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Evaluate The Functionalist View Of The Family

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Evaluate The Functionalist View Of The Family
The family is an example of a social structure. It is made up of a group of people in society related by blood or marriage, ties or strong bond, usually consisting of one or two parents and their children. Social structure is the unique organised arrangement of social relationships and social institutions that make up society. Social structures are present in society and affect all parts of human experience. It enables individuals in the society to interact and live together. This essay will compare and contrast the Functionalist and Marxist views of the role of the family in the social structure.
Functionalist theories operate on the basis of consensus; they believe the family plays a vital role in maintaining the social structure as well meeting the needs of various systems in the society. They see it performing beneficial functions both for wider society and for all its individual members. Functionalists assume the family is harmonious and ignore conflict and exploitation such as child abuse and domestic violence. Functionalist when defining the family focus mainly on the functions the family provide for society, the practical relationship between the society and the family, and the functions of the family for individuals.
Murdock (1949, as cited …show more content…
In the industrialised society the family has become a unit of consumption buying goods and services. The family educate the children on the norms and values of society which help them socialise in the society. The family provides a stable sexual relationship for adults and encourage a monogamous relationship which prevents social disruption in the society. The family supports reproduction of children that form the next generation of people in the society without which society would be extinct (Haralambos & Holborn,
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