Sociological perspectives of family and household

sociological perspectives of family and householdIntroductionFor the purpose of the assign handst title I invention to explain four sociological perspectives of the family and the household. I go forth too supply and evaluate distributively perspective and give my birth opinions of their escorts. I will then go onto explaining how childrens maps and the berths and relationships have counterchanged deep go through the family over time, and give a brief overview of how the family in todays society has changed through diversity and multi-cultural structures.FunctionalismFunctionalists view the family as a thermo atomic 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 demonstrate that in every society in that location was some form of a atomic family, he concluded from this study that the nuclear family was universal. Murdocks definition of a nuclear family i sThe nuclear family is a universal human social grouping. Either as the sole prevailing form of the family or as the basic whole from which more complex forms be compounded. It exists as a distinct and potently functional group in every k presentlyn society, (Murdock cited in Haralambos, M. 1985. 326) inwardly the framework of the nuclear family, Murdock identified with four family functions which if were ignored, society would not exist. Sexual, Reproduction, sparing and Education were the four functions. Similar to Murdock, Tallcott Parsons another functionalist had his own views of what functions the nuclear family should digest to society. He believed that there were two important roles deep down the family Expressive and Instrumental. The womens role was the Expressive role as she was the wholeness who elevated, nurtured and taught the children the norms and values in spite of appearance the home. The mans role was the Instrumental role because he went out to work to provide pecuniary security for his family. Parsons also identified the family as being the primary constituent of assimilation and came up with the warm bath theory primary socialisation (norms and values) and stabilisation of adult personalities (support and love for the adults within the family.CriticismsFunctionalists view of the family is similar to a fairy tale, because they ignore the family dynamics and in some families the darker side i.e. abuse, look out on and violence through mannish domination.MarxismA Marxist perspective of the family see the family as a means of production and cheap labour whereby they argon influenced by capitalism in a capitalist society. Marxists identified ternary main functions which they saw as a way for the family to follow out for capitalism. heritage of Property means that in order for property to be hand down to a legitimate heir, sexual relationships need to be restrict to genius person, thus the offspring would be blood related . For this to happen,The monogamous nuclear family developed with the emergence of private property, in particular the private monomania of the forces of production, and the advent of the state, (cited in Haralambos, M. 1985. 340)The second function is the Ideological Functions which families need to fulfil by socialising children with the ideas that there will always be bosses and workers within a capitalist society. The last function looks at the Unit of exercise whereby families work to produce goods, which be bought by the families to enable them to be provide and clothed, which pick out greater profit for the capitalists.CriticismsMarxists ignore the different structures of families which are found in todays society and with this the different roles within the family.FeminismFeministic views of the family are bump into 3 groups, similar to that of the key perspectives. Liberal feminists believe that both the male and the females have equal roles within the family when it comes to the household chores and childcare. Marxist feminists view the women as the producer of next workers and womens oppression stems from capitalism and not the family. Radical feminists view of the family structure is one of patriarchal and that men are seen as the enemy. This example of family within society is also seen by feminists as the key grounding in its contribution to maintaining social controlCriticismsAll three branches of womens liberation movement view the nuclear family as the most dominant unit within society, as well as believing that all members of the family serve society, playing different functions.Post ModernistA post modernistic view of the family is at the opposite ends of the scale to functionalism. Post modernists believe that in most societies there are diverse and multi-cultural types of families where members within these units are free to make their own life choices as to how, what and where they live, work and socialise within society. Post m odernists also believe that everyone is entitled to the same opportunities in education, healthcare and family support as in their view, there are no class divisions (working and ruling classes), in most societies. Zietlin et al summarises this view of the world,The post modern world is shape by pluralism, democracy, religious freedom, consumerism, mobility and increasing access to news and entertainment, (Zietlin class spill 2009. 92)CriticismsBecause of their views of equal opportunities and freedom of speech and choices they ignore the fact that some bulk can and do make wrong choices with regards to ignoring the norms and values which are passed down the generations which inevitably upsets the social control aspects in some societies.How the roles and relationships of the family have change over time.Sociologists view childishness as Social Construction because they are biologically distinct from adults, (Harris, M. 2008.44)For this reason I will explain the disbelief in tw o parts.ChildrenThe role of the child within a pre-industrial family (pre 1750), was one of equal standing. As soon as the child could walk and chew up they were taught the family trade and were expected to carry on the family tradition. After the industrial renewing came the emergence of the industrial family (1800-1900), when children as young as 6 or 7 were sent to work in factories and down coal mines to bring money into the family home, however this brought about higher mortality rates because children werent as strong as adults. The mortality rates went into decline when the modern industrial family emerged (1900-2000), this is because children were starting to be seen as children and not as cheap labour. Experiences of childhood began to emerge for the majority of children within families, however there are settle down some societies today that still send their children out to work, but this is now not the norm in todays world.Gender roles and relationshipsDuring the pre-i ndustrial years both men and women worked together with other family members. just this all changed between 1750 and 1900 when women were expected to substantiation at home and be responsible for household chores, childcare and producing the future workforce. This type of family structure was very patriarchal the men had the power so they were the dominators in the family. However this started to change when the modern industrial family emerged between 1900 and 2000, as more women were given the opportunity to become educated, this led to more women in the workforce. This led the family to share the household chores and the childcare and sometimes swap roles within the family if the man became unemployed.Diversity of the contemporary family structureWhat is a family? This question has been raised by many sociologists and the majority of these have all had different opinion. However in answer to this question, a family can be the nuclear or extended type of family, which are 2 or 3 generations invigoration under one roof. This type of family was more common pre-1750 when families worked with and supported each other, and which still does happen in some cultures and societies i.e. Asian families. Other types of family structures which are more common in Britain today are the one kick upstairs families, the step families, the divorced families and the gay and lesbian families who have children. Families today are extremely diverse and multi-cultural through social influences from the media, education and global improvements. resultThroughout this assignment I have paid particular prudence to the different views of Functionalism, Marxism, Feminism and Post Modernism. I have given an military rating of each perspective and have briefly described the changes in roles, relationships and structures within families. I have concluded in my evaluation that my opinion of families and households is one that in todays society of choice, freedom, diversity and multi-cu ltural structures that post modernism is by removed the best view and explanation of society today.BIBLIOGRAPHYHaralambos, M Heald, R. (1985) Sociology Themes and Perspectives, (2nd ed), London, Unwin Hyman Limited.Harris, S (2008) Sociology AS A2 Revision, (3rd ed) Essex, Pearson Education Limited.Ritzer, G (1996) Modern Sociological Theory, (4th ed) Singapore, McGraw-Hill Book Co.Taylor, P. et al (1995) Sociology in Focus, Bath, Bath struggleZietlin, M. et al (1995) Strengthening the Family Implications for International Development, Tokyo, United Nations University Presswww.sociologyonline.co.ukwww.sociology.org.uk