Class notes sociology

trends (Fam)
 Later age of marriage
 Changing roles
 Inter-racial/ religious marriage


1800-1970 – 1% divorce rate
1970- now – 50% divorce



MIS (modern industrial society)
- technology
- capitalist
- democratic – freedom
- urbanisation
- secularized (no social power for religion)
- meritocracy
- Individualism


MIS – modern industrial society
PIS – post industrial society
Democratic – people are free to choose their own government
Capitalist – the economy is open for people to become business owners and get
as rich as possible
Technology – have access to up-to-date technology and skilled jobs
Secularized – religion is not a major power structure in society
Human rights- all people in society have equal rights ( goal)
Urbanized – the majority of people live in big cities
Individualistic – people are encouraged to prioritize themselves and their own
personal happiness
Meritocratic – social mobility is available through hard work and talent (merits)




CLOSED SOCIETIES
 Aristocracy (kings/ emperors)

,  The caste system in India
 Slaves in America
The status that you are born with is your life


OPEN SOCIETIES
 Democracy: individual people have political power and control of their
society
 Opportunity: education and job opportunities become available to
everyone
 Capitalism: money becomes a more important than birth status (Achieved
> Ascribed)


FUNCUTIONALISM
 Consensus theory: they believe MIS is built in a good way. They study
what makes society good/ effective.
 They are traditional: they avoid change (they love the 1950s)
 Family perspective: they believe the nuclear family is the most ideal for
society (the new rights functionalist want them to keep traditional gender
roles in the family as well)
 NUCLEAR FAMILY ( dad (work) , mom ( mom)
 Consensus – agreement , positive, useful and effective of that
nuclear family


WHAT ARE THE FUNCTIONS OF FAMILY?
 REPRODUCTION: create a new generation of people to keep society
going in the future
 SOCIALIZATION: TEACH children the culture of their society (norms,
values, behaviour) -families are the PRIMARY SOCIALIZATION (the first
and most powerful type of socialization
 SOCIAL CONTROL: give discipline. Teach children the importance of
following orders from authority. Begin to punish and reward behaviour that
is accepted by society
 CARE OF CHILDREN: protect, feed and nurture children until they are old
enough to go into society on their own. This includes FINANCIAL support,
INTELLECTUAL growth and EMOTIONAL comfort.
 STATUS: family provides status for children. Shows them where they
belon in society. Gives them a network of contacts within their social class
 REGULATE SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR: teach kids what is expected and
accepted in regard to sexuality (sexual identity, sex before marriage,

, WARM BATH THEORY (PARSONS)
 work is stressful, so the family can relieve the stress of a busy day by
offering the breadwinner relaxation and comfort (family= a cozy warm
bath)
 The husband gets taken care of, both physically and emotionally, so
that he can return to work refreshed the next day


FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY: SUMMARY
 Parsons = family=personality factory
A strong nuclear creates good citizens who followed the rules,
believe in the values of capitalism (competition, hard work, value of
money), and create value consensus in society


Conflict theory
 Focus on Marxism and feminism
 They believe society is built in unfair ways to support and help the
privileged groups (such as men, rich people, majority ethnicity and
majority religion)
 They believe that is it important to understand inequalities in society
 Once we understand it we can adapt, change and fix the inequality in
society


MARXISM- (anti – capitalists) believe that capitalism has created an unfair
society where the rich people will continue to get richer and more powerful by
exploiting the majoring of society.


CAPITALISM
- The most equal and open economic system in human history
- A vehicle to create social mobility and a meritocracy


- Is it a good or fair system theoretically? (yes)

- Has it been corrupted and used to keep power in the hands of a
small few? (yes)

, MARXISM AND FAMILY
- According to the Marxist the family’s job is To keep the system alive


1) Socialize kids into accepting the capitalist system as good as fair
- Tell them that anyone can succeed/ rich, if they work hard.
- Teach them that the system is fair for everyone. Everyone has equal
opportunity.
- Tell them that if they fail, it is because they were lazy or didn’t work hard
enough. It is their own fault, not society’s fault.
2) Families reproduce the next generation of worker
- Part of family functions is to show kids what social class they belong to
- Your social class is largely determined by your family and the connections
your family has
- Each social class will create the next generation of that social class
** even id a small percentage rise and a small percentage fall, things will
mostly stay the same***
3) Creates good consumers
- “We buy stuff we don’t need with money we don’t have to impress people
we don’t know”
- Families consume (buy cars, gadgets, toys)
- Families socialize kids to search for happiness in consumerism (which is
always fleeting and never ending)
4) Family keeps the workers “in line...” limits their ability to fight
the system
- if a worker rebels against the system, or tries to organize a strike, their
family will starve(so no strike)
- the family gives male workers an outlet. If they are angry that they work
so hard but remains poor, instead of fighting the system they can just
unleash their anger


FEMINIST FUNCTIONS OF THE FAMILY
MAIN FUNCTION OF FEMINISTS - feminists will argue that the
traditional nuclear family unit has one main function: to uphold the
patriarchy and support male dominance in society