Family Diversity

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses how the term "family diversity" is used in sociology to explain the different types of situations in which a family can exist. It examines how for many years the nuclear family has been thought to be the most normal and best situation in which to live, not only by functionalists and New Right thinkers, but also by ordinary people in society. It looks at how research shows that the nuclear family is actually in the minority when looking at different family types and assesses the significance of the ideological claim that the nuclear family is "normal, natural and best" using different sociological theories which either challenge (feminism) or support this claim (functionalism).

From the Paper:

"The ideology of the family itself is very nuclear, suggesting that marriage, and a clear division of labor within the marriage is vital for the family to survive happily. Functionalists see the family as an important, primary agent of socialization with its main function to socialize new generations into the culture of their society, teaching them vital norms and values, which works both positively for the individual and for society overall. Talcott Parsons (1955), one of the leading supporters of the functionalist view claimed that the nuclear family originated after the effects of industrialization had required a more mobile workforce and only a nuclear family unit could allow this."

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