities. This allows students to move from the ascribed status and particularistic values of the home to an achieved status within society.

Disengagement Theory of Aging

Functionalism underlines perhaps the oldest theory of aging — disengagement theory.

Disengagement theory suggests that withdrawal from society and social relationships is a natural part of becoming old. The theory, developed by Elaine Cumming and Warren Earl Henry in their 1961 book, “Growing Old,” has largely been disproven.

Nonetheless, disengagement theory has several key postulates, each of which suggests that the process of losing social ties as one ages is normal and even beneficial to society.

These are (Cumming & Henry, 1961):

Everyone expects death, and one”s abilities deteriorate over time. Thus, people will lose ties to those they cannot benefit from.
Individuals will become more freed from the norms imposed by interaction with others in society.
Because of men and women”s different roles in society, they will disengage differently.
Aging causes knowledge and skill to deteriorate. However, success in industrialized society demands knowledge and skill. Aging is functional in that it ensures that the young possess sufficient knowledge and skill to assume authority while the old retire before they lose skills.
Complete disengagement results when both the individual and society are ready for disengagement.
The loss of one”s functional role in society will cause crisis and demoralization until they assume the role of disengagement.
individuals become ready to disengage when they become aware of their mortality. Each level of society grants aging individuals permission to disengage based on their dwindling contribution to societal institutions.
Disengagement leads to relationships in one”s remaining roles changing.
Disengagement theory is independent of culture.

Durkheim and Functionalism

Emile Durkheim is widely considered to be the father of sociology. Durkheim believed that individuals are inherently selfish and social structure and social order are important in that they constrain their selfishness.

However, Durkheim also believed that, as societies evolved in a way that made people more individualistic, maintaining social order became an increasingly difficult problem for society (Pope, 1975).

Durkheim’s Key Ideas

Durkheim believed that there is a social structure made up of norms and values.

He believed that this structure existed above individuals because individuals are born into a society with norms and values.

People”s behaviors, according to Durkheim, were shaped by a social structure, consisting of social facts, such as norms and values, and institutions, which exist external to the individual and constrain the individuals’ behavior.

Secondly, Durkheim emphasized that sociologists should use scientific methods to uncover the basic laws that govern human behavior.

Durkheim’s work was largely aimed at demonstrating the importance of organic solidarity as well as trying to find out what societies must do in order to achieve this organic solidarity (Pope, 1975).

Thirdly, Durkheim believed that individuals have an inborn tendency to be selfish and that it was the goal of society to regulate these selfish desires. This means that Durkheim considered too much freedom to be bad for both the individual and society.

He thought that greater levels of human happiness and “progress” could be achieved if people cooperated together, rather than competing in a war of all against all for scarce resources.

Durkheim and Social Solidarity

Social solidarity and cohesion is achieved and maintained through socialization process and learning of norms and values of society.

To restrain naturally selfish tendencies, Durkheim believed that societies need to create a sense of social solidarity — making individuals feel as if they are part of something bigger and teaching them the standards of acceptable behavior.

This is what Durkheim called moral regulation. Both social solidarity and moral regulation rely on effectively socializing individuals into wider society (Pope, 1975).

While Durkheim believed that solidarity and moral regulation were achieved in different ways in primitive and advanced industrial societies, these goals were far harder to achieve in industrialized ones.

For example, in “primitive” societies such as Feudal Europe, social regulation worked on a small scale and was locally based, and people lived in the same area their entire lives. There was very little role differentiation and no complex division of labor.

That is to say, people generally had the shared experiences of living in the same village, carrying out the same activities, and living with the same people their entire lives.

Durkheim believed that, because the people in societies such as Feudal Britain shared the same reality, the same goals, and even the same religion, they are closely reliant on one another, meaning that moral regulation and social solidarity are easily achieved. Durkheim called this situation mechanical solidarity : solidarity based on similarity (Pope, 1975).

Meanwhile, during the Industrial Revolution, the number of specialized tasks increased. The division of labor , as a result, also became more complex.

Individuals, despite shifting more toward individualism, became more interdependent — trading self-sufficiency for dependence on a large number of people that they did not know.

As a result, the ability of large social institutions — like religion — to provide universal morals declined. As people within a society ceased to live the same lives, a need to find solidarity grounded in something other than similarity arose.

