![]() ![]() ![]() We return to family violence later in this chapter. Instead, they argue, shout, and use emotional cruelty and physical violence. Although the functional perspective assumes the family provides its members emotional comfort and support, many families do just the opposite and are far from the harmonious, happy groups depicted in the 1950s television shows. Second, the family can also be a source of conflict for its own members. As it developed through the centuries, and especially during industrialization, the family also became more and more of a patriarchal unit (since men made money working in factories while women stayed home), helping to reinforce men’s status at the top of the social hierarchy. Because families pass along their wealth to their children, and because families differ greatly in the amount of wealth they have, the family helps reinforce existing inequality. We return to their concerns shortly.Ĭonflict theorists agree that the family serves the important functions just listed, but they also point to problems within the family that the functional perspective minimizes or overlooks altogether.įirst, the family as a social institution contributes to social inequality. Textbooks no longer contain this warning, but many conservative observers continue to worry about the impact on children of working mothers and one-parent families. Any shift in this arrangement, they warned, would harm children and, by extension, the family as a social institution and even society itself. For example, most sociology and marriage-and-family textbooks during the 1950s maintained that the male breadwinner–female homemaker nuclear family was the best arrangement for children, as it provided for a family’s economic and child-rearing needs. Some children have advantages throughout life because of the social identity they acquire from their parents, while others face many obstacles because the social class or race/ethnicity into which they are born is at the bottom of the social hierarchy.īeyond discussing the family’s functions, the functional perspective on the family maintains that sudden or far-reaching changes in conventional family structure and processes threaten the family’s stability and thus that of society. Children are born into their parents’ social class, race and ethnicity, religion, and so forth. One reason for this is to ensure that infants have adequate emotional and practical care when they are born.įourth, the family provides its members with a social identity. The family is the major unit for teaching these norms and the major unit through which sexual reproduction occurs. All societies have norms governing with whom and how often a person should have sex. Third, the family helps regulate sexual activity and sexual reproduction. It provides them food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials, and it also provides them love, comfort, and help in times of emotional distress, and other types of support. Second, the family is ideally a major source of practical and emotional support for its members. Family problems stem from different understandings and expectations that spouses have of their marriage.Ĭolleen Kelly – Kids Playing Monopoly Chicago – CC BY 2.0. ![]() Wives and husbands have different styles of communication, and social class affects the expectations that spouses have of their marriages and of each other. The interaction of family members and intimate couples involves shared understandings of their situations. The family can also be a source of conflict, including physical violence and emotional cruelty, for its own members. Family problems stem from economic inequality and from patriarchal ideology. The family contributes to social inequality by reinforcing economic inequality and by reinforcing patriarchy. Family problems stem from sudden or far-reaching changes in the family’s structure or processes these problems threaten the family’s stability and weaken society. It socializes children, it provides emotional and practical support for its members, it helps regulate sexual activity and sexual reproduction, and it provides its members with a social identity. The family performs several essential functions for society. Table 10.1 Theory Snapshot Theoretical perspective ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |