Outline And Compare And Contrast The Functionalist Views On The Functions Of The Family

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‘Murdock, (1949) said that families were a social group that was characterised by common residence, reproduction and economic co-operation, that includes adults of both sexes, that maintain a socially approved sexual relationship with one or more children, their own or adopted’. Over the years they have been different views on the family, many theorists have had their own perspectives on the function and the purpose of the family. This essay will be comparing and contrasting the functionalist, Marxist and feminism theories of the family, as well as taking into consideration how social factors and institutions are constructed and represented, how social inequalities are generated, experienced and maintained and their impact on health status …show more content…

Parsons (1959) like Murdock (1949) idealised the family, there are so many diverse families and the functionalist optimist view of the family may not be reality. Parsons and Murdock studies on families were mainly focused on middle class families they did not take into account other classes such working class and things such as religion, ethnicity, regions, or status with families as all these could affect families in different ways, a families class or status group could have an impact on how they live. Living in industrial societies that have values that are based on univeralism and achievement and where people are rewarded according to these achievements, this could put a strain on the family if one family is not achieving or does not have the same opportunities as another this could cause social inequalities which in turn could put stress on the family and affect their health and happiness as they would not have access to the same things as other families whether it be healthcare, education which are things that determine a persons

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