Durkheim called this organic solidarity , a social cohesion that results from the interdependence of people in a society.

Durkheim and Anomie

Without a sense of social solidarity society can fall into anomie , a normlessness where a person doesn’t know what it means to be normal within society.

Durkheim (1897) believed that the vast differences between individuals in industrialized societies created a crisis of moral regulation. Durkheim calls this condition anomie.

He argued that the question of how modern societies could achieve moral regulation and keep individuals compliant was the primary problem of contemporary civilization.

He called this moral regulation organic solidarity: social solidarity based on difference (Pope, 1975).

Durkheim believed that labor organizations and education would provide society with necessary moral regulation because education could simultaneously teach people the diverse skills required for an advanced specialization of labor and provide them with shared norms and values through teaching subjects such as history.

Talcott Parsons’ Functionalism

While functionalism before Parsons attempted to produce explanations of everything that exists and happens in a particular time, Parsons aimed to use functionalism to create a general theory of how all social systems work.

Parsons melded together the theories and key issues of several other sociologists — Durkheim, Marshall and Pereto, and Weber — to create his grand theory.

The Organic Analogy

Talcott Parsons believed that society acts in a similar way to the human body, as social institutions interact in the same way as human organs.

Both are interconnected and interdependent parts that function for the good of the whole. This is called the organic analogy.

Organisms like the human body have needs that need to be met and so does society. Social institutions have evolved to meet society’s needs, such as value consensus and social order.

Parsons believed that one of the most important functions of social institutions is the creation of value consensus: an agreement around shared values. This commitment to common values was, for Parsons, the basis for order in society.

Value Consensus

Value consensus means that a majority of society agree with the goals that society sets to show success. These included values such as a belief in work ethic and meritocracy.

Parsons argued that work ethic ensures that people value working rather than leisure. This helps create more goods that can help society function, and a belief in meritocracy , that people believe that hard work should be rewarded, thus incentivizing people to work harder.

Value consensus and social order are maintained through institutions of formal social control, such as the police, and informal social groups, such as families and schools, who socialize children into social values and norms shared by the majority of society.

Parsons believed that the family is responsible for passing on society’s basic norms and values by providing early socialization, the stabilization of adult personalities, and a place for people to escape from the pressures of modern life.

Education integrates individuals into wider society, promoting a sense of belonging and identity. Parsons believed that education does this through teaching students a shared history and language.

Finally, other institutions can regulate individual behavior through social sanctions. This can prevent crime and deviance from becoming unmanageable.

Functional Prerequisites

Parsons also believed that societies have certain functional prerequisites — things that societies need in order to survive. For example, a society must produce and distribute food and shelter, organize and resolve conflicts, and socialize young people.

Parsons believed that social systems have four needs that must be met for continued survival: adaptation, goal attainment, integration, and latency.

The Four Basic needs of society

Goal Attainment (Political Function): Parsons believed that a society is only possible when there are common standards: the society must have a collective goal, and acceptable means for achieving it.
Adaption (Economic Function) – Every society has to provide for the needs of its members in order for the society to survive.
Integration (Social Harmony) – Specialist institutions develop to reduce conflict in society. For example, education and media create a sense of belonging.
Latency : The unstated consequences of actions – there are 2 types of latency: Pattern Maintenance: Maintaining value consensus through socialization and Tension Management. Opportunities to release tension in a safe way.

Parsons also viewed social change as a process of social evolution.

That is to say; he thought that human societies underwent a progression from hunter-gatherers to complex industrial ones and that more complex societies were inherently better because they are more adaptive — able to respond to changes in the environment, more innovative, and more capable of utilizing the talents of a wider range of people.

As a result, in a conclusion echoing Darwinism, these advanced societies are better able to survive.

Parsons believed that several factors bolster societal progress. While economic and technological changes lead to societies evolving, he argued that values increasingly become the driver of social progress in advanced societies.

To Parsons, the values of advanced industrialized societies are superior to those of traditional societies because modern values allow society to be more adaptive.

Parsons believed that the collapse of major social institutions — family, education, and so forth, could cause regression into a more primitive form of social organization.

