Soc 101-Family Through Different Sociological Perspectives
Running Head: FAMILY THROUGH DIFFERENT SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVES
Family Through Different Sociological Perspectives
Stephani Marlow
SOC 101
Instructor Marian Spaid-Ross
Jan 15th, 2012
All families are unique. A few decades ago, the most common type of family was the mother and father living with their unmarried children. Today, families are vastly different including more single-parent households than ever before, stepfamilies, and adopted families, and grandparents raising their grandchildren, as well as young married couples having to move back in with their parents because they do not have the money to afford their own living arrangements yet. Whatever type of family you have there are different perspectives in which to view it, including the Funcionalist Perspective, Conflict Perspective, and Symbolic Interaction Perspective. While these three perspectives differ greatly from one another, the family still remains one of the most important social institutions along with health-care, religion, education, mass media, politics, and economy. Family is defined as, 'a basic social unit consisting of parent(s)and their children, considered as a group, whether living together or not.' While every family is unique, there are similarities and differences within each family, no matter what perspective you are using. Functionalism, Conflict, and Interaction Theories are the three main sociological theories. Each theory shows a different type of assumptions and defines a certain way of understanding a social institution, or action. In this paper, I would like to look at the family as a social institution from all three unique perspectives. It is my belief that the social institution of the family is the result of social action(s) and at the same time it also causes social action(s). The Functionalist perspective's view on family is rather simple and revolves around the six main functions, first outlined over 65 years ago by William F. Ogburn. The first main function a
Family Through Different Sociological Perspectives
Stephani Marlow
SOC 101
Instructor Marian Spaid-Ross
Jan 15th, 2012
All families are unique. A few decades ago, the most common type of family was the mother and father living with their unmarried children. Today, families are vastly different including more single-parent households than ever before, stepfamilies, and adopted families, and grandparents raising their grandchildren, as well as young married couples having to move back in with their parents because they do not have the money to afford their own living arrangements yet. Whatever type of family you have there are different perspectives in which to view it, including the Funcionalist Perspective, Conflict Perspective, and Symbolic Interaction Perspective. While these three perspectives differ greatly from one another, the family still remains one of the most important social institutions along with health-care, religion, education, mass media, politics, and economy. Family is defined as, 'a basic social unit consisting of parent(s)and their children, considered as a group, whether living together or not.' While every family is unique, there are similarities and differences within each family, no matter what perspective you are using. Functionalism, Conflict, and Interaction Theories are the three main sociological theories. Each theory shows a different type of assumptions and defines a certain way of understanding a social institution, or action. In this paper, I would like to look at the family as a social institution from all three unique perspectives. It is my belief that the social institution of the family is the result of social action(s) and at the same time it also causes social action(s). The Functionalist perspective's view on family is rather simple and revolves around the six main functions, first outlined over 65 years ago by William F. Ogburn. The first main function a
References: Journal of Marriage and Family , Vol. 63, No. 3 (Aug., 2001), pp. 840-851 Published by: National Council on Family Relations Marshall, Gordon (1994). The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Sociology. ISBN 019285237X Lenski, Gerhard (1966) Lewis Mumford, Technics and Civilization (New York, 1934), pp. 316-17.