Theorists View Families as Essential to Maintaining Inequality in Society
The Functionalist Perspective
Functionalists view the family unit as a construct that fulfills important functions and keeps society running smoothly.
Learning Objectives
Explain the social functions of the family through the perspective of structural functionalism
Primal Takeaways
Fundamental Points
- Functionalists place a number of functions families typically perform: reproduction; socialization; care, protection, and emotional support; assignment of status; and regulation of sexual behavior through social norms.
- For functionalists, the family creates well-integrated members of society by instilling the social culture into children.
- Radcliffe-Brown proposed that most stateless, "archaic" societies, defective potent centralized institutions, are based on an association of descent groups. These clans emerge from family units.
Key Terms
- family: A group of people related by claret, wedlock, law or custom.
- Radcliffe-Brown: A British social anthropologist from the early twentieth century who contributed to the development of the theory of structural-functionalism.
- establishment: An established system, especially i defended to education, public service, culture, or the care of the destitute, poor etc.
Structural functionalism is a framework that sees lodge equally a complex organisation whose parts work together to promote solidarity and stability. In this way, society is like an organism and each aspect of society (institutions, social constructs, etc.) is like an organ that works together to keep the whole operation smoothly. This approach looks at society through a macro-level orientation, which is a broad focus on the social structures that shape gild as a whole. Functionalism addresses gild in terms of the part of its constituent elements: norms, customs, traditions and institutions. Functionalists, in full general, identify a number of functions families typically perform: reproduction; socialization; care, protection, and emotional support; assignment of status; and regulation of sexual behavior through the norm of legitimacy.
The Family unit
Radcliffe-Brown proposed that nigh stateless, "primitive" societies that lack strong centralized institutions are based on an association of corporate-descent groups. Structural functionalism too took on the argument that the basic edifice block of lodge is the nuclear family, and that the clan is an outgrowth, non vice versa. Durkheim was concerned with the question of how certain societies maintain internal stability and survive over time. Based on the metaphor above of an organism in which many parts function together to sustain the whole, Durkheim argued that complicated societies are held together past organic solidarity.
Nuclear Family unit: Structural functionalism also took on the argument that the basic building block of society is the nuclear family, and that the clan is an outgrowth, not vice versa.
Functions of the Family
For functionalists, the family creates well-integrated members of guild and instills civilization into the new members of society. It provides of import ascribed statuses such as social class and ethnicity to new members. It is responsible for social replacement past reproducing new members, to replace its dying members. Farther, the family gives individuals belongings rights and also affords the assignment and maintenance of kinship order. Lastly, families offering cloth and emotional security and provides intendance and support for the individuals who demand care.
Expectant Family: Family expecting an boosted family fellow member.
Family in the 1970s: For functionalists, the family creates well-integrated members of social club and teaches culture to the new members of society.
The Conflict Perspective
The disharmonize perspective views the family equally a vehicle to maintain patriarchy (gender inequality) and social inequality in society.
Learning Objectives
Analyze the family unit from the perspective of conflict theory
Key Takeaways
Key Points
- The disharmonize perspective describes the inequalities that exist in all societies globally, and considers aspects of society every bit ways for those with ability and status to maintain command over scare resource.
- According to disharmonize theorists, the family unit works toward the constancy of social inequality within a lodge past maintaining and reinforcing the status quo.
- Through inheritance, the wealthy families are able to keep their privileged social position for their members.
- Conflict theorists have seen the family as a social arrangement benefiting men more than women.
Fundamental Terms
- family: A group of people related by blood, union, law or custom.
- inheritance: The passing of championship to an estate upon expiry.
- Disharmonize Perspective: A perspective in the social sciences that emphasizes the social, political or material inequality of a social grouping; critiques the broad socio-political system; or otherwise detracts from structural functionalism and ideological conservativism.
The Conflict perspective refers to the inequalities that exist in all societies globally. Conflict theory is peculiarly interested in the various aspects of master status in social position—the primary identifying feature of an individual seen in terms of race or ethnicity, sex activity or gender, age, religion, ability or disability, and socio-economic status. According to the Disharmonize epitome, every social club is plagued by inequality based on social differences among the dominant group and all of the other groups in society. When we are analyzing any element of guild from this perspective, we need to look at the structures of wealth, ability and status, and the means in which those structures maintain social, economic, political and coercive power of one group at the expense of others.
The Family unit
According to disharmonize theorists, the family unit works toward the continuance of social inequality within a guild by maintaining and reinforcing the status quo. Because inheritance, education and social capital are transmitted through the family structure, wealthy families are able to proceed their privileged social position for their members, while individuals from poor families are denied like status.
Conflict theorists accept likewise seen the family unit as a social arrangement benefiting men more than women, assuasive men to maintain a position of power. The traditional family form in nearly cultures is patriarchal, contributing to inequality between the sexes. Males tend to accept more power and females tend to accept less. Traditional male roles and responsibilities are valued more the traditional roles done by their wives (i.east., housekeeping, kid rearing). The traditional family is besides an inequitable structure for women and children. For example, more lx percent of all mothers with children nether vi are in the paid workforce. Even though these women spend every bit much (or more) fourth dimension at paid jobs as their husbands, they too practice more than of the housework and child care.