The Social System

Parsons was influenced by many European scholars, such as Malinowski and Weber. Some have argued that Parson’s sociology addresses American society in particular, and that it is, rather than an ideological justification of the state of America contemporary to him, an attempt to identify the minimum requirements of integration in a society composed of different ethnic groups with different traditions and cultures.

This means that an action is only a social action when social purposes and standards are identified in the context of interactions that consider their finalities and rules an integral part of the social situation.

Parsons (1951) introduced the idea of a system to address the problem of integration. Parsons said that since people perform actions according to defined principles, rather than in a random way, they have a “personality system.”

Here, a system is the set of symbols that make the interaction possible and the network of relationships between people that do not act in an uncoordinated way but according to the positions assigned to them in this network of relations.

Parsons believed that the cultural, personality, and society systems all had to be the same as each other. The culture helps people to create their personality through internalizing the rules and values of a society (Parsons, 1951).

Meanwhile, the internalization of these cultural models gives order and stability to society because all of the people in a society tend to behave in a way that conforms to society”s expectations.

There are three parts of every action, according to Parsons:

the finality — the goal to reach and negative consequences to avoid (the “cathetic” element);
the knowledge of a situation necessary to complete an action — the knowledge element; and, finally, the ability to pick out among many possible choices —
the “evaluation” element.

Parson believed that personality can only arise in the context of social relations, which can create a system of common signs and symbols for navigating symbols.

These social relations take place in mutual relations among people who act according to their status and roles. While status defines the position that a person occupies in a system of relations considered to be a structure regardless of personality, roles relate to what someone does in relation to others, and what is typical of a certain status.

Criticisms of Functionalism

Although Parson”s first attempts at creating a grand theory of sociology were well-regarded in the 1950s, Neo-Marxists, conflict theorists, and symbolic interactionists criticized him heavily.

Eventually, American sociologists attempted to revive the grand theory.

There are a number of criticisms of the functionalist perspective (Holmwood, 2005). Among the most notable include:

Criticism of whether there is really a societal “structure” that exists outside of individuals.

Because institutions cannot be isolated in controlled experiments, this task is extremely difficult, if not impossible.

If everyone, for example, believed in the value of achievement in meritocracy, then disorder might result because not everyone can reach the highest levels of achievement.

Thus, Mann believed (1970), social stability is more likely if those at the bottom of society do not follow the society”s principle values, which they are less likely to achieve.

Criticism of functionalism being a deterministic theory: some have criticized functionalism for portraying human behavior as if it is programmable in a precise way by social institutions.
Functionalism ignores class conflict and coercion: Marxists argue that mainstream social values are actually the values of elite groups, and that conflict arises from a small group of elite actors imposing social order on the majority.
Criticism that functionalism is ideological: In arguing that certain institutions are necessary, some have argued that functionalism justifies the existence of the social order. Micheal Mann (1970), for instance, argued that social stability might occur because of a lack of consensus rather than because of it. Not all social institutions are functionally indispensable, and there are functional alternatives. For example, the family is not the only institution that can perform primary socialization.
Not all the institutions of society perform a positive function for society, instead for some people they are dysfunctional. For example, domestic abuse makes the family dysfunctional for its members.

For that reason, gradual social reform should be all that is needed to address a social problem. Functionalism even suggests that social problems are functional in some ways for society because, otherwise, these problems would not continue.

For example, while crime is a major social problem, it creates hundreds of thousands of jobs in law enforcement, courts and corrections, home security, and the informal economy, where people engage or deal with crime.

Similarly, poverty, while a major social problem, coerces poor people to do jobs that people would otherwise not want to do (Gans, 1972). Poverty also provides employment, such as for those who work in social services that help the poor.

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Durkheim, E. (1951). Suicide [1897]. na.

Holmwood, J. (2005). Functionalism and its Critics . Modern social theory: An introduction , 87-109.

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Parsons, T. (1970). On building social system theory: A personal history. Daedalus , 826-881.

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Parsons, T. E., & Shils, E. A. (1951). Toward a general theory of action .

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Pope, W. (1975). Durkheim as a Functionalist . Sociological Quarterly, 16 (3), 361-379.

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Extended family
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Functionalist View on Family

The functionalist perspective examines and evaluates the role of the family in society. This perspective has a broader sociological approach and specifically highlights the importance of the nuclear family (a married couple and their children), the universal nature of families, changes in family roles over time, and how nuclear families fit into modern society. Parsons suggests that the theory of “fit” indicates that the current structure of families best meets the economic needs of today.

