The Functionalist Perspective on the Role of Family - Paper Example

Introduction

A family is a social unit that plays various roles. Different sociological perspectives approach this unit differently, with varying definitions of the role of the family. The functional perspective believes in promoting social order through the contributions of various institutions, including family, education, and religion, etcetera (Mackie, n.d, p.40). This theory primarily presents the family as a nuclear family with two parents and children. Functionalists believe that the family comprises of different members who hold key roles and responsibilities. These members must play their roles to fulfill the needs of society and work towards preset personal and societal goals. This paper will explore the various roles of the family through a functionalist perspective.

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One of the roles of the family is to provide primary socialization (Mackie, n.d, p.41). This is the early training of individuals on the values or virtues of society. This role is essential to ensure that individuals are equipped adequately with the values needed for cooperation and productivity within any given society. Therefore, families are tasked with the responsibility of imparting values and virtues to the children within their unit. These qualities will enable these family members to fit into the greater society. Inefficient or failure of primary socialization results in undesirable actions, including crime and deviance. The family also plays a vital role in secondary socialization. Although this type of socialization primarily outside the home, the family plays a crucial role in its enforcement (Mackie, n.d, p.41). For instance, parents assist in their children's education in remarkable ways.

Functionalists consider the family to be the basic building block of society. For this institution to be effective, the members must fulfill each other's social needs. Therefore, the functional perspective highlights that the gratification of emotional needs is one of the family's primary roles (Smith & Harmon, 2018, p.29). Members of the same family present an emotional support system for one another. Whenever any of the members undergo stressful or emotionally draining experiences, the family provides support and aids in the speedy restoration of the individual's normalcy. The stability resulting from this role's effective execution is crucial in maintaining economic stability and social order. The family also serves to meet its members' economic needs (Smith & Harmon, 2018, p.30). For instance, children are usually funded by their parents until they secure their own incomes. The family is tasked with providing basic needs, including shelter and food. This unit also promotes the economic stability of its members through a pooling of resources. A family is able to achieve more milestones through a combined effort.

Functionalists also note that reproduction is one of the most crucial roles of the family. The mother and father's presence within a nuclear family encourages childbearing (Smith & Harmon, 2018, p.30). This environment is most conducive to raise a family due to social support, completeness, and social gratification brought about by children. The family unit, therefore, encourages the continuation of the family by bearing offspring. This unit also provides sexual gratification for married individuals. The execution of this role ensures that the sexual relationship between such individuals is controlled and stable. Furthermore, the family creates stability for adult personalities. This means that family members can keep each other's behavior in check. This stability prevents dysfunctional or disruptive behaviors by ensuring that people adhere to social norms (Smith & Harmon, 2018, p.30). This role is crucial during stressful circumstances, as family members are able to interact and take comfort in each other. This role was highlighted in Parson's warm bath theory while exemplifying this role with a man coming from work while stressed. His family provides relief from such stress (Mackie, n.d, p.45). This averts the possible personal and societal ramifications of stress, including harmful behavior.

The family provides physical, emotional, and psychological care for the vulnerable members (Smith & Harmon, 2018, p.30). For instance, families can care for the elderly, who would otherwise suffer from a lack of this care. This institution also cares for its members living with disabilities. Such care is crucial for the physical and mental well-being of such individuals. This eventually supports and promotes their contribution towards societal development by encouraging productivity for those in this group that can work.

However, functionalists have to defend their perspective from criticisms that have come up over the years. For instance, the role of the family to relieve stress by promoting emotional and psychological support does not apply to many families. Many people are brought up within families, which causes harm and stress instead of relieving the same. For instance, child abuse has, over time, become more common within society. This institution, which is sworn to protect the vulnerable, has often caused harm. Furthermore, some families have been found to promote destructive and dysfunctional behaviors instead of encouraging a positive contribution to society. The functionalist perspective is also criticized for Pearson's warm bath theory, which depicts the family as a 'dumpsite' for emotional stress. This is especially perceived to mean that women or wives are usually on the receiving end of such stress. Finally, critics argue that this theory depicts family life's idealistic view (Mackie, n.d, p.50). Today, many families do not conform to the typical nuclear family due to diversity and change in the family structure over time. Many families today consist of single parents, shared custody, and same-sex parents.

Conclusion

The family is the basic functional unit of society and plays various crucial roles. The functional perspective believes in promoting social order through the contributions of the family. This theory primarily depicts the family as a nuclear family with two parents and children. One of the roles of the family is to provide primary socialization and to support secondary socialization. Other roles of the family include fulfilling social needs, especially emotional, and psychological needs. The family unit also encourages the continuation of the family by bearing offspring. This unit also provides sexual gratification for married individuals. The family provides physical, emotional, and psychological care for the vulnerable members, including the elderly and members living with disabilities. Functionalists also highlight that the family is crucial in promoting economic stability through the pooling of resources. When two or more people bring their resources together, they can achieve more than one individual would have accomplished. This encourages development and stability not only for the family but for the larger society. This theory has not been without criticism. Critics have argued that the role of the family to relieve stress by promoting emotional and psychological support does not apply to many families as many people have grown up in stressful and harmful family setups. Finally, critics argue that this theory depicts an idealistic view of family life that does not necessarily apply to today's diverse family structures.

References

Mackie, G., n.d. Analyse and Kritik. 'Functionalist socialization, family and character.' P. 40-59. [Online](2020) Available at https://pages.ucsd.edu/~gmackie/documents/FunctionalistSocialization.pdf [Accessed 13/12/2020]

Smith, S., and Harmon, R., 2018. Journal of family theory and preview. 'Theoretical perspectives on the family.' P. 29- 30. [Online](2020) Available at http://web.pdx.edu/~matg/Sociology/Marriage_&_Intimacy_files/Chapter%202%20(part%20one).pdf [Accessed 13/12/2020]