GCSE sociology families and education, paper 1 questions and answers

GCSE sociology families and education, paper 1 questions and answers Parson's functionalist views on roles in the family - -Instrumental role. Parson's claimed the mans role in the family is the breadwinner: he is the one who earns money and provides material resources. -Expressive role. Parsons claimed women's role in the family is to provide care, love, affection, security and all the necessary emotional support a family member might need. Feminist views on the functions of the family - -Feminist sociologists argue a function of the family is to maintain divisions of power between men and women. -In traditional families there was a clear division of labour. While men worked, women were at home. This maintains patriarchy. -It is also argued that traditional family units were based on a model of 'men owning women' and treating women like property. -Critics of feminism argue that the traditional system exploited men more than women: men had to do hard manual labour just to give most of their money to their wives.