According to Parsons, the nuclear family is well-suited for an industrial economy because they can easily relocate and are not dependent on extended family. This allows family members to move to new areas where there is work available. Parsons argues that only the nuclear family can provide the necessary drive for success that modern economies require. In contrast, Wilmott and Young argue that the pre-industrial family was often nuclear, with parents and children working together in cottage industries like weaving, rather than being extended as Parsons suggests.

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According to the authors, the challenges faced during the early stages of industrialization led to the formation of a working-class extended family centered around mothers. These families were built on the reliance between mothers and their married daughters, who provided each other with financial, practical, and emotional support. Hareven’s research further supports this idea by suggesting that extended families, rather than nuclear families as stated by Parsons, were better suited to meet the requirements of early industrial society. In America during the 19th Century, extended migrant families acted as a crucial source of support and assistance while also facilitating geographical mobility for newcomers by helping them find employment.

According to the functionalist perspective, the role of family in society is evaluated through the opinions of other sociologists. Functionalists believe that the nuclear family performs beneficial functions for individuals and society as a whole. They view the family as working harmoniously with other institutions to meet societal and individual needs. Murdock supports this idea by stating that the family is a universal institution, based on his research on 250 societies where he found some form of family present in all of them.

The idea is that families are crucial for either societies to survive or individuals to thrive. However, Murdock’s view on families has some flaws given the different types of families found in today’s society, such as single-parent, beanpole, and extended families. Additionally, Murdock suggests that families serve four main functions – a theory rooted in the organic analogy where the family and its members contribute to maintaining society’s well-being.

Murdock argues that the family serves various crucial functions. Firstly, it acts as a stable and satisfying channel for sexual desires within a committed relationship, thereby preventing social upheaval resulting from unrestricted sexual behavior. Secondly, it guarantees the continuation of future generations since society would cease to exist without this function. Additionally, families play a significant role in educating young individuals about societal norms and values through socialization. Moreover, families are accountable for fulfilling their members’ economic requirements by offering sustenance and housing. All in all, this underscores and evaluates the functionalist viewpoint on the family’s societal role.

Some sociologists have criticized Murdock’s functionalist approach for its limited perspective on the universality of the family, as it disregards various family structures like single parent families. O’Donnell reports that in 1994, one out of every five families with dependent children in Britain was led by a single parent. Bourne also concurs with this idea, asserting that single parent families are prevalent in western societies. In 1996, 11% of the British population resided in such households, and this figure has since doubled.

Additionally, with the advancement of society’s industrialization, the state gradually assumed traditional responsibilities. An illustration of this is the requirement for children to attend school rather than receiving education from family members, resulting in the family losing its educational role. Parson counteracts Murdock’s theory by asserting that in contemporary industrialized societies, the family’s role has become specialized. Parson contends that regardless of the society, every family has two fundamental and indispensable functions.

Primary socialisation involves the transmission of norms, values, and gender roles to children. Girls are taught to behave femininely while boys learn how to present themselves as masculine. Mothers play an instrumental and expressive role, while fathers are the family’s breadwinners. This phase is when children acquire the fundamental aspects of their culture. However, Parsons’ perspective on socialisation is criticized for its determinism, suggesting that children are heavily influenced by adults who shape their personalities through cultural indoctrination.

Parson overlooks the potential for socialization to involve negotiation of roles and the resistance of children towards attempts at socialization. Additionally, the role of family in society provides stability for adult personalities by offering support to family members. The family offers a safe haven where individuals can escape societal stress and relaxation, which is referred to as the “warm bath” theory.

According to Marxist sociologist Zaretsky, the family offers emotional support to its members in order to motivate them to endure the challenges of Capitalism. This implies that the family serves the capitalist state by attending to the welfare of exploited workers without cost to employers. In contrast, some sociologists critique the theories presented by Murdock and Parsons, suggesting that alternative sources, institutions, and individuals can fulfill many of the identified functions. Consequently, families may not be necessary for financial support, which can result in dysfunction.

