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Welcome to your first 'Family' homework! You will often be directed to this blog to revise concepts, answer questions or be given group work to complete before your next lesson. A lot of the responsibility for investigating will be given to you. You are A Level students now - your next step is University - you must be ready to be responsible for your own success! You might want to see if you can work out, over the coming weeks, which Sociological school might argue that point!
This post will offer very basic outlines of what Functionalists might argue about the family. You will find links to information about studies and theorists. It is here because it is all useful to you. The more you read, the more you know!
General 'Family' and Household' background
The City of Norwich School has some great background information here.
Functionalists
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| Durkheim. The Father of Sociology. A Functionalist. This picture comes from this page. A study which is more interesting than useful to you at this time! |
Broadly speaking, the functionalist perspective has focused on the functions of the family in society and for its members. In other words, it looks at how the family, as an institution, helps in maintaining order and stability in society, and the significance of the family for its individual members. Two well-known functionalists who have written about the family are George. P. Murdock and Talcott Parsons...
This is an introduction to Functionalist theories from this webpage. You should also look at this site. Have a closer look at the theorists and studies mentioned.
Talcott Parsons A very brief overview
A much more in depth analysis can be found here.
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| This photo taken from a Science website noting the births and deaths of notable Scientists. Sociologists still have problems with the Scientific community viewing them as credible peers. |
A brief description of George Murdock's Four Functions of the Family can be found here. The article goes on to discuss other theories and studies.
Your Task
Read all the information on this page. Follow links and follow up on anything interesting to you on those pages. Make notes. You might want to make revision cards for Functionalism.
Answer the following questions
(please answer these questions on a sheet of lined paper to hand in at your next lesson)
- What is 'socialisation'?
- What are Murdock's Four Functions of the Family?
- What is the difference between 'Primary socialisation' and 'Secondary socialisation'?
- Why does Parsons think Family is important for adults?
- What do you think about Functionalist theories of The Family? Give reasons and examples where you can.