Chinese Family in Suriname: According to conflict theorists, the family unit works toward the continuance of social inequality inside a society past maintaining and reinforcing the condition quo.
The Symbolic Interactionist Perspective
Symbolic interactionists view the family as a site of social reproduction where meanings are negotiated and maintained by family unit members.
Learning Objectives
Clarify family rituals through the symbolic interactionalist perspective
Key Takeaways
Key Points
- Symbolic interactionism is a theory that analyzes patterns of communication, estimation, and aligning between individuals in guild. The theory is a framework for agreement how individuals interact with each other and inside society through the meanings of symbols.
- Role-taking is a key mechanism that permits an individual to appreciate another person's perspective and to understand what an activeness might mean to that person. Role-taking emerges at an early on age through activities such as playing business firm.
- Symbolic interactionists explore the changing meanings attached to family. Symbolic interactionists argue that shared activities help to build emotional bonds, and that marriage and family unit relationships are based on negotiated meanings.
- The interactionist perspective emphasizes that families reinforce and rejuvenate bonds through symbolic rituals such every bit family meals and holidays.
Key Terms
- family: A group of people related past blood, union, police force or custom.
- ritual: Rite; a repeated set of actions
- bonds: Ties and relationships between individuals.
Symbolic interactionism is a social theory that focuses on the analysis of patterns of communication, interpretation, and adjustment between individuals in relation to the meanings of symbols. Co-ordinate to the theory, an individual's exact and nonverbal responses are constructed in expectation of how the initial speaker volition react.
This accent on symbols, negotiated meaning, and the structure of order every bit an attribute of symbolic interactionism focuses attention on the roles that people play in club. Part-taking is a central mechanism through which an private tin can appreciate another person's perspective and better empathise the significance of a item activity to that person. Part-taking begins at an early age, through such activities every bit playing house and pretending to be different people. These activities have an improvisational quality that contrasts with, say, an actor's scripted function-playing. In social contexts, the uncertainty of roles places the burden of office-making on the people in a given situation.
Ethnomethodology, an offshoot of symbolic interactionism, examines how people's interactions can create the illusion of a shared social gild despite a lack of mutual understanding and the presence of differing perspectives. Harold Garfinkel demonstrated this situation through so-chosen experiments in trust, or breaching experiments, wherein students would interrupt ordinary conversations because they refused to take for granted that they knew what the other person was proverb.
The Family
Symbolic interactionists also explore the changing meanings fastened to family. They argue that shared activities help to build emotional bonds among family members, and that marriage and family relationships are based on negotiated meanings. The interactionist perspective emphasizes that families reinforce and rejuvenate bonds through symbolic machinery rituals such as family meals and holidays.
The Family: Symbolic interactionists explore the changing meanings attached to family. They argue that shared activities help to build emotional bonds and that marriage and family relationships are based on negotiated meanings.
The Feminist Perspective
Feminists view the family as a historical institution that has maintained and perpetuated sexual inequalities.
Learning Objectives
Describe the goals of first and second-moving ridge feminism
Primal Takeaways
Key Points
- Feminism is a broad term that is the consequence of several historical social movements attempting to gain equal economic, political, and social rights for women.
- Get-go-wave feminism focused mainly on legal equality, such as voting, pedagogy, employment, the matrimony laws, and the plight of intelligent, white, centre-class women.
- Second-wave feminism went a step further is seeking equality in family, employment, reproductive rights, and sexuality.
- Both feminist and masculinist authors have decried predetermined gender roles as unjust.
Key Terms
- gender: The socio-cultural phenomenon of the division of people into various categories such as male and female, with each having associated roles, expectations, stereotypes, etc.
Feminism is a broad term that is the effect of several historical social movements attempting to gain equal economical, political, and social rights for women. First-wave feminism focused mainly on legal equality, such every bit voting, education, employment, marriage laws, and the plight of intelligent, white, middle-class women. Second-wave feminism went a step further past seeking equality in family, employment, reproductive rights, and sexuality. Although there was great improvements with perceptions and representations of women that extended globally, the motility was not unified and several different forms of feminism began to emerge: black feminism, lesbian feminism, liberal feminism, and social feminism.
Sociology of Motherhood
In many cultures, specially in a traditional western one, a mother is usually the wife in a married couple. Her role in the family is historic on Female parent's Day. Some oft view mothers' duties as raising and looking afterwards their children every infinitesimal of every day. Mothers ofttimes have a very of import role in raising offspring, and the title can be given to a non-biological mother that fills this role. This is common in stepmothers (female married to biological male parent). In about family unit structures, the mother is both a biological parent and a master caregiver.
Nonetheless, this limited role has increasingly been chosen into question. Both feminist and masculist authors have decried such predetermined roles equally unjust. In the Us, 82.5 one thousand thousand women are mothers of all ages, while the national average historic period of first child births is 25.1 years. In 2008, ten% of births were to teenage girls, and fourteen% were to women ages 35 and older.
Women's Rights: International Women'southward Twenty-four hours rally in Dhaka, Bangladesh, organized by the National Women Workers Trade Union Middle on March viii, 2005.
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