![]() However, this phase did not last long.īeginning with the impact of feminism on family studies, the sociology of the family went through a Big Bang in the mid-1970s. By the early 1970s the sociology of the family had entered a phase of systematic theory building and theory unification. The phrase that was most often used to describe the goal of creating a unified body of family theory was theory systematization. Influenced by the prestige of grand theory in structural functionalism, the period of the late 1960s and 1970s saw a move in family studies toward theory construction combined with theory integration. It socializes children and manages tensions for adults. Talcott Parsons, for example, argued that the nuclear family household has two main functions in modern industrial society. This approach held that families perform essential functions for family members and for society. An early, and very influential, version of standard sociological theory was structural functionalism. In the post war period the standard theory of family life held that the nuclear family was an adaptive unit that mediates between the individual and society. On the other hand, British and other European theorists have not paid much attention to exchange theory, which has been popular in the United States.įamily theory has changed from a consensus on the value of nuclear family living in the period immediately after World War II to the current situation of theoretical pluralism. For example, in the 1970s and early 1980s Marxism had a significant influence on family theorizing in Britain and, especially, in Canada, but it was rarely mentioned in the United States. We will revisit this part of the discussion in a later section.The history of family theory varies according to the national context of family theorists. By this she means that men coming home from work may have their stress relieved by the family, but only by dumping it on their wives.įurthermore, these theories are outdated and suggest families are all traditional nuclear families with men going to work and women in domestic roles. The Marxist-feminist Fran Ansley offers a different perspective on Parsons’ warm bath theory when she describes women in the family as takers of shit. In particular, feminists argue that families exist largely for the benefit of men. Many people have negative experiences of family life, and indeed they can cause stress as well as relieve it.Ĭonflict theorists also question whether the roles families perform really benefit the whole of society or really just benefit powerful groups within it. Families are certainly not like that for everyone. This was the idea that when a man came home from a hard day at work, he could relax into is family like a warm bath and it would take away the stress and refresh him for the next day’s work.Įvaluating functionalist views of the functions of families and householdsĪ standard criticism of functionalist views of the role of the family comes from conflict theorists like Marxists and feminists who argue that this paints too rosy and idealistic a picture of family life. Parsons famously described this in his warm bath theory. The family provides emotional support to its members. Parsons also argued that families helped to prevent adults from behaving in disruptive or dysfunctional ways, instead encouraging them to conform to social norms, especially at times of stress. Parsons called this first process primary socialisation and the latter secondary socialisation. taught children the universal norms and values of wider society. However, he argued that it specifically taught children the norms and values associated with their family and/or community, while other institutions, such as schools, the media, religion, etc. Similar to Murdock’s educational role, Parsons agreed that families taught children social norms and values. He argued that in modern, Western societies, the state provided education and could perform an economic function (through welfare provisions) but that the family still had two irreducible functions: Talcott Parsons (1951) updated Murdock’s theory. ![]() Murdock on Families - Short Revision Video Talcott Parsons on Families
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