Compare parson functionalist and Marxist analyses of the family - Coursework Example

Sociology Assignment Compare parson functionalist and Marxist analyses of the family Talcott Parson’s functionalist theory of the family focuses on nuclear and heterosexual families. The theory suggests that industrialization replaced extended families with nuclear families because industrialization caused social and geographical mobility.1 Furthermore, industrialization caused the functions of the family to be taken over by new social institutions including schools and factories. According to Parson, a nuclear function loses some of its functions but enhances stabilization of adult personalities and increased socialization among the young.

Family roles are distributed among husbands and wives depending on their characteristics. Husbands have instrumental characteristics which lead them to take paid jobs outside the home while wives have expressive characteristics which lead them to take domestic work and childcare. Marxist approach of the family suggests that socialization within the family and outside the family leads to the transmission of the ideologies of the ruling class so that individuals will accept the capitalist system.

It is also concerned with the increased privatization of the family so that it causes concentration of family concerns and orthodox interests.In this case, the Parson and Marxist approaches differ from each other because the Parson approach suggests that family functions are taken by other social institutions while the Marxists suggest that the family takes up all social functions and political interests from the ruling class. In this case, the Marxists tend to suggests that social functions are transmitted into the family while the Parson’s approach suggests that social functions are transmitted out of the family.

According to the Parson’s approach, children are taught to accept the authorities of their parents while in Marxist approach socializing children to accept authority leads to adverse consequences.ReferencesBankston, C.L. Sociology basics, Pasadena, Calif, Salem Press, 2000.