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Flashcards by Em Maskrey, updated more than 1 year ago
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Created by Em Maskrey
about 7 years ago
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| Question | Answer |
| What do functionalist sociologists believe society is based on? | A value consensus - that is, a set of shared norms and values - into which society socialises its members, enabling them to live harmoniously and meet society's needs. |
| What analogy do functionalists use when describing society? | The organic analogy, created by Emile Durkheim. |
| How do functionalist sociologists describe the family? | As a basic building block of society. |
| George Peter Murdock argues that the family performs four essential functions to meet the needs of its members and of wider society. What are they? | 1. Stable satisfaction of the adult sex drive, ideally with the same partner. 2. Reproduction of the next generation. 3. Socialisation of the young into society's shared values. 4. Meeting its members economic needs. |
| Murdock accepts that other institutions could perform the four essential functions. However, what does he say about the nuclear family with regards to performing these essential functions? | The sheer practicality of the nuclear family as a way of meeting these needs explains why it's universal. |
| Why do other sociologists criticise Murdock? | While they agree that the essential functions are extremely important, they argue that they could be performed equally well by other institutions or non-nuclear families. |
| What do marxist and feminist sociologists think of Murdock's view? | They describe it as 'rose-tinted' and state he is naive to believe the family benefits all members equally. Feminists argue that the family meets only the needs of men, and marxists argue that it meets the needs of capitalism, not its members' or wider society's needs. |
| According to Talcott Parsons, the functions that the family performs will depend on what? | The kind of society in which it's found. |
| In addition, Parsons states that the functions that the family has to perform will affect its structure. What are the two family structures he identifies? | 1. The nuclear family, consisting of just parents and their dependent children. 2. The extended family, consisting of three or more generations living together. |
| Parsons argue that the particular structure and functions of a given type of family will do what? | 'Fit' the needs of the society in which it is found. For this reason, his theory is known as the 'functional fit' theory. |
| According to Parsons, there are two basic types of society. What are they? | 1. Modern industrial society 2. Pre-industrial society. |
| In Parsons' view, when Britain began to industrialise, the extended family began to give way to the nuclear family. Why was this? | Because the emerging industrial society had different needs from pre-industrial society, and the family had to adapt to meet these needs. |
| Parsons argues that modern industrial society has two essential needs. What are they? | 1. A geographically mobile workforce 2. A socially mobile workforce |
| What is meant by a 'geographically mobile workforce', and how is the nuclear family better suited to this? | In pre-industrial society, people often spent their whole lives living in one village, working on the same farm. Today, businesses constantly come and go all over the world, and this requires people to move to where the jobs are. The nuclear family is more capable of moving about, due to having fewer members. |
| What is meant by a 'socially mobile workforce', and how is the nuclear family better suited to this? | In pre-industrial society, an individual's status was ascribed by their class. In modern society, an individual's status can change with effort and ability. Parsons argues that the nuclear family is better equipped for this, as adult children can surpass their parents with regards to achievement, and this could cause tension if they remained living together. |
| The nuclear family therefore encourages both social and geographical mobility. What is the result? | A mobile nuclear family, which is 'socially isolated' from its extended kin. |
| According to Parsons, when society industrialised, the family not only changed its structure. What else happened? | The family also lost many of its functions. |
| According to Parsons, as a result of this loss of functions, the modern nuclear family now has just two essential or 'irreducible' functions. What are they? | 1. The primary socialisation of children. 2. The stabilisation of adult personalities. |
| While functionalists see society as based on a value consensus, marxists see capitalist society as based on an unequal conflict between which two classes? | The ruling class and the working class. |
| Marxists see all of society's institutions as helping to do what? | Maintain class inequality and capitalism. Therefore, they see the functions of the family as being purely for the benefit of the capitalist system. |
| Marxists have identified several functions that they see the family as fulfilling for capitalism. What are they? | 1. Inheritance of property 2. Ideological functions 3. A unit of consumption |
| Karl Marx referred to the earliest, classless society as what? How did this society function? | 'Primitive communism'. In this society, there was no private property, with all members of society owning the means of production communally. |
| In primitive communism, there was no family as such. Instead, there were no restrictions on sexual relationships. How did Friedrich Engels describe this? | He referred to it as the 'promiscuous horde'. |
| As the forces of production developed, society's wealth began to increase. Along with this came the development of private property and distinctly separate classes. This change eventually brought about what sort of family? | The patriarchal monogamous nuclear family. |
| In Engels' view, monogamy became essential for what reason? | Because the new concept of inheritance of private property meant that men wanted to be certain of their paternity before leaving their property to their children. |
