SOCIOLOGY
KEY THINKERS
, FAMILIES
KEY THINKERS:
FUNCTIONALISTS :
T. Parsons (1961) - Primary socialisation = children taught norms and values. Stabilisation of
adult personalities = families relieve stress, ‘warm bath’.
P. Willmott & M. Young (1973) - Family becoming more symmetrical, similar but not identical
roles. Integrated conjugal roles. Finances and leisure time are more shared. Changes in family
life start with higher social classes.
FEMINISTS :
A. Oakley (1982) - ‘conventional family’ = a nuclear family. Women expected to do unpaid work
inside the home. The idea that the conventional family is powerful. Expectation of happiness,
when in reality family is stressful. Middle class = more diversity.
C. Delphy & D.Leonard (1992) (Radical) - Women exploited economically, their work is not
valued and have financial dependance on their husbands. Family is based on a hierarchy, men
are at the top. A patriarchal family represent a patriarchal society
K. Millet (1934) (Radical) - questioned the origins of patriarchy, argued that sex-based
oppression was both political and cultural, and put forward that undoing the traditional family
was the key to true sexual revolution. men have institutionalised power over women, and that
this power is socially constructed.
J. Somerville (2000) (Liberal) - sees the family as an institution that specializes in
socialization. Children learn gender roles in the family, using role models available to them that
are 'reinforced' by the wider society.
F. Ansley (1972) (Marxist) - Ansley argues women absorb the anger that would otherwise be
directed at capitalism. Ansley argues women’s male partners are inevitably frustrated by the
exploitation they experience at work and women are the victims of this, including domestic
violence.
MARXISTS :
E. Zaretsky (1976) -Passing on of advantages, e.g. inheritance. capitalist society has created
an illusion that the ‘private life’ of the family is separate from the economy. The family is a unit of
capitalist consumption and production. Only socialism can end artificial separation of family life
and public life.
DIFFERENT FAMILY FORMS :
R. Rapoport & R. Rapoport (1982) - Organisational diversity = structure of the family. Cultural
diversity = cultural and religious differences. Social class diversity = class differences. Life
course diversity = life cycle differences within the family. Cohort diversity = historical differences.
KEY THINKERS
, FAMILIES
KEY THINKERS:
FUNCTIONALISTS :
T. Parsons (1961) - Primary socialisation = children taught norms and values. Stabilisation of
adult personalities = families relieve stress, ‘warm bath’.
P. Willmott & M. Young (1973) - Family becoming more symmetrical, similar but not identical
roles. Integrated conjugal roles. Finances and leisure time are more shared. Changes in family
life start with higher social classes.
FEMINISTS :
A. Oakley (1982) - ‘conventional family’ = a nuclear family. Women expected to do unpaid work
inside the home. The idea that the conventional family is powerful. Expectation of happiness,
when in reality family is stressful. Middle class = more diversity.
C. Delphy & D.Leonard (1992) (Radical) - Women exploited economically, their work is not
valued and have financial dependance on their husbands. Family is based on a hierarchy, men
are at the top. A patriarchal family represent a patriarchal society
K. Millet (1934) (Radical) - questioned the origins of patriarchy, argued that sex-based
oppression was both political and cultural, and put forward that undoing the traditional family
was the key to true sexual revolution. men have institutionalised power over women, and that
this power is socially constructed.
J. Somerville (2000) (Liberal) - sees the family as an institution that specializes in
socialization. Children learn gender roles in the family, using role models available to them that
are 'reinforced' by the wider society.
F. Ansley (1972) (Marxist) - Ansley argues women absorb the anger that would otherwise be
directed at capitalism. Ansley argues women’s male partners are inevitably frustrated by the
exploitation they experience at work and women are the victims of this, including domestic
violence.
MARXISTS :
E. Zaretsky (1976) -Passing on of advantages, e.g. inheritance. capitalist society has created
an illusion that the ‘private life’ of the family is separate from the economy. The family is a unit of
capitalist consumption and production. Only socialism can end artificial separation of family life
and public life.
DIFFERENT FAMILY FORMS :
R. Rapoport & R. Rapoport (1982) - Organisational diversity = structure of the family. Cultural
diversity = cultural and religious differences. Social class diversity = class differences. Life
course diversity = life cycle differences within the family. Cohort diversity = historical differences.
