What Are The Explanations For The Increasing — страница 3

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suffers from an emotional overload, which increases the level of conflict between its members. In industrial society the family specializes in fewer functions. It can be argued, that as a result, there are fewer bonds to unite its members. N. Dennis suggests that the specialization of function that characterizes the modern family will lead to increased marital breakdown. Dennis argues that this can place a strain on the strength of the bond between husband and wife. Put simply, when the love goes, there is nothing much left to hold the couple together. Colin Gibson (1994) combines elements of the previous two arguments in claiming that the development of modernity has increased the likelihood of conflict between spouses.? The way in which the society in which we live has

developed has put an increasing emphasis on individual achievement. Having looked at the increasing rates of divorce there are many arguments as to whether or not this is a good or bad thing for society, and those who are personally involved. The effects on children of a ?broken home? are greater where remarriage occurs than if the children remain with a single parent. This is the rather surprising conclusion to be drawn from research by the Family Policy Studies Centre. Those whose parents divorced and subsequently remarried other partners became part of what is termed a ?stepfamily?. Dr Kathleen Kiernan, research director at the FPSC, found from her research that those from stepfamilies were, less likely to continue in education after age 16, less likely to do well in terms of

work and careers and step-daughters were twice as likely to become teenage mothers and also likely to marry under the age of 20. ?Functionalists say that the family is a biological necessity. In theory it fulfils four main functions: sexual, reproductive, socialisation and economic. It enables sexual drives to be satisfied within the framework of a stable relationship. It provides for the birth and rearing of children. Even though extensive provision is made for education outside the home, it plays a key part in fitting children for existence in a complex society, and, in doing so establishes it?s members in a certain status or position in society. Marxists share the view with functionalists that the modern family has developed in response to broader social change. The Marxist

view asserts the primacy of the economic function of the family to the exclusion of all other functions. Engel?s (1972) argued that the family was the result of acquisition of private property, it was a social construct created by the growth of male dominance and the desire of men to ensure they could leave ?their? property to their heirs. For modern Marxists the most important thing about the family is the way in which it acts as the prime vehicle for the production of the forms of capitalist society. It is central to the transmission of class as well as of gender differences. ?So, without the ?family?, would social order be maintained? Feminist perspectives on the family take up Engel?s? theme of subjection, and explore the wide-ranging consequences of the fundamental

inequality between husband and wife. This inequality stems from traditional differences in what men and women are expected to do, or conjugal role separation. Feminists say that the family is an instrument for the exploitation of women. Feminists argue that women have more to gain from divorce than staying in oppressive marriages. Many government policies today do not support the traditional family and favour instead a new form of family, one, which, has adapted to fit into today?s society. Like functionalist sociologists, New Right thinkers see the family as a cornerstone of society.? A strong society is built upon a strong family.? They see the ?normal family?, as that of the traditional family.? The New Right argues for a return to traditional family values as a remedy for

many of the problems of modern society, such as juvenile delinquency, educational underachievement and child poverty. But are these really problems that have come about through the changing family. Change and diversity can be interpreted as the family being in decline or the family adapting to changing social conditions. The New Right tend to be critical of any variation in what they perceive as traditional family values and blame all sorts of social problems on single parent families which are seen as dysfunctional and probably welfare dependent. Many critics have suggested that New Right thinkers tend to lay blame on victims for problems, which are not of their own making.? For example, single parent families are criticized by the government for their inadequacy in raising