Essay on ''Family, A universal institution'' 500 words to 600words.
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Answer:
The family is a diverse topic with many different observations and conclusions as to its role and purpose in society. Many sociologists are of the opinion that the family is a central and necessary institution in modern society.
Society has many family units involved in its fluctuations; changes in different societies may vary greatly, due to the vast differences between them which include culture, religion, and the territorial area they occupy.
There are many different theoretical explanations for the family in modern society, the two covered in this essay are, the Feminist explanation for the family, and the Functionalist explanation.
By definition functionalism is the carrying out of an action in terms of its consequences, i.e. its contribution to maintaining stability. Feminism however, is a social movement combining theory with political practice, and seeking to achieve equality between both men and women. In many ways the family is seen as the ‘cornerstone’ of society, supporting and reinforcing social organisation and enabling control of the population. As modernity has progressed the family has shown its ability to evolve by meeting the changing needs of society and family members.
There is however a ‘dark side’ to family life, family ideology conveys the family as a safe private place, however many sociologists have studied the family from other aspects, such as being the centre location for oppression, violence and abuse directed mainly towards women and children.
The functionalist explanation for the family in modern society suggests that the family is the primary source of childhood socialization and is the mechanism for the stabilisation of adult personalities; therefore without this family structure disorganisation could occur.
The family therefore ‘fits’ into other parts of the social system as it enables learning and organisation of behaviours which are beneficial to society, and support the current political and economic views in order to maintain a reliance on the welfare state.
When regarding family types functionalists prefer the ideology stemming from the emergence of the nuclear family, as they see it as most suited to the needs of industrial society, with the father and mother figure at the helm of the family, which consists purely of the biological mother, father and any children that may have been conceived. This is a very traditionalist view of the family especially in modern society, where there are increasing numbers of single parent families and extended families.
Murdock (1949) claimed that the nuclear family was universal and is so useful to society that its appearance is inevitable. Many Functionalists are of the opinion that the family is the heart of society, it ensures the survival of society due to the functions that it contributes.
The functionalist explanation views socialisation as purely a one way process, and idealises family life to the ‘universal’ nuclear family, whereas post modernists say there is no such thing as the universal family, as the family is a centre of diversity and choice, so there is no one particular family structure as all vary in different ways.
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Answer:
The family is a diverse topic with many different observations and conclusions as to its role and purpose in society. Many sociologists are of the opinion that the family is a central and necessary institution in modern society.
Society has many family units involved in its fluctuations; changes in different societies may vary greatly, due to the vast differences between them which include culture, religion, and the territorial area they occupy.
There are many different theoretical explanations for the family in modern society, the two covered in this essay are, the Feminist explanation for the family, and the Functionalist explanation.
By definition functionalism is the carrying out of an action in terms of its consequences, i.e. its contribution to maintaining stability. Feminism however, is a social movement combining theory with political practice, and seeking to achieve equality between both men and women.
Explanation: