Functionalism

Using materials from Item A and elsewhere, assess the contribution of functionalism to our sense of families and households

Functionalists, such as Parsons and Murdock, have contributed in some slipway to our understanding of families and households. However, there be other theories such as Marxism and Feminism that suppose the functionalist approach to family is far similarly exemplaristic. This is what I will be discussing within my essay.

Functionalists believe that there is cardinal specific family face, as pointed out in Item A: Functionalists tend to see the atomic family as the ideal family type for modern society The functionalists believe that everyone in society has a role to play, they all run like pieces of a body. They believe that these roles can be achieved only from being in a nuclear family. In Item A it says: the family is a primal institution of society. It performs vital functions for the maintenance of society as a whole. They believe that this is the best way for society to function, that the nuclear family is the ideal family type. Unfortunately, there are other sociological theories that believe it is too idealistic for modern society.



Therefore as functionalists believe that the nuclear family is the ideal type for society, they go some way t contributing to our understanding of families and households. However, it does not consider other family types in society, generalising the family too much.

Murdock, a functionalist, believes that the nuclear family has four main functions to perform. These functions are: reproduction of the next generation, meeting the basic needs of the family, socialisation of the young and stable satisfaction of the sex drive. This basically center that parents should have one sexual partner, and they are not leisurely or have affairs, ensuring that children are raised with stable relationships. By ensuring that these four functions are met, functionalists contribute to our understanding of families and...If you want to prevail a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



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