this essay the contribution of functionalist sociologists to our understanding of the family will be discussed, sociologists such as Murdock (1949), Parsons (1979) and Young and Wilmott (1973) will be mentioned in this essay. Functionalists believe that society is based on a shared value consensus, this is a set of shared norms and values into which society socialises its members, this enables society to work harmoniously and meet society’s needs and goals. Functionalists believe that the family is
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Assess the functionalist views of the roles of the family (24 marks) Functionalists believe that society is based on value consensus; a set of shared norms and values. The value consensus helps to socialise member of society to create social order, by allowing the members to work with each other and meet the needs of society. The functionalist definition of a family is a group consisting of two parents and their children living together as one unit; the roles of the family are simply what the
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Functionalists look at society as a whole. They explain crime and deviance by stating that the source of deviance lies in the nature of society rather than the individual. Durkheim states that crime and deviance is inevitable and a certain level is necessary for society to exist. He also claims that it is a positive aspect of society as it shows examples of rights and wrongs within society and by punishing offenders, through ways such as public humiliation and portraying crime as wrong, raises awareness
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Compare and contrast the Functionalist and Marxist perspective to our understanding of society The Functionalist perspective to our society is that we are controlled by society by aspects of our society such as media, religion, education and government to name a few. Auguste Comte developed a theory known as the organic analogy which explained that each part of society played a vital role in making the body of society work coherently, for example the education system may represent the brain as
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OUTLINE AND ASSESS FUNCTIONALIST EXPLANATIONS OF CRIME AND DEVIANCE (50) INTRODUCTION * Structural theory * Believe that society is good and order is necessary * Therefore at first glance crime appears to be negative, but functionalists believe crime can be beneficial to social system PARAGRAPH 1 - DURKHEIM * Believed in consensus and need for social order + that crime was inevitable * He believed crime and deviance were product of lack of attachment to prevailing consensus
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Assess the functionalist view that a small amount of crime is useful to society There is a long running argument between sociologists about the existence of crime and deviance and whether or not it can benefit societies in some ways. Many of them in the functionalist point of view argue that it can however, there are many, for example Marxists and feminists, which would argue that it doesn’t benefit anyone. Durkheim, the ‘founding father’ of functionalism believed that a small amount of crime
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Outline and evaluate the functionalist view of the role of the family in society (33 marks). Murdock, a functionalist, describes the family as a universal institution based on the nuclear family model. The functionalist view of the role of the family in society is that it maintains social order. The family is a tool for socialisation and a key social institution in sustaining the value that society works by consensus. Murdock identified four main functions of the family: sexual, reproductive
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Assess the Functionalist view that religion benefits both society as a whole and its individual members? (18) Functionalists see religion in a positive light and as it is a key institution of society. This differs from the Marxist and Feminist view that religion is there to simply reinforce the oppression. For functionalists, society’s key need is for social solidarity and order enabling members to cooperate. Religion ensures that this is maintained, and individuals do not pursue their own selfish
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Identify and discuss the key features of both Functionalist and Marxist theories. [25 Marks] Functionalist and Marxist are macro sociological theories that give a better understanding of the society. Functionalist theory is referred to as the consensus whilst the Marxist theory is known as the conflict theory. Key features of both theories are going to be identified and discussed. According to Haralambos and Holborn (2008), a theory is a set of ideas which attempts to explain how something
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Critically asses the usefulness of the functionalist perspective to our understanding of society (33 marks) The functionalist perspective, also called functionalism, is one of the major theoretical perspectives in sociology. Functionalists take a structural approach towards society that concentrates on the way society controls the individual. Functionalists believe there are forces that influence our behaviour as well as the way we think. These are said to be as a consequence of the society we live
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