Marxists and feminists challenge the consensus view of Murdock, which portrays the family as fulfilling the needs of both its members and society. They argue that functionalism overlooks conflict, exploitation, and the negative aspects of the family, where many families experience disruption. Functionalists emphasize the positive aspects of the family, similar to how New Right sociologists believe it to be the foundation of society. Conversely, Marxists perceive the family as part of the ideological state apparatus, serving as a tool for social control and supporting capitalism. Feminists also diverge from functionalism by asserting that the family perpetuates inequality and patriarchy. Sociologists have extensively explored the “dark side” of family dynamics, where individuals may feel abused and unable to pursue their desired lives. For instance, feminists view the family as serving men’s needs while oppressing women, while Marxists argue that it primarily caters to the demands of capitalism rather than its members or society as a whole. Thus, this analysis examines and assesses the functionalist viewpoint on the role of family in society.

In conclusion, functionalist analyses of the nuclear family tend to focus on the middle class and American conceptions of family, while disregarding other factors such as ethnicity, social class, or religion. For instance, Parsons overlooks the influence of wealth or poverty on whether women choose to stay home and care for their children. Since Parsons formulated his theory in the 1950’s, western societies in the UK have become increasingly multicultural with the influx of various ethnicities, subcultures, and religions through migration. As a result, Parsons’ perspective on the family’s role in society holds little relevance in contemporary UK society.

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Functionalist View On Family

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Outline and evaluate the functionalist view of the role of the family in society. 33 marks – 25 minutes. A family is a kinship – people related by blood or marriage. Functionalism is a macro theory which means it looks at a wider sociological view. It focuses on the importance of the nuclear family (mother and father married with children), the universality of the family, changing roles and how the nuclear family “fits” into modern society.

The theory of “fit” is argued by Parsons, where he believes that the dominant structure of the family best suits the needs of the economy at the time.This means that the nuclear family “fits” into an industrial economy because they are geographically mobile and not reliant on wider kin. By this Parsons means that family members can easily move to new centres of production.

Parson concludes that only the nuclear family could provide the achievement orientated 2quired by modern economies. However according to Wilmott and Young, the pre-industrial family tended to be nuclear, not extended as claimed by Parsons with parents and children working together in cottage industries such as weaving.They also argue that the hardship of these early industrialised periods gave rise to the mother centred working class extended family, based on ties between mothers and their married daughters who relied on each other for financial, practical and emotional support.

