Assess the Functionalist View of the Family

Functionalism was founded by the Frenchmen Emile Durkheim in the late 1800’s. Durkheim and other functionalists see society as being on a value consensus with a shared set of norms and values that we have to live by, by doing this we can all live harmoniously and meet society needs and achieve society’s common goals. Functionalists see society as the organic analogy meaning that they feel it is like a human body with biological organisms. Just like how the body has different and vital parts that all function together to achieve the needs of the body, society had different parts like institutions and the function of these parts contribute to maintaining the social system working to together.

Functionalists think that the family plays an important role in maintaining the social system and other sub-systems, because of this important role functionalists sees the family in the a positive way meaning that the they ignore the dark side of the family like the conflict between members and the abuse that can sometimes times happen in a family.

Different functionalists often disagree on what the functions actually are for the family:

G.P Murdock’s theory that he researched in 1949 of 250 different societies argues that the nuclear family (which consists of 2 adults form both sexes in a sexual partnership with one or more children) performs 4 functions in society, these are:

• Sex – This is with their marital partner and no one else so that it prevents sexual free for all which causes social disruption between societies.

• Reproduction – This is creating the next generation of the family and without it society couldn’t continue.

• Economic support – Both partners worked together to provide food and shelter for their families, it has changed a bit in modern society changing to the unit of consumption for the family.

• Socialisation – Teaching the young of the family the norms and values of society so that they fit in to it.

Another functionalist called Talcott...