'Assess the view that in todays society the family\r'

'Assess the bewitch that in todays conjunction the family is losing its pass aways (24 Marks) According to functionalists the family has illogical its functions, functionalism take on thither is integration and harmony in the midst of disparate parts of parliamentary law which rely upon each a nonher(prenominal) to maintain a cooperating connection. Functionalists heap the family as bouncy organs in maintaining society, functionalism concentrates on the contrisolelyion of the family towards society and how the family fits with other social institutions to create and efficient society.Functionalists desire Murdock fights that the family has four main unctions; reproduction as the family provides or so stability for the reproduction and rearing of children, economical as the family provides for the family in terms of food and shelter, sexual and socializing. Murdock regards these functions as necessary in any society; he adverts the nuclear family was found in every society however it is not the only form of constitution that can carry these functions out.For functionalists the family â€Å"fulfils a number of definitive functions for individuals and society such as the socialisation of children and the stabilisation of adult ersonalities” Functionalists like Parsons and Dennis present that in contemporary society many of the functions performed by the family and pre industrialised society has been retravel from the family. Many argue that â€Å"these functions ar creation taken over by other institutions” and that these flip been transferred to other institutions for eccentric the NHS as come up as the education and well-being system.Parsons refers to this as structural eminence and he withal claimed that is process has meant that modern much(prenominal) specialised families now only have devil main basic needs; Primary socialisation of children and stabilisation of adult personalities. However many sociologists arg ue against claims made my Parsons and Dennis, some argue that the family has not lost its functions. Fletcher and Shorter 1966 deny that the family has lost its functions in contemporary society.They suggest that during pre industrial and early industrial society privation meant that functions such as welfare and education were not effectively carried out. Children were often neglected and male peasants didnt address for their wives but to a greater extent about their animals. Fletchers argues that the family has now much note fewer functions placed on it for sheath the ealth and welfare functions of the family have been strengthened by welfare state and parents now are more absent with their childrens health.Social services with their powers now intervene in family cases if there are reports or suspicions of child neglect and this has join on the responsibilities of parents rather than discouraging them. Feminism however disagrees with the view that the family has lost its ec onomic role of a whole of production and argue that it has become a unit of measurement of consumption. They also majority of home rifle is cultivatable but it not recognised as uch because it is complimentary and usually d genius by women. They argue that the economic contribution made by women is underestimated.Radical feminist Christine Delphine and Dianna Leonard 1992 argues that some functions of production have been lost but others are pretormed to a higher standard than the past tor example washing, ironing and cleaning as â€Å"family support is much less stable than it was in the past”. A traditional function of the family is the reproduction and nurturing of children being seen as the main reason for marriage as a means of passing on family property and roviding a future workforce. However this has changed as there has been an increase in the number of people having sexual traffic forrader marriage and out of marriage.Another traditional function of the famil y was industrialisation and the growth of factory production in Britain, the family was a unit of production which meant the family home was also a work place. Children would learn the skills postulate for life from their elders and they often followed their parents footsteps in life. However this has changed as well as since the 19th century work has moved outside he home to factories and offices. Families no long-term produce the goods they need they go out kind of to work and earn wages to but the goods.These skills needed can no longer be learnt from the family but rather in a place of work or education. Occupations are less likely to be achieved by kinship but instead by individual merits. Lastly the family traditionally kneaded an grand role in caring for children however before the twentieth century most children were poorly looked aft(prenominal) due to poverty. This has now changed as the modern family gets more help in caring for children hrough a start out of state welfare services and growing be of care services such as play groups and nurseries.All the writers tend to think in terms of the family without differentiating between different family types. Graham Allan and Graham Crow 2001 argue that attempts to identify the functions of the family can be criticised because of the functionalist ‘one size fits approach. Postmodernists and different feminists reject this view that there is one single family type which always performs certain functions. This makes it unmanageable to measure functions of society.\r\n'