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Similarly, Hareven concludes that the extended family, not the nuclear family as Parsons said, was the structure best equipped to meet the needs of early industrial society. Her research showed how extended migrant families in America in the 19th Century acted as a source of support and mutual aid, as well as promoting geographical mobility by helping newcomers to find work.This outlines the functionalist view of the role of family in society and is evaluated by the views of other sociologists. Functionalist theories are based on how the nuclear family performs positive function for individuals and society which is why functionalist sociologists paint a harmonious picture of the family functioning with other institutions to serve the needs of society and its members. This is agreed by Murdock as he argues that the family is a universal institution (it exists everywhere) which is supported by when he studied 250 societies and found some sort of family in all of them.This suggests that families are necessary in some way either for societies to survive or for individual well-being. However, Murdock views of the family is somewhat flawed due to the different type of families that exist in today’s society such as single parent, beanpole and extended families. Also, Murdock believes that families perform four main functions – this theory is based on organic analogy which means family and its members function to keep society alive.One of the functions of family in which Murdock believes in is that family is there for stable satisfaction of the sex drive with the same partner to prevent the social disruption caused by sexual “free to all”. Another function in his theory is that family is there to reproduce the next generation because without this society will not be able to continue. Also, family are there to socialise the young by teaching the norms and values of society and they are there to provide economic needs such as shelter and food. This outlines and evaluates functionalist view of the role of the family in society.On the other hand, other sociologists have criticised Murdock’s functionalist approach because Murdock’s view on the universality of the family is too narrow because it excludes many family forms. For example the single parent family is a distinct and viable family type as O’ Donnell states “one in five families with dependant children in Britain in 1994 was headed by a single parent”. This is shown by Bourne who says that single parent family are the most common in western society and that in 1996 11 per sent of people in Britain lived in this type of family- today it has doubled.Also, as society became more industrialised traditional roles were increasingly taken over by the state. For example, children had to go to school rather than being taught by family members; therefore the family has lost its educational function. In response to Murdock’s theory, Parson says that in modern industrial societies the role of the family has become specialised. Parson believes that every family in every society has two “basic and irreducible” functions.For instance, primary socialisation – passing on of norms and values and appropriate gender roles, girls would be taught how to behave feminine and boys would be taught how to portray themselves as masculine. This is where the mother would provide an instrumental and expressive role and the father would be the breadwinner of the family. During this period the child learns the basic elements of the culture into which she/he has been born into. However, Parsons view of the socialisation process is criticised for being too deterministic, with children being pumped full of culture and their personalities being moulded by all powerful adults.Parson ignores the possibility of socialisation being a two way process in which roles are negotiated or that attempts of socialisation can be resisted by children. The second basic and irreducible function of the role of family in society is to provide stabilisation of adult personalities- being supportive to adult family members. The family gives the individual adult a “safety waive”, a place where she/he can escape the stresses and strain of the society and relax, this is known as the “warn bath” theory.However, a Marxist sociologist Zaretsky argues that the family only provides this emotional support in order to encourage its members to continue to work another day under the harsh realities of Capitalism. Therefore, the family is a servant of a capitalist state which looks after the needs of exploited workers at no cost to employers. Some sociologists argue against Murdock and Parsons theories, by saying that many of the functions they have identified can be provided by other sources and institutions and individuals do not require the family for financial support which means families can be dysfunctional.Marxists and feminists reject Murdock’s “rose-tinted” consensus view that family meets the needs of both its members and society. They argue that functionalism neglects conflict, exploitation and the dark side of the family where many families are in places of disruption. Functionalists stress the positive aspects of the family same as how the New Right sociologists believe that family is the cornerstone of society. Whereas, Marxist views on family are that it is a part of the ideological state apparatus as an agent of social control and it rovides important functions for capitalism. Another view which differs from functionalism is the feminist view, they think family reinforce inequality and patriarchy. Many sociologists have studied ‘the dark side of family’ where members feel abused and where they are unable to live the life they desire. For example, feminists see the family as serving the needs of men and oppressing women. Similarly, Marxists argue that it meets the needs of capitalism, not its members or society. This outlines and evaluates the functionalist view of the role of family in society.To conclude, functionalist analyses of the nuclear family tend to be based on the middle class and American versions of family and they consequently neglect other influences such as ethnicity, social class or religion. For example, Parsons does not consider the fact that wealth or poverty may determine whether women stay at home to look at children or not. Since parsons wrote his theory in the 1950’s, many western societies in the UK have now become multicultural and more ethnicities, sub cultures and religions are present due to migration which is why Parsons view of the role of the family in society is not valid in the contemporary UK.

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What Is the Functionalist Perspective? Essay

Introduction, works cited.

The functionalist perspective is a theory that affirms that the world is a structure of interconnected parts in which every part is essential in ensuring that the structure works. The structure of the system contains establishments like family, religion, and education that make up a social system. The main aim of all the parts of the system is to ensure that order is maintained in society. The various structures in the society make sure that agreements, integration, stability, and balance are maintained in the society.

This means that everything in society, though extraordinary has a reason for being that way. It also brings out the point that social inequality is important in any social setting. It states that without inequality, division of work would not be possible since people have different talents, for instance not everyone can be a police officer. In other words, people should not be rewarded the same way so that they can work hard to achieve top positions.

In normal circumstances, society for example sees crime as a problem that should be eliminated. Functionalism, however, insists that crime has a number of benefits. In this way, the theory argues that crime generates the need to have opportunities for police officers, criminal investigators, lawyers, and other positions related to this line of work. In the case where crime is eliminated, it would mean that all these positions disappear and such people would be rendered unemployed. In this way, the theory argues that crime helps families and the society at large to be united in order to fight issues such as crime.

I prefer this theory because it also helps make the society unite in various activities. This can be illustrated in the case where crime or any other unacceptable behaviors in the society lead to a strong society that values customs such as unity.

These kinds of unacceptable behavior allow the society to remember the status quo thus reorganize formerly practiced customs. For instance, in the past years’ such behaviors led to the social development of rights movements such as women’s rights, and in countries like United States African American and homosexual rights have been created. In this way maltreatment of the disadvantaged in the society has led to the questioning and breaking of such cultural customs that were oppressive.

