Functions of the Family
The family is the basic social unit responsible for reproducing and caring for children, and sociologists debate what essential functions it performs for individuals and for wider society.
Before you start
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Method
- Define 'function' as a contribution an institution makes to meeting the needs of individuals or of society as a whole.
- State Murdock's four functions (sexual, reproductive, economic, educational) and note his comparative method, studying around 250 societies, as the source of his claim that the family is universal.
- State Parsons' 'functional fit' thesis: the nuclear family fits industrial society because it is geographically and socially mobile, and his two 'irreducible' functions, primary socialisation and stabilisation of adult personalities.
- Apply the Marxist critique (Engels; Zaretsky): the family reproduces labour power, transmits private property through inheritance, and acts as a unit of consumption that benefits capitalism rather than family members equally.
- Apply the feminist critique: functionalists ignore power and inequality within the family, since the 'functions' performed, especially unpaid domestic labour, disproportionately benefit men.
- For an 'explain' question, state the function, then add a developed reason or example; for an 'assess'/'discuss' question, weigh functionalist claims against Marxist and feminist critiques before reaching a supported conclusion.
Worked example
Explain, using Murdock's and Parsons' theories, why functionalists see the family as essential to society. Then give one criticism of this view from another perspective.
- Identify the perspective, functionalism, and the two named sociologists, Murdock and Parsons.
- State Murdock's claim: after comparing around 250 societies, he argued the family performs four functions found nowhere else in the same combination, sexual, reproductive, economic and educational.
- State Parsons' claim: in modern industrial society the nuclear family specialises in two functions, primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities, because other institutions such as schools and employers have taken over its wider functions.
- Add the criticism: Marxists such as Zaretsky argue these 'functions' mainly benefit capitalism, since the family reproduces a new generation of workers and absorbs the stress capitalism creates, rather than benefiting all family members equally.
- Conclude: functionalists explain why family life exists and persists, but their account of who benefits from it is contested by other perspectives.
Practice questions
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Q1What are Murdock's four functions of the family?Show answer
Answer: Sexual, reproductive, economic and educational.
Q2How many societies did Murdock study to reach his conclusion that the family is universal?Show answer
Answer: Around 250 societies.
Q3Name Parsons' two 'irreducible' functions of the modern nuclear family.Show answer
Answer: Primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities.
Q4What is meant by 'primary socialisation'?Show answer
Answer: The process, mainly in early childhood, by which children first learn the norms, values and language of their society, usually within the family.
Q5Give one Marxist criticism of the functionalist view of the family.Show answer
Answer: Marxists argue the family serves capitalism rather than everyone equally, for example by reproducing a healthy workforce and by acting as a unit that consumes goods, which benefits employers and owners of businesses.
Q6Give one feminist criticism of the functionalist view of the family.Show answer
Answer: Feminists argue functionalists ignore inequality within the family, since it is usually women who carry out unpaid domestic labour, which mainly benefits men.
Q7What did Parsons mean by describing the stabilisation of adult personalities as a 'warm bath' function?Show answer
Answer: That the family, particularly the emotional support of a partner, relaxes and soothes an adult after the stresses of paid work, similar to a warm bath, so they can return to work refreshed.
Exam-style questions
Written in the style of a GCSE Sociology exam paper, with a full mark scheme.
Explain two functions of the family, according to functionalist sociologists such as Murdock and Parsons.
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'The family mainly benefits society as a whole rather than any one group within it.' Discuss this view, referring to sociological perspectives in your answer.
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