Social Functions of the Family

 

Social Functions of the 

Family

Recall that the functional perspective emphasizes that social institutions perform several important functions to help preserve social stability and otherwise keep a 

society

 working. A functional understanding of the 

family

 thus stresses the ways in which the 

family

 as a 

social institution

 helps make 

society

 possible. As such, the 

family

 performs several important functions.

First, the 

family

 is the primary unit for socializing children. As previous chapters indicated, no 

society

 is possible without adequate 

socialization

 of its young. In most societies, the 

family

 is the major unit in which 

socialization

 happens. Parents, siblings, and, if the 

family

 is extended rather than nuclear, other relatives all help to socialize children from the time they are born.

Figure 11.3

One of the most important functions of the 

family

 is the 

socialization

 of children. In most societies the 

family

 is the major unit through which 

socialization

 occurs.

© Thinkstock

Second, the 

family

 is ideally a major source of practical and emotional support for its members. It provides them food, clothing, shelter, and other essentials, and it also provides them love, comfort, help in times of emotional distress, and other types of intangible support that we all need.

Third, the 

family

 helps regulate sexual activity and sexual reproduction. All societies have 

norms

 governing with whom and how often a person should have sex. The 

family

 is the major unit for teaching these 

norms

 and the major unit through which sexual reproduction occurs. One reason for this is to ensure that infants have adequate emotional and practical care when they are born. The incest taboo that most societies have, which prohibits sex between certain relatives, helps to minimize conflict within the 

family

 if sex occurred among its members and to establish social ties among different families and thus among 

society

 as a whole.

Fourth, the 

family

 provides its members with a social identity. Children are born into their parents’ social class, 

race

 and ethnicity, 

religion

, and so forth. As we have seen in earlier chapters, social identity is important for our 

life chances

. Some children have advantages throughout life because of the social identity they acquire from their parents, while others face many obstacles because the social class or 

race

 and ethnicity into which they are born is at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Beyond discussing the 

family

’s functions, the functional perspective on the 

family

 maintains that sudden or far-reaching changes in conventional 

family

 structure and processes threaten the 

family

’s stability and thus that of 

society

. For example, most sociology and marriage-and-

family

 textbooks during the 1950s maintained that the male breadwinner–female homemaker nuclear 

family

 was the best arrangement for children, as it provided for a 

family

’s economic and child-rearing needs. Any shift in this arrangement, they warned, would harm children and by extension the 

family

 as a 

social institution

 and even 

society

 itself. Textbooks no longer contain this warning, but many conservative observers continue to worry about the impact on children of working mothers and one-parent families. We return to their concerns shortly.

The 

Family

 and Conflict

Conflict theorists agree that the 

family

 serves the important functions just listed, but they also point to problems within the 

family

 that the functional perspective minimizes or overlooks altogether.

First, the 

family

 as a 

social institution

 contributes to 

social inequality

 in several ways. The social identity it gives to its children does affect their 

life chances

, but it also reinforces a 

society

’s system of stratification. Because families pass along their wealth to their children, and because families differ greatly in the amount of wealth they have, the 

family

 helps reinforce existing inequality. As it developed through the centuries, and especially during industrialization, the 

family

 also became more and more of a patriarchal unit (see earlier discussion), helping to ensure men’s 

status

 at the top of the social hierarchy.

Second, the 

family

 can also be a source of conflict for its own members. Although the functional perspective assumes the 

family

 provides its members emotional comfort and support, many families do just the opposite and are far from the harmonious, happy groups depicted in the 1950s television shows. Instead, and as the news story that began this chapter tragically illustrated, they argue, shout, and use emotional cruelty and physical violence. We return to 

family

 violence later in this chapter.

Families and 

Social Interaction

Social interactionist perspectives on the 

family

 examine how 

family

 members and intimate couples interact on a daily basis and arrive at shared understandings of their situations. Studies grounded in social interactionism give us a keen understanding of how and why families operate the way they do.

Some studies, for example, focus on how husbands and wives communicate and the degree to which they communicate successfully (Tannen, 2001).Tannen, D. (2001). You just don’t understand: Women and men in conversation. New York, NY: Quill. A classic study by Mirra Komarovsky (1964)Komarovsky, M. (1964). Blue-collar marriage. New York, NY: Random House. found that wives in blue-collar marriages liked to talk with their husbands about problems they were having, while husbands tended to be quiet when problems occurred. Such gender differences seem less common in middle-class families, where men are better educated and more emotionally expressive than their working-class counterparts. Another classic study by Lillian Rubin (1976)Rubin, L. B. (1976). Worlds of pain: Life in the working-class 

family

. New York, NY: Basic Books. found that wives in middle-class families say that ideal husbands are ones who communicate well and share their feelings, while wives in working-class families are more apt to say that ideal husbands are ones who do not drink too much and who go to work every day.

Other studies explore the 

role

 played by romantic love in courtship and marriage. Romantic love, the feeling of deep emotional and sexual passion for someone, is the basis for many American marriages and dating relationships, but it is actually uncommon in many parts of the contemporary world today and in many of the societies anthropologists and historians have studied. In these societies, marriages are arranged by parents and other kin for economic reasons or to build alliances, and young people are simply expected to marry whoever is chosen for them. This is the situation today in parts of India, Pakistan, and other developing nations and was the norm for much of the Western world until the late 18th and early 19th centuries (Lystra, 1989).Lystra, K. (1989). Searching the heart: Women, men, and romantic love in nineteenth-century America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Conclusion

• The 
  family
   ideally serves several functions for 
  society
  . It socializes children, provides practical and emotional support for its members, regulates sexual reproduction, and provides its members with a social identity.
• Reflecting 
  conflict theory
  ’s emphases, the 
  family
   may also produce several problems. In particular, it may contribute for several reasons to 
  social inequality
  , and it may subject its members to violence, arguments, and other forms of conflict.
• Social interactionist understandings of the 
  family
   emphasize how 
  family
   members interact on a daily basis. In this regard, several studies find that husbands and wives communicate differently in certain ways that sometimes impede effective communication.

For Your Review

1. As you think how best to understand the 
   family
   , do you favor the views and assumptions of functional theory, 
   conflict theory
   , or social interactionist theory? Explain your answer.
2. Do you think the 
   family
    continues to serve the function of regulating sexual behavior and sexual reproduction? Why or why not?