What are the primary sociological perspectives on the family as a social institution?
What are the primary sociological perspectives on the family as a social institution?
Sociology examines the social establishment of the family through a variety of filters, but its three main theoretical grounds are functionalism, conflict theory, and symbolic interactionism. These theories take different approaches and viewpoints on the family as a social institution.
From a functionalist standpoint, the family serves many purposes. Functionalism is a way of looking at society as a framework of components that collectively form and work together to achieve social stability, or balance. One important role is to socialize children. Family also assists people in society in developing their social identities. It assigns valuable ascribed statuses to newcomers, such as socioeconomic status and ethnic background.
According to the conflict theory, the family serves as a vehicle for maintaining patriarchal society and gender bias in the society. As per conflict theorists, the family contributes to the perpetuation of social inequality within a social structure by upholding and strengthening the power structure. Since family wealth, schooling, and material wealth are passed down through families, rich families are able to maintain their advantaged social status for their members, whereas people from struggling households are withheld similar status.
Symbolic interactionists also investigate the shifting value associated with family. A family is a group of people who share their perspectives on diverse circumstances. An examination of how people communicate in a marriage or other type of relationship is presented. They assert that collective work helps family members form strong connections, and that marriage and family relationships are established on negotiated meanings and communications.
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