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The Family Is Loosing Its Functions

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Submitted By mihaelariban
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Assess the view that, in today’s society, the family is loosing its functions. (24 marks)

The family in most societies traditionally had a number of responsibilities to take care of, such as reproduction, socialisation, education and a unit of production. These are the functions they needed to perform in order to make sure they prepare children to fit into adult society.
This essay will examine different sociologist views on whether the family has lost its traditional functions or has not.

Murdock would argue that the family is no longer needed for reproduction, as there has been an increase in sexual relations before, alongside and out of marriage, whereas bringing up children was seen as the main reason for marriage. Also, in today’s society work has moved outside the home into different economic industries e.g. factories, and therefore skill required for adult life are no longer learnt in the family but at colleges or job training schemes. The family, also has fewer responsibilities as media, nurseries, play groups and the educational system as a whole now help to socialise children, however parents still have an important role in supporting children. Others, would argue that there is structural differentiation( the way new,more specialised social institutions emerge to take over a range of responsibilities that were once performed by a single institution i.e. the family) as state institutions take care of many responsibilities of the family, such as healthcare and financial support through welfare benefits e.g. child tax credits. To support this side of the argument, some may argue that the state often has a better set of skills and liability to carry out functions effectively, however parents are still responsible for primary socialisation and stabilisation of adult personalities. The New Right would also support the case for the family loosing its

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