Children.ompare and contrast functional and conflict approaches to one of the following:
Marriage and Family
In today’s society, marriage and family are vital structures. The two have a complicated relationship that is not clearly understood. Marriage refers to a legal, social contract between two people. The agreement is usually between a man and a woman. Considerations are, however, given in polygamy cases and marriages between people of same-sex. Traditionally, marriage was based on sexual relationships, and it meant a permanent union. Once you were married, divorce was not allowed. Historically, marriage was known to create a family. The married couple were expected to have children hence making up a family. Family is the basic unit of society. Both family and marriage have a status role in society.
A family is made of a father, mother and children. There are, however, families with single parents or those that include pets as family members. A family can also be defined based on status roles or based on how members relate with each other. In this case, we can define a family as a social organization that is joined together either by blood, marriage or adoption. The members are usually emotionally connected, and they form the basic unit of the family. There are different types of families based on how one joins the group. One is the family orientation where one becomes part of the family by birth, and the other is family procreation, where one becomes part of the family by marriage. Sociologists view events that occur in the family in 3 perspectives; symbolic interactionism, conflict and functionalism. These approaches try to explain how marriage and family influence society.
Functionalists view a family as an essential social institution that is essential in stabilizing society. Family members have a status role either in the family or in marriage. Men, for instance, have the role of being a father in the family and a husband in marriage. Family members can also have roles in society; for example, one can be a husband, father and even clergy. The family performs vital tasks either within the family or in the society that facilitates the development and prosperity of the society. Each member of the family has been assigned specific roles. What functionalist do, is that they look at the effect off the family on the other social structures and the general society.
According to George murok, sociologists, the family has four main roles that are sexual, reproductive, educative and economic roles in the community. It is only through the family that children are born. Without overlooking extramarital sex, he said that marriage is the only union that legitimates sex. Sex inturn leads to reproduction which is essential for growth and survival of the society.
Once children are born, it is the responsibility of the family to educate them on the social and cultural norms of the society. They prepare them for future roles as adults. The family is essential in socializing and enculturing children to social beliefs and values. It is only through the children that a community’s cultures can b maintained. They teach them acceptable manners and behaviours. The family also taught the children the importance of independence and motivation to achieve. in a nutshell, the family prepares the children for adulthood.Children are a reflection of their parents, and if they do not teach them the right way, then they would have failed.
according to the functionalists, the family is also responsible for educating children on their roles. Differentiation of gender roles is important for the economic function of every family and the general society. Men were associated with instrumental roles, while women were related to expressive roles and were meant to complement the men. Men were to work outside the family to provide financial support and give status to the family. In contrast, women worked within the family, taking care of the children and providing emotional support. The expressive roles were given to the women because they are more bonded to their children. According to functionalists, the division of roles was primarily to promote cooperation and balance within the family. slight disruption of the family structure or exchange of roles resulted in a major crisis. It threatens stability and weakens society.
Unlike the functionalist’s approach, conflict views a family as the source of social conflict and inequality. They say that family is not always a haven; there can be power struggles. conflicts results due to power inequalities between men and women.
It is only through the family that inheritance, education and wealth can be transferred through the family structure. Wealth, for instance, people from wealthy families always move their wealth to their children. This, therefore, means that if you are weak in society, you will remain weak unless you get married to a wealthy family. the structure of the family has brought the inequality in society.
Similarly, conflict theorist argues that the structure of the family benefited men more than women. The patriarchal structure gave men more power than women, which created inequality. men were given the power to be the heads of the family, thus weakening the women powers.women were therefore meant to respect and follow their husband’s orders. Aside from that, the instrumental roles assigned to the men gave men more power. They were valued more than the expressive roles of the women. If you held a job that guaranteed you access to valuable resources, then it meant you had more power. Household jobs, for instance, have no wages; this means that there is no power with such responsibilities. Men always had valued jobs and women the household jobs thus making the have less power than men. Having less power rendered women victims of marital rapes, incest and even domestic violence. Although some women were lucky to have paid force just like men, they spent more time there but still had a lot of responsibilities at home and taking care of the children. their men, however, do not consider helping them with the household duties.These cases depict inequalities between the two genders. Sharing of household responsibilities have been thought to be the best solution to marital conflicts.
Although there are several differences between functionalism and conflict approaches to family and marriage, there are noted similarities between the two methods. First is that they both talk about the relationship between family and society. They explore how the structure of the family and marriage affects society. According to the functionalists, family plays a role in the development and prosperity of the society, contrasting the conflicts theorists who assume that family is the source of social conflicts and inequalities. Although their perceptions and assumptions on how family affect the society are different, atleast they both talk about how family affect the community.
Another similarity is that both approaches try to explain how gender roles influence society. According to functionalists, gender roles bring stability and balance to society. In contrast, to the conflict theorists, gender roles are a source of inequalities and marriage conflicts in society. Despite the differences in assumptions, the two brings about how men instrumental roles and women expressive roles socially and economically affect society.
References
(Jacobsen, Fursman, Bryant, Claridge & Jensen, 2004)
Your Bibliography: Jacobsen, V., Fursman,, L., Bryant, J., Claridge, M., & Jensen, B. (2004). T H E O R I E S O F T H E FAMILY AND POLICY. The Treasury, 1-104. Retrieved from https://treasury.govt.nz/sites/default/files/2007-09/twp04-02.pdf
(Harris, 2003)
Your Bibliography: Harris, S. (2003). CRITIQUING AND EXPANDING THE SOCIOLOGY OF INEQUALITY: COMPARING FUNCTIONALIST, CONFLICT, AND INTERACTIONIST PERSPECTIVES. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/238105299_CRITIQUING_AND_EXPANDI