The functionalist perspective also helps create a very clear picture of how society is interdependent in many aspects leading to its stability. This for example can be illustrated in the case where the state helps offer to learn to children for the family, and the family pays taxes to the government that the state uses to keep itself going. The family looks upon the school to educate the children so that they can be able to find good jobs in the future and thus they will be able to provide and take care of their own families. With time, children grow up and develop into law-abiding individuals, and they help the state by paying their taxes.

In cases where things turn out well, the parts of the society are able to attain order, efficiency, and stability. If things do not turn out well, the parts of the society will have to develop a new order to achieve stability and efficiency. For instance, in case there is economic instability families will be required to use smaller budgets; schools create few courses, and so on. (Talcott)

The functionalist perspective believes in social agreements to create a stable society. The theory advocates for a society to be united in all its values, customs as well as beliefs. In this way, many societies are able to enjoy the continuous flow of normal activities in a normal society. This theory is very efficient especially in cases where things go the right way as they are planned. The functional perspective theory ensures that the society maintains order that will help them grow in all sectors. In this way, everyone works for the good of society at large.

Talcott, Parsons, “The Present Status of “Structural-Functional” Theory in Sociology.” In Talcott Parsons, Social Systems and The Evolution of Action Theory New York: The Free Press, 1975.

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Functionalist Perspective on the Family
Family is one example of such an institution. Functionalists perspectives on the family hold that families perform functions such as socializing children, providing emotional and practical support, regulating sexual activity and reproduction, and providing social identity. Prior to the Industrial Revolution, family members tended to perform ...
The Functionalist Perspective on the Family
9 essays/ essay plans spanning all the topics within the families and households topic. Signposting and Related Posts. The Functionalist perspective on the family is usually the very first topic taught within the the families and households module.
Functionalism: Examining the Societal Functions of the Family
Essay, Pages 5 (1128 words) Views. 4205. Functionalism, as a sociological perspective, posits that society operates based on a shared set of values and norms, fostering what is known as a value consensus. This consensus acts as the foundation upon which members of society are socialized, facilitating cooperation and the fulfillment of societal ...
The Functionalist View of Family in Sociology
The Functions of Family. The functionalist view of the family highlights several key functions that it fulfills within society: 1. Reproduction and Socialization. One of the primary functions of the family is to reproduce and socialize new members of society. Through the institution of marriage, families provide a socially accepted framework ...
Functionalist Perspective Family & Households
Intro. Functionalists take a consensus view of the family. They see it as an institution that performs essential functions for society as a whole, and for all its members. Murdock argues that there are four key functions of the family: -Primary socialisation of the young. -Reproduction of the next generation,
15.2 Sociological Perspectives on the Family
Summarize understandings of the family as presented by functional, conflict, and social interactionist theories. Sociological views on today's families generally fall into the functional, conflict, and social interactionist approaches introduced earlier in this book. Let's review these views, which are summarized in Table 15.1 "Theory ...
12.3A: The Functionalist Perspective
institution: An established organization, especially one dedicated to education, public service, culture, or the care of the destitute, poor etc. 12.3A: The Functionalist Perspective is shared under a CC BY-SA license and was authored, remixed, and/or curated by LibreTexts. Functionalists view the family unit as a construct that fulfills ...
PDF The Functionalist Perspective on the Family
Outline three criticisms of the functionalist view of the family. [6 marks] AS & A level exam questions 1. Outline and explain two reasons for the rise of the nuclear family. [10 marks] 2. Applying material from Item (…) and your knowledge, evaluate the contribution of functionalist views to our understanding of the family. [20 marks]
11.3: Sociological Perspectives on the Family
In most societies, the family is the major unit in which socialization happens. Parents, siblings, and, if the family is extended rather than nuclear, other relatives all help to socialize children from the time they are born. Figure 11.3. One of the most important functions of the family is the socialization of children.
Families: Functionalism
The classic functionalist statement on the roles of the family comes from George Murdock (1949) who looked at families across the world and found four functions that were common to all of them: Educational: children are taught the norms and values of society (also known as primary socialisation) Economic: the family provides an economic ...
Functionalist Perspective & Theory in Sociology