| According to Engels, the rise of the monogamous nuclear family represented what, and why? | A 'world historical defeat of the female sex', because it brought women's sexuality under male control, turning them into 'a mere instrument for the production of children'. |
| Marxists argue that women will only achieve liberation from patriarchal control when they do what? | Overthrow capitalism. |
| Marxists argue that the family today also performs key ideological functions for capitalism. Which sociologist gave an example of an ideological function performed by the family? | Eli Zaretsky. He stated that the family performs an ideological function by offering an apparent 'haven' from the harsh world of capitalism outside. However, he argues that this is largely an illusion, as the family can't meet its members' needs. |
| Capitalism exploits the labour of workers, making a profit by selling the products of their labour for more than it pays them to produce the products. How does the family play a major role in generating profits for capitalists? | It's an important market for the sale of consumer goods. |
| Marxists tend to assume that the nuclear family is dominant in capitalist society. What does this ignore? | The variety of family structures found in society today. |
| What do feminists accuse marxists of? | Emphasising class and capitalism while underestimating the importance of gender inequalities within the family. |
| What do the functionalists criticise marxists for? | Failing to acknowledge the benefits that the family provides for its members. |
| Like marxists, feminists also take a critical view of the family. What do they accuse it of? | Oppressing women. |
| What are the four types of feminism? | 1. Liberal 2. Marxist 3. Radical 4. Difference |
| What are liberal feminists concerned with? | Campaigning against sex discrimination and in favour of equal rights and opportunities for women. |
| They argue that women's oppression is being gradually overcome through changing people's attitudes and through changes in law. Give an Act that examples this: | The Equal Pay Act 1970, the Sex Discrimination Act (1975). |
| Liberal feminists believe we are moving towards greater equality, but argue that full equality will depend on what? | Further reforms and changes in attitudes and socialisation patterns of both genders. |
| Why do other feminists criticise liberal feminists? | They believe that liberal feminists fail to challenge the underlying causes of women's oppression. In addition, liberal feminists' belief that changes in the law and attitudes is enough to bring equality is disputed by other feminists. |
| What do marxist feminists argue is the main cause of women's oppression? | Capitalism. They believe that women's oppression performs several functions for capitalism. |
| Give some examples of the ways in which women's oppression benefits capitalism: | 1. Women reproduce and socialise the labour force through their unpaid domestic labour. 2. Women absorb anger that would otherwise be directed at capitalism. 3. Women are a reserve army of cheap labour. |
| Marxist feminists see the oppression of women in the family as linked to the exploitation of the working class. Therefore, what do they argue must occur in order for women to be freed? | The family must be abolished at the same time as a socialist revolution is carried out, replacing capitalism with a classless society. |
| What do radical feminists argue? | That all societies have been founded on patriarchy. |
| What do radical feminists believe needs to happen to the family and wider society? | The family needs to be abolished and society needs to be overturned. |
| What do radical feminists see as the only way to achieve the abolition of the family and patriarchal society? | Separatism - women living independently from men. |
| What is meant by political lesbianism? | The idea that heterosexual relationships are inevitably oppressive because the involve 'sleeping with the enemy'. |
| What doe Germaine Greer argue in favour of? | The creation of matrilocal' households as an alternative to the heterosexual family. |
| What does liberal feminist Jenny Somerville criticise radical feminists for? | Failing to recognise that women's position has improved considerably. She also argues that heterosexual attraction makes separatism unlikely. |
| What do difference feminists argue? | We can't generalise women's experiences - differences in sexuality, ethnicity, class and religion mean that women experience life in many different ways. |
| What has difference feminism been criticised of? | Neglecting the fact that all women share many of the same experiences, such as domestic violence, sexual abuse, low pay, and so on. |
| The personal life perspective argues that functionalists, marxists and feminists all suffer from two weaknesses. What are they? | 1. They tend to assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant family type. 2. They are all structural theories, assuming that families and there members are passive puppets manipulated by society's structure. |
| Personal life thinkers argue that to understand families, we must start from where? | From the 'bottom up' - we must examine the perspectives of the individuals concerned and the meanings they give to their relationships. |
| As well as taking a 'bottom up' approach to relationships, the personal life perspective also takes a wider view on relationships. What is meant by this? | They don't believe that relationships based on blood or marriage ties are superior. It all depends on the meanings of the relationships to the individual. |
| There are many types of relationships that individuals see as significant and which give them a sense of identity and belonging. Give examples: | - Friendships. - Fictive kin. - Homosexual 'chosen families'. - Relationships with dead relatives. - Relationships with pets. |
| A significant strength of the personal life perspective is that it recognises that relatedness isn't always a good thing. Give an example of the negative aspects of relatedness: | Sexual abuse by a parent to a child, a wife unable to escape her violent husband, etc. |
| What can the personal life perspective be accused of? | Taking too broad a view, and ignoring the importance of relationships based on blood or marriage. |
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