family week 3

8/12/2019 Family Week 3

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AS Unit 1 Acquiring

Culture;Family and

CultureWeek 3:Functions of the Family


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Family and Culture Week 3 2

Objectives

Having viewed this slide show you should be aware of:

The loss of functions thesis.

The functions of the family.

That in late modernity or postmodern society the family is taking onnew functions.

There is a growth in people seeking alternatives to the family orchoosing alternative styles of family life.


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Introduction

Ronald Fletcher(1966)

talked of the

'multifunctional family',

but he was equallyaware of the family

being stripped of its

secondary functions.

The modern nuclear family, he felt, was left with residual

functions.


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George Murdocks Universal Residual

FunctionsGeorge Murdock(1949) conducted a surveyof 250 societies and claimed there are fouruniversal residual functionsof the family:

sexual

education

economic

reproductive(by education he really

meant socialisation)


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Talcott Parsons: Family

Stripped of its FunctionsTalcott Parsonssees the modern familyas stripped to just two basic andirreducible functions:

Socialisation

of children

Stabilisation

of adult

personalities


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Critique of Functionalist View

The family functions in an

over-romantic and

idealised way.

This referred to as the

warm bath theory of

family.

Both Murdock and

Parsons reflect the

functionalistperspective

on family functions


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Family Adaptation in Postmodern

Society In Post-modern society the family ismodifying itself to meet the changed

circumstances of contemporary society.

The family has become more child-

centred, but with fewer children

However, many couples arechoosing to stay childless


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Source of Emotional Support

Families are seen as functioning to

provide warmth and security,

emotional support.

All family members benefit from the

loving relationships that they share

with each other.


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Family as Source of Identity

The family provides a sense

of identity.

This is clearly important to

family members as

evidenced by recentinterest both by individuals

and the media in family

histories.


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Family as Leisure

Families also provide shared

leisure, family holidays, special

occasions e.g. weddings,birthdays, outings, cultural and

educational visits (cinema,

theatre, museums, etc.).


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Alternatives to the Traditional

Family An increasing number of peopleare rejecting the traditional

family: singlehood, gay families,

childless couples.


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SinglehoodThere has been a dramatic

increase in the proportion of one-

person households in the past 40

years.

12% of people

in Great Britain

now live alone.

Singlehood is

much more

popular in the

white populationthan ethnic

minorities

Many of these

are elderly

widowed, but

not all!


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Singlehood (continued)

Single people now account for

just under a third of households

(29 per cent) in Britain.

They include professional young

men and women.

And divorced people


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Factors Behind Singlehood

Growth of 'FITT

women'with

careers and

education success

Delay or rejection of

marriage/cohabitation

Women no longer need to be

financially dependent upon a man

Creative

singlehood reflects

the growth of the

affluent young.

More fashionable 'singles'

accommodation is available.

Increased divorce rate and

separations from cohabitation.


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Childless Couples

Childless couples reflect the fact that

there is less pressure on people to

have children.

Couples may put lifestyle choice

above starting a family.

Some couples may be put off by the

cost of bringing up a child (over50,000 from birth to age of 18)


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Gay and Lesbian Relationships

But this non-

traditional family

form is also slowly

becoming less of

a rarity

Gay and lesbian

couples are

often childless

In 2002 the Government announced

plans to make it easier for same-sex

couples to adopt children.Medical technology (e.g. surrogacy)

allows people to conceive children in

non-traditional ways.


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Conclusions There is general support for the loss of functions thesis that

argues the family has been stripped of many of its functions.

George Murdock sees the family performing 4 universal

residual functions: sexual, reproductive, economic andeducation (socialisation).

Talcott Parsons sees the family performing two basic andirreducible functions socialisation of children, stabilisation of

adult personalities.


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Conclusions (continued)

There has been a growth in people rejecting traditional

family.

12% of people in Britain now live on their own (almost athird of households).

Couples account for almost a third of households too.

In a less homophobic society there has been a growth of

gay and lesbian relationships.


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End of Presentation

family week 3

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