The functionalism perspective is a paradigm influenced by American sociology from roughly the 1930s to the 1960s, although its origins lay in the work of the French sociologist Emile Durkheim, writing at the end of the 19th century. Functionalism is a structural theory and posits that the social institutions and organization of society ...
Functionalist view on family 20marks
Functionalist view of the family. (20 marks) Functionalism is a consensus theory which, according to Item B, sees that family "as an essential social institution". One of the key functions of the family is to ensure its members are adequately socialised into the norms and values of society (Parsons/Murdock).
Essay on The Functionalist View of the Family
The functionalist view of society makes the assumption that every society has a range of basic needs. Functionalists would say that if these needs are being met then the society is functioning and it is more likely to survive over a longer period of time. Functionalist view is considered to be a consensus theory because it tends to accentuate ...
⇉Functionalist View on Family Essay Example
Functionalist View on Family. The functionalist perspective examines and evaluates the role of the family in society. This perspective has a broader sociological approach and specifically highlights the importance of the nuclear family (a married couple and their children), the universal nature of families, changes in family roles over time ...
My Family From The Functionalist Perspective
Structural-functionalists view the family as a unit that meets the need of its members. When the family functions well, it contributes to the stability of society. ... This essay will assess how functionalists view point of the family by exploring Murdock, Comte, Parsons and Durkheim, the founder of functionalism, ideas and evaluating them ...
The Functionalist Perspective On Family Fits The American Family
From the three main sociological perspectives I think the functionalist views on family fits the American family and how it's changed in the last fifty years. The family creates well-integrated members of society by instilling the social culture into children ("The Functionalist Perspective.". Boundless Sociology, 21 Jul. 2015).
Functionalism In Families And Societies
Functionalists view the family as a nuclear family structure, i.e. a mother, father and 1 or 2 children. Murdock surveyed 250 societies from the small hunting tribes to the large industrialised societies. He found that in every society there was some form of a nuclear family, he concluded from this study that the nuclear family was universal.
Functionalist View of the Family
Functionalists believe that the family's main function is to socialise the children. This is why they believe that it is important to maintain the nuclear family with 2 role models to carry on this socialisation. However, Marxists would disagree and would claim that the function of the family is to support capitalism.
Functionalist Perspective On The Family Essay
Functionalist views are that the family perform functions such as reproduction; socialisation; care, protection, and emotional support. Murdock's four main functions for the family are Sexual, Education, Reproduction and Economic. The family need to provide these different functions to survive. For functionalists, the family creates well ...
Functionalist View On Family Free Essay Example
Views. 231. This sample essay on Functionalist View On Family provides important aspects of the issue and arguments for and against as well as the needed facts. Read on this essay's introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Outline and evaluate the functionalist view of the role of the family in society. 33 marks - 25 minutes.
Sociology
Terms in this set (8) '4 essential functions' (Murdock) 1. stable satisfaction of sex drive > monogamous relationships prevent sexual jealousy 2. socialisation of the young> teaching basic norms & values3. reproduction of the next generation > without it society cannot continue4. meeting its members economic needs> producing food & shelter.
What Is the Functionalist Perspective?
The functionalist perspective is a theory that affirms that the world is a structure of interconnected parts in which every part is essential in ensuring that the structure works. The structure of the system contains establishments like family, religion, and education that make up a social system. The main aim of all the parts of the system is ...
Talcott Parsons' Functionalist View on the Nuclear Family: Critical Essay
Sociology Theoretical Perspectives Legacy of Neo-functionalism: Critical Analysis Functionalist Perspective on Homelessness Critical Essay on Historical and Contemporary Changes in the Family Structure Essay about Mexican Family Structure and Roles Change in Family Models after Easter Rising: Analytical Essay

The Functionalist Perspective on the Family

The Functionalist Perspective on the Family: Overview

The Functionalist View of Society

George Peter Murdock – Four essential functions of the nuclear family

Criticisms of Murdock

Talcott Parsons – Functional Fit Theory

Two irreducible functions of the family

Primary Socialisation

The stabilisation of adult personalities

Criticisms of Functional Fit Theory

The Positive Functions of the Family: A summary

Criticisms of the Functionalist perspective on the family

Downplaying Conflict

Being out of Date

Ignoring the exploitation of women

Functionalism is too deterministic

A Level Sociology Families and Households Revision Bundle

Signposting and Related Posts

References and Sources for Further Reading

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