Talcott Parsons.
Functional Fit Theory – families fit into the type of society they are in:
• Pre-industrial = extended family
• Post-industrial – nuclear family.
Structural differentiation – families have lost their functions to other institutions.
• Education is now carried out in schools.
• Taking care of the sick is carried out in hospitals/welfare state.
Warm Bath Theory/Stabilisation of Adult Personalities
• The family provides a warm bath from the rest of society.
• The family keeps people emotionally stable as they can express themselves in
the home.
Organic Analogy
• Everything in society acts like an organ in the body – performs a certain function.
• If it is not needed it doesn’t exist.
• Every institution in society therefore exists for a reason/specific purpose.
• Everything also works with each other as organs do.
Expressive and Instrumental roles
• Men – instrumental – breadwinner, fixing things, provider.
• Women – expressive – emotion work, domestic roles, comfort.
Functional prerequisites – needed for society to function:
Adaptation – To survive, any society needs the basics of food and shelter. Having these gives
any society control over its environment. A society needs a functioning economy to provide this.
Goal Attainment – all societies must provide collective goals of some sort for its members to
aspire to. Governments set goals such as New Labour setting a target of 50% of school
graduates to attend university. To facilitate meeting such goals, governments provide resources,
laws, and other institutional mechanisms.
Integration - all societies need a legal system that mediates conflict and protects the social
system from breaking down.
Pattern maintenance – Institutions like education and the family reaffirm the essential values
needed for society to function. (For Parsons the key institution in passing on such basic values is
religion.)
Value consensus
• Shared agreement on norms and values.
Functional Fit Theory – families fit into the type of society they are in:
• Pre-industrial = extended family
• Post-industrial – nuclear family.
Structural differentiation – families have lost their functions to other institutions.
• Education is now carried out in schools.
• Taking care of the sick is carried out in hospitals/welfare state.
Warm Bath Theory/Stabilisation of Adult Personalities
• The family provides a warm bath from the rest of society.
• The family keeps people emotionally stable as they can express themselves in
the home.
Organic Analogy
• Everything in society acts like an organ in the body – performs a certain function.
• If it is not needed it doesn’t exist.
• Every institution in society therefore exists for a reason/specific purpose.
• Everything also works with each other as organs do.
Expressive and Instrumental roles
• Men – instrumental – breadwinner, fixing things, provider.
• Women – expressive – emotion work, domestic roles, comfort.
Functional prerequisites – needed for society to function:
Adaptation – To survive, any society needs the basics of food and shelter. Having these gives
any society control over its environment. A society needs a functioning economy to provide this.
Goal Attainment – all societies must provide collective goals of some sort for its members to
aspire to. Governments set goals such as New Labour setting a target of 50% of school
graduates to attend university. To facilitate meeting such goals, governments provide resources,
laws, and other institutional mechanisms.
Integration - all societies need a legal system that mediates conflict and protects the social
system from breaking down.
Pattern maintenance – Institutions like education and the family reaffirm the essential values
needed for society to function. (For Parsons the key institution in passing on such basic values is
religion.)
Value consensus
• Shared agreement on